{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "1", "text": "This is the record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, the descendant of King David and of Abraham, from whom all we Jews have descended."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "2", "text": "Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Judah and Judah's older and younger brothers."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "3", "text": "Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah, and their mother was Tamar. Perez was the father of Hezron. Hezron was the father of Ram."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "4", "text": "Ram was the father of Amminadab. Amminadab was the father of Nahshon. Nahshon was the father of Salmon."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "5", "text": "Salmon and his wife Rahab, a non-Jewish woman, were the parents of Boaz. Boaz was the father of Obed. Obed's mother was Ruth, another non-Jewish woman. Obed was the father of Jesse."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "6", "text": "Jesse was the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon. Solomon's mother was previously married to Uriah."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "7", "text": "Solomon was the father of Rehoboam. Rehoboam was the father of Abijah. Abijah was the father of Asaph."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "8", "text": "Asaph was the father of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was the father of Jehoram. Jehoram was an ancestor of Uzziah."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "9", "text": "Uzziah was the father of Jotham. Jotham was the father of Ahaz. Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "10", "text": "Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh. Manasseh was the father of Amon. Amon was the father of Josiah."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "11", "text": "Josiah was the grandfather of Jeconiah and Jeconiah's brothers. They lived at the time when the Babylonian army took the Israelites as captives to the country of Babylon."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "12", "text": "After the Babylonians took the Israelites to Babylon, Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel was the grandfather of Zerubbabel."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "13", "text": "Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud. Abiud was the father of Eliakim."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "14", "text": "Eliakim was the father of Azor. Azor was the father of Zadok. Zadok was the father of Akim."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "15", "text": "Akim was the father of Eliud. Eliud was the father of Eleazar. Eleazar was the father of Matthan. Matthan was the father of Jacob."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "16", "text": "Jacob was the father of Joseph. Joseph was Mary's husband, and Mary was Jesus' mother. Jesus is the one who is called {whom we call} the Messiah."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "17", "text": "As you can calculate, I have grouped Jesus' ancestors as follows: There was a succession of fourteen of them from the time when Abraham lived to the time when King David lived. There was a succession of fourteen of them from the time when David lived to the time when the Israelites were taken{ the Babylonian army took the Israelites} away to Babylon. There was a succession of fourteen of them from the time when the Israelites were taken{ the Babylonian army took the Israelites} away to Babylon until the time when the Messiah was born."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "18", "text": "This is the account of what happened just before Jesus Christ was born. Mary, his mother, {had publicly promised Joseph that she would marry him} had been publicly promised to marry Joseph. Before they began to sleep together, Mary realized that she was pregnant. It was the power of the Holy Spirit that had caused her to become pregnant."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "19", "text": "Joseph, her future husband, was a man who obeyed God's commands. One of those commands was that men must divorce women who had acted immorally. So when Joseph learned that Mary was pregnant, he assumed that she was pregnant as a result of her acting immorally. So he decided to break the engagement. But because he did not want to shame her publicly, he decided to do it privately."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "20", "text": "While he was seriously considering this, much to his surprise, in a dream he saw an angel whom the Lord sent. The angel said, “Joseph, descendant of King David, do not be afraid that you(sg) would be doing wrong if you(sg) would marry Mary. Instead, begin to treat her as your wife, because the Holy Spirit, not a man, has caused her to be pregnant."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "21", "text": "She will give birth to a son. Since it is he who will cause that his people will be saved from the guilt of their having sinned, name the baby Jesus, which means ‘the Lord saves people’ .”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "22", "text": "All this happened as a result of what the Lord told the prophet Isaiah to write long ago about what was going to happen. This is what Isaiah wrote:"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "23", "text": "“Listen, a virgin will become pregnant and will give birth to a son. They will call him Emmanuel.” Emmanuel means ❛God is with us❜."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "24", "text": "When Joseph got up from sleep, he did what the angel whom the Lord had sent commanded him to do. He took Mary home to be his wife."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "25", "text": "But he did not have sexual relations with her until she had given birth to a son. And Joseph named him Jesus."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "1", "text": "Jesus was born in Bethlehem town in Judea province during the time [MTY] that King Herod the Great ruled there. Some time after Jesus was born, some men who studied the stars and who lived in a country east of Judea came to Jerusalem city."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "2", "text": "They asked people, “Where is the one who has been born in order that he might be the king of you Jews? We believe that your new king has been born, because we have seen the star that we believe indicated that he has been born. We saw it while we were in our country east of here. So we have come to worship him.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "3", "text": "When King Herod heard what those men were asking, he became worried that someone else might be proclaimed{ people might proclaim someone else} king of the Jews to replace him. Many of the people of Jerusalem city[MTY, HYP] also became worried because they were afraid of what King Herod might do."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "4", "text": "Then Herod gathered together all the ruling priests and men who taught the people the Jewish laws and he asked them where the prophets had predicted that the Messiah was to be born."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "5", "text": "They said to him, “ He will be born in Bethlehem town, here in Judea province, because it was written by the prophet Micah{the prophet Micah wrote} long ago what God said:"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "6", "text": "‘You who live in Bethlehem town[APO], in Judea province, your town is certainly very important [LIT], because a man from your town will become a ruler. He will guide my people who live in Israel.’”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "7", "text": "Then King Herod secretly summoned those men who studied the stars. He asked them exactly when the star first appeared. By what they told him, he was able to know the approximate age of the baby."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "8", "text": "Then he concealed what he really planned to do and said to them, “Go to Bethlehem and inquire thoroughly where the infant is. When you have found him, come back and report to me so that I, myself, can go there and worship him, too.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "9", "text": "After the men heard what the king told them, they went toward Bethlehem town. To their surprise, the star that they had seen while they were in the eastern country went ahead of them again until it stood above the house where the child was."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "10", "text": "When they saw the star, they rejoiced greatly and followed it."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "11", "text": "They found the house and entered it and saw the child and his mother, Mary. They bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasure boxes[MTY] and they gave gold, costly frankincense, and myrrh to him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "12", "text": "Because God knew that King Herod planned to kill Jesus, in a dream the men who studied the stars were warned {he warned the men who studied the stars} that they should not return to King Herod. So they returned to their country, but instead of traveling back on the same road, they went on a different road."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "13", "text": "After the men who studied the stars left Bethlehem, an angel from the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. He said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to the country of Egypt. Stay there until I tell you(sg) that you should leave, because King Herod is about to send soldiers to look for the child so that they can kill him.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "14", "text": "So Joseph got up, he took the child and his mother that night, and they fled to Egypt."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "15", "text": "They stayed there until King Herod died, and then they left Egypt. By doing that, it was {they} fulfilled what the prophet Hosea wrote, which had been said by the Lord {which the Lord had said}, I have told my son to come out of Egypt."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "16", "text": "While King Herod was still living, because he realized that he had been tricked by the men who studied the stars {the men who studied the stars had tricked him}, he became furious. Then, assuming that Jesus was still in Bethlehem or the surrounding regions, Herod sent soldiers there to kill all the boy babies two years old and younger. Herod calculated how old the baby was, according to what the men who studied the stars told him about when the star first appeared."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "17", "text": "Because Bethlehem and Ramah towns were in the area where the descendants of Jacob's wife Rachel lived, when soldiers killed the infant boys, they fulfilled what Jeremiah the prophet wrote,"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "19", "text": "After Herod died and while Joseph and his family were still in Egypt, an angel that the Lord had sent appeared to Joseph in Egypt in a dream."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "20", "text": "He said to Joseph, “Take the child and his mother and go back to Israel to live, because the people who were looking for the child in order to kill him have died.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "21", "text": "So Joseph took the child and his mother, and they went back to Israel."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "22", "text": "When Joseph heard that Archaelaus now ruled in Judea district instead of his father, King Herod the Great, he was afraid to go there. Because he was warned { God warned Joseph} in a dream that it was still dangerous for them to live in Judea, he and Mary and Jesus went to Galilee District"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "23", "text": "to the town called Nazareth to live there. The result was that what had been said by the ancient prophets {what the ancient prophets had said} about the Messiah, that he would be called {people would call him} a Nazareth-man, was fulfilled {came true}."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "1", "text": "While Jesus was still in Nazareth town, John, whom the people called the Baptizer, went to a desolate place in Judea district."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "2", "text": "He was preaching to the people who came there. He kept saying, “ You need to turn away from your sinful behavior, because God [MET] will soon begin to rule over people, and he will reject you if you do not turn away from your sinful life.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "3", "text": "John was the person who fulfilled what was said by Isaiah the prophet {what Isaiah the prophet predicted when he said}, long ago, In a desolate area ◄ people will hear someone/someone will be heard► shouting to the people who pass by, Prepare yourselves to receive the Lord when he comes! Make yourselves ready so that you will be prepared when he comes[MET, DOU], just like people improve and straighten out the road for an important official!"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "4", "text": "John wore coarse clothing made from camel's hair. And as the prophet Elijah did long ago, he wore a leather belt around his waist. His food was only grasshoppers and honey that he found in that desolate area."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "5", "text": "People who lived in Jerusalem city[MTY], many [HYP] people who lived in other places in Judea district[MTY], and many [HYP] people who lived in the area around the Jordan River[MTY] came to John to hear him preach."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "6", "text": "After they heard him tell them to turn away from their sinful behavior, they openly confessed their sins, and as a result they were baptized by John {John baptized them} in the Jordan River."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "7", "text": "After John noted that many men of the Pharisee religious group and of the Sadducee religious group were coming to him to be baptized {in order that he would baptize them}, he said to them, “You people are evil like poisonous snakes [MET]! I warn you that God will some day punish [MTY] everyone who sins. ◄And do not think that you can escape from his punishing you [MTY] if you do not turn from your sinful behavior!/Did someone tell you that you can escape from his punishing you [MTY] if you do not turn from your sinful behavior?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "8", "text": "Do what is appropriate [IDI] for people who have truly turned away from their sinful behavior before you come to me in order to be baptized{ that I baptize you}."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "9", "text": "God promised to give Abraham many descendants. In order to fulfill that promise, God does not need you! I tell you that he can change these stones to make them descendants of Abraham. So do not start to say to yourselves, ‘Since we are descendants of our ancestor Abraham, God will not punish us even though we have sinned.’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "10", "text": "God is ready to punish you if you do not turn away from your sinful behavior, just like a man who lays his axe at the roots of a fruit tree in order to chop it down and throw it into the fire if it does not produce good fruit [MET].”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "11", "text": "“As for me, I am not very important, because I baptize you only with water. I baptize you because of your feeling sorry that you have sinned. But someone else will come soon who is very great; he will do powerful deeds(OR, act powerfully). Because he is superior to me, I am not worthy even to do a menial task for him, such as to carry his sandals. He will put his Holy Spirit within you to truly change the way you live [MET], and he will judge others of you and punish you in the fire in hell."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "12", "text": "He is like a farmer who wants to clear away the grain that is on the ground where it has been threshed{ they have threshed it}. That farmer uses a huge fork to throw the grain into the air to separate the wheat from the chaff[MET], and then he cleans up the threshing area. Similarly, God will separate righteous people from the evil people like a farmer who gathers the wheat into his storage area, and then God will burn the people who are like chaff with a fire that will never be put out [MET].”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "13", "text": "During that time, Jesus went from Galilee District to the Jordan River, where John was. He did that in order to be baptized by John {in order to ask that John would baptize him}."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "14", "text": "When Jesus asked John to baptize him, John objected, saying, “I need to be baptized by you{ you to baptize me} because you are superior to me. Since you are not a sinner, ◄ you(sg) should not come to me to be baptized by me{ to ask that I baptize you(sg) }!/why do you come to me to be baptized by me{ ask that I baptize you(sg) } [RHQ]?►”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "15", "text": "But Jesus said to him, “Baptize me at this time, because in this way we two will do everything that God requires.” Then John consented to baptize him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "16", "text": "After he was baptized {John baptized Jesus}, Jesus immediately came up out of the water. Just then, it was as though the sky was opened {split apart}. Then Jesus saw God's Spirit coming down upon him. He came in the form of a dove."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "17", "text": "Then God[SYN] spoke from heaven, saying, “This is my Son. I love him. I am very pleased with him.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "1", "text": "Then Jesus was led by the Spirit { God's Spirit led Jesus} into a desolate area to be tempted by the devil {in order that the devil would tempt him}."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "2", "text": "After he did not eat food day and night for forty days, he was hungry."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "3", "text": "Satan, the tempter, came to him and said, “Because you claim that you have a relationship with God as a son has with his father[MET], prove it by commanding these stones to become bread so that you can eat them!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "4", "text": "But Jesus said to him, “ No! I will not change stones into bread, because it is written in the Scriptures{in the Scriptures Moses wrote}, ‘Eating food [SYN] sustains people physically, but it does not sustain them spiritually[SYN]. Instead, paying attention to everything that God has spoken to them is what sustains people spiritually.’”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "5", "text": "Then the devil took Jesus to Jerusalem, the city that is dedicated to God. He set him on the highest part of the Temple,"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "6", "text": "and said to him, “Because you claim that you have a relationship with God as a son has with his father, prove it by jumping down to the ground. You will not be hurt, because it is written in the Scriptures, ‘God will command his angels to protect you. They will lift you up in their hands when you are falling, in order that you will not get hurt. You will not even strike your foot on a stone.’”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "7", "text": "But Jesus said, “ No! I will not jump down, because in another place in the Scriptures it is written {there are these words that Moses wrote}: ‘Do not try to test the Lord your God to see if he will prevent something bad from happening to you when you do something foolish! ’”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "8", "text": "Then the devil took him on top of a very high mountain. There he showed him all the nations in the world and the magnificent things in those nations."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "9", "text": "And then he said to him, “I will let you rule all these nations and give you the magnificent things in them if you bow down and worship me.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "10", "text": "But Jesus said to him, “ No, I will not worship you, Satan, so go away! It is written in the Scriptures, ‘It is the Lord your God whom you(pl) must worship, and you(pl) must serve only him!’”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "11", "text": "Then the devil went away, and right away, angels came to Jesus and took care of him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "12", "text": "While Jesus was in Judea, John the Baptizer's disciples told him that John had been put in prison and kept there {that Herod Antipas had put John the Baptizer in prison and kept him there}. So Jesus returned to Galilee District. While he was in Galilee, he first went to Nazareth town."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "13", "text": "Then he left Nazareth and went to Capernaum city in order to live there. Capernaum is located beside Galilee Lake in the region which was formerly the regions of the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "14", "text": "One reason that he went there was so that these words that were written by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled {so that he might fulfill these words that the prophet Isaiah wrote}:"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "15", "text": "Zebulun region and Naphtali region are on the road which is near Galilee Lake and on the eastern side of the Jordan River. They are the regions in Galilee District where many non-Jews are living."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "16", "text": "Although the people there will be like people who sit in a dark place [MET], they will suddenly perceive clearly a new teaching, as people who have seen a big light shining on them [MET] perceive everything clearly. The people who are located in a dangerous [MET] region will suddenly perceive clearly what God teaches, as people on whom a light shines perceive things clearly [MET, DOU]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "17", "text": "From that time, while Jesus was in Capernaum city, he began to preach this to people: “God [MTY/EUP] will very soon begin to rule, and he will judge you when he rules. So you(pl) need to turn from your sinful ways so that God will not punish you.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "18", "text": "One day while Jesus was walking by Galilee Lake, he saw two men, Simon, who was later called Peter, and Andrew, his younger brother. They were casting their fishing net into the lake because they earned money by catching and selling fish."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "19", "text": "He said to them, “ Just like you have been gathering fish, come with me and I will teach you how to gather people to become my disciples.” [MET]"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "20", "text": "They immediately left the work that they were doing with their fishing nets, and they went with him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "21", "text": "As the three of them walked on from there, Jesus saw two other men, James, and John, the younger brother of James. They were in their boat with Zebedee, their father, mending their fishing nets. Jesus told them that they should leave their work and go with him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "22", "text": "They immediately left their fishing boat and their father, and they went with Jesus."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "23", "text": "Jesus went with those four men throughout all of Galilee District. He was teaching the people in the buildings where we Jews worship God. He was preaching the good message that tells how to become members of the group of people whose lives God rules over. He was also healing all the Galileans who had diseases or who were sick."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "24", "text": "When people who lived in other parts of Syria District heard [PRS] what he was doing, they brought to him people who suffered from illnesses, people who suffered from many kinds of diseases, people who suffered from severe pains, people who were controlled by demons {whom demons controlled}, people who were epileptics, and people who were paralyzed. And Jesus healed them."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "25", "text": "Then crowds started to go with him. They were people from Galilee District, ◄from the Decapolis/from the Ten Towns area►, from Jerusalem city, from other parts of Judea district, and from areas east of the Jordan River."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "1", "text": "When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a hillside. He sat down in order to teach his disciples. They came near to him to listen to him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "2", "text": "Then he began to teach them by saying,"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "3", "text": "God is pleased with people who recognize that they have a spiritual need; he will allow them to be the people whose lives he rules over."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "4", "text": "God is pleased with people who mourn because they have sinned; they will be encouraged {he will encourage them.}"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "5", "text": "God is pleased with people who are meek; they will inherit the earth that God will recreate."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "6", "text": "God is pleased with people who sincerely desire to live righteously just like they desire to eat and drink [MET]; they will be enabled {he will enable them} to do all that he desires [MET]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "7", "text": "God is pleased with people who act mercifully; he will act mercifully to them."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "8", "text": "God is pleased with people who think only about that which pleases him; some day they will be where God is and will see him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "9", "text": "God is pleased with people who help other people to live peacefully; they will be considered to be {he will consider that they are} his children [MET]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "10", "text": "God is pleased with people to whom evil things are done {to whom other people do evil things} because they conducted themselves righteously; he will allow them to be where he rules over people."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "11", "text": "God is pleased with you when other people insult you, when other people do evil things to you and when other people say falsely that you are evil because you believe in me."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "12", "text": "When that happens, rejoice and be glad [DOU], because God will give you a great reward in heaven. God will think highly of you, just like he thought highly of the prophets whom your ancestors persecuted long ago."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "13", "text": "“ You are able to influence evil people[MTY] and improve the way they live in order that they do not become more evil, just like salt is able to improve the flavor of food and to preserve it[MET] from spoiling. Salt that no longer tastes salty cannot become salty again [RHQ]. As a result, that salt becomes useless. It is rejected by people, thrown on the ground, and walked on {People reject it, throw it on the ground and walk on it} [MET]. Similarly, if the way you live no longer influences people to live in a godly manner, God will reject you."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "14", "text": "You enable evil people[MTY] to perceive God's truth as a light enables people to perceive what is around them. Just like everyone can see [LIT] the lights of a city on a hill [MET], other people can see what you do."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "15", "text": "After people light a lamp, they never put it under a basket. Instead, they put it on a lampstand in their houses in order that it can shine on everyone there."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "16", "text": "Similarly, you need to do what is right[MET] in such a manner that other people can see the good deeds that you do, and as a result they will praise your Father who is in heaven.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "17", "text": "“I came to earth, not to annul the laws that God gave Moses or what the prophets [MTY] wrote. Instead, I came to cause to happen what the authors of those books predicted would happen. So do not think any longer that I have come to earth in order that I might annul what they wrote."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "18", "text": "Keep this in mind: Every point of those laws, including those points that seem least important, and even the smallest details of the laws [MTY] will surely be in effect [HYP, LIT] until the heavens and the earth disappear and until all that God told their authors to write happens."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "19", "text": "Since all God's laws are important, if anyone disobeys any of those commandments, even if it would be one of the least important ones, and if that person teaches people to disobey any of those commandments, it will be said { God will say} that that person is the least important of those in the place where [EUP] God rules. But those who obey those commandments and teach other people to obey them, it will be said{ God will say} that they are very important among those that God rules."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "20", "text": "Keep this in mind: You assume that the Pharisees and the men who teach our laws faithfully obey what God commands. But if you do not obey those laws better than they obey them, you will by no means enter the place where God rules.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "21", "text": "“You have heard your religious teachers say that it was said {that Moses said} to your ancestors, ‘Do not murder anyone.’ This implied that if someone murders another person, the judge will condemn that person and sentence him to be executed{ say that someone must execute him}."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "22", "text": "But what I say to you is this: If you are angry with someone, God will judge you. If you say to someone, ‘ You are worthless,’ the Jewish Council will judge you. If you say to someone, ‘ You are a fool,’ God will throw you into the fires in hell."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "23", "text": "So, when you take your gift for God to the altar, if you remember that you have offended someone,"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "24", "text": "leave your gift by the altar, and first go to the person you have offended. Tell that person that you are sorry for what you have done, and ask that person to forgive you. Then go back and offer your gift to God."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "25", "text": "Also, when a fellow citizen takes you to court in order to accuse you, settle accounts with that person quickly while you are walking with that person to court. Do that while there still is time to do so in order that he will not take you to the judge, because if the judge favors the person who is accusing you, he will declare that you are guilty and send you to the prison guard, and the prison guard will put you in prison."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "26", "text": "Keep this in mind: If you go to prison, you will never get out because you will never be able to pay all that the judge says that you owe [MET]. And remember also that you ought to settle accounts with God before you die, too.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "27", "text": "“You have heard God's commandment, ‘Do not commit adultery.’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "28", "text": "But what I say to you is this: If a man only looks at a woman desiring to have sex with her, God considers that his thinking about sinning sexually [MET] is sin."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "29", "text": "If because of what you see [MTY] you are tempted to sin, stop looking at those things! Even if you have to gouge out one of your eyes and throw it away [HYP] to avoid sinning, do it! It is good that you not sin and as a result go to heaven, even though while you are still here on earth you lack one or both of your eyes. But it is not good that you continue to have two eyes and sin and, as a result, God sends your whole body to hell."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "30", "text": "If you are tempted to use one of your hands to sin [MTY], stop using your hand. Even if you have to cut your hand off and throw it away to avoid sinning, do it[HYP]! It is good that you do not sin and as a result you go to heaven, even though while you are still here on earth you lack one or both of your hands. But it is not good that you sin and, as a result, God sends your whole body to hell.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "31", "text": "“It is written { Moses wrote}, ‘If a man is divorcing his wife, he should write a document on which he states that he is divorcing her.’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "32", "text": "But now listen to what I say to you: A man may divorce his wife only if she has committed adultery, and not for any other reason. If a man divorces his wife for any other reason, and he has sex with another woman, he makes his wife become one against whom he has committed adultery, because in God's estimation she still is his wife. Also, if a man marries a woman who is divorced {whose husband has divorced her}, God considers him guilty of committing adultery.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "33", "text": "“You have also heard your religious teachers say that it was written {that Moses wrote} to your ancestors, ‘Make sure that you do what you promised the Lord that you would do!’ [DOU]"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "34", "text": "But now listen to what I say to you: Never promise to do anything and then ask a superior being to affirm that what you are saying will happen. For example, do not promise that you will give something and then ask spiritual beings in heaven [MTY] to affirm that you will do it, because heaven is where God sits on his throne [MTY] to rule over people."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "35", "text": "Also, do not promise that you will give something and then ask spiritual beings on earth [MTY] to affirm that you will do it, because the earth is where God rests his feet [MET]. Also, do not promise that you will do something and ask religious authorities in Jerusalem to affirm that you will do it, because Jerusalem is the city where God, the great King rules."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "36", "text": "Also, do not promise that you will do something and then say that your head should be cut off{ someone should cut off your head} if you do not do it. You are not even able to change the color of the hair of your head by making one black hair white or one white hair black."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "37", "text": "If you talk about doing something, just say ‘Yes, I will do it,’ or ‘No, I will not do it.’ If you say anything more than that, it is from Satan, the Evil One.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "38", "text": "“You have heard your religious teachers say that it is written{ Moses wrote}, ‘ Retaliate like this: If someone damages one of your eyes, someone should damage one of that person's eyes. If someone damages one of your teeth, someone should damage one of that person's teeth.’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "39", "text": "But now listen to what I say to you: Do not take revenge for evil deeds done{ that other people do} to you. Instead, if someone insults you by striking you on one cheek, turn your other cheek toward that person in order that he can strike it also."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "40", "text": "If someone wants to sue you and take your ◄inner garment/shirt►, give him your ◄outer garment/coat► also."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "41", "text": "If a military authority compels you to go with him one mile and carry his gear, go with him two miles and carry his gear."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "42", "text": "Also, if someone asks you for something, give him what he is asking for. If someone requests you to lend him something, do not refuse to lend it to him.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "43", "text": "“You have heard your religious teachers say that it is written{ that Moses wrote}, ‘Love the citizens of your country and hate your enemies.’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "44", "text": "But now listen to what I say to you: Love your enemies as well as your friends, and pray for those who cause you to suffer."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "45", "text": "Do that in order to imitate what God, your Father who is in heaven, does. He desires that you [MET] do like he does. He acts kindly to all people. For example, he causes the sun to shine equally on wicked people and on good people, and he sends rain both on righteous people and on unrighteous people."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "46", "text": "If you love only the people who love you, ◄ do not expect God to reward you in heaven!/will God reward you in heaven?► [RHQ] This is based on the fact that everyone, even the tax collectors, who you think are very great sinners, love [RHQ] those who love them. If you act like them, ◄ you are not any different from tax collectors!/in what way are you different from tax collectors?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "47", "text": "If you want God to bless only your friends, ◄you are not acting any better than other people!/are you acting any better than other people?► [RHQ] Even the non-Jews, who you think sin very much(OR, you think are unacceptable to God), want God to bless their friends [RHQ], but God does not reward them for that."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "48", "text": "You need to love those who do not love you, and in that way become perfect as God your Father, who is in heaven, is perfect.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "1", "text": "“When you do your good deeds, make certain that you do not do them when other people are watching so that they may see you and think highly of you. If you do good deeds merely in order that other people may think highly of you, God, your Father who is in heaven, will not give you any reward."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "2", "text": "So, whenever you give something to the poor, do not announce it as people announce something that they want other people to know about by playing a fanfare on a trumpet [MET]. That is what the hypocrites do ◄in the synagogues/in the Jewish meeting places► and on the main roads in order that people might see what they do and praise them. Keep this in mind: People praise those hypocrites, but that is the only reward they will receive!"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "3", "text": "Instead of doing as they do, when you give something to the poor, do not let other people know that you are doing that [MET]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "4", "text": "In that way, you will be giving to the poor secretly. As a result God, your Father who observes you while no one else sees you, will reward you."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "5", "text": "Also when you pray, do not do what the hypocrites do. They like to stand in the Jewish meeting places and on the corners of the main streets to pray, in order that other people will see them and think highly of them. Keep this in mind: People praise them, but that is the only reward they will get."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "6", "text": "But as for you, when you pray, go into your private room and close the door in order to pray to God, your Father, whom no one can see. He observes you where no one else observes you, and he will reward you."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "7", "text": "When you pray, do not repeat words many times as the people who do not know God do when they pray. They repeat meaningless words because they think that if they use many words, their gods will listen to them and give them what they ask for."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "8", "text": "Do not repeat words as they do, because God your Father knows what you need before you ask him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "9", "text": "So pray things like this: Father, you who are in heaven, we(exc) desire that you be honored/revered {that people honor/revere you}."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "10", "text": "We(exc) desire that people let you rule over their lives. We(exc) want people who live on the earth to do what you desire, as those who live in heaven do what you want them to do."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "11", "text": "Give us(exc) each day the food [SYN] that we(exc) need for that day."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "12", "text": "Forgive our sins just like we(exc) have forgiven the people who sin against us(exc) ."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "13", "text": "Do not let us(exc) do wrong things when we(exc) are tempted {someone or something tempts us}, and rescue us(exc) when Satan the evil one tempts us to do evil things. ”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "14", "text": "“ Forgive the people who sin against you, because, if you forgive other people, God, your Father who is in heaven, will forgive your sins."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "15", "text": "But if you do not forgive other people, neither will God forgive your sins.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "16", "text": "“When you abstain from eating food in order to please God, do not look sad as the hypocrites look. They make their faces appear sad in order that people will see that they are abstaining from food and will think highly of them. Keep this in mind: People will think highly of those people for that, but that is the only reward those people will get!"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "17", "text": "Instead, each of you, when you abstain from food, should comb your hair and wash your face as usual,"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "18", "text": "in order that other people will not notice that you are fasting because you will look as you always do. But God, your Father, whom no one can see, will observe that you are abstaining from food. God your Father sees you even though no one else sees you, and he will reward you.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "19", "text": "“Do not selfishly accumulate large quantities of money and material goods for yourselves on this earth, because the earth is where everything perishes. For example, on earth termites ruin things, and things rust, and thieves enter buildings and steal things."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "20", "text": "Instead, do deeds that will please God. Your doing such deeds will be like storing treasures in heaven [MET]. Nothing perishes in heaven. In heaven no termites ruin things, nothing rusts, and thieves do not enter buildings and steal."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "21", "text": "Remember that the things that you think are the most valuable are the things that you will be constantly concerned about [MET]. So if you want to be storing treasures in heaven, you need to be constantly thinking about God and heaven, instead of your earthly possessions.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "22", "text": "“Your eyes are like a lamp [MET] for your body, because they enable you to see things. So if your eyes are healthy, you are able to see everything well [MET]. Similarly, if you are generous with your money and other possessions, you will be able to know much of what God wants you to know[MET]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "23", "text": "But if your eyes are bad, you are not able to see things well. And if that continues, the time will come when you will not be able to see at all. You will be in complete darkness [MET]. Similarly, if you continue to be greedy, you will be in spiritual darkness. If all that your eyes can see and your mind can think about involves your greedily desiring material possessions, all that you do will be evil[MET].”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "24", "text": "“No one is able to serve two different bosses at the same time. If he tried to do that, he would dislike one of them and love the other one, or he would be loyal to one of them and despise the other one [DOU]. Similarly, you cannot devote your life to worshipping God and worshipping money and material goods at the same time.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "25", "text": "“Because you should be concerned about what God thinks is important and not about material goods, I tell you that you should not worry about things that you need in order to live. Do not worry about whether you will have enough food to eat, and something to drink, or enough clothes to wear. It is important to have sufficient food and drink and clothing, but the way you conduct your lives is much more important [RHQ]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "26", "text": "Look at the birds. They do not plant seeds, and they do not harvest crops and gather them into barns. They always have food to eat because God, your Father who is in heaven, provides food for them. And you are certainly worth a lot more than birds [RHQ]! So you can be assured that God will supply what you need!"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "27", "text": "◄None of you can, just by worrying, add time to your life./Can any of you, just by worrying, add time to your life?► [RHQ] You cannot add even one minute to your life! So you should not worry about things such as food and clothing!"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "28", "text": "You should also not worry about whether you will have enough clothes to wear[RHQ]. Think about the way flowers grow in the fields. They do not work to earn money, and they do not make their own clothes."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "29", "text": "But I tell you that even though King Solomon, who lived long ago, wore very beautiful clothes, his clothes were not as beautiful as one of those flowers."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "30", "text": "God makes the wild plants very beautiful, but they grow in the field for only a short time. One day they grow, and the next day they are thrown into an oven {someone cuts them and throws them into an oven} to be burned to make heat for baking bread. But you are more important to God than wild plants are, and you live much longer. So ◄God will certainly provide clothes for you who live a long time but trust him so little!/will not God surely very adequately clothe you, who live a long time but trust him so little?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "31", "text": "Because of God's caring for you, do not worry and say, ‘Will we have anything to eat?’ or ‘Will we have anything to drink?’ or ‘Will we have clothes to wear?’ [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "32", "text": "Those who do not know God are always worrying about things like that. But God, your Father who is in heaven, knows that you need all those things, so you should not worry about them."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "33", "text": "Instead, the most important thing you should be concerned about is to let God completely direct your life, and to strive to live righteously. If you do that, all the things that you need will be given to you {God will give you all the things that you need}."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "34", "text": "So each day do not be worried about what will happen to you the next day, because when that day [PRS] comes, you will be concerned about what happens during that day. You will have enough to be concerned about each day. So do not worry ahead of time.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "1", "text": "“Do not talk about how sinfully others have acted, in order that God will not say how sinfully you have acted."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "2", "text": "If you condemn other people, God will condemn you. To the same extent that you condemn others, you will be condemned { God will condemn you}."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "3", "text": "◄None of you should be concerned about someone else's small faults[MET]!/Why should any of you be concerned about someone else's small faults?► [MET, RHQ] That would be like noticing a speck in that person's eye. But you should be concerned about your own big faults. They are like[MET] planks in your own eye, which you do not notice."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "4", "text": "◄You should not say to other people about their minor faults, ‘Let me remove the specks from your eyes!’/Why do you say to other people about their minor faults, ‘Let me remove the specks from your eyes?’► [RHQ] You should not say that if a plank is still in your own eye [MET]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "5", "text": "You hypocrite, stop committing your own sins! That will be like removing the plank from your own eye [MET]. Then, as a result, you will be able to perceive things spiritually so that you can help other people get rid of the faults[MET] that are like specks in their eyes.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "6", "text": "“You do not give holy things to dogs that would ignore those things and attack you [CHI]. You do not throw pearls in front of hogs, because they would just ignore them and trample them. Similarly, do not give precious spiritual truth to people you know will not value it but instead will do evil things to you.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "7", "text": "“Keep asking God for what you need. If you do that, he will give it to you. Confidently keep expecting God to give you the things that you need, and he will give them to you. It will be like[MET] looking for what you need and finding it. Keep on praying persistently to God. Then God will answer you. It will be like[MET] knocking on a door in order to enter a room. And the way will be opened { God will open the way} for you to get what you pray for."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "8", "text": "Remember that God will give things to everyone who continues to ask him for them. He will give things to whoever confidently keeps asking. He will open the way for people to get the things that they keep persistently praying for."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "9", "text": "◄No man among you would give a stone to his son if his son were to ask for bread./Would anyone among you give a stone to his son if his son were to ask for bread?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "10", "text": "Likewise, ◄no man would give a poisonous snake to his son if his son would ask for a fish./would anyone give a poisonous snake to his son if his son would ask for a fish?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "11", "text": "You, who are evil, know how to give good things to your children. So God, your Father who is in heaven, will certainly give good things to the people who ask him.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "12", "text": "“So in whatever way you want others to act toward you(pl) , that is the way you(pl) should act toward them, because that sums up what Moses wrote in the laws that God gave him and also what the prophets wrote long ago.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "13-14", "text": "“ Going to where people live eternally with God in heaven is difficult. It is like going along a narrow road [PRS, MET] that leads to a narrow gate. Not many people find that way. The way that most people take is easy, but it results in their being punished{ God punishing them} in hell. That way is like a wide road that people walk on [PRS, MET] until they reach the wide gate, but that road and that gate lead to where they will be destroyed { God will destroy them}. Many people enter that gate. So I am telling you to leave the wide road and enter the narrow gate to heaven.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "15", "text": "“Beware of people who come to you and say falsely that they are telling you what God has said. They seem to be harmless, but they are extremely harmful. They are like wolves that have covered themselves with sheepskins to make people believe that they are sheep[MET], but they actually are wolves that attack people [MET]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "16", "text": "So how will you know that they are false? Well, by seeing what plants produce, you know what kind of plants they are [MET]. For example, thornbushes cannot produce grapes, so ◄no one can pick grapes from thornbushes./can anyone pick grapes from thornbushes?► [RHQ] And thistles cannot produce figs, so ◄no one can pick figs from thistles./can anyone pick figs from thistles?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "17", "text": "Here is another example: All good fruit trees produce good fruit, but all unhealthy trees produce worthless fruit."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "18", "text": "No good fruit tree is able to produce worthless fruit, and no unhealthy tree is able to produce good fruit."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "19", "text": "And all the trees that do not produce good fruit are chopped down and burned in a fire {people chop them down and burn them in a fire} to get rid of them. Similarly, those who falsely claim to be prophets will be thrown{ God will throw false prophets} into the fires of hell."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "20", "text": "By seeing what plants produce, you know what kind of plants they are. Similarly, when you see what the people who come to you do, you will know if they are false prophets.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "21", "text": "“ Even though many people habitually call me ‘Lord’, pretending that they have my authority, some of them will not go to heaven where God rules, because they do not do what he desires. Only those people who do what my Father, who is in heaven, desires will go there."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "22", "text": "On the day [MTY] that God judges everyone, many people, trying to tell me that they deserve to go to heaven, will say to me, ‘Lord, we(exc) spoke God's message as your representatives [MTY, RHQ]! As your representatives we(exc) expelled demons from people[RHQ]! And as your representatives, many times we(exc) performed miracles [RHQ]!’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "23", "text": "Then I will declare to them, ‘I have never said that you belonged to me. Go away from me, you who do what is evil!’”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "24", "text": "“So then, anyone who hears what I say and does what I command, will be like a wise man who built his house on rock."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "25", "text": "Even though the rain came down and the river flooded, and the winds blew and beat against that house, it did not fall down because it had been built {he built it} on a solid foundation."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "26", "text": "On the other hand, anyone who hears what I say but does not obey what I say will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "27", "text": "When the rain fell and the rivers flooded, and the winds blew and beat against that house, it crashed down and broke completely apart, because it was built on the sand. So it is important for you to obey what I teach you.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "28", "text": "When Jesus finished saying all those things, the crowd who had heard him was amazed at the new teaching that he had taught them."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "29", "text": "The reason they were amazed was that he was teaching as a person does who has authority. He was not teaching like the men who taught the Jewish laws, who just repeated what other people had taught them."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "1", "text": "When Jesus went down from the hillside, large crowds followed him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "2", "text": "After he left the crowds, a man who had the skin disease called leprosy unexpectedly came and knelt before him. He said to Jesus, “Lord/Sir, please heal me, because I know you are able to heal me if you are willing to.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "3", "text": "Then Jesus, disregarding the religious law that forbade people to come close to lepers, stretched out his hand and touched the man. He said to him, “I am willing to heal you, and I heal you now!” Immediately the man was healed from his leprosy {he was no longer a leper}."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "4", "text": "Then Jesus said to him, “Go and show yourself to a nearby priest so that he can examine you and verify that you no longer have leprosy. Then, after he tells the local people, they will know that you no longer have leprosy, and you will be able to associate with them again. Make sure that now you do not report about my healing you to anyone other than the priest. Then go to the Temple in Jerusalem and give the priest the offering that Moses commanded that people who have been healed from leprosy should offer as a sacrifice to God.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "5", "text": "When Jesus went to Capernaum city, a Roman officer who commanded one hundred soldiers came to him. He begged Jesus to help him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "6", "text": "He said to him, “Sir, my servant is lying in bed at home and is paralyzed, and he has severe pain.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "7", "text": "Jesus said to him, “I will go to your house and heal him.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "8", "text": "But the officer said to him, “Lord/Sir, do not bother to go. I am a non-Jew, so I am not worthy for you, a Jew, to come into my house [MTY] and associate with me. Instead, just say that my servant is healed, and he will be healed."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "9", "text": "I believe this because, as for me, I am a man under the authority of others, and I also have soldiers under my authority. When I say to one of them ‘Go!’ he goes. When I say to another ‘Come!’ he comes. When I say to my slave, ‘Do this!’ he does it. And I believe that you speak with a similar kind of authority.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "10", "text": "When Jesus heard this, he marveled. He said to the crowd that was walking with him, “Listen to this: I have never before found anyone who has as firm a faith in me as this non-Jewish man has. Not even in Israel, where I would expect people to believe in me, have I found anyone who has the kind of faith in me that he has!"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "11", "text": "I tell you truly that many other non-Jewish people who will believe in me like this Roman officer will come from distant countries, including those far to the east and far to the west [SYN], and they will sit down to eat with [MTY] Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in heaven, where God rules."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "12", "text": "But the Jews[IDM] who should have allowed God to rule over them will be sent to hell, where there is total darkness. And as a result, they will weep because of their suffering and will grind their teeth because they will have severe pain[MTY].”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "13", "text": "Then Jesus said to the officer, “Go home. What you believed would happen, that I would heal your servant from a distance, will happen.” Then the officer went home and found out that his servant became well at the exact time that Jesus told him that he would heal him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "14", "text": "When Jesus and some of his disciples went to the home of Peter, Jesus saw Peter's mother-in-law. She was lying on a bed because she had a fever."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "15", "text": "He touched her hand, and as a result, immediately she no longer had a fever [PRS]. Then she got up and served them some food."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "16", "text": "That evening when◄ the Sabbath/the Jewish rest day► ended and restrictions about traveling ended, many people who were controlled by demons {whom demons controlled} and people who were sick[MTY] were brought to Jesus. He caused the demons to leave just by speaking to them, and he healed all the people who were sick."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "17", "text": "By doing this he fulfilled the words that had been said by the prophet Isaiah {that the prophet Isaiah had said} about the Messiah: “He healed people who had sicknesses and he cured them of their diseases.” [DOU]"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "18", "text": "Jesus saw the crowd around him, but he needed to rest. So he told his disciples to take him by boat to the other side of the lake."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "19", "text": "As they were walking toward the boat, a man who taught the Jewish laws came to him and said, “Teacher, I will go with you wherever you go.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "20", "text": "In order that the man might know what he could expect if he went with him, Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes in the ground in which to live, and birds have nests, but even though I am the one who came from heaven, I do not have a home where I can sleep [MTY].”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "21", "text": "Another man who was one of Jesus' disciples said to him, “Sir/Lord, permit me first to go home. After my father dies I will bury him, and then I will come with you.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "22", "text": "But Jesus said to him, “Come with me now. God considers that people who do not have eternal life are dead [MET]. Let those people do the work of burying people who die.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "23", "text": "Then Jesus got into the boat. The disciples also got in, and they started sailing close to the shoreline around Lake Galilee."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "24", "text": "Suddenly strong winds blew on the lake, and very high waves were splashing into the boat and filling it. But Jesus was sleeping."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "25", "text": "They went and woke him up, and said to him, “Sir/Lord, rescue us! We are about to drown!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "26", "text": "He said to them, “◄You should not be terrified!/Why are you terrified?► [RHQ] I am disappointed that in spite of all you have seen me do, ◄you do not believe very much that I can rescue you./ do you not believe that I can rescue you?► [RHQ]” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and told the waves to calm down. And the wind stopped blowing and the lake became calm."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "27", "text": "As a result, they were amazed, and they said to one another, “This man is certainly an extraordinary person [RHQ]! All things are under his control! Even the winds and the waves obey him [PRS]!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "28", "text": "When they came to the east side of the lake, they arrived in the region where the Gadarenes lived. Jesus got out of the boat and began walking on the road. Then two men who were controlled by demons {whom demons controlled} came out of the burial caves where they were living. Because they were extremely violent and attacked people, no one dared to travel on the road near where they were living."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "29", "text": "Suddenly they shouted to Jesus, “You are the Son of God! Because you have nothing in common with us [IDM, RHQ], leave us alone Have you come here [RHQ] to torture us before the time [MTY] God has appointed to punish us?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "30", "text": "There was a large herd of pigs not far away, digging for food with their noses."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "31", "text": "So the demons begged Jesus, saying, “You are going to cast us out of the men, so send us into the herd of pigs!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "32", "text": "Jesus said to them, “ If that is what you want, go!” So the demons left the men and entered the pigs. Suddenly the whole herd of pigs rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "33", "text": "The men who were tending the pigs became afraid and ran into the town and reported everything that had happened, including what had happened to the two men who had been controlled by demons {whom demons had controlled}."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "34", "text": "Then it seemed as if all the people[HYP] who lived in that town [MTY] went to meet Jesus. When they saw him and the two men who had been controlled by the demons, they begged Jesus to leave their region because they thought that he would destroy more things than just the pigs(OR, because they realized he must be very powerful)."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "1", "text": "Jesus and his disciples got into the boat. They skirted around the lake and went to Capernaum, the city where he was living."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "2", "text": "Some men brought to him a man who was paralyzed and who was lying on a sleeping pad. When Jesus perceived that they believed that he could heal the paralyzed man, he said to him, “Young man, be encouraged! I forgive your sins.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "3", "text": "Some of the men who taught the Jewish laws said among themselves, “ He claims that he can forgive sins! That means that he claims to be equal with God He is insulting God!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "4", "text": "Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he said, “◄You should not think evil thoughts, accusing me because I claim that I am God!/Why do you think evil thoughts, saying that it is wrong for me to claim that I am God?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "5", "text": "It would not be risky for someone to say to this man, ‘ I forgive your sins’, because no one could see whether or not it really happened. But no one, without having the power to heal, would say to him, ‘ Get up and walk!’, because people could easily see whether it happened or not! [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "6", "text": "So I am going to do something in order that you may know that God has authorized me, the one who came from heaven, to forgive the sins of people while I am on the earth, as well as to heal people.” Then he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, pick up your sleeping pad, and go home!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "7", "text": "And immediately the man got up, picked up his sleeping pad, and went home!"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "8", "text": "When the crowds saw this, they were awestruck. They praised God for giving authority to a human being to do such things."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "9", "text": "As Jesus was going away from there, he saw me, a man named Matthew. I was sitting at a table where I collected taxes for the Roman government. He said to me, “Come with me and become my disciple!” So I got up and went with him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "10", "text": "Then I invited Jesus and his disciples to my home for a meal. While they were sitting and eating in my home, many tax collectors and other people who were{whom the Pharisees} considered to be habitual sinners came unexpectedly to eat with us."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "11", "text": "When the Pharisees saw that, they came to us disciples and said, “◄ It is disgusting that your teacher, who claims to be righteous, eats and associates with tax collectors and other sinners!/Why is it that your teacher, who claims to be righteous, eats and associates with tax collectors and other sinners?►” [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "12", "text": "Jesus heard what they said, so he told them this parable: “ It is people who are sick who need a doctor[MET], not people who are well.” What he meant by that was that it was people who knew that they were sinners who were coming to him in order to be helped spiritually."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "13", "text": "He continued by saying, “You need to learn what these words that God said mean: ‘I want you to act mercifully to people and not just to offer sacrifices.’ Keep in mind that I came from heaven, not to invite people who think[IRO] that they are righteous to turn away from their sinful lives and come to me, but to invite people who know they are sinners to turn from their sins and come to me.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "14", "text": "Later, the disciples of John the Baptizer came to Jesus and asked him, “We(exc) and the Pharisees often abstain from food to show that we want to please God, but your disciples do not do that. Why do they not?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "15", "text": "Jesus wanted to show them and the Pharisees that it was not appropriate for his disciples to abstain from food and mourn while he was still with them. So he gave them this illustration: “When a bridegroom is with his friends at the time of the wedding, ◄his friends certainly do not mourn, do they?/do his friends mourn?► [RHQ] No, they do not mourn, because they are not sad at that time. But when the bridegroom is taken { someone takes the bridegroom/his enemies take the bridegroom} from them, they will abstain from food, because then they will be sad.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "16", "text": "Jesus wanted to show them that people who desire to live in accordance with his new message should not try to continue to obey the old religious traditions like◄ abstaining from food/fasting► [MET]. So he said to them, “People do not sew a patch of unshrunken cloth on an old garment to mend a hole. If they did that, when they washed the garment, the patch would shrink and tear the garment, and the hole would become bigger."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "17", "text": "Neither does anyone pour freshly- squeezed grape juice into old skin bags to store it. If anyone did that, those skin bags would tear because they would not stretch when the grape juice ferments and expands. They would be ruined, and the wine would be spilled {spill} on the ground. Instead, people put new wine into new skin bags, and the bags will stretch when the wine ferments. As a result, both the wine and the bags are preserved.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "18", "text": "While Jesus was saying that, a leader of the Jewish meeting place came and bowed down before him to show respect. Then he said, “My daughter just died! But if you come and lay your hand on her, she will live again!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "19", "text": "So Jesus got up, and he and we disciples went with the man."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "20-21", "text": "Then a woman who had been suffering constant vaginal bleeding for twelve years came near Jesus. She was saying to herself, “ I want Jesus to heal me without anyone finding out that I have this problem of bleeding. So if I touch him or even if I just touch his garment, I will be healed without anyone finding out about it.” So she came behind him and touched the tassel of his garment."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "22", "text": "Then Jesus turned around to see who had touched him. And when he saw the woman, he said to her, “Be encouraged, dear woman. Because you believed [PRS] that I could heal you, I have healed you.” The woman was healed at that very moment."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "23", "text": "Then Jesus and some of us disciples came to Jairus' house. Jesus heard the flute players playing funeral music and the crowd that had gathered wailing loudly because the girl had died."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "24", "text": "Knowing that he would cause her to live again, he said to them, “Go away and stop the funeral music and wailing, because the girl is not dead! She is just sleeping!” The people laughed at him, because they knew that she was dead."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "25", "text": "But Jesus told them to get out of the house. Then he went into the room where the girl was lying. He took hold of her hand and she became alive again and got up."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "26", "text": "And the people of that whole region heard [PRS] about it."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "27", "text": "As Jesus went away from there, two blind men followed him and shouted, “Have mercy on us and heal our eyes, you who are the Messiah, the Descendant of King David!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "28", "text": "Jesus went into the house, where he was staying, and then the blind men went in, too. Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to heal your eyes?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "29", "text": "Then he touched their eyes and he said to them, “Because you believe that I can heal your eyes, I am healing them right now!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "30", "text": "And they were able to see [IDM]! Then Jesus told them sternly, “Be sure [IDM] that you do not tell anybody what I did for you!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "31", "text": "But they went out and reported it throughout that whole region."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "32", "text": "When Jesus and we disciples left the house, some people brought to Jesus a man who was unable to speak because he was controlled by a demon {a demon controlled him}."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "33", "text": "After Jesus had expelled the demon, the man who had been unable to speak began to speak! The crowd who saw this marveled. They said, “Never before have we seen anything as marvelous as this happen in Israel!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "34", "text": "But the Pharisees said, “It is Satan, who rules the demons, who enables this man to expel demons from people.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "35", "text": "Then we went with Jesus through many of [HYP] the cities and towns in Galilee district. He was teaching ◄in the synagogues/in the Jewish meeting places► , and preaching the good message about how God rules over people's lives. He also was healing the people who had various diseases and illnesses."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "36", "text": "When he saw the crowd of people, he pitied them because they were harassed and dejected. They were like sheep that do not have a shepherd [SIM]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "37", "text": "Then he gave this illustration to us disciples: “ The people who are ready to receive my message are like a field that is ready to be harvested {for people to harvest}. But there are only a few of you who are teaching people my message."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "38", "text": "So pray and ask the Lord God to send more workers who will gather people together and teach them my message, just like a landowner sends workers into his field to gather the [MET] harvest.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "1", "text": "He told us twelve disciples to come to him. Then he gave us the power/authority to expel evil spirits that controlled people. He also enabled us to heal all people who had diseases or who were sick."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "2", "text": "Here is a list of us twelve disciples whom he called apostles ( which means ❛messengers❜ ): Simon, to whom he gave the new name Peter; Andrew, Peter's younger brother; James, the son of Zebedee; John, the younger brother of James;"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "3", "text": "Philip; Bartholomew; Thomas; me, Matthew, the tax collector; James, the son of Alpheus; Thaddeus;"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "4", "text": "Simon, a member of the party that wanted to overthrow the Roman government; and Judas Iscariot, who later enabled the Jewish leaders to seize Jesus."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "5", "text": "When Jesus was about to send us twelve apostles to tell his message to people in various places, he gave us these instructions: “Do not go where the non-Jews live [MTY] or into the towns where the Samaritans live, because they hate you."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "6", "text": "Instead, go to the people of Israel [SYN] who have gone away from God like sheep that have gotten lost [MET] have gone away from their shepherd."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "7", "text": "When you go to them, proclaim to them that God [EUP/MTY] will soon begin to rule over people."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "8", "text": "Heal sick people, cause dead people to become alive, heal people who have leprosy, and cause demons to leave people who are controlled by them{ whom demons control}. Do not charge money for helping people, because God did not charge you anything for helping you."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "9-10", "text": "Do not take any money with you [MTY], nor a knapsack. Do not take an extra shirt, nor sandals in addition to what you are wearing, nor a walking stick. Every worker deserves to get pay from the people for whom he works, so you deserve to receive food and a place to stay from the people to whom you go."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "11-12", "text": "In whatever town or village you enter, find out which person is worthy that you should stay in his home. And as you go into that house, ask God to bless the people who live there[MTY]. Stay in that home until you leave that town or village."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "13", "text": "If the people who live in [MTY] that house are worthy of being blessed{ God blessing them}, God will bless them. If the people who live in that house are not worthy of being blessed{ of God blessing them}, God will bless you instead of blessing them."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "14", "text": "If the people who live in any house or town do not welcome you to their home or town, nor listen to your message, leave that house or town. And as you leave, shake off the dust from your feet. By doing that, you will warn them that God will punish them for rejecting your message."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "15", "text": "Note this carefully: At the time when God judges all people, he will punish the people who lived in Sodom and Gomorrah [MTY], the ancient cities which God destroyed because their people were extremely wicked. But in any town where the people [MTY] refuse to hear your message, God will punish them even more severely.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "16", "text": "“Take note: After I send you out, you will be as defenseless as sheep [MET] in the midst of people who are as dangerous as wolves. You, on your part, should wisely stay away from such people, like you stay away from poisonous snakes [SIM]. You should be as harmless as doves are [SIM]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "17", "text": "Also, be on guard against our religious leaders. They will arrest you and take you to the members of the religious councils to put you on trial and punish you because you are my disciples. You will be whipped {The local leaders will whip you} in their meeting places."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "18", "text": "And because you teach about me, you will be taken { the religious leaders will take you} to governors and kings in order that they may put you on trial and punish you. As a result, you will testify to those rulers and to other non-Jews about what I have done."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "19", "text": "When the religious leaders arrest you, do not be worried about what you will say to them, because at that very time the Holy Spirit will tell you the words that you should say."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "20", "text": "It is not that you will decide what to say. Instead, you will say what the Spirit of your heavenly Father tells you to say."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "21", "text": "You will be taken{ People who do not believe in me will take you} to the authorities to be killed because you believe in me. For example, people will betray their brothers, and fathers will betray their children. Children will rebel against their parents and cause them to be killed."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "22", "text": "Many people will hate you because you believe in me. Nevertheless, many people will keep on believing in me until they die. They are the people whom God will take to live with him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "23", "text": "When people in one town cause you to suffer, escape to another town and tell the people there about me. Note this: I, the one who came down from heaven, will certainly return to earth before you have finished going from one town to another town throughout Israel and telling people about me."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "24", "text": "A disciple should not expect to be greater than his teacher, and servants are not superior to their master."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "25", "text": "You do not expect that people will treat a disciple better than they treat his teacher, or that they will treat a servant better than they treat his master. Similarly, because I am your teacher and master, you can expect that people will mistreat you, because they have mistreated me. The most you can expect is that people will treat you like they treat me. I am like the ruler of a household [MET]. But people have insulted me by calling me Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons. So they will certainly insult you more, you who are only like members of my household [MET]!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "26", "text": "“Do not be afraid of people who insult you and do evil things to you. God wants everything that is unknown now to be revealed { God wants you to reveal everything that is unknown now}. He does not want his truth to remain hidden [MET] and kept secret [DOU]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "27", "text": "So, instead of being afraid, what I say to you secretly as people do at night [MTY], tell publicly as people do during the daytime [MTY]. What I say to you privately as people do when they whisper to you [MTY], proclaim publicly [MTY, DOU]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "28", "text": "Do not be afraid of people who are able to kill your body [SYN] but are not able to destroy your soul. Instead, fear God because he is able to destroy both a person's body and a person's soul in hell."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "29", "text": "Think about the sparrows. They have so little value that you can buy cares two of them for only one small coin [RHQ]. But when any sparrow falls to the ground and dies[LIT], God, your heavenly Father, knows it, because he cares about everything."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "30", "text": "He cares about you, too. He even knows how many hairs you have on your head!"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "31", "text": "God values you much more than he values sparrows [LIT]. So, do not be afraid of people who threaten to kill you"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "32", "text": "If people, without being afraid, are willing to tell others that they are my disciples, I will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven that they are my disciples."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "33", "text": "But if they are afraid to say in front of others that they are my disciples, I will tell my Father, who is in heaven, that they are not my disciples.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "34", "text": "“Do not think that I came to earth to cause people to live together harmoniously. The result of my coming is that some of those who follow me[MTY] will be killed."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "35", "text": "Because I came to earth, people who do not believe in me will oppose those who do believe in me. For example, some sons will oppose their fathers, some daughters will oppose their mothers, and some daughters-in-law will oppose their mothers-in-law."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "36", "text": "This shows that sometimes a person's enemies will be members of his own household."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "37", "text": "People who love their fathers or mothers more than they love me are not worthy to have a relationship with me. And people who love their sons or daughters more than they love me are not worthy to belong to me."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "38", "text": "People who are ready to execute a prisoner force him to carry a cross to the place where they will nail him to it[MET]. Those who are not willing to allow other people to hurt and disgrace them like that because of being my disciples are not worthy to belong to me."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "39", "text": "People who deny that they believe in me in order to escape being killed will not live with God eternally[MET], but people who confess that they believe in me and, as a result are killed, will live with God eternally[MET].”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "40", "text": "“ God considers that everyone who welcomes you, welcomes me [SIM], and he considers that everyone who welcomes me welcomes him, the one who sent me [SIM]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "41", "text": "Those who welcome someone because[MTY] they know that person is a prophet they will receive the same reward that prophets receive from God. Likewise, those who welcome a person because[MTY] they know that person is righteous they will receive the reward righteous people receive from God."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "42", "text": "Note this: Suppose people see that you are thirsty[MTY] and give you a drink of cold water because they know that [MTY] you are one of my disciples. God will certainly reward people who do that. They might consider that what they did is insignificant, but God will consider it very significant” [LIT]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "1", "text": "When Jesus had finished instructing us twelve disciples about what we should do, he sent us to various Israelite towns. Then he went to teach and preach in other Israelite towns in that area."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "2", "text": "While John the Baptizer was in prison, he heard what the man whom he thought was the Messiah was doing. So he sent some of his disciples to him in order"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "3", "text": "to ask him, “Are you the Messiah who the prophets prophesied would come, or is it someone else that we should expect to come?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "4", "text": "After they asked Jesus that question, he answered them, “Go back and report to John what you hear me telling people and what you see me doing."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "5", "text": "I am enabling blind people to see and lame people to walk. I am healing people who have leprosy. I am enabling deaf people to hear and dead people to become alive again. I am telling poor people God's good message."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "6", "text": "Also tell John that God is pleased with people who do not stop believing in me because what I do is not what they expected the Messiah to do.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "7", "text": "When John's disciples had gone away, Jesus began to talk to the crowd of people about John. He said to them, “ Think about what sort of person you went to see in the desolate area when you went there to see John. ◄ You did not go there to listen to a man who constantly changed his message, like a reed that is blown {blows} back and forth in the wind [MET]!/Did you go there to listen to a man whose message changes continually like long grass that is blown {blows} back and forth in the wind changes its direction?► [MET, RHQ]"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "8", "text": "Then what kind of person did you go there to see [RHQ]? ◄ You did not go there to see a man who was wearing expensive clothes. /Did you go there to see a man who was wearing expensive clothes?► [RHQ] No! You know very well that people who wear beautiful clothes reside in kings' palaces and not in desolate areas."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "9", "text": "Then what kind of person did you go to see [RHQ]? Did you go there[RHQ] to see John because he was◄a prophet/a person who speaks what God tells him to say►? Yes! But I will tell you that John is more important than an ordinary prophet."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "10", "text": "He is the one to whom God was referring when he said to the Messiah these words that are written {about whom the prophet Malachi wrote} in the Scriptures: Listen! I am going to send my messenger to go before you [SYN] to prepare the people[MET] for your coming."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "11", "text": "Note this: Of all the people who have ever lived, God does not consider that any of them are greater than John the Baptizer. However, God considers that all those people who have let God rule their lives are greater than John, even if they are insignificant people."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "12", "text": "From the time that John the Baptizer preached until now, other people have violently attacked the people who have allowed God [MTY/EUP] to rule their lives and they have suffered (OR, people have very eagerly been asking God to take control of their lives, OR, Israelite people who have thought that I would become their king have been extremely eager to be included in my kingdom) (OR, have been violently attacked and made to suffer)."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "13", "text": "All this that I am saying about John is confirmed by the fact that all the men who wrote the Scriptures [MTY, SYN] foretold about God ruling people's lives, until John the Baptizer came."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "14", "text": "Even though most of you are unwilling to believe what I am saying, I will tell this truth to anyone who is willing to believe it: John is the man who is like Elijah [MET]. He is the one who one of the prophets said would come in order to prepare the people to welcome the Messiah."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "15", "text": "If you want to understand this, you must think carefully[MTY] about what I have just said[MTY].”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "16", "text": "“◄I will illustrate what you people who have heard what John the Baptizer and I have taught are like./Do you know what you people who have heard what John and I have taught are like?► [RHQ] You are like children who are playing games in an open area. Some of the children are calling to the others, saying,"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "17", "text": "‘We played happy music on the flute for you, but you did not dance! Then we sang sad funeral songs for you, but you did not cry [MET]!’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "18", "text": "Similarly, you are dissatisfied with both John and me! When John came and preached to you, he did not eat good food and did not drink wine, like most people do. But you rejected him saying, ‘A demon is controlling him!’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "19", "text": "In contrast, I, the one who came from heaven, eat the same food and drink wine as other people do. But you reject me, saying, ‘Look! This man eats too much food and drinks too much wine, and he associates with tax collectors and other sinners!’ But people who really think about what John and I have done will realize that what we do is truly wise [MET, PRS].”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "20", "text": "The people, who lived in the towns [MTY] in the area where Jesus was, saw him perform many miracles. But they did not turn away from their sinful behavior. So Jesus began to reproach them by saying to them,"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "21", "text": "“You people who live in Chorazin city[MTY] and you people who live in Bethsaida city[MTY] will suffer terribly in hell! I did great miracles in your cities, but you did not turn from your sinful behavior. If the miracles that I performed in your cities had been done in the ancient cities of Tyre and Sidon, the wicked people who lived there long ago would have sat in ashes, wearing coarse cloth to show that they were sorry for their sins."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "22", "text": "So note this: God will punish the wicked people who lived in the cities of Tyre and Sidon [MTY], but he will punish you even more severely on the final day when he judges all people."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "23", "text": "I also have something to say to you people who live in Capernaum city[MTY]. ◄Do not think that you will be honored {that God will honor you} in heaven!/Do you think that you will be honored {that God will honor you} in heaven?► [RHQ] That will not happen! On the contrary, after you die, you will be sent{ God will send you} down into the place where sinful people will be punished {he will punish sinful people} forever. God destroyed the ancient city of Sodom because the people who lived in that city were extremely wicked. If I had performed in Sodom the miracles that I performed in your city, the people there would have turned away from their wicked behavior and their city[MET] would still exist now [MTY]. But you, although I did miracles in your city, did not turn from your wicked behavior."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "24", "text": "So note this: God will punish the people who lived in Sodom city[MTY], but he will punish you even more severely on the final day when he judges all people.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "25", "text": "At that time Jesus prayed, “Father, you rule over everything in heaven and on the earth. I thank you that you have prevented people who think that they are wise [IRO] because they are well-educated from knowing these things. Instead, you have revealed them to people who accept your truth as readily as little children [MET] do."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "26", "text": "Yes, Father, you have done that because it seemed good to you to do so.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "27", "text": "Then Jesus said to the people there who wanted him to teach them, “ God, my Father, has revealed to me all the things that I need to know in order to do my work. Only my Father knows who I really am. Furthermore, only I and those people to whom I wish to reveal him know what God my Father is like."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "28", "text": "Come to me, all you people who are very weary of trying to obey all the many laws that your religious teachers tell you to obey[MET]. I will enable you to quit trying to obey all those laws."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "29-30", "text": "Let me help you carry those loads, just like two oxen who have a yoke on their necks[MET, DOU] help each other pull a heavy load. It will not be difficult for you to do the things that I ask you to do for me [DOU]. Because I am gentle and humble [DOU], accept what I teach about what God wants you to do. And as a result, you will quit worrying about obeying all the religious laws, and your spirits will be at peace.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "1", "text": "During that period of time, on a ◄Sabbath/Jewish day of rest►, Jesus and we disciples were walking through some grain fields. And because we were hungry, we began to pick some of the heads of grain and eat them. The laws of Moses permitted people to do that if they were hungry."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "2", "text": "Some Pharisees saw us do what they considered to be work. So they said to Jesus, accusing him, “Look! Your disciples are doing work that is not permitted in our laws [PRS] for us to do on our day of rest!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "3", "text": "Jesus wanted to show them that the record in the Scriptures indicated that God permitted people to disobey certain religious laws when they needed food. So he said to them, “ It is written{ Someone wrote} in the Scriptures[RHQ] what our revered ancestor King David did when he and the men with him were hungry. You have read about that, ◄ but you do not think about what it implies!/so why do you not think about what it implies?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "4", "text": "David entered the big tent where they worshipped God and asked for some food. The high priest gave him the bread that had been {they had} presented to God. According to the laws of Moses, only priests were permitted to eat that bread, but David and the men who were with him ate it. And God did not consider that what they did was wrong"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "5", "text": "Also, think about the laws that Moses wrote[RHQ]. He said that even though the priests, by working in the Temple on our Jewish day of rest, are not obeying the Jewish day of rest laws, they are not guilty. You have surely read that, but you do not understand what it means."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "6", "text": "Note this: God allows men to work in the Temple on our rest day because that work must be done. But in addition, I tell you that I have more authority than the authority of the Temple. So, it is more important for you to obey my teachings than to obey your traditions about our rest day."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "7", "text": "You should think about these words of God in the Scriptures: ‘I want you to act mercifully toward people, and not just offer sacrifices.’ If you understood what that means, you would not condemn my disciples, who have done no wrong."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "8", "text": "I want you to know that I, the one who came from heaven, have the authority to determine what is right for my disciples to do on the days of rest.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "9", "text": "After Jesus left there that day, he went into a building where we Jews worship God."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "10", "text": "He saw a man with a shriveled hand there. The Pharisees thought that Jesus would be disobeying the tradition about not working on the day of rest if he healed the man, so one of them asked him, “Does God permit us to heal people on our day of rest?” They asked that question so that they might accuse him if he healed someone◄on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day►."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "11", "text": "He replied to them, “Would anyone among you who has only one sheep that falls into a hole ◄on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day► just leave it there[RHQ]? Certainly not! You would take hold of it and lift it out right away, and that would be acceptable work on our day of rest, too"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "12", "text": "Because sheep are valuable, their owners may work on our day of rest in order to rescue them. So, because people are more valuable than sheep, it is certainly right for us to do something good by healing another person any day, including our day of rest!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "13", "text": "Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your withered hand!” The man stretched it out, and it became normal like the other hand!"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "14", "text": "Then the Pharisees left the meeting house. They were worried that the people would reject their traditions and would accept Jesus' teaching instead. So they met together to plan how they could kill him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "15", "text": "Because Jesus knew that the Pharisees were plotting to kill him, he took us disciples and went away from there. Crowds, including many sick people, followed him, wanting him to heal them, and he healed them all."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "16", "text": "But he told them firmly that they should not tell other people yet who he was."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "17", "text": "By acting humbly like that he fulfilled what was written by Isaiah the prophet {what Isaiah the prophet wrote} long ago about the Messiah. Isaiah wrote that God said:"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "22", "text": "One day when Jesus was at home, some men brought to Jesus a man who, because of being controlled by a demon {a demon controlled him}, was blind and unable to speak. Jesus healed him by expelling the demon. As a result, the man began to talk and was able to see."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "23", "text": "All the crowd who saw it marveled. They began asking each other, “Could this man be the Messiah, the descendant of King David, whom we have been expecting?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "24", "text": "Because the Pharisees and the men who taught the Jewish laws heard that the people thought that Jesus might be the Messiah because he had expelled the demon, they said, “ It is not God, but Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons, who enables this man to expel demons from people! ”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "25", "text": "But Jesus knew what the Pharisees were thinking and saying. So, in order to show them that what they said did not make sense, he said to them, “If the people in[MTY] one nation fight against each other, they will destroy their nation {their nation will be destroyed}. If people who live in the same city or house fight each other, they will certainly not remain as one group or family."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "26", "text": "Similarly, if Satan were expelling his own demons[MTY], it would be as though he was fighting against himself. ◄His kingdom would not continue!/How could his kingdom continue?► [RHQ] His rule over them would certainly not last!"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "27", "text": "Furthermore, if it is true that Satan enables me to expel demons, is it also true that your disciples who expel demons do so by Satan's power [RHQ]? No So they will show you that you are not thinking logically."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "28", "text": "But because it is God's Spirit who enables me to expel demons, that proves that the power of God to rule people's lives has come to you."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "29", "text": "I will illustrate why I am able to expel demons. ◄A person cannot go into the house of a strong man► [RHQ] But if he ties up the strong man, then he will be able to steal the things in that man's house."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "30", "text": "No one can be neutral. Those who do not acknowledge that the Holy Spirit enables me to expel demons are opposing me, and those who do not gather people to become my disciples are causing those people to [DOU] go away from me."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "31", "text": "You are saying that it is not the Holy Spirit who is enabling me to expel demons. So I will say this to you: If those who offend and slander other people in any way are then sorry and ask God to forgive them, God will forgive them. But people who discredit what the Holy Spirit does will not be forgiven { God will not forgive people who discredit what the Holy Spirit does}."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "32", "text": "God is willing to forgive people who criticize me, the One who came from heaven. But I warn you that those who say evil things about what the Holy Spirit does will not be forgiven { God will not forgive people who speak evil words about what the Holy Spirit does}. They will not be forgiven { He will not forgive them} now, and they will never be forgiven { he will never forgive them}.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "33", "text": "“Think about this: You can know whether a person is good and what that person says is good, in the same way that you can know whether a tree [MET] and the fruit it produces [MET] are good. You can also know whether a person and what that person says is evil in the same way that you can know whether a tree [MET] and its fruit [MET] are blighted. You can know whether a tree is good by seeing its fruit, and similarly people can know the evil character of you Pharisees by listening to your accusations against me."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "34", "text": "What you teach harms people spiritually like poisonous snakes harm them physically[MET]! You are not able to speak good things because you are evil [RHQ]. Evil people [SYN] like you speak what comes from all that is in their ◄inner beings/hearts►."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "35", "text": "Good people speak good things. That is like taking good things out of buildings where they are stored. But evil people speak evil things. That is like taking evil things out of buildings where they are stored."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "36", "text": "I tell you that on the day when God judges [MTY], he will make people recall every useless word they have spoken, and he will judge them accordingly."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "37", "text": "Based on the words that you have spoken, God will either declare that you are righteous based on the words that you have spoken, or else he will condemn you.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "38", "text": "Then some of the Pharisees and men who taught the Jewish laws responded to what Jesus was teaching by saying to him, “Teacher, we want to see you perform a miracle that would prove to us that God sent you.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "39", "text": "Then Jesus said to them, “ You people have already seen me perform miracles, but you are evil, and you do not faithfully worship God [MET]! You want me to perform a miracle that would prove to you that God sent me, but God will enable you to see only one miracle. It will be like what happened to Jonah the prophet [MET]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "40", "text": "Jonah was in the stomach of a huge fish for three days and nights before God caused him to live again. Similarly, for three days and nights I, the one who came from heaven, will be in a place where dead people are, and then God will cause me to live again."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "41", "text": "When God judges all people, the people who lived in Nineveh will stand in front of him with you people who have seen me perform miracles. The people of Nineveh turned from their sinful ways as a result of hearing what Jonah preached. Jonah was important, but I, who am more important than Jonah, have come and preached to you, but you have not turned from your sinful ways. So when God judges all people, he will condemn you."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "42", "text": "The queen from Sheba, South of Israel, who lived long ago, came from a distant region in order to listen to King Solomon teach many wise things. But now I, a man who is much greater and wiser than Solomon, am here, but you have not listened to what I have told you. So at the time when God judges all people, the queen from Sheba will stand in front of him, along with you people, and will condemn you.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "43", "text": "“ Sometimes when an evil spirit leaves a person, it wanders around in desolate areas, seeking someone in whom it can rest. If it does not find anyone,"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "44", "text": "it says to itself, ‘I will return to the person [MET] in whom I used to live.’ So it goes back and finds that the Spirit of God is not in control of that person's life. The person's life is like a house that has been swept clean and everything put in order [MET], but it is empty."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "45", "text": "Then this evil spirit goes and gets seven other spirits that are even more evil, and they all enter that person and begin living there. So, although that person's condition was bad before, it becomes much worse. That is what you wicked people who have heard me teach will experience.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "46", "text": "While Jesus was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his younger brothers arrived. They stood outside the house, wanting to speak with him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "47", "text": "Someone said to him, “Your mother and your younger brothers are standing outside the house, wanting to talk to you.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "48", "text": "Then Jesus said to the person who told him that, “◄ I will tell you something about my mother and brothers [MET]. /Do you know who I consider to be like my mother and my brothers?►” [MET, RHQ]"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "49", "text": "He then pointed toward us disciples and said, “These are ones whom I love as much as I love my mother and my brothers [MET]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "50", "text": "Those who do what God my Father who is in heaven wants, are as dear to me[MET] as my brother, my sister, or my mother.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "1", "text": "That same day Jesus, along with us disciples, left the house where he was teaching and went to Galilee lake. He sat down there,"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "2", "text": "and a very large crowd gathered around him to listen to his teaching. So, in order that they would not jostle him(OR, to speak to the people better), he got into a boat and sat down to teach them. The crowd stood on the shore and was listening."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "3", "text": "He was telling them many parables. One of the parables that he told them was this: “Listen! A man went out to his field to sow some seeds."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "4", "text": "As he was scattering them over the soil, some of the seeds fell on the path. Then some birds came and ate those seeds."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "5", "text": "Other seeds fell on ground where there was not much soil on top of the rock. Those seeds sprouted very soon, because the sun quickly warmed the shallow soil."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "6", "text": "But when the young plants came up, they were scorched by the sun, and they withered because they did not have deep roots."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "7", "text": "Other seeds fell on ground that contained roots of thorny weeds. The thorny weeds grew together with the young plants, and they crowded out the plants."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "8", "text": "But other seeds fell on good soil, and the plants grew and produced a lot of grain. Some plants produced one hundred times as many seeds as were planted. Some plants produced sixty times as much. Some plants produced thirty times as much."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "9", "text": "If you want to understand this [MTY], you should consider carefully what I have just said.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "10", "text": "We disciples approached Jesus and asked him, “Why do you use parables when you speak to the crowd?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "11", "text": "He answered us saying, “God [EUP/MTY] is revealing to you what he did not reveal before, about how he wants to rule over people's lives. But he has not revealed it to others."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "12", "text": "Those who think about what I say and understand it, God will enable them to understand more. But those who do not think carefully about what I say will forget even what they already know."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "13", "text": "That is why I use parables when I speak to people, because although they see what I do, they do not perceive what it means, and although they hear what I say, they do not really understand what it means."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "14", "text": "What these people do completely fulfills what God told the prophet Isaiah to say long ago to the people who did not try to understand what he said, You will hear what I say, but you will not understand it. You will keep seeing what I do, but you will not understand what it means[DOU]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "15", "text": "God also said to Isaiah, These people have become unresponsive [MTY] to what they see me do and to what they hear me say. They listen unwillingly [MTY] to what I say, and they do not pay attention to [MTY] what I do. If it were not so, they would perceive [MTY] what I am doing, they would understand [MTY] what I say to them, and they would turn away from their sinful lives and turn to me, and I would save them from being punished for their sins[MET]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "16", "text": "But as for you, God is pleased with you because you [SYN] have seen what I have done and because you [SYN] understand what I say[DOU]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "17", "text": "Note this: Many prophets and righteous people who lived long ago longed to see what you are seeing me do, but they did not see it. They longed to hear the things that you have been hearing me say, but they did not hear what you hear me say.” [DOU]"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "18", "text": "“ Since God wants you to understand what I am teaching you, listen as I explain the parable about the man who sowed seeds in various kinds of soil."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "19", "text": "The people who hear about how God rules over people's lives and do not understand what they have heard are like the path where some of the seeds fell. Satan, the Evil One, comes and causes these people to forget [MET] what they have heard [MET]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "20", "text": "Some people are like the shallow soil on top of rock. When they hear God's message, they immediately accept it joyfully."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "21", "text": "But because it does not penetrate deeply into their hearts, they believe it for only a short time. They are like the plants that did not have deep roots. When they are treated badly and caused to suffer because they believe God's message, they soon stop believing it."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "22", "text": "Some people are like the soil that had the roots of thorny weeds in it. They hear God's message, but they desire to be rich, so they worry only about [MTY, PRS] material things. As a result, they [PRS] forget God's message and they do not do [IDI] the things that God wants them to do."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "23", "text": "But some people are like the good soil where some of the seeds fell. Just like the plants that grew in this soil produced a lot of grain, these people hear my message and understand it. Some of them do many things [IDI] that please God, some do even more things that please God, and some do very many things that please God.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "24", "text": "Jesus also told the crowd another parable, by which he tried to explain that although God [MTY/EUP] is a king, he will not immediately judge and punish all the wicked people. Jesus said, “ God is like a landowner who sent his servants to sow good wheat seed in his field."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "25", "text": "While those servants were sleeping and not watching the field, an enemy of the landowner came and scattered weed seeds in the midst of the wheat. Then he left."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "26", "text": "After the seeds sprouted and the green plants grew, the heads of grain began to form. But the weeds also grew."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "27", "text": "So the servants of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, you [RHQ] gave us good seeds and those are the ones we[RHQ] planted in your field. So where did the weeds come from?’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "28", "text": "The landowner said to them, ‘ My enemy did this.’ His servants said to him, ‘So, do you want us to pull up the weeds and put them in a pile?’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "29", "text": "He said to them, ‘No, do not do that, because you might pull up some of the wheat at the same time."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "30", "text": "Let the wheat and the weeds grow together until harvest time.’ At that time I will say to the reapers, ‘First gather the weeds, tie them into bundles to be burned. Then gather the wheat and put it into my barns.’”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "31", "text": "Jesus also told this parable: “The number of(OR, God's influence in the lives of) people whose lives God rules over will continue to grow. It is very much like mustard seeds grow after a man plants them in his field."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "32", "text": "Although mustard seeds are among the smallest of all the seeds that people plant, here in Israel they become large plants. When the plants have fully grown, they are larger than the other garden plants. They become shrubs that are large enough for the birds to build nests in their branches.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "33", "text": "Jesus also told this parable: “ The way people who let God [MTY/EUP] rule their lives [MET] can influence the world is like yeast that a woman mixed with about fifty pounds of flour. That small amount of yeast made the whole batch of dough swell up.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "34", "text": "Jesus told the crowd parables to teach them all these things. When he spoke [HYP] to them he habitually used such illustrations."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "35", "text": "By doing that, he fulfilled what God told one of the prophets to write long ago. I will speak [MTY] in parables; I will tell parables to teach what I have kept secret since I created the world."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "36", "text": "After Jesus dismissed the crowds, he went inside. Then we disciples approached him and said, “Explain to us the parable about the weeds that grew in the wheat field.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "37", "text": "He answered, “The one who sows the good seed represents me, the one who came from heaven."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "38", "text": "The field represents this world [MTY], where people live. The seeds that grew well represent the people who let God rule their lives [MET]. The weeds represent the people who do what the devil, the Evil One, tells them to do."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "39", "text": "The enemy who sowed the weed seeds represents the devil. The time when the reapers will harvest the grain represents the time when the world will end. The reapers represent the angels."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "40", "text": "The weeds are gathered and burned. {The reapers gather the weeds. Then they burn them.} That represents the judging of people, which God will do when the world will end. It will be like this:"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "41", "text": "I, the one who came from heaven, will send my angels and they will gather from everywhere the people who cause others to quit believing in me [MET] and all those who disobey God's commands."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "42", "text": "They will throw those people into the fires of hell. There they will weep and grind their teeth because of the great pain that they are suffering."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "43", "text": "God's brightness will shine on the people who have lived as he wants them to. It will shine on them as brightly as the sun shines. It will shine on them in the place where God, their Father, rules over them. If you want to understand this [MTY], you should think carefully about what I have just said.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "44", "text": "“ What people do who begin to allow God [MTY/EUP] to rule their lives is like what a certain man did to acquire a treasure. A treasure was hidden in a field by someone {Someone hid a treasure in a field and never dug it up again}. When another man found it, he hid it by burying it again in order that no one else would find it. Being very happy that he had found something very valuable, he went and sold all his possessions to obtain money to buy the field the treasure was in. He then went and bought the field, and so he was able to acquire that treasure."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "45", "text": "Also, what people do who begin to allow God [MTY/EUP] to rule their lives is like what a merchant did who was looking for good quality pearls to buy."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "46", "text": "When he found one very costly pearl that was for sale, he sold all his possessions to acquire enough money to buy that pearl. Then he went and bought it."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "47", "text": "What God [MTY/EUP] will do to people who falsely say that they are letting him rule their lives is like what certain fishermen did with the fish they caught in a lake, using a large net. They caught all classes of fish, both useful and worthless fish."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "48", "text": "When the net was full, the fishermen pulled it up onto the shore. Then they sat there and put the useful fish into buckets, and threw the worthless ones away."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "49", "text": "What they did in separating the good fish from the bad ones is like what will happen to people when the world ends. The angels will come to where God is judging people and will separate the wicked people from the righteous ones."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "50", "text": "They will throw the wicked people into the fire in hell. And those wicked people will weep and gnash their teeth because of the intense pain they are suffering.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "51", "text": "Then Jesus asked us, “Do you understand all these parables I have told you?” We said to him,"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "52", "text": "“Yes, we understand them.” Then he said to us, “Because you understand all these parables, you will understand the following parable: You, along with all others, will teach people what you heard me say about God ruling people's lives. You will add that to what you formerly learned. You will be like a manager of a household who takes both new things and old things out of his storage room.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "53", "text": "When Jesus had finished telling these parables, he took us and left that area."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "54", "text": "We went to Nazareth, his hometown. ◄On the Sabbath/On the Jewish rest day► he began to teach the people in the Jewish worship house. The result was that the people there were astonished. But some said, “ This man is just an ordinary person like us. So how is it that he knows so much and understands so much [RHQ]? And how is it that he is able to do such miracles [RHQ]?"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "55", "text": "◄He is just the son of the carpenter!/Isn't he just the son of the carpenter that lived here?► [RHQ] His mother is Mary, and his younger brothers are James, Joseph, Simon and Judas [RHQ]!"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "56", "text": "◄And his sisters also live here in our town./Do not his sisters live in our town?► [RHQ] So how is he able to do all these miracles?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "57", "text": "The people were unable to accept that he was the Messiah. So Jesus said to them, “ People honor me and other prophets everywhere else we go, but in our hometowns we are not honored, and even our own families do not honor us! ”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "58", "text": "Jesus did not perform many miracles there because the people did not believe that he was the Messiah."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "1", "text": "During that time Herod Antipas, the ruler, heard reports about Jesus performing miracles."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "2", "text": "He said to his servants: “That must be John the Baptizer. He must have risen from the dead, and that is why he has power to perform miracles.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "3-4", "text": "The reason Herod thought that was this: Herod had married Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, while Philip was still living. So John had been saying to him, “ What you did by marrying your brother's wife while your brother is still alive is against God's law!” Then, to please Herodias, Herod told his soldiers to arrest John. They bound him with chains and put him in prison."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "5", "text": "Herod wanted to have John executed, but he was afraid that the people who had accepted what John taught would riot if he did that, because they believed that John was a prophet."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "6", "text": "But when Herod gave a party to celebrate his birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced for his guests. This pleased Herod."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "7", "text": "So he promised to give her whatever she asked, and he asked God to punish him if he did not do what he had promised."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "8", "text": "So Herodias' daughter went and asked her mother what to ask for. Her mother told her to ask for John the Baptizer's head. So her daughter went back and said to Herod: “ Cut off the head of John the Baptizer and please bring it here on a platter so that my mother can know for sure that he is dead! ”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "9", "text": "The king was distressed because he now knew he should not have made that promise to her. But because he had made an oath in front of his guests when he made that promise, and he did not want them to think that he would not do what he had promised, he commanded that the girl be given what she requested."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "10", "text": "He sent the executioner to go to the prison and to cut off John's head."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "11", "text": "The executioner did that, and put John's head on a platter and gave it to the girl. Then the girl took it to her mother."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "12", "text": "John's disciples then went to the prison, took John's body and buried it, and they reported to Jesus what had happened."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "13", "text": "After Jesus heard that, he took just us disciples with him and we went by boat on Galilee lake to an uninhabited place. After the crowds heard that we had gone to an uninhabited place, they left their towns and followed Jesus, walking along the shore."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "14", "text": "When Jesus came to the shore, he saw a large crowd of people who had gathered there, waiting for him. He felt sorry for them, and he healed those among them who were sick."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "15", "text": "When it was nearly evening, we disciples came to him and said, “This is a place where nobody lives, and it is very late. Dismiss the crowds so that they can go into the nearby towns. Have them do that so that they can buy food for themselves.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "16", "text": "But Jesus said to us, “They do not need to leave to get food. Instead, you yourselves give them something to eat!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "17", "text": "We said to him, “But we have only five loaves of bread and two cooked fish here!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "18", "text": "He said to us, “Bring them to me!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "19", "text": "He told the people who had gathered there to sit on the grass. Then he took the five flat loaves and the two fish. He looked up toward heaven, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. Then he gave them to us disciples, and we distributed them to the crowd."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "20", "text": "All the people in the crowd ate until they had enough to eat. Then we disciples gathered the pieces that were left over, and we filled twelve baskets with them."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "21", "text": "Those who ate were about five thousand men. We did not count the women and children!"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "22", "text": "Right after that happened, Jesus told us disciples to get in the boat and to go ahead of him further around the lake while he dismissed the crowds."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "23", "text": "After he dismissed them, he went up into the hills to pray by himself. When it was evening, he was still there alone."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "24", "text": "By this time we were already many hundred meters from the shore. The boat was being severely tossed around by the waves {The waves were severely tossing the boat} because the wind was blowing against it."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "25", "text": "Then Jesus came down from the hills to the lake. Some time between three and six o'clock in the morning he walked on the water toward our boat."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "26", "text": "When we disciples saw someone walking on the water, we thought that we must be seeing a ghost. We were terrified, and we screamed out because we were afraid."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "27", "text": "Immediately Jesus said to us, “Cheer up! It is I. Do not be afraid!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "28", "text": "Peter said to him, “Lord, if it is you, tell me to walk on the water to you!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "29", "text": "Then Jesus said, “Come!” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "30", "text": "But when Peter looked at the tossing waves which the strong wind caused, he became afraid. He began to sink, and cried out, “Lord, save me!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "31", "text": "Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and grabbed him. He said to Peter, “You only trust a little bit in my power◄Why did you doubt that I could keep you from sinking?/You should not have doubted that I could keep you from sinking!► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "32", "text": "Then Jesus and Peter got in the boat, and the wind immediately stopped blowing."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "33", "text": "All of us disciples who were in the boat worshipped Jesus and said, “Truly you are the Son of God!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "34", "text": "When we had gone further around the lake in the boat, we came ashore at Gennesaret town."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "35", "text": "The men of that area recognized Jesus. So they sent people to inform those who lived in that whole surrounding region [MTY] that Jesus was in their area. So the people brought to Jesus all the sick people who lived in that region."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "36", "text": "The sick people kept begging him to allow them to touch him or just to touch the edge of his robe so that they would be healed. And all who touched him or his robe were healed {he healed all who touched him or his clothing}."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "1", "text": "Then some Pharisees and men who taught the Jewish laws came from Jerusalem to talk to Jesus. They said,"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "2", "text": "“◄We think it is disgusting that your disciples disobey the traditions of our ancestors!/Why do your disciples disobey what our ancestors wrote down and our elders taught us?► [RHQ] They do not perform the proper ritual of washing their hands before they eat!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "3", "text": "Jesus answered them, “◄What is really disgusting is that you refuse to obey God's commands just so that you can follow what your ancestors taught you!/Why do you refuse to obey what God commanded people to do, just so that you can follow your own traditions?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "4", "text": "God gave these two commands: ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and ‘People who speak evil about their father or mother must be executed.’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "5", "text": "But you tell people, ‘You can say to your father or mother, “What I was going to give to you to help provide for you, I have now promised to give to God.”’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "6", "text": "And if you do that, you think that you do not need to give anything to your parents. In that way, by teaching people your traditions, you disregard what God commanded."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "7", "text": "You only pretend to be good! Isaiah prophesied accurately about you also when he quoted what God said about your ancestors. God said,"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "8", "text": "‘These people talk as if they honor me [MTY], but they do not think about honoring me at all [MET]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "9", "text": "It is useless for them to worship me, because they teach what people thought up as if I myself had commanded it.’”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "10", "text": "Then Jesus again summoned the crowd to come nearer to him. Then he said to them, “Listen to what I am about to tell you, and try to understand it."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "11", "text": "Nothing that a person puts into his mouth to eat causes God to consider that person to be unacceptable. Instead, it is the words that come out of people's mouths [SYN] that cause God to reject them.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "12", "text": "Later we disciples went to Jesus and said, “Do you know that the Pharisees heard what you said, and as a result they felt offended [RHQ]?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "13", "text": "Then, to teach us what God would do to the Pharisees, Jesus told us this parable: “My Father in heaven will get rid of all those who teach things that are contrary to his truth, just like a farmer gets rid of plants that he did not plant by pulling them up along with their roots [MET]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "14", "text": "Do not pay any attention to the Pharisees. They do not help people who do not know God's truth to understand it, just like blind guides do not help blind people to perceive where they should go[MET]. If a blind person tries to lead another blind person, they will both fall into a hole [MET]. Similarly, both the Pharisees and their disciples will end up in hell.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "15", "text": "Peter said to Jesus, “Explain to us the parable about what a person eats.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "16", "text": "He replied to them, “◄I am disappointed that even you, who should understand what I teach, still do not understand!/Why is it that even you who should understand what I teach, still do not understand?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "17", "text": "◄You ought to understand that all food that people eat enters their stomachs, and later the refuse passes out of their bodies./Cannot you understand that all food that people eat enters their stomachs and later the refuse passes out of their bodies?► [RHQ] Because food does not alter what we think and desire, what we eat does not cause God to consider that we are unacceptable to him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "18", "text": "You should know that what comes out of people's mouths, meaning everything that they say[SYN], comes from their inner beings/hearts. Many of the things that they say cause God to consider them to be unacceptable to him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "19", "text": "It is people's innermost beings that cause them to think things that are evil, to murder people, to commit adultery, to commit other sexual sins, to steal things, to testify falsely, and to speak evil about others."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "20", "text": "It is these actions that cause God to consider people to be unacceptable to him. To eat with unwashed hands does not cause God to consider people unacceptable to him.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "21", "text": "After Jesus took us and left Galilee district, we went into the region where the cities of Tyre and Sidon are located."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "22", "text": "A woman from the group of people called Canaanites who live in that region came to the place where Jesus was staying. She kept shouting to him, “Lord, you are the descendant of King David, you are the Messiah! Have pity on me and my daughter! She is suffering very much because a demon controls her.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "23", "text": "But Jesus did not answer her at all. We disciples came to him, and knowing that the woman was not a Jew, we said to him, “Tell her to leave because she keeps bothering us by yelling behind us!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "24", "text": "But Jesus said to her, “I have been sent { God has sent me} to help only the Israelite people at this time[SYN]. They are like sheep that have gotten lost [MET] because they do not know the way to heaven.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "25", "text": "But she came closer to Jesus and knelt down in front of him to worship him. She pled, “Lord/Sir, help me!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "26", "text": "Then, to suggest to her that he needed to help the Jews first and not the non-Jews, whom the Jews called dogs, he told her, “It is not good for someone to take food that has been prepared for the children and throw it to the little dogs.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "27", "text": "But to show that she believed that non-Jews could also receive help from God, the woman said to Jesus, “Lord/Sir, what you say is correct, but even the little dogs eat the crumbs that fall to the floor when their masters sit at their tables and eat!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "28", "text": "Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, because you believe firmly in me, I will heal your daughter as you desire!” At that moment the demon left her daughter, and she became well."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "29", "text": "After Jesus, along with us disciples, departed from that area, we went back to Galilee lake and walked along it. Then Jesus climbed the hill near there and sat down to teach the people."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "30", "text": "Crowds kept coming to him for the next two days and brought lame, crippled, and blind people, those who were unable to talk, and many others who had various sicknesses. They laid them in front of Jesus so that he would heal them[SYN]. And he healed them."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "31", "text": "The crowd saw him heal people who could not talk, crippled people, lame people, and blind people, and they were amazed. They said, “Praise God who rules over us who live in Israel!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "32", "text": "Then Jesus called us disciples to him and said to us, “This crowd of people has been with me for three days and have nothing left to eat. I feel sorry for them. I do not want to send them away while they are still hungry, because if I did that, they might faint on the way home.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "33", "text": "We disciples said to him, “In this place where nobody lives, ◄we cannot possibly obtain enough food to feed such a large crowd!/how can we obtain a large enough amount of food to feed such a large crowd?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "34", "text": "Jesus asked us, “How many small loaves do you have?” We said to him, “ We have seven small loaves and a few cooked fish.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "35", "text": "He told the people to sit on the ground."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "36", "text": "Then he took the seven small loaves and the fish. After he thanked God for them, he broke them into pieces, and he kept giving them to us. Then we kept distributing them to the crowd."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "37-38", "text": "Because Jesus made the food multiply miraculously, all those people ate and had plenty to satisfy them. There were four thousand men who ate, but no one counted the women and the children who also ate. Then we disciples collected the pieces of food that were left over, and we filled seven large baskets with them."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "39", "text": "After Jesus dismissed the crowd, he, along with us, got in the boat, and we sailed around the lake to the region called Magadan."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "1", "text": "Some Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and asked him to perform a miracle that would prove that God had sent him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "2", "text": "He answered them, “ In this country, in the evening you say, ‘ It will be good weather tomorrow, because the sky is red.’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "3", "text": "Early in the morning you say, ‘It will be stormy weather today, because the sky is red, and dark clouds have formed.’ You understand how to predict the weather by looking at the sky, but you cannot seem to look at what is happening now and by that understand what God is doing."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "4", "text": "You evil people have seen me perform miracles but you do not faithfully worship God [MET]. You want to see me perform a miracle that would prove that God has sent me. But God will enable you to see only one miracle. It will be like what happened [MET] to Jonah, the prophet, who was inside a huge fish for three days and then came out of it to live again.” Then Jesus left them and sailed away, along with us disciples."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "5", "text": "We forgot to take bread when we sailed to another edge of the lake."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "6", "text": "Then Jesus said to us, “Beware that you do not accept the yeast [MET] that the Pharisees and Sadducees distribute.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "7", "text": "Then, not realizing that he was speaking figuratively, we said to one another, “ He must have said that because we forgot to bring any bread!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "8", "text": "Because Jesus knew what we were saying, he said to us, “◄I am disappointed that you are discussing among yourselves, thinking that it was because you did not bring any bread that I talked about the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees./Why are you discussing among yourselves thinking that it was because you did not bring any bread that I talked about the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees?► [RHQ] You believe only a little what I am able to do for you."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "9", "text": "◄You should understand that I can continue to do miracles to provide for what you need./ Do you not yet understand that I can provide miraculously for you if you need food?► [RHQ] Do you not remember that five thousand people ate when I multiplied the five small loaves and the two fish? And after everyone had enough to eat, you collected twelve baskets of left-over pieces[RHQ]!"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "10", "text": "Do you not remember[RHQ] that four thousand people ate when I multiplied the seven small loaves and a few fish? And after everyone had enough to eat, you collected seven large baskets of left-over pieces"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "11", "text": "◄You should have understood that I was not speaking about real bread that contains yeast./Why have you not understood that I was not speaking about real bread that contains yeast? ► [RHQ] What I was saying was that you should not accept what the Pharisees and Sadducees say, because it would affect you like yeast affects[MET] dough.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "12", "text": "Then we understood that he was not talking about the yeast that is in bread. Instead, he was talking about the wrong teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "13", "text": "When Jesus came with us disciples to the region near Caesarea Philippi town, he asked us, “Who do people say that I, the one who came from heaven, really am?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "14", "text": "We answered, “Some people say that you are John the Baptizer, who has come back to life again. Others say that you are the prophet Elijah, who has returned from heaven as God promised. Still others say that you are the prophet Jeremiah or one of the other prophets who lived long ago, who has come back to life again.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "15", "text": "Jesus said to us, “ What about you? Who do you say that I am?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "16", "text": "Simon Peter said to him, “You are the Messiah! You are the Son of the all-powerful God.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "17", "text": "Then Jesus said to him, “Simon, son of Jonah, God is pleased with you. What you just said was not [SYN] revealed to you by any human. Instead, it was my Father who lives in heaven who revealed this to you."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "18", "text": "I will also tell you this: You are Peter, which means rock. You are like a rock. What you and your fellow apostles teach(OR, what you do) will be like a foundation on which I will create congregations of people who believe in me. And the demons [PRS], who live where the dead people who lived evil lives are, will not be able to come and prevent [MET] me from doing that.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "19", "text": "Then, speaking to all of us, he said, “I will enable you(pl) to have authority [MTY] over the groups of people over whose lives God rules. Whatever you forbid regarding those people [MTY], it will have been forbidden by God. Whatever you permit [MET] regarding them, it will have been permitted by God.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "20", "text": "Then Jesus warned us disciples strongly not to tell anyone at that time that he is the Messiah."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "21", "text": "From that time Jesus began to teach us disciples that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem city. There the ruling elders, the chief priests, and the men who taught the Jewish laws would cause him to suffer and be killed {die}. Then on the third day after that, he would become alive again."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "22", "text": "Because Peter assumed that the Messiah would not suffer and die, he took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him for talking about suffering and dying. He said, “Lord, may God never permit that to happen to you! That must certainly not happen!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "23", "text": "Then Jesus turned to look at Peter, and he said to him, “Stop talking to me like that[MTY]! Stop saying what Satan [MET] would say, and stop trying to prevent from happening what God has planned! You are a hindrance to me, because you are not thinking like God thinks. Instead, you are thinking like people think!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "24", "text": "Then Jesus said to us disciples, “If any one of you wants to be my disciple, you must not do only what you yourself want to do. You must be willing to let people hurt you and disgrace you. That is like what they do to criminals whom they force to carry a cross [MET] to the place where the criminals will be executed. That is what anyone who wants to be my disciple must do."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "25", "text": "You must do that, because those who try to save their lives by denying that they belong to me when people want to kill them for believing in me will not live eternally, but those who are killed because of being my disciples will live with God eternally."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "26", "text": "People might get everything they want in this world, but ◄ if they do not become my disciples, they would really be gaining nothing because they would not get eternal life!/what would they gain if they do not become my disciples and thus do not get eternal life?► [RHQ] ◄There is absolutely nothing that people can give to God that would enable them to gain eternal life./What can people give to God that could enable them to gain eternal life?► [MTY, RHQ]"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "27", "text": "Listen carefully: I, the one who came from heaven, will leave this earth, but I will return, and the angels of heaven will accompany me. At that time I will have the glorious radiance that my Father has, and I will reward everyone according to what they did when they were living on earth."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "28", "text": "Listen carefully! Some of you who are here now will see me, the one who came from heaven, when I return to rule. You will see this before you die!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "1", "text": "A week after Jesus said that, he took Peter, James, and John, the younger brother of James, and led them up a high mountain where they were away from other people."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "2", "text": "While they were there, the three disciples saw that Jesus' appearance was changed. His face shone like the sun, and his clothing shone and became as brilliant as light."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "3", "text": "Suddenly Moses and Elijah, who were important prophets many years ago, appeared and started talking with him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "4", "text": "Peter saw them and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is wonderful for us to be here! If you want me to, I will make three shelters, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "5", "text": "While Peter was speaking, a bright cloud appeared and covered them. They heard God speaking about Jesus from inside the cloud. He said to them, “This is my Son. I love him. He pleases me very much. So you must listen to him!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "6", "text": "When the three disciples heard God speaking, they were terrified. As a result, they fell prostrate on the ground."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "7", "text": "But Jesus went to them and touched them and said to them, “Stand up! Do not be afraid anymore!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "8", "text": "And when they looked up [MTY], they saw that Jesus was the only one who was still there."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "9", "text": "When they were walking down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Do not tell anyone what you saw on the mountain top until God has caused me, the one who has come from heaven, to become alive again after I die.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "10", "text": "Those three disciples had just seen Elijah and he did not do anything to prepare people for the coming of the Messiah, so they asked Jesus, “If what you say is true, why do the men who teach the Jewish laws say that it is necessary for Elijah to come back to earth before the Messiah comes?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "11", "text": "Jesus answered them, “It is true that God promised that Elijah would come to prepare many [HYP] people for the Messiah's coming."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "12", "text": "But note this: Elijah's representative has already come and our leaders have seen him, but they did not recognize him as the one who would come before the Messiah. Instead, they treated him badly, just like they desired. And those same rulers will soon treat me, the one who came from heaven, in the same manner.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "13", "text": "Then the three disciples understood that when he was talking about Elijah, he was referring to John the Baptizer."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "14", "text": "When Jesus and the three disciples returned to the rest of us disciples and to the crowd that had gathered, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "15", "text": "He said to him, “Sir/Lord, have mercy on my son and heal him! He has epilepsy and suffers very much. Because of this illness, he has fallen in the fire and in the water many times."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "16", "text": "I brought him to your disciples in order that they might heal him, but they were not able to heal him.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "17", "text": "Jesus responded by saying to everyone who had gathered there, “ You who have seen how I help people do not believe that you can do anything! Your minds are distorted. How long do I have to be with you before you are able to do what I do[RHQ]? How long do I have to endure your not believing[RHQ]? Bring the boy here to me!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "18", "text": "When they brought the boy to Jesus, Jesus rebuked the demon that was causing the epilepsy. As a result, the demon came out of the boy, and the boy was healed from that time onward."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "19", "text": "Later, some of us disciples approached Jesus. We asked him privately, “Why were we(exc) not able to expel the demon?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "20-21", "text": "He answered us, “It is because you did not believe very much in God's power. Think about this: Mustard seeds are very small, but in this area they grow and produce large[MET] plants. Similarly, if your faith grows until you truly believe that God will do what you ask him to, you will be able to do anything [LIT]! You could even say to this hill, ‘Move from here to there!’ and it would go where you told it to go.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "22", "text": "When we disciples had gathered together in Galilee district, Jesus said to us, “ I, the one who came from heaven, will soon be handed over { Someone will soon hand me, the one who came from heaven, over} to the authorities [SYN]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "23", "text": "They will kill me. But God will cause me to become alive again on the third day after I am killed.” When we heard that, we became very sad."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "24", "text": "When we came to Capernaum city, the men who collect taxes for the Temple approached Peter and said to him, “Your teacher pays the Temple tax, does he not?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "25", "text": "He answered them, “Yes, he does pay it.” When we came into the house before Peter began to talk about paying taxes, Jesus said to him, “Simon, from whom do you think rulers collect revenue or taxes? Do they collect taxes from the citizens of their own country, or from citizens of countries they have conquered?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "26", "text": "Peter answered him, “From citizens of other countries.” Then Jesus said to him, “So citizens of their own country do not need to pay taxes."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "27", "text": "But even though the Temple is mine, pay the tax for us so that the Temple tax collectors will not become angry with us. In order to get the money to pay it, go to the lake. Cast your fish line and hook, and take the first fish that you catch. When you open its mouth, you will find a silver coin that is worth enough to pay the tax for you and me. Take that coin and give it to the Temple tax collectors.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "1", "text": "About that time we disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who among us will be the most important when God [MTY/EUP] makes you king?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "2", "text": "Jesus called a child to come, and he placed that child in our midst."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "3", "text": "He said, “Think about this: If you(pl) do not change the way you(pl) think and become as humble as little children, you(pl) will surely not go to the place where God [MTY/EUP] rules."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "4", "text": "The people who become as humble as this child or any child is, will be the most important people among those over whom God rules."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "5", "text": "Also, when those who, because they love me, welcome a child like this one, God considers that they are welcoming me.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "6", "text": "“If you cause someone who believes in me to sin, even if it is someone who is socially unimportant like this little child, God will severely punish you. If a heavy stone were fastened around your neck and you were thrown into the deep waters of the sea, people would consider that you had been severely punished. But God will punish you more severely than that if you cause someone to sin"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "7", "text": "It will be terrible for those [MTY] who cause others to stop believing in me. God will punish them eternally. It is inevitable that there will be those who cause others to stop believing in me. But it will be horrible for everyone who does that."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "8", "text": "So, if you are wanting to use one of your hands or feet to sin, stop using that hand or foot! Even if you have to cut it off to avoid sinning, do it[MET]! It is good that you not sin and go where you will live with God eternally, even though while you are still here on earth you are maimed or lame and do not have a hand or a foot. But it is not good that you continue to have your two hands and two feet and do[MTY] the sinful things you want to, and as a result, you are thrown into hell, where there is eternal fire burning."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "9", "text": "If what you see you makes you want to sin, stop looking at those things! Even if you have to gouge out one of your eyes and throw it away to avoid sinning, do it[HYP]! It is good that you not sin and go where you will live with God eternally, even though while you are still here on earth you have only one eye. But it is not good that you continue to have your two eyes and do the sinful things you want to, and as a result, you are thrown {God throws you} into hell where there is eternal fire burning.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "10-11", "text": "“Make an effort that you(pl) do not despise even one of these children. I tell you(pl) truly that since the angels live in heaven in the presence of my Father, they will report to him if you mistreat the children."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "12", "text": "What do you(pl) think you would do in the following situation? If you had one hundred sheep and one of them got lost, you would surely leave the ninety-nine sheep that are on the hill and go and search for the lost one [RHQ], would you not?"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "13", "text": "If you found it, I affirm to you(pl) that you would rejoice very much. You would be happy that ninety-nine sheep did not stray away, but you would rejoice even more because you had found the sheep that had strayed away."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "14", "text": "In the same way that the shepherd does not want one of his sheep to stray away, so God, your Father in heaven, does not want even one of these children to go to hell.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "15", "text": "“If a fellow believer sins against you, go to him, and when you two are alone, reprove him for sinning against you. If that person listens to you and feels sorry that he has sinned against you, you will have restored your friendship with that person."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "16", "text": "If that person will not listen to you nor feel sorry that he has sinned against you, go get one or two other people who will listen to what you both have to say. Have them go with you so that what is written{ Moses wrote} in the Scriptures might happen: ‘ When one person accuses another in some matter, it should be confirmed by at least two or three people { at least two or three people should confirm it} before that person can be declared guilty { before they declare that person guilty}.’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "17", "text": "If the one who has sinned against you will not listen to them or does not feel sorry that he has sinned against you, tell that to the congregation so that they can rebuke him. If that person will not listen to the congregation or feel sorry that he has sinned against you, exclude him from being a member of your congregation, just like you would exclude pagans, tax collectors, and others who do not believe in God and sin greatly."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "18", "text": "Keep this in mind: Whatever you decide on earth about punishing or not punishing a member of your congregation is what has also been decided by God in heaven {what God in heaven has also decided}."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "19", "text": "Also note this: If at least two of you who live here on earth agree together about whatever you ask God for [DOU], God, my Father who is in heaven, will give you what you ask for."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "20", "text": "This is true, because wherever at least two or three of you assemble because you believe in me [MTY], I am spiritually present with you. I will hear what you ask for and I will ask God to do it for you.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "21", "text": "Then Peter approached Jesus and said to him, “How many times must I forgive a fellow believer who keeps on sinning against me? If he keeps asking me to forgive him, must I forgive him as many as seven times?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "22", "text": "Jesus said to him, “I tell you that the number of times you must forgive someone is not just up to seven, but you must◄ forgive him 77 times/never stop forgiving him►."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "23", "text": "In order to illustrate why you should do this, I will tell you a story in which God [MTY/EUP], who cares for the people whose lives he rules over, is compared {I compare God, who cares for the people whose lives he rules over} to a king and his officials. That king told some of his servants that he wanted his officials to pay what they owed him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "24", "text": "So those officials were brought to the king to settle their accounts with him. One of the officials who were brought owed the king several million dollars."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "25", "text": "But because he did not have enough money to pay what he owed, the king demanded that he, his wife, his children and all he possessed be sold to someone else and that the king be repaid with{receive} the money that was paid for them."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "26", "text": "Then that official, knowing that he did not have the money to pay that huge debt, fell on his knees in front of the king and he begged him saying, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you all of it, eventually.’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "27", "text": "The king, knowing that the official could never pay all that huge debt, felt sorry for him. So he canceled his debt and released him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "28", "text": "Then this official went to another one of the king's officials who owed him a bit less than a year's wages. He grabbed him by the throat, started choking him, and said to him, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "29", "text": "That official fell on his knees and begged him saying, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you all of it, eventually.’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "30", "text": "But this official kept refusing to cancel that small debt that the man owed him. Instead, he caused that official to be put in prison and to stay there until he could pay back all the money that he owed him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "31", "text": "When the other officials of the king learned that this had happened, they felt very distressed. So they went to the king and reported in detail what had happened."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "32", "text": "Then the king summoned the official who had owed him several million dollars. He said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I canceled that huge debt that you owed me because you begged me to do so"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "33", "text": "You should have been merciful and canceled your fellow official's debt, just like I was merciful to you and canceled your debt[RHQ]!’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "34", "text": "The king was very angry. He handed this official over to some jailers who would torture him severely until he paid all of the debt that he owed.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "35", "text": "Then Jesus continued by saying, “That is what my Father in heaven will do to you if you do not feel merciful and sincerely forgive a fellow believer who sins against you.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "1", "text": "After Jesus had said that, he took us and left Galilee district and went to the part of Judea district that is located on the east side of the Jordan River."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "2", "text": "Large crowds followed him there, and he healed the sick among them."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "3", "text": "Some Pharisees approached Jesus and said to him, “Does our Jewish law permit a man to divorce his wife for any reason whatever?” They asked that in order to be able to criticize Jesus, whether he answered “Yes” or “No.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "4", "text": "Jesus said to them, “ Because you have read [RHQ] the Scriptures, you should know that at the time God first created people, ‘he made one man, and he made one woman to be that man's wife.’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "5", "text": "That explains why God said, ‘ When a man and woman marry, they should no longer live with their fathers and mothers. Instead, the two of them shall live together, and they shall become so closely united that they are like one person [MET].’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "6", "text": "Consequently, although they functioned as two separate people before, they now become as if they were one person [MET]. Since that is true, a man must not separate from his wife whom God has joined to him, because it is God's plan for them to remain together.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "7", "text": "The Pharisees then said to him, “If that is true, why did Moses command that a man who wanted to divorce his wife should give her a paper stating his reason for divorcing her, and then send her away?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "8", "text": "He said to them, “It was because your ancestors stubbornly wanted their own way that Moses allowed them to divorce their wives, and you are no different from them. But when God first [MTY] created a man and a woman, he did not intend for them to separate."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "9", "text": "I am telling you emphatically that because God considers that a marriage lasts until either the husband or the wife dies, he considers that any man who divorces his wife and marries another woman is committing adultery, unless his first wife has committed adultery.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "10", "text": "We disciples said to him, “If that is true, it is better for men never to marry!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "11", "text": "Then he said to us, “Not every man is able to accept this teaching. Only the men whom God enables to accept it are able to do so."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "12", "text": "There are men who do not marry because they are not able to have sexual relations because they have been sexually defective ever since they were born. There are other men who do not marry because they are unable to have sexual relations because they have been castrated {other men have made them that way}. There are other men who decide not to marry[MET] in order that they can serve God better and spend more time telling people about how God [MTY/EUP] wants to rule people's lives. You who are able to understand what I have said about marriage should accept it and obey it.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "13", "text": "Then some children were brought { some people brought their children} to Jesus in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray for them. But we disciples scolded the people for bringing their children to Jesus because we thought that Jesus did not want to take the time to be with children."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "14", "text": "But when Jesus saw us scolding them, he said to us, “Let the children come to me! Do not stop them! It is people who are humble and trusting like they are, who can experience God's rule in their lives.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "15", "text": "Jesus then laid his hands on the children and asked God to bless them. Then he left there."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "16", "text": "As Jesus was walking along, a young man approached him and said to him, “Teacher, what good deeds must I do in order to live with God eternally?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "17", "text": "Jesus said to him, “◄Consider what you are implying about who I am when you ask me about what is good./Do you realize what you are implying about who I am when you ask me about that which is good?► [RHQ] Only one being is good and really knows what is good. That being is God. But in order to answer your question about desiring to live with God eternally, I will say to you, ‘Keep the commandments that God gave Moses’ .”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "18", "text": "The man asked Jesus, “Which commandments must I keep?” Jesus answered him, “Do not murder anyone, do not commit adultery, do not steal things, do not testify falsely,"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "19", "text": "honor your father and your mother, and love people you come in contact with as much as you love yourself.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "20", "text": "Thinking that he might not be able to live with God eternally even though he had kept those commandments, the young man said to Jesus, “I have always obeyed all those commandments. What else must I do in order to live with God eternally?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "21", "text": "Jesus said to him, “If you desire to be all that God intends you to be, go home, sell everything that you have and give the money to poor people. The result will be that you will have spiritual riches in heaven. Then come and be my disciple!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "22", "text": "When the young man heard those words, he went away feeling sad, because he was very rich and did not want to give away everything he owned."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "23", "text": "Then Jesus said to us disciples, “Keep this in mind: It is very difficult for rich people to decide to let God [MTY/EUP] rule their lives."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "24", "text": "Note this also: It is impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. It is almost as difficult [HYP] for rich people to decide to let God rule their lives.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "25", "text": "When we disciples heard this, we were astounded. We thought that rich people were the ones whom God blesses the most. So we said to him, “◄If that is so, it does not seem likely that anyone will be saved!/Who then will God will save?►” [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "26", "text": "When Jesus heard us say that, he looked intently at us, and then he said to us, “ Yes, it is impossible for people to save themselves. But God can save them, because God is able to do anything!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "27", "text": "Then Peter said to him, “You know that we(exc) have left everything behind and we have become your disciples. So what benefit will we get for doing that?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "28", "text": "Jesus said to us, “Keep this in mind: You will get many benefits. When God makes the new earth and when I, the one who came from heaven, sit on my magnificent throne, those of you who have accompanied me will each sit on a throne, and you will judge the people of the twelve tribes of Israel."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "29", "text": "God will reward those who, because of being my disciples, have left behind a house or plot of ground, their brothers, their sisters, their father, their mother, their children, or any other family[MTY] members. God will give them a hundred times as many benefits as they have given up. And they will live with God eternally."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "30", "text": "But many people who consider themselves to be important now will be unimportant at that future time, and many people who consider themselves to be unimportant now will be important at that future time.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "1", "text": "“ In order to illustrate how God rewards people, I will compare the way God [MTY/EUP] rules his people with what the owner of an estate did. Early in the morning the owner of the estate went to the market where people who wanted work gathered. He went there to hire laborers to work in his vineyard."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "2", "text": "He promised the men whom he hired that he would pay them the standard wage for working one day. Then he sent them to his vineyards."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "3", "text": "At nine o'clock that same morning he went back to the market. There he saw more men who did not have work."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "4", "text": "He said to them, ‘Go to my vineyard as other men have done, and work there. I will pay you whatever is a just wage.’ So they also went to his vineyard and began to work."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "5", "text": "At noon and at three o'clock he again went to the market and found other laborers whom he promised to pay a fair wage."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "6", "text": "At five o'clock he went to the market again and saw other men standing there who were not working. He said to them, ‘Why are you standing here all day and not working?’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "7", "text": "They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘ I will hire you. Go to my vineyard as other men have done, and work there.’ So they went."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "8", "text": "When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Tell the men to come so that you can give them their wages. First, pay the men who started working last, and pay the men last who started working first.’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "9", "text": "The manager paid the standard daily wage to each of the men who did not start working until five o'clock in the afternoon."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "10", "text": "When the men who had begun working early in the morning went to get their wages, they thought that they would receive more than the standard wage. But they also received only the standard wage."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "11", "text": "So they complained to the owner of the vineyard because they thought their payment was unfair."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "12", "text": "They said to him, ‘ You are not being fair! The men who started working after all of the rest of us started worked for only one hour! You have paid them the same wage as you paid us! But we worked hard all day [IDM], including working in the hottest part of the day!’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "13", "text": "The owner of the vineyard said to one of those who complained, ‘Friend, I did not treat you unfairly. You agreed with me to work the whole day for the standard wage [RHQ]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "14", "text": "Stop complaining to me Take your wage and go! I desire to give the same wage that I gave you to the men who began working after all of you had begun working."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "15", "text": "I certainly have a right to spend my money as I desire [RHQ], including paying those laborers what I desire to pay them. ◄You should not be envious about my being generous!/Are you angry [MET] because I am generous?► [RHQ]’”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "16", "text": "Then Jesus said to us, “Similarly, God will reward well some people who seem to be less important now, and he will not reward some people who seem to be more important now.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "17", "text": "When Jesus was walking on the road up to Jerusalem, along with us twelve disciples, he took us to a place by ourselves in order that he could talk to us privately. Then he said to us,"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "18", "text": "“Listen carefully! We are now going up to Jerusalem. While we are there, someone will enable the chief priests and the men who teach the Jewish laws to seize me, the one who came from heaven, and they will put me on trial. They will condemn me and say that I should be killed {the authorities should kill me}."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "19", "text": "Then they will put me in the hands of non-Jews so that they can make fun of me, whip me, and kill me by nailing me to a cross. But on the third day after that, God will cause me to live again.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "20", "text": "Then the mother of James and John brought her two sons to Jesus. She bowed down before Jesus and asked him to do her a favor."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "21", "text": "Jesus said to her, “What do you want me to do for you?” She said to him, “Permit these two sons of mine to sit next to you (OR, Permit these two sons of mine to sit next to you at your right side and at your left side) and rule with you[MTY] when you become king.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "22", "text": "Jesus said to her and her sons, “You do not understand what you are asking for. Can you suffer like I am about to suffer [IDM]?” James and John answered him, “Yes, we are able to do that.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "23", "text": "Then Jesus said to them, “Yes, you will suffer as I will suffer [IDM]. But I am not the one who chooses the ones who will sit next to me and rule with me. God, my Father, will give those places [MTY] to the ones whom he appoints.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "24", "text": "When we ten other disciples heard what James and John had requested, we became angry with them because we also wanted to rule with Jesus in the highest positions."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "25", "text": "So Jesus called all of us together and said to us, “You know that those who rule the non-Jews enjoy showing them that they are powerful. Their chief rulers enjoy commanding the people under them."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "26", "text": "You should not be like them. On the contrary, everyone among you who wants God to consider him great must become like a servant for the rest of you."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "27", "text": "And everyone among you who wants God to consider him to be the most important must become like a slave for the rest of you."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "28", "text": "You should imitate me. Even though I am the one who came from heaven, I did not come to be served {in order that people would serve me}. On the contrary, I came in order to serve others and to [IDM] allow myself to be killed {other people to kill me}, so that my dying would be like a payment to rescue many people from being punished for their sins.” [MTY]"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "29", "text": "As we were leaving Jericho city, a large crowd of people followed us."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "30", "text": "As we walked along, we saw two blind men sitting alongside the road. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they yelled to him, “Lord, Descendant of King David, you are the Messiah Take pity on us!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "31", "text": "People in the crowd scolded them and told them to be quiet. But the blind men yelled even louder, “Lord, Descendant of King David, you are the Messiah Have pity on us!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "32", "text": "Jesus stopped and called them to come to him. Then he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "33", "text": "They said to him, “Lord, heal our eyes [IDM] so that we can see! ”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "34", "text": "Jesus felt sorry for them and touched their eyes. Immediately they were able to see, and they went with Jesus."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "1-2", "text": "As we approached Jerusalem, we came near Bethphage village, near Olive Tree Hill. Jesus said to two of his disciples, “Go to the village just ahead of us. As soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey and her foal that are {someone has} tied up. Untie them and bring them here to me."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "3", "text": "If anyone says anything to you about your doing that, tell him, ‘The Lord needs them.’ He will then allow you to lead them away.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "4-5", "text": "When all this happened, what was written by a prophet {what a prophet wrote about} was fulfilled {happened}. The prophet wrote, “Tell the people who live in Jerusalem [SYN], ‘Look! Your king is coming to you! He will come humbly. He will show that he is humble, because he will be riding on a colt, the offspring of a donkey.’”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "6", "text": "So the two disciples went and did what Jesus told them to do."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "7", "text": "They brought the donkey and its colt to Jesus. They placed their cloaks on them to make something for him to sit on. Then Jesus mounted the colt and sat on the cloaks."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "8", "text": "Then a large crowd spread some of their clothing on the road, and other people cut off branches from palm trees and spread them on the road. They did those things to decorate the road in order to honor Jesus."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "9", "text": "The crowds that walked in front of him and those who walked behind him were shouting things like, “Praise the Messiah, the descendant of King David!” “May the Lord God bless this one who comes as God's representative and with God's authority [MTY].” “Praise God, who is in the highest heaven!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "10", "text": "As Jesus entered Jerusalem, a crowd of people [MTY] from all over the city became excited and were saying, “Why are they honoring this man like that?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "11", "text": "The crowd that was already following him said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "12", "text": "Then Jesus went into the Temple courtyard and chased out all of those who were buying and selling things there. He also overturned the tables of those who were giving Temple tax money in exchange for Roman coins, and he overturned the seats of those who were selling pigeons for sacrifices."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "13", "text": "Then he said to them, “It is {◄ Jeremiah/A prophet► has} written in the Scriptures that God said, ‘ I want my house to be called a place where people pray’, but you bandits have made it [MET] your hideout!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "14", "text": "After that, many blind people and lame people came to Jesus in the temple in order that he would heal them, and he healed them."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "15", "text": "The high priests and the men who taught the people the Jewish laws saw the wonderful deeds that Jesus did. They also saw and heard the children shouting in the Temple, “We praise the Messiah, the descendant of King David!” They were indignant because they did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "16", "text": "They thought that Jesus should not be allowing the children to say that, so they asked him, “ How can you tolerate this [RHQ]? Do you hear what these children are shouting?” Then Jesus said to them, “Yes, I hear them, but if you remembered what you have read in the Scriptures about children praising me, you would know that God is pleased[RHQ] with them. The psalmist wrote, saying to God, ‘You have taught infants and other children to praise you perfectly.’”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "17", "text": "Then Jesus left the city. We disciples went with him to Bethany town, and we slept there that night."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "18", "text": "Early the next morning when we were returning to the city, Jesus was hungry."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "19", "text": "He saw a fig tree near the road. So he went over to it to pick some figs to eat. But when he got close, he saw that there were no figs on the tree. There were only leaves on it. So to illustrate how God would punish the nation of Israel, he said to the fig tree, “May you never again produce figs!” As a result, the fig tree withered that night."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "20", "text": "The next day when we disciples saw what had happened to the tree, we marveled, and we said to Jesus, “◄It is astonishing that the fig tree withered so quickly!/How is it that the fig tree dried up so quickly?►” [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "21", "text": "Jesus said to us, “Think about this: If you believe that God has power to do what you ask him to and you do not doubt that, you will be able to do things like what I have done to this fig tree. You will even be able to do marvelous deeds like saying to a nearby hill, ‘Uproot yourself and throw yourself into the sea’, and it will happen!"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "22", "text": "In addition to that, whenever you ask God for something when you pray to him, if you believe that he will give it to you, you will receive it from him.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "23", "text": "After that, Jesus went into the Temple courtyard. While he was teaching the people, the chief priests and the elders of the Jewish Council approached him. They asked, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who authorized you to do what you did here yesterday[DOU]?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "24", "text": "Jesus said to them, “I also will ask you a question, and if you answer me, I will tell you who authorized me to do these things."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "25", "text": "Where did John the Baptizer get his authority to baptize those who came to him? Did he get it from God or from people? [MTY/EUP]” The chief priests and elders debated among themselves about what they should answer. They said to each other, “If we say, ‘ It was[MTY/EUP] from God’, he will say to us, ‘Then ◄you should have believed his message!/why did you not believe John's message?► [RHQ]’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "26", "text": "If we say, ‘It was from people’, we are afraid that the crowd will react violently, because all the people believe that John was a prophet sent by God.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "27", "text": "So they answered Jesus, “We do not know where John got his authority.” Then he said to them, “ Because you did not answer my question, I will not tell you who authorized me to do the things I did here yesterday.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "28", "text": "Then Jesus said to the chief priests and elders, “Tell me [RHQ] what you think about what I am about to tell you. There was a man who had two sons. He went to his older son and said, ‘My son, go and work in my vineyard today!’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "29", "text": "But the son said to his father, ‘I do not want to go and work in the vineyard today!’ But later he changed his mind, and he went to the vineyard and worked."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "30", "text": "Then the father approached his younger son and said what he had said to his older son. That son said, ‘Sir, I will go and work in the vineyard today.’ But he did not go there."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "31", "text": "So which of the man's two sons did what their father desired?” They answered, “The older son.” Jesus explained to them what that parable meant by saying, “Think about this: It is more likely that other people, including tax collectors and prostitutes, whom you think are very sinful, will enter where God rules, than it is that you Jewish leaders will enter."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "32", "text": "I say this to you because, even though John the Baptizer explained to you how to live righteously, you did not believe his message. But tax collectors and prostitutes believed his message, and they turned away from their sinful behavior. In contrast, you, even though you saw what they did, refused to turn away from your sinful behavior, and you did not believe John's message.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "33", "text": "“Listen to another parable that I will tell you. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He built a fence around it. He dug a hole in the ground inside the fence. He placed in the hole a stone tank to collect the juice that would be pressed out of the grapes. He also built a tower inside that fence that someone would sit in to guard that vineyard. He arranged for some men to care for the vineyard and to give him some of the grapes in return. Then he went away to another country."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "34", "text": "When it was time to harvest the grapes, the landowner sent some of his servants to the men who were caring for the vineyard to get his share of the grapes that the vineyard had produced."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "35", "text": "But the renters seized the servants. They beat one of them, they killed another one, and killed another one of them by throwing stones at him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "36", "text": "So the landowner sent more servants than he had sent the first time. The renters treated those servants the same way that they had treated the other servants."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "37", "text": "Later, knowing this, the landowner sent his son to the renters to get his share of the grapes. When he sent him, he said to himself, ‘They will certainly respect my son and give him some of the grapes.’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "38", "text": "But when the renters saw his son arriving, they said to each other, ‘This is the man who will inherit this vineyard! Let's kill him and divide the property among ourselves.’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "39", "text": "So they grabbed him, dragged him outside the vineyard, and killed him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "40", "text": "Now I ask you, when the landowner returns to his vineyard, what do you think he will do to those renters?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "41", "text": "The chief priests and elders replied, “He will thoroughly destroy those wicked renters Then he will rent the vineyard to others. They will give him his share of the grapes when they are ripe.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "42", "text": "Jesus said to them, “ That is right, so you need to think carefully about these words which you have read [RHQ] in the Scriptures: The builders rejected a certain stone. But others put that same stone in its proper place, and it has become the most important stone of the building [MET]. The Lord has done this, and we marvel as we look at it."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "43", "text": "So, because you reject me, I am going to tell you this: God will no longer let you Jews be the people over whom he rules. Instead, he will let non-Jews be the people over whom he rules, and they will do [IDM] what he asks them to do."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "44", "text": "The important stone in the building represents me, the Messiah, and those who reject me are like people who fall on this stone. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken into pieces {This cornerstone will break into pieces anyone who falls on it}, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "45", "text": "When the chief priests and the elders who were Pharisees heard this parable, they realized that he was accusing them because they did not believe that he was the Messiah."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "46", "text": "They wanted to seize him, but they did not do so because they were afraid of what the crowds would do if they did that, because the crowds considered that Jesus was a prophet."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "1", "text": "Then Jesus told the Jewish leaders other parables in order to illustrate what will happen to the people who do not accept him as the King God promised to send. This is one of those parables:"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "2", "text": "“ God[MTY/EUP] is like a king [SIM] who told his servants that they should make a wedding feast for his son."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "3", "text": "When the feast was ready, the king sent his servants to tell the people who had been {whom he had} invited that it was time for them to come to the wedding feast. The servants did that. But the people who had been invited did not want to come."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "4", "text": "So he sent other servants to again tell the people whom he had invited that they should come to the feast. He said to those servants, ‘Say to the people whom I invited to come to the feast, “The king says that he has prepared the food. The oxen and the fattened calves have been butchered and cooked. Everything is ready. It is time now for you to come to the wedding feast!’”’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "5", "text": "But when the servants told them that, they disregarded what the servants said. Some of them went to their own fields. Others went to their places of business."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "6", "text": "The rest of them seized the king's servants, mistreated them, and killed them."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "7", "text": "When the king heard what had happened, he became furious. He commanded his soldiers to go and kill those murderers and burn their cities."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "8", "text": "After his soldiers had done that, the king said to his other servants, ‘I have prepared the wedding feast, but the people who were {whom I} invited do not deserve to come to it because they did not consider it an honor to have been invited."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "9", "text": "So, go to the intersections of the main streets. Tell whomever you find that they should come to the wedding feast.’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "10", "text": "So the servants went there, and they gathered everyone they saw who wanted to come to the feast. They gathered both people that were considered to be evil and those that were considered to be good. They brought them into the hall where the wedding feast took place. The hall was filled with people."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "11", "text": "But when the king went into the hall to see the guests who were there, he saw someone who was not wearing clothes that had been provided for the guests to wear at a wedding feast."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "12", "text": "The king said to him, ‘Friend, ◄you should never have entered this hall, because you are not wearing the clothes that guests wear at wedding feasts!/how did you enter this hall, because you are not wearing the clothes that are appropriate for guests to wear at a wedding feast?► [RHQ]’ The man did not say anything, because he did not know what to say."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "13", "text": "Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Tie this person's feet and hands and throw him outside where there is total darkness. People who are there cry out because they are suffering and they gnash their teeth because of their severe pain.’”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "14", "text": "Then Jesus said, “The point of this story is that God has invited many to come to him, but only a few people are the ones whom he has chosen to be there.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "15", "text": "After Jesus said that, the Pharisees met together in order to plan how they could cause him to say something that would enable them to accuse him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "16", "text": "They sent to him some of their disciples, who thought that the Israelites should pay only the tax that the Jewish authorities required them to pay. They also sent some members of the party that supported Herod. The members of that party thought that the Israelites should pay only the tax that the Roman government required them to pay. Those who were sent came and said to Jesus, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful and that you teach the truth about what God wants us to do. We also know that you do not change what you teach because of what someone says about you, even if it is an important person who does not like what you [IDM] teach."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "17", "text": "So tell us what you think [RHQ] about this matter: Is it right that we pay taxes to the Roman government [MTY], or not?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "18", "text": "But Jesus knew that what they really wanted to do was evil. They were wanting him to say something that would get him in trouble with either the Jewish authorities or the Roman authorities. So he said to them, “You are ◄hypocrites/pretending to ask a legitimate question►, but you are just wanting [RHQ] me to say something for which you can accuse me."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "19", "text": "Show me one of the coins with which people pay the Roman tax.” So they showed him a coin called a denarius."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "20", "text": "He said to them, “Whose picture is on this coin? And whose name is on it?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "21", "text": "They answered, “ It has the picture and name of Caesar, the head of the Roman government.” Then he said to them, “Okay, give to the government what they require, and give to God what he requires.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "22", "text": "When those men heard Jesus say that, they marveled that his answer did not enable anyone to accuse him. Then they left Jesus."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "23", "text": "During that same day, some Sadducees came to Jesus. They are a Jewish sect who do not believe that people will become alive again after they die. They wanted to ask Jesus a question."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "24", "text": "In order to discredit the idea that dead people will live again, they said to him, “Teacher, Moses wrote in the Scriptures, ‘If a man dies who did not have any children, his brother must marry the dead man's widow in order that she can have a child by him. The child will be considered the descendant of the man who died, and in that way the dead man will have descendants.’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "25", "text": "Well, there were seven boys in a family living near us. The oldest one married someone. He and his wife did not have any children, and he died. So the second brother married the widow. But he also died without having a child."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "26", "text": "The same thing happened to the third brother, and also to the other four brothers, who one by one married this same woman."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "27", "text": "Last of all, the widow also died."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "28", "text": "So, at the time when people are raised from the dead, which of the seven brothers do you think will be her husband? Keep in mind that they had all been married to her.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "29", "text": "Jesus replied to them, “You are certainly wrong in what you are thinking. You do not know what is written in the Scriptures. You also do not know that God has the power to make people alive again."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "30", "text": "The fact is that the woman will not be the wife of any of them, because after God causes all dead people to live again, no one will be married. Instead, people will be like the angels in heaven. They do not marry."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "31", "text": "But as for dead people becoming alive again, God said something about that. ◄I'm sure you have read it./Have you not read it?► [RHQ] Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said to Moses,"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "32", "text": "‘I am the God whom Abraham worships and the God whom Isaac worships and the God whom Jacob worships.’ It is not dead people who worship God. It is living people who worship him. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob died long before Moses lived, but God said that they were still worshipping him, so we know their spirits were still alive! ”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "33", "text": "When the crowds of people heard Jesus teach that, they were amazed."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "34", "text": "But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had answered the Sadducees in such a way that the Sadducees could not think of anything that they might say to respond to him, the Pharisees gathered together to plan what they would say to him. Then they approached him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "35", "text": "One of them was a man who had studied well the laws that God gave Moses. He wanted to see if Jesus could answer his question well or if he would say something wrong. He asked him,"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "36", "text": "“Teacher, which commandment in the laws that God gave Moses is the most important?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "37", "text": "Jesus quoted the Scriptures as he replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all [IDM] your ◄inner being/heart►. Show that you love him in all that you desire, in all that you feel, and in all that you think.’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "38", "text": "That is the most important commandment in the laws that God gave Moses."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "39", "text": "The next most important commandment that everyone must surely obey is: ‘You must love the people you come in contact with as much as you love yourself.’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "40", "text": "These two commandments are the basis of every law that Moses wrote in the Scriptures and also of all that the prophets wrote.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "41", "text": "While the Pharisees were still gathered together near Jesus, he asked them,"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "42", "text": "“What do you think about the Messiah? Whose descendant is he?” They said to him, “ He is the descendant of King David.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "43", "text": "Jesus said to them, “ If the Messiah is King David's descendant, then ◄David should not have called him ‘Lord’ when David was saying what the Holy Spirit prompted him to say./Why did David call the Messiah ‘Lord’ when David was speaking what the Holy Spirit prompted him to say?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "44", "text": "David wrote this in the Scriptures about the Messiah: ‘God said to my Lord, “Sit here beside me on my right, the place of greatest honor you[MTY]. Sit here while I completely defeat your enemies [MTY].”’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "45", "text": "So, since King David called the Messiah‘my Lord’, ◄ the Messiah cannot be just someone descended from David!/how can he be only the descendant of King David?► [RHQ] He must be much greater than David!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "46", "text": "No one who heard what Jesus said was able to think of even one word to say to him in response. And after that, no one else ever dared to ask him another question to try to trap him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "1", "text": "Then Jesus said to the crowd and to us his disciples,"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "2", "text": "“ Moses was the renowned teacher who taught the people the laws that God gave him[MTY]. Now, the Pharisees and the men who teach our Jewish laws have made themselves the ones who interpret those laws [IDM]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "3", "text": "Consequently, you should do whatever they tell you that you must do. But do not do what they do, because they themselves do not do what they tell you that you must do."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "4", "text": "They require you to obey many rules that are difficult to obey. But they themselves do not help anyone obey those rules. It is as if they are tying up loads that are hard to carry and putting them on your shoulders [MET] for you to carry. But they themselves do not desire to help anyone obey those laws. They are like people who do not want to lift even the slightest load that they could lift[MET]"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "5", "text": "with one finger. Whatever they do, they do it to be seen by other people {so that other people will see them doing that}. For example, they make extra wide the tiny boxes containing portions of Scripture that they wear on their arms. They enlarge the tassels on their robes, to make others think that they are pious."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "6", "text": "They want people to honor them. For example, at dinner parties they sit in the seats where the most important people sit. In the places of worship they want to sit in the seats where the most honored people sit."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "7", "text": "Also, they want people to greet them respectfully in the marketplaces and to honor them by calling them ‘Teacher’."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "8", "text": "But you who are my disciples should not allow people to address you honorably as ‘Rabbi’, which means ‘teacher’. I am the only one who is really your teacher, which means that you are all equal, like brothers and sisters, and none of you should act superior to another, as the Pharisees do."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "9", "text": "Do not honor anyone on earth by addressing him as ‘Father’, because God, your Father in heaven, is the only spiritual father of all of you."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "10", "text": "Do not allow people to call you ‘Instructors’, because I, the Messiah, am the one instructor who teaches all of you."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "11", "text": "In contrast, everyone among you who wants God to consider them to be important must serve others as servants do."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "12", "text": "God will humble those who exalt themselves. And he will exalt those who humble themselves.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "13-14", "text": "Then Jesus said to the religious leaders, “You men who teach the Jewish laws and you Pharisees are hypocrites! There will be terrible punishment for you, because by teaching what is false, you prevent people[MTY/HYP] who are thinking about letting God rule their lives from doing that[MET]. What you are doing is like closing a gate [MET] so that people who are wanting to enter a city cannot go in. As for you, you do not let God rule your lives. Neither do you allow other people to let God rule their lives. What you do is like not going into a house yourselves, and not allowing others to enter it either[MET]. ”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "15", "text": "“You are hypocrites, you men who teach the Jewish laws and you Pharisees! Your punishment will be terrible, because you exert yourselves very much to get even one person to believe what you teach. For instance, you travel across seas and lands to distant places in order to do that. And as a result, when one person believes what you teach, you make that person much more deserving to go to hell than you yourselves deserve to.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "16", "text": "“You Jewish leaders, your punishment will be terrible! You are like people who are blind [MET] who are trying to lead others. You say, ‘ In the case of those who promise to do something and then ask the Temple to affirm what they have promised, it means nothing if they do not do what they have promised. But if they ask the gold that is in the Temple to affirm what they have promised, they must do what they promised.’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "17", "text": "You are fools, and you are like people who are blind [MET]! The gold that is in the Temple is important, but the Temple is even more important [RHQ], because it is the Temple that the gold is in that sets the gold apart for a special use for God."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "18", "text": "Also you say, ‘In the case of those who promise to do something and then ask the altar to affirm what they have promised, it means nothing if they do not do what they have promised. But if they ask the gift that they have put on the altar to support what they have promised, they must do what they promised.’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "19", "text": "You are like people who are blind [MET]. The gift that is offered on the altar is important, but the altar is even more important [RHQ] because it is the altar on which the offering is offered that sets it apart for a special use for God."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "20", "text": "So, those who promise to do something, and then ask the altar to affirm what they have promised are asking everything on the altar to support what they promised."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "21", "text": "Those who promise to do something, and then ask the Temple to affirm what they promised, are asking that God, to whom the Temple belongs, will affirm what they have promised."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "22", "text": "Those who promise to do something and then ask heaven to affirm what they promised are asking the throne of God and God, who sits on that throne, to affirm what they promised.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "23", "text": "“You men who teach the Jewish laws and you Pharisees, your punishment will be terrible! You are hypocrites because, even though you give to God a tenth of the herbs you produce, such as mint, dill, and cummin, you do not obey God's laws that are more important. For example, you do not act justly toward others, you do not act mercifully toward people, and you are not trustworthy. It is good to give a tenth of your herbs to God, but you should also obey these other more important laws."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "24", "text": "You leaders are like blind people who are trying to lead others. According to your laws you say that touching gnats and camels makes you unacceptable to God. What you are doing is like straining a gnat out of a jar of water so that you do not swallow it and thereby become unacceptable to God, and at the same time swallowing a camel with the water[MET]!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "25", "text": "“You men who teach people the Jewish laws and you Pharisees, your punishment will be terrible! You are hypocrites! You are greedy and selfish, but you make yourselves appear holy. You are like cups and plates that have been cleaned on the outside, but on the inside they are very filthy."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "26", "text": "You blind Pharisees! First you must stop being greedy and selfish. Then you will be able to do what is righteous. That will be like cleaning the inside of a cup first. Then when you clean [MET] the outside of the cup, the cup will truly be clean.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "27", "text": "“You men who teach the Jewish laws and you Pharisees, your punishment will be terrible! You are hypocrites! You are like tombs [SIM] that are painted white so that people can see them and avoid touching them. The outside surfaces are beautiful, but inside they are full of dead people's bones and filth."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "28", "text": "You are like those tombs. When people look at you, they think that you are righteous, but in your ◄inner beings/hearts► you are hypocrites and you disobey God's commands.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "29", "text": "“You men who teach the Jewish laws and you Pharisees are hypocrites! Your punishment will be terrible! You rebuild the tombs of the prophets whom others killed long ago. You decorate the monuments that honor righteous people."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "30", "text": "You say, ‘If we had lived when our ancestors [MET] lived, we would not have helped [MET] those who killed [MTY] the prophets.’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "31", "text": "Thus you recognize that you should honor the prophets, but you disregard the word of God that other men whom God has sent teach you. In that way you testify against yourselves that you are descendants and disciples [MET] of those who killed the prophets."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "32", "text": "You are as ready to murder people as [MET] your ancestors were!"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "33", "text": "You people are so wicked You are as dangerous as poisonous snakes [DOU, MET]! ◄You foolishly think that you will escape being punished in hell!/Do you foolishly think that you will escape when God punishes wicked people in hell?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "34", "text": "Take note that this is why I will send prophets, wise men, and other men who will teach you my message. You will kill some of them by nailing them to crosses, and you will kill some in other ways. You will whip some of them in the places where you worship and you will chase them from city to city."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "35", "text": "As a result, God will consider that you are guilty for killing [SYN] all the righteous people, including killing [MTY] Adam's son Abel, who was a righteous man [SYN], and Zechariah, the son of Barachiah, whom you are guilty of killing in the holy place between the Temple and the altar, and for killing all the prophets who lived between the times that those two men lived."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "36", "text": "Think about this: You people who have observed my ministry, it is you whom God will punish for killing all those prophets!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "37", "text": "“O people of Jerusalem [MTY, APO], you killed the prophets who lived long ago, and you killed others whom God sent to you. You killed them by throwing stones at them [DOU]! Many times I wanted to gather you together to protect you, like a hen gathers her young chicks under her wings [MET]. But you did not want me to do that."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "38", "text": "So listen to this: Your city [SYN] will become an uninhabited place."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "39", "text": "Keep this in mind: You will see me again only when I return, and you say about me, ‘ God is truly pleased with this man who comes with God's authority [MTY].’”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "1", "text": "Jesus left the Temple courtyard. As he was walking along, we disciples came to him to ask him to note how beautiful the Temple buildings were."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "2", "text": "He said to us, “These buildings that you are looking at [RHQ] are wonderful, but I want to tell you something about them. They will be completely destroyed{ Foreign invaders will completely destroy them}. Every stone in these buildings will be thrown down {they will throw down every stone in these buildings}. Not one stone will be left {They will not leave one stone} on top of another stone.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "3", "text": "Later, as Jesus was sitting alone on the slope of Olive Tree Hill, we disciples went to him and asked him, “When will this happen to the buildings of the Temple? Also, tell us what will happen to indicate that you are about to come again, and to indicate that this world is ending?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "4", "text": "Jesus replied, “ All that I will say is, be sure that no one deceives you about what will happen"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "5", "text": "Many people will come and say ◄that I sent them/that they have my authority► [MTY]. They will say, ‘I am the Messiah’, and they will deceive many people."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "6", "text": "You will hear about wars that are close and wars that are far away, but do not let that trouble you. Keep in mind that God has said that those things must happen. But when they happen, it will not mean that the end of the world has come!"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "7", "text": "Groups in various countries will fight each other, and various governments will also fight against each other. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "8", "text": "These things will happen first. Then there will be other things that will happen before I return. What will happen will be like the first pains of childbirth MET]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "9", "text": "At that time people who oppose you will take you to the authorities, who will mistreat you and kill you. You will be hated by people who live in all nations [PRS] { People who live in all nations [PRS] will hate you} because you believe in me [MTY] ."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "10", "text": "Also, many people will stop believing in me because of the way they will suffer. They will betray each other and will hate each other."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "11", "text": "Many will come saying that they are prophets, but they will be lying, and they will deceive many people."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "12", "text": "Because there will be more and more people who will disobey God's laws [PRS], many people will no longer [MET] love their fellow believers[PRS]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "13", "text": "But all those who keep on believing in me to the end of their lives will be saved."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "14", "text": "Furthermore, the good message about my ruling over people's lives will be preached in every part of the world, in order that people of all ethnic groups may hear it. Then the end of the world will come.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "15", "text": "“ But before the world ends, the disgusting person who will defile the holy Temple and cause people to abandon it will stand in the Temple. Daniel the prophet spoke and wrote about that long ago. May everyone who reads this pay attention to the following warning from me:"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "16", "text": "When you see that happen in the Temple, those of you who are in Judea district must flee to the higher hills!"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "17", "text": "Those who are outside their houses must not go back into their houses to get things before they flee."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "18", "text": "Those who are working in a field should not turn back to get their outer clothing before they flee."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "19", "text": "I feel very sorry for women who will be pregnant and women who will be nursing their babies in those days, because it will be very difficult for them to run away"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "20", "text": "Pray that you will not have to flee ◄in the winter/in the rainy season► when it will be hard to travel. People who think that God never allows anyone to do any work on our day of rest will not help you as you flee, so pray also that you will not have to flee on such a day,"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "21", "text": "because people will suffer very severely when those things happen. People have never suffered that severely since God created the world until now, and no one will ever suffer like that again."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "22", "text": "If God had not decided to shorten that time [MTY] when people will suffer so much, everyone [LIT] would die. But he has decided to shorten it because he is concerned about the people whom he has chosen.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "23-24", "text": "“ At that time people will appear who will falsely say that they are the Messiah or that they are prophets. They will perform many kinds ◄of miracles/of things that ordinary people cannot do►, in order to deceive people. They will even try to see if it is possible to deceive you people whom God has chosen. So, at that time, if someone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or if someone says, ‘There is the Messiah!’ do not believe it!"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "25", "text": "Do not forget that I have warned you about all this before it happens."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "26", "text": "So if someone says to you, ‘Look, the Messiah is in the desolate area!’ do not go there. Likewise, if someone says to you, ‘Look, he is in a secret room!’ do not believe that person,"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "27", "text": "because just like lightning flashes from the east to the west and people everywhere can see it [SIM], when I, the one who came from heaven, return again, everyone will see me."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "28", "text": "When I return, it will be as obvious to everyone as the fact that wherever you see vultures gathering, you know that there will be an animal carcass [MET] there. (OR, Just like the vultures gather together wherever there is an animal carcass, God will punish sinful people wherever they are.)”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "29", "text": "“Immediately after many people have suffered during those days, the universe will become dark. The sun will become dark. The moon will not shine. The stars will fall from the sky. And the powerful objects in the sky will be shaken. (OR, And the spiritual beings in space will be deposed.)"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "30", "text": "After that, something will be seen{ people will observe something} in the sky that indicates that I, the one who came from heaven, am returning to the earth. Then unbelieving people from all ethnic groups of the earth will mourn because they will be afraid of God punishing them. They will see me, the one who came from heaven, coming on the clouds with power and great glory as I return to the earth."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "31", "text": "I will send my angels to the earth from everywhere in the heavens. They will be blowing trumpets loudly. Then from throughout the whole earth [DOU] they will gather the people whom I have chosen.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "32", "text": "“ Now I want you to learn something from this parable about how fig trees grow. In this area, when the buds of a fig tree become tender and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "33", "text": "Similarly, when you see all these things that I have just described happening, you will know that the time for me to return is very close [MET]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "34", "text": "Keep this in mind: All of these events will happen before all the people who have observed the things that I have done have died."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "35", "text": "You can be certain that these things that I have told you about will happen. You can be more certain of that than you can be certain that the earth and sky [LIT] will continue to exist.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "36", "text": "“But neither I, nor any other person, nor any angel in heaven, knows either the day or the hour when the things that I have told you about will happen. Only God, my Father, knows."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "37-39", "text": "It will be like what happened when Noah lived. Until the flood came, the people did not know that anything bad would happen to them. Before the flood waters covered the earth, the people were eating and drinking as usual. Some men were marrying women and some parents were giving their daughters to men to marry them. They were doing all this until the day that Noah and his family entered the big boat. And then the flood came and drowned all those who were not in the boat. Similarly, the unbelieving people will not know when I, the one who came from heaven, will return, and they will not be expecting me."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "40", "text": "When I return, I will not take all people up to heaven. I will take only those who trust in me. For example, two people will be in the fields. One of them will be taken { I will take one of them} up to heaven and the other person will be left {and I will leave the other person} here to be punished."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "41", "text": "Similarly, two women will be at the mill grinding grain. One of them will be taken up to heaven and the other will be left."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "42", "text": "So, because you do not know what day I, your Lord, will return to the earth, you need to be ready for me to return at any time."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "43", "text": "You know that if the owners of a house knew at what time in the night thieves would come, they would be awake and prevent the thieves from breaking into their houses. Similarly I will come just like unexpectedly as a thief."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "44", "text": "So you need to be ready for my return, because I, the one who came from heaven, will return to the earth at a time when you do not expect me to come.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "45", "text": "“Think about what every faithful and wise servant is like [RHQ]. The house owner appoints one servant to supervise the other servants. He tells him to give them food at the proper times. Then he leaves on a long trip."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "46", "text": "If the servant is doing that work when the house owner returns, the house owner will be very pleased with him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "47", "text": "Think about this: The house owner will appoint that one servant to be the supervisor of all his possessions."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "48", "text": "But a wicked servant might say to himself, ‘The owner has been away for a long time, so he probably will not return soon and find out what I am doing.’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "49", "text": "So he will begin to beat the other servants and eat and get drunk."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "50", "text": "Then the house owner will come back at a time when the servant does not expect him [DOU]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "51", "text": "He will punish that servant severely [HYP], (OR, cut that servant into two pieces) and he will put him where ◄the hypocrites/the ones who only pretended to be good► are put. In that place the people cry and grind their teeth because they suffer very much.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "1", "text": "Jesus continued by saying, “I will tell you something else about the time when I return from heaven as king [MET]. What will happen to many people who say that they know me will be like what happened to ten virgins who took their lanterns and went to the place where they would meet a bridegroom and go to his wedding celebration."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "2", "text": "Five of the virgins were foolish and five of them were wise."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "3", "text": "The virgins who were foolish took their lanterns, but they did not take any extra olive oil for the lantern s."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "4", "text": "But the virgins who were wise took oil in their flasks as well as in their lanterns."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "5", "text": "The bridegroom was delayed, and it became late at night. So all the virgins became sleepy and fell asleep."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "6", "text": "In the middle of the night someone woke them up by shouting, ‘Hey! The bridegroom is arriving Go outside and meet him!’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "7", "text": "So all the virgins got up and trimmed their lantern wicks so that they would burn properly."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "8", "text": "The foolish virgins said to the wise ones, ‘Give us some of your olive oil, because our lanterns are about to go out!’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "9", "text": "The wise virgins replied, ‘ No, because there might not be enough oil for our lanterns and for yours. Go to a store and buy some for yourselves!’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "10", "text": "But while the foolish virgins were going to buy some oil, the bridegroom arrived. So the wise virgins, who were ready, went with the bridegroom to the wedding hall where the bride was waiting. Then the door was closed {someone closed the door of that hall}."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "11", "text": "Later, the rest of the virgins came to the hall and they called to the bridegroom, ‘Sir, open the door for us!’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "12", "text": "But he said to them, ‘The truth is that I do not know you, so I will not open the door for you!’”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "13", "text": "Then Jesus continued by saying, “So, in order that this will not happen to you, keep expecting that I will return, because you do not know when [MTY] it will be.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "14", "text": "“ When I return from heaven as king, I will deal with those who say that they have been serving me like a man who was about to go on a long journey dealt with his servants. He called them together and gave them each some of his wealth to invest and gain more money for him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "15", "text": "He gave them money according to their ability to take care of it. For example, he gave one servant five thousand dollars, he gave another servant two thousand dollars, and he gave another servant one thousand dollars. Then he left on his journey."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "16", "text": "The servant who had received five thousand dollars went immediately and used that money to gain five thousand dollars more."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "17", "text": "Similarly, the servant who had received two thousand dollars gained two thousand dollars more."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "18", "text": "But the servant who had received one thousand dollars went and dug a hole in the ground and hid the money there to keep it safe."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "19", "text": "After a long time the servants' boss returned. He called them together to find out what they had done with his money."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "20", "text": "The servant who had received five thousand dollars brought two bags, each containing five thousand dollars. He said, ‘Boss, you gave me five thousand dollars to take care of. Look, I have gained five thousand more!’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "21", "text": "His boss replied, ‘ You are a very good and faithful servant! You have done very well! You have faithfully handled a small amount of money, so I will put you in charge of a lot of things. Come and be happy with me!’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "22", "text": "The servant who had received two thousand dollars also came and said, ‘Boss, you gave me two thousand dollars to take care of. Look, I have gained two thousand more!’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "23", "text": "His boss replied, ‘You are a very good and faithful servant! You have done very well! You have faithfully handled a small amount of money, so I will put you in charge of a lot of things. Come and be happy with me!’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "24", "text": "Then the servant who had received one thousand dollars came. He said, ‘Boss, I was afraid of you. I knew that you are a man who does not do foolish things with his money. You even take from others money that does not really belong to you, like a farmer who harvests grain from another man's field where he did not even plant the seeds."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "25", "text": "So because I was afraid of what you would do to me if I did not make a profit from my business, I went out and hid your thousand dollars in the ground to keep it safe. Here, this is the money that belongs to you!’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "26", "text": "His boss replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! ◄You knew that I take from others money that does not really belong to me, like a farmer who harvests grain from another man's field where I did not even plant the seeds!/Did you not know that I take from others money that does not really belong to me, like a farmer who harvests grain from another man's field where I did not even plant the seeds?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "27", "text": "So then, you should have put my money on deposit in a bank, so that when I returned I would get it back with the interest it earned!’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "28", "text": "Then the boss said to his other servants, ‘Take the thousand dollars from him, and give it to the servant who has the ten thousand dollars!"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "29", "text": "To those who use well what they have received, God will give more, and they will have plenty. But from those who do not use well what they have received, even what they already have will be taken away."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "30", "text": "Furthermore, throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where he will be with those who are wailing and gnashing their teeth because they are in much pain.’”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "31", "text": "“When I, the one who came from heaven, come again, I will come with all my radiance and bring all my angels with me. Then I will sit as a king on my wonderful throne to judge people."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "32", "text": "People from all nations [MTY] will be gathered in front of me { The angels will gather in front of me people from all nations}. Then I will separate them, one from another, as a shepherd separates his sheep from his goats."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "33", "text": "I will put the righteous people on my right and the unrighteous ones on my left, as a shepherd puts sheep on one side and goats on the other side."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "34", "text": "Then I will say to those on my right, ‘You people who have been blessed by my Father {whom my Father has blessed}, come! From the time he created the world, he has been preparing to allow you to receive the blessings that he will give to all those who let him rule their lives. Now is the time for you to receive those blessings"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "35", "text": "They belong to you, because you gave me something to eat when I was hungry. (OR, They belong to you. It is as though you gave me something to eat when I was hungry.) You gave me something to drink when I was thirsty. When I was a stranger in your town, you invited me to stay in your houses."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "36", "text": "When I needed clothes [MTY], you gave me some. When I was sick, you took care of me. When I was in prison, you came to visit me.’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "37", "text": "Then the righteous people will reply, ‘Lord, when were you hungry and we saw you and gave you something to eat? When were you thirsty and we gave you something to drink?"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "38", "text": "When were you a stranger in our town and we invited you to stay in our houses? When did you need clothes and we gave you some?"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "39", "text": "When were you sick or in prison and we went to visit you?’ We do not remember doing any of these things for you."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "40", "text": "I will reply, ‘The truth is that whatever you did for any one of your fellow believers, even an unimportant one, it was as though you did it for me.’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "41", "text": "Then I will say to those on my left, ‘You people who have been cursed by God{whom God has cursed}, leave me! Go into the eternal fire that God has prepared for ◄the devil/Satan► and his angels!"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "42", "text": "It is right for you to go there, because you did not give me anything to eat when I was hungry. You did not give me anything to drink when I was thirsty."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "43", "text": "You did not invite me into your homes when I was a stranger in your town. You did not give me any clothes when I needed them [MTY]. You did not take care of me when I was sick or in prison.’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "44", "text": "They will answer, ‘Lord, when were you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and we did not help you?’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "45", "text": "I will reply, ‘The truth is that whenever you did not do anything to help any one of my people, even if they were unimportant people, it was as though you did not do anything to help me.’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "46", "text": "Then those people on my left will go away to the place where they will be punished { God will punish them} eternally, but the righteous people will go to where they will live forever with God.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "1", "text": "When Jesus had finished saying all those things, he said to us disciples,"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "2", "text": "“You know that two days from now we will celebrate the Passover festival. At that time I, the one who came from heaven, will be handed over to {they will put me, the one who came from heaven,} to those who will nail me to a cross.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "3", "text": "At the same time the chief priests and the Jewish elders gathered in the home of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "4", "text": "There they plotted how they could seize Jesus in some deceitful way so that they could have him executed."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "5", "text": "But they said, “ We must not do it during the Passover festival, because if we do it then, the people might riot.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "6", "text": "While Jesus and we were in Bethany village in the home of Simon, whom Jesus had healed of leprosy,"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "7", "text": "a woman came to him. She was carrying a stone jar containing very expensive perfume. To show how much she appreciated Jesus, she poured the perfume on his head as he was eating."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "8", "text": "When we disciples saw that, some of us were angry. One of us said, “◄It is terrible that this perfume was wasted!/Why was this perfume wasted?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "9", "text": "We could have sold it and gotten a lot of money for it! Then the money could have been given { we could have given the money} to poor people.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "10", "text": "Jesus knew what we were saying. So he said to us, “◄You should not be bothering this woman!/Why are you bothering this woman?► [RHQ] She has done a beautiful thing to me."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "11", "text": "Keep in mind that you will always have poor people among you, so you can help them whenever you want to. But I will not always be with you, so it is good for her to show now that she appreciates me!"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "12", "text": "When she poured this perfume on my body, it was as if she knew that I am going to die soon. And it is as if she has anointed my body for being buried."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "13", "text": "I will tell you this: Wherever this good message about me is preached {people preach this good message about me} throughout the world, those who preach it will tell what this woman has done, and as a result people will always remember her.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "14", "text": "Then Judas Iscariot, even though he was one of us twelve disciples, went to the chief priests."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "15", "text": "He asked them, “If I enable you to seize Jesus, how much money are you willing to give me?” They agreed to give him thirty silver coins. So they counted out the coins and gave them to him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "16", "text": "From that time Judas watched for an opportunity to enable them to seize Jesus."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "17", "text": "On the first day of the week-long festival◄when we Jews ate bread which had no yeast in it/of Unleavened Bread►, we disciples went to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to prepare the meal for the Passover celebration so that we can eat it with you?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "18", "text": "In reply, he gave instructions to two disciples about where they should go. He said to them, “Go into the city to a man with whom I have previously arranged this. Tell him that the teacher says, ‘The time [MTY] that I told you about is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover meal with my disciples at your house, and I have sent these two to prepare the meal.’”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "19", "text": "So the two disciples did as Jesus told them. They went and prepared the Passover meal in that man's house."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "20", "text": "When it was evening, Jesus was eating the meal with us twelve disciples."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "21", "text": "While we were eating, he said to us, “Listen carefully to this: One of you is going to enable my enemies to seize me.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "22", "text": "We were very sad. We began to say to him, one after the other, “Lord, ◄it is surely not I!/I'm not the one, am I?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "23", "text": "He replied, “The one who will enable my enemies to seize me is the one of you who is dipping bread [MTY] into the sauce in the dish along with me."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "24", "text": "It is certain that I, the one who came from heaven, will die, because that is what has been written { the prophets have written} about me. But there will be terrible punishment for the man who enables my enemies to seize me! It would be better for that man if he had never been born!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "25", "text": "Then Judas, the one who was going to betray him, said, “Teacher, ◄surely it is not I!/I'm not the one, am I?► [RHQ]” Jesus replied, “Yes, you are the one.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "26", "text": "While we were eating, Jesus took a small loaf of bread and thanked God for it. He broke it into pieces and gave it to us disciples, and said, “Take this bread and eat it. It represents my body.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "27", "text": "Later he took a cup of wine and thanked God for it. Then he gave it to us, saying, “Drink some of the wine in this cup, all of you."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "28", "text": "The wine in this cup represents my blood, which will soon flow from my body when I die. With this blood I will sign the new agreement that God is making to forgive the sins of many people."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "29", "text": "Note this carefully: I will not drink wine in this way anymore until the time when I drink it with you with a new meaning. That will happen when my Father enables me to begin to rule as king.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "30", "text": "After we sang a hymn, we started out towards Olive Tree Hill."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "31", "text": "On the way, Jesus told us, “This night all of you will desert me because of what will happen to me! This is certain to happen because these words that God said are written in the Scriptures: ‘I will cause the shepherd to be killed, and all the sheep will be scattered {scatter}.’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "32", "text": "But after I have died and become alive again, I will go ahead of you to Galilee district and meet you there.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "33", "text": "Peter replied, “Perhaps all the other disciples will desert you when they see what happens to you, but I certainly will never leave you!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "34", "text": "Jesus replied to him, “The truth is that this very night, before the rooster crows, you will say three times that you do not know me!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "35", "text": "Peter said to him, “Even if they kill me while I am defending you, I will never say that I do not know you!” All the rest of us disciples also said the same thing."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "36", "text": "Then Jesus went with us to a place that is called {that people call} Gethsemane. There he said to most of us, “Stay here while I go over there and pray.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "37", "text": "He took Peter, James, and John with him. He became extremely distressed."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "38", "text": "Then he said to them, “I [SYN] am very sorrowful, so much so that I feel as if I were about to die! Remain here and stay awake with me!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "39", "text": "After going a little further, he threw himself face down on the ground. He prayed, “My Father, if it is possible [MTY], do not make me have to endure the suffering that is coming now. But do not do as I want. Instead, do as you want!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "40", "text": "Then he returned to the three disciples and saw that they were sleeping. He woke Peter and said to him, “◄I am disappointed that you men fell asleep and were not able to stay awake with me for just a short time!/Why were you men not able to stay awake with me for just one hour?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "41", "text": "You must keep alert and pray so that you can resist when you are tempted {something tempts you}. You want to do what I tell you, but you [SYN] are not strong enough to actually do it.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "42", "text": "He went away a second time. He prayed, “My Father, if it is necessary for me to suffer [LIT], may what you want happen!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "43", "text": "When he returned to the three disciples, he saw that they were asleep again. They could not keep their eyes open [IDM]."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "44", "text": "So he left them and went away again. He prayed the third time, saying the same thing that he had prayed before."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "45", "text": "Then he returned to us disciples. He woke us up and said to us, “◄I am disappointed that you are still sleeping and resting!/Why are you still sleeping and resting?► [RHQ] Look Someone is about to enable sinful men to seize me, the one who came from heaven!"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "46", "text": "Get up! Let's go to meet them Here comes the one who is enabling them to seize me!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "47", "text": "While Jesus was still speaking, Judas arrived. Even though he was one of us twelve disciples, he came to enable Jesus' enemies to seize him. A large crowd carrying swords and clubs was with him. They had been sent by the chief priests and elders {the chief priests and Jewish elders had sent them}."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "48", "text": "Judas had previously arranged to give them a signal, saying, “The man whom I will kiss is the one you want. Seize him!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "49", "text": "He immediately went to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Teacher!” Then he kissed Jesus on the neck/cheek."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "50", "text": "Jesus replied, “Friend, is it to kiss me that you are here?” (OR, “Do what you have come for!”) Then the men who came with Judas stepped forward and seized Jesus."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "51", "text": "Suddenly, one of the men who was with Jesus pulled his sword out of its sheath. He struck the servant of the high priest to kill him, but only cut off his ear."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "52", "text": "Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back in its sheath! All those who try to kill others with a sword will themselves be killed with a sword!"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "53", "text": "Do you think that [RHQ] if I asked my Father, he would not immediately send more than ◄twelve armies of/72 thousand► angels to help me?"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "54", "text": "But if I did that, what the prophets have written in the Scriptures about what will happen to the Messiah would not be fulfilled {happen} [RHQ].”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "55", "text": "At that time Jesus said to the crowd that was seizing him, “◄It is ridiculous that you have come here to seize me with swords and clubs, as if I were a bandit!/Have you come here to seize me with swords and clubs, as if I were a bandit?► [RHQ] Day after day I sat in the Temple courtyard, teaching the people. Why did you not arrest me then?"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "56", "text": "But all this is happening to fulfill what the prophets have written in the Scriptures about me.” Then all of us disciples deserted Jesus and ran away."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "57", "text": "The men who had seized Jesus took him to the house where Caiaphas, the high priest, lived. The men who taught the Jewish laws and the Jewish elders had already gathered there."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "58", "text": "Peter followed Jesus at a distance. He came to the high priest's courtyard. He entered the courtyard and sat down with the guards to see what would happen."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "59", "text": "The chief priests and the rest of the Jewish Council were trying to find people who would tell lies about Jesus so that they could convince the Roman authorities to execute him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "60", "text": "But even though many people spoke lies about him, they did not find anyone who said anything that was useful. Finally two men came forward"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "61", "text": "and said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy God's Temple and to rebuild it within three days.’”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "62", "text": "Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to reply? What do you say about these things that they are saying to accuse you?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "63", "text": "But Jesus remained silent. Then the high priest said to him, “I command you to tell us the truth, knowing that the all-powerful God is listening to you: Are you the Messiah, ◄the Son of God/the man who is also God►?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "64", "text": "Jesus replied, “Yes, it is as you say. But I will also say this to all of you: Some day you will see me, the one who came from heaven, sitting beside [MTY] Almighty God, and ruling. You will also see me coming on the clouds from heaven!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "65", "text": "Then the high priest tore his outer garment. That was the custom to show that he was shocked to hear Jesus say that he was equal to God. Then he said, “This man has insulted God! He claims to be equal with God! ◄We certainly do not need anyone else to testify against this man!/Why should we seek any more people who will testify against this man?► [RHQ] You heard what he said!"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "66", "text": "What have you decided?” The Jewish leaders replied, “ According to our laws, he is guilty and deserves to be executed!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "67", "text": "Then some of them spat in his face. Others struck him with their fists. Others, after they blindfolded him, slapped him"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "68", "text": "and said, “ Since you claim that[IRO] you are the Messiah, tell us who hit you!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "69", "text": "Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant girl came up to him and looked at him. She said, “You also were with Jesus, that man from Galilee district!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "70", "text": "But while everyone there was listening, he denied it. He said, “I do not know what you are talking about!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "71", "text": "Then he went out to the gateway of the courtyard. Another servant girl saw him and said to the people who were standing nearby, “This man was with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "72", "text": "But Peter again denied it. He said, “May God punish me if I am lying I tell you, I do not even know that man!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "73", "text": "After a little while, one of the people who were standing there approached Peter and said to him, “It is certain that you are one of those who were with that man. We can tell from your accent that you are from Galilee.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "74", "text": "Then Peter began to proclaim loudly that God should curse him if he was lying. He asked God in heaven to witness that he was telling the truth and said, “I do not know that man!” Immediately a rooster crowed."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "75", "text": "Then Peter remembered the words that Jesus had spoken to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will say three times that you do not know me.” And Peter went out of the courtyard, crying because he was very sad about what he had done."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "1", "text": "Very early the next morning all the chief priests and Jewish elders decided how to arrange for the Romans to execute Jesus."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "2", "text": "They tied his hands and took him to Pilate, the Roman governor."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "3", "text": "When Judas, the one who had ◄betrayed/enabled Jesus' enemies to seize► him, realized that they had decided to have Jesus executed, he was very sorry about what he had done. He took the thirty coins back to the chief priests and elders."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "4", "text": "He said, “I have sinned. I have ◄betrayed/enabled you to seize► a man who ◄is innocent/has not done anything wrong►.” They replied, “◄That means nothing to us!/What does that mean to us?► [RHQ] That is your problem!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "5", "text": "So Judas took the money and threw it inside the Temple. Then he went away and hanged himself."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "6", "text": "Later the high priests found the coins. They picked them up and said, “This is money that we paid to have a man killed[MTY], and our law does not allow such money to be put {us to put such money} into the Temple treasury.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "7", "text": "So they decided to use that money to buy the field where clay was dug for making pots {men dug ground for making pots}. They made that field a place where they buried strangers who died in Jerusalem."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "8", "text": "That is why that place is still called {why they still call that place} ❛The field of blood❜."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "9", "text": "By buying that field, they fulfilled these words that the prophet Jeremiah wrote long ago: They took the thirty silver coins; That was what the leaders of Israel decided that he was worth;"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "10", "text": "and with that money they bought the field where clay was dug for potters. They did that as the Lord had commanded me."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "11", "text": "Jesus stood in front of Pilate, the governor. The governor asked Jesus, “Do you claim to be the king of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “ It is as you have just said.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "12", "text": "When he was accused by the chief priests and elders {When the chief priests and elders accused him} about various things, he did not answer."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "13", "text": "So Pilate said to him, “You hear how many things they are saying to accuse you; are you not going to reply?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "14", "text": "But even though he was not guilty, Jesus did not say anything. He did not reply to any of the things about which they were accusing him. As a result, the governor was very surprised."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "15", "text": "It was the governor's custom each year during the Passover celebration to release one person who was in prison. He released whatever prisoner the people wanted."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "16", "text": "At that time there was in Jerusalem a well-known prisoner whose name was Barabbas."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "17", "text": "So when the crowd gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which prisoner would you like me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus, whom some of you claim to be the Messiah?”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "18", "text": "He asked that question because he realized that the chief priests wanted to have Jesus executed. They had brought Jesus to him only because they were jealous of Jesus. And Pilate thought that the crowd would prefer that he release Jesus."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "19", "text": "While Pilate was sitting on the platform where he made judicial decisions, his wife sent him this message: “Early this morning I had a bad dream because of that man. So do not condemn that righteous man!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "20", "text": "But the chief priests and elders persuaded the crowd to ask Pilate to release Barabbas, and to order that Jesus be executed {that his soldiers execute Jesus}."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "21", "text": "So when the governor asked them, “Which of the two men do you want me to release for you?” They replied, “Barabbas!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "22", "text": "Pilate, very astonished, asked, “So what shall I do with Jesus who some of you say is the Messiah?” They all answered, “ Command that he be crucified! { Command your soldiers◄to crucify him/to nail him to a cross►}!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "23", "text": "Pilate replied, “Why? What crime has he committed?” But they shouted even louder, “ Have him crucified { Command that your soldiers crucify him}!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "24", "text": "Pilate realized that he was accomplishing nothing. He saw that instead, the people were starting to riot. So he took a basin of water and washed his hands as the crowd was watching. He said, “ By washing my hands I am showing you that if this man dies [MTY], it is your fault, not mine!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "25", "text": "And all the people answered, “The guilt for causing him to die [MTY] will be on us, and it will be on our children, too!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "26", "text": "Then he ordered the soldiers to release Barabbas for them. But he ordered that his soldiers whip Jesus. And then he turned Jesus over to the soldiers for them ◄to nail Jesus to a cross/to crucify him►."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "27", "text": "Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the government headquarters. The whole ◄cohort/group of soldiers► gathered around him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "28", "text": "They pulled off his clothes, and pretending he was a king, they put a purple robe on him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "29", "text": "They took some branches with thorns and wove them to make a crown and put it on his head. They put in his right hand a reed like a staff that a king would hold. Then they knelt in front of him and made fun of him, saying, “Hooray for the king of the Jews [IRO]!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "30", "text": "They kept spitting on him. They took the staff and kept striking him on the head with it."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "31", "text": "When they had finished ridiculing him, they pulled off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to the place where they would nail him to a cross."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "32", "text": "After Jesus carried his cross a short distance, the soldiers saw a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene city. They forced him to carry the cross for Jesus."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "33", "text": "They came to a place called Golgotha. That name means ❛the place like a skull❜."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "34", "text": "When they got there, they mixed with wine something that tasted very bitter. They gave it to Jesus to drink so that he would not feel so much pain when they nailed him on the cross. But when he tasted it, he refused to drink it. Some soldiers took his clothes."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "35", "text": "Then they nailed him to the cross. Afterwards, they divided his clothes among themselves by gambling with something like dice to decide which piece of clothing each one would get."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "36", "text": "Then the soldiers sat down there to guard him, to prevent anyone from trying to rescue him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "37", "text": "They fastened to the cross above Jesus' head a sign on which had been{ they had} written why they were nailing him to the cross. But all it said was, ❛This is Jesus, the King of the Jews❜."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "38", "text": "Two bandits were also nailed {They also nailed two bandits} on crosses. One was nailed to a cross on the right side of Jesus and one to a cross on the left side."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "39", "text": "The people who were passing by insulted him by shaking their heads as if he were an evil man."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "40", "text": "They said, “You said you would destroy the Temple, and then you would build it again within three days! So if you could do that, you should be able to save yourself! If you are the man who is also God (OR, If you are the Son of God), come down from the cross!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "41", "text": "Similarly, the chief priests, the men who taught the Jewish laws and the elders made fun of him. Various ones of them said things like,"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "42", "text": "“He claims that he saved others [IRO] from their sicknesses, but he cannot help himself!” “He says that he is [IRO] the King of Israel. So he should come down from the cross. Then we would believe him!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "43", "text": "“He says that he trusts in God, and that he is the man who is also God. So if God is pleased with him, God should rescue him now!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "44", "text": "And the two bandits who had been crucified with him also insulted him, saying similar things."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "45", "text": "At noon it became dark over the whole land. It stayed dark until three o'clock in the afternoon."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "46", "text": "At about three o'clock Jesus shouted loudly, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” That means, ❛My God, my God, why have you deserted me?❜"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "47", "text": "When some of the people standing there heard the word ❛Eli❜, misunderstanding it, they said, “He is calling for the prophet Elijah!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "48", "text": "Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with sour wine. Then he put the sponge on the tip of a reed and held it up in order that Jesus could suck out the wine that was in it."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "49", "text": "But the other people there said, “Wait! Let's see if Elijah comes to save him!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "50", "text": "Then after Jesus shouted out loudly again, he died, giving his spirit over to God."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "51", "text": "At that moment the heavy thick curtain that closed off the most holy place in the Temple split into two pieces from top to bottom. That signified that ordinary people could now go into the presence of God. The earth shook, and some large rocks split open."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "52", "text": "Some tombs opened up, and the bodies of many godly people who had died became alive again."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "53", "text": "They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus became alive again, they went into Jerusalem and appeared to many people there."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "54", "text": "The officer who supervised the soldiers who nailed Jesus to the cross was standing nearby. His soldiers who had been on guard so that no one would rescue Jesus were also there. When they felt the earthquake and saw all the other things that happened, they were terrified. They exclaimed, “Truly he was both man and God! (OR, a Son of God).”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "55", "text": "Many women were there, watching from a distance. They were women who had accompanied Jesus from Galilee district in order to provide the things he needed."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "56", "text": "Among these women were Mary from Magdala town, another Mary who was the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of James and John."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "57", "text": "When it was almost evening, a rich man named Joseph came there. He was from Arimathea town. He also was a disciple of Jesus."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "58", "text": "He then went to Pilate and asked Pilate to allow him to take the body of Jesus and bury it. Pilate ordered that he be allowed to { his soldiers let Joseph} take the body."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "59", "text": "So Joseph and others took the body and wrapped it in a clean white cloth."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "60", "text": "Then they placed it in Joseph's own new tomb that had been dug out of the rock cliff. They rolled a huge circular flat stone in front of the entrance to the tomb. Then they left."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "61", "text": "Mary from Magdala town and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb, watching."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "62", "text": "The next day was Saturday, the Jewish day of rest. The chief priests and some of the Pharisees went to Pilate."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "63", "text": "They said, “Sir, we remember that while that deceiver was still alive, he said, ‘Three days after I die I will become alive again.’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "64", "text": "So we ask you to order that the tomb be guarded {that soldiers guard the tomb} for three days. If you do not do that, his disciples may come and steal the body. Then they will tell people that he has risen from the dead. If they deceive people by saying that, it will be worse than the way he deceived people before by saying that he was the Messiah.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "65", "text": "Pilate replied, “You can take some soldiers. Go to the tomb and make it as secure as you know how.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "66", "text": "So they went and made the tomb secure by fastening a cord from the stone that was in front of the entrance to the rock cliff on each side and sealing it. They also left some soldiers there to guard the tomb."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "1", "text": "After ◄the Sabbath/the Jewish day of rest► ended, on Sunday morning at dawn, Mary from Magdala town and the other Mary went to look at the tomb."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "2", "text": "Suddenly there was a strong earthquake. At the same time an angel from God came down from heaven. He went to the tomb and rolled the stone away from the entrance so that everyone could see that the tomb was empty. Then he sat on the stone."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "3", "text": "His appearance was as bright[SIM] as lightning, and his clothes were as white as snow."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "4", "text": "The guards shook because they were very afraid. Then they became completely motionless, as though they were dead."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "5", "text": "The angel said to the two women, “You should not be afraid! I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was {whom they} ◄nailed to a cross/crucified►."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "6", "text": "He is not here! God has ◄caused him to be alive again/raised him from the dead►, just like Jesus told you would happen! Come and see the place where his body lay!"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "7", "text": "Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead! He will go ahead of you to Galilee district. You will see him there.’ Pay attention to what I have told you!”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "8", "text": "So the women left the tomb quickly. They were afraid, but they were also very joyful. They ran to tell us disciples what had happened."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "9", "text": "Suddenly, as they were running, Jesus appeared to them. He said, “Greetings!” The women came close to him. They knelt down and clasped his feet and worshipped him."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "10", "text": "Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid! Go and tell ◄all my disciples/all those who have been accompanying me► that they should go to Galilee. They will see me there.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "11", "text": "While the women were going, some of the soldiers who had been guarding the tomb went into the city. They reported to the chief priests everything that had happened."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "12", "text": "So the chief priests and Jewish elders met together. They made a plan to explain why the tomb was empty. They gave the soldiers a lot of money as a bribe."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "13", "text": "They said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole his body while we were sleeping.’"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "14", "text": "If the governor hears [MTY] about this, we ourselves will make sure that he does not get angry and punish you. So you will not have to worry.”"}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "15", "text": "So the soldiers took the money and did as they were told {as the chief priests and elders told them}. And this story has been told {People have told this story} among the Jews to the very day that I am writing this."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "16", "text": "Later we eleven disciples went to Galilee district. We went to the mountain where Jesus had told us to go."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "17", "text": "We saw him there and worshipped him. But some of us doubted that it was really Jesus, and that he had become alive again."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "18", "text": "Then Jesus came close to us and said, “ My Father has given me all authority over everything and everyone in heaven and on earth."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "19", "text": "So go, and using my authority, teach my message to people of all ethnic groups so that they may become my disciples. Baptize them to be under the authority of[MTY] my Father, and of me, his Son, and of the Holy Spirit."}
{"book": "MAT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "20", "text": "Teach them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember that I will be with you always, until the end of this age.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "1-2", "text": "◄ This is/I want to tell you► the good message about Jesus Christ, the Son of God (OR, the man who was also God). What I want to tell you begins just like the prophet Isaiah said it would begin, when he wrote these words that God said to his Son:"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "4", "text": "The messenger that Isaiah predicted was John. People called him❛The Baptizer❜. In the desolate area near the Jordan River he kept telling people, “If you want God to forgive you for having sinned, you must turn away from your sinful behavior before you ask me to baptize you.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "5", "text": "A great number [HYP] of people who lived in Jerusalem city and elsewhere in the Judea district were going out to where John was. There, after hearing John's message, they responded by confessing the sinful things that they had done. Then they were being baptized by John {John was baptizing them} in the Jordan River."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "6", "text": "John wore rough clothes made of camel's hair. And as the prophet Elijah had done, he wore a leather belt around his waist; and what he ate was only grasshoppers and honey that he found in that desolate area."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "7", "text": "He was preaching, “Very shortly a man will come who is very great. I am nothing compared to him. Because he is so superior to me, I am not even worthy to serve him like a slave by stooping down and untying his sandals."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "8", "text": "I used only water when I baptized you because you said that you wanted to change your lives, but he will put his Holy Spirit within you to truly change your lives.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "9", "text": "During that time when John was preaching, Jesus came from Nazareth town, which is in Galilee district. He went to where John was preaching and he was baptized by John {John baptized him} in the Jordan River."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "10", "text": "Immediately after Jesus came up out of the water, he saw heaven opened up and he saw the Spirit of God descending on himself. He came in the form of a dove."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "11", "text": "And God[MTY] spoke to him from heaven saying, “You are my Son, whom I love dearly. I am very pleased with you.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "12", "text": "◄Then/Right away► the Spirit of God sent Jesus into the desolate area."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "13", "text": "He was there for forty days. During that time, he was tempted by Satan {Satan tempted him}. There were wild animals there also. But angels took care of him."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "14", "text": "Later, after John was put in prison {after soldiers put John in prison} because he had rebuked the governor Herod Antipas for his sins, Jesus went to Galilee district. There he was preaching the good message that came from God."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "15", "text": "He was repeatedly saying, “Now is the time when God will begin to rule people's lives in a new way. So turn away from your sinful behavior! Believe the good message in order◄ to belong to him/to become those whose lives he will rule►!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "16", "text": "One day, while Jesus was walking along by Galilee lake, he saw two men, Simon and Simon's younger brother, Andrew. They were casting their fishing net into the lake. They earned money by catching and selling fish."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "17", "text": "Then Jesus said to them, “ Just like you have been gathering fish, come with me and I will teach you how to gather people to become my disciples” [MET]."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "18", "text": "Immediately they abandoned the work that they were doing with their nets, and they went with him."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "19", "text": "After they had gone on a little further, Jesus saw two other men, James and James' younger brother, John. They were the sons of a man named Zebedee. They were both in a boat mending fishing nets."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "20", "text": "As soon as Jesus saw them, he told them that they should leave their work and to come with him. So they left their father, who remained in the boat with the hired servants, and they went away with Jesus."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "21", "text": "Later Jesus and those disciples arrived at Capernaum town. On the next ◄Sabbath/Jewish rest day►, after Jesus had entered ◄the synagogue/the Jewish meeting place►, he began teaching the people who had gathered there."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "22", "text": "They were continually amazed at the way he taught. He did not just teach what others had taught, like the men who teach the Jewish laws did. They habitually just repeated what other people had taught. Instead, he taught with his own authority."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "23", "text": "Suddenly, while he was teaching, a man appeared in their worship place who had an evil spirit in him, and he shouted,"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "24", "text": "“Jesus, from Nazareth town, since we evil spirits have nothing in common with you, ◄ do not interfere with us!/what do you want with us evil spirits?► [RHQ] ◄Do not destroy us now!/Have you come to destroy us now?► [RHQ] I know who you are. I know that you are the holy one who has come from God!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "25", "text": "Jesus rebuked the evil spirit, saying, “Be quiet! And come out of the man!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "26", "text": "The evil spirit shook the man hard. He screamed loudly, and then he came out of the man and left."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "27", "text": "All the people who were there were amazed. As a result, they discussed this among themselves, exclaiming, “◄This is amazing!/What is this?► [RHQ] Not only does he teach in a new and authoritative way, but also the evil spirits obey him when he commands them!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "28", "text": "The people very soon told many others throughout the whole Galilee district what Jesus had done."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "29", "text": "After they left ◄the synagogue/the Jewish meeting place►, Jesus, Simon and Andrew, along with James and John went directly to Simon and Andrew's house."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "30", "text": "Simon's mother-in-law was lying in bed because she had a high fever. Right away someone told Jesus about her being sick."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "31", "text": "He went to her, and helped her up by taking hold of her hand. She recovered at once from the fever, and then she got up and served them some food."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "32", "text": "That evening, after the sun had gone down and restrictions about travel◄ on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day► were ended, some people brought to Jesus many people who were sick and others whose lives evil spirits were controlling."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "33", "text": "It seemed as though everyone [HYP, MTY] who lived in the town was gathered at the doorway of Simon's house."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "34", "text": "Jesus healed many people who were ill with various diseases. He also expelled many demons from people. He did not allow the demons to tell people about him, because they knew that he had come from God, and for various reasons he did not want everyone to know that yet."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "35", "text": "Jesus got up very early the next morning while it was still dark. He left the house and went away from the town to a place where there were no people. Then he prayed there."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "36", "text": "Simon and his companions searched for him. When they found him, wanting him to go back to town to help other people, they said to him,"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "37", "text": "“ Come back to the town with us, because many [HYP] people in Capernaum are looking for you!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "38", "text": "He said to them, “ No, let's go on to the neighboring towns in order that I can preach there also, because the reason that I came into the world was to preach to people in many places!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "39", "text": "So they went throughout Galilee district. As they did so, each ◄Sabbath/Jewish rest day► he preached in ◄synagogues/Jewish meeting places►. He was also expelling evil spirits from people."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "40", "text": "One day a man who had a bad skin disease called leprosy came to Jesus. He knelt down in front of Jesus and then he pleaded with him saying, “ Please heal me, because I know you are able to heal me if you want to!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "41", "text": "Jesus felt very sorry for him. So he ignored the religious laws about coming close to people who had that disease. He reached out his hand and touched the man. Then he said to him, “Since I am willing to heal you, be healed {I heal you} now!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "42", "text": "Immediately the man was healed! He was no longer a leper!"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "43", "text": "Jesus spoke sternly to him before he sent him away."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "44", "text": "What Jesus said was, “Go to a local priest and show yourself to him in order that he may examine you and verify that you are healed. Then, after the priest tells the local people, they will know that you have been healed, and you will be able to associate with them again. Make sure that you do not tell others about what happened Then go to Jerusalem and take to the priest what Moses commanded that people who have been healed from leprosy should offer, in order that he may offer it as a sacrifice to God.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "45", "text": "The man went and presented himself to the priest. But then he began to tell many people about how Jesus had healed him[DOU]. As a result, Jesus was no longer able to enter any town publicly because the crowds would surround him. Instead, he remained outside the towns in places where no people lived. But people kept coming to him from all over that region."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "1", "text": "Jesus and his disciples returned to Capernaum town. A few days later, because it was {people} heard that Jesus was in his house,"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "2", "text": "many people gathered there. As a result, after the people filled the house, there was no longer space to stand in the house or around the doorway outside. Jesus preached God's message to them."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "3", "text": "Some people came to the house bringing to Jesus a man who was paralyzed. He was carried by four men {Four men carried him} on a sleeping pad."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "4", "text": "They were not able to bring the man to Jesus because there was a crowd there. So they went up the steps to the flat roof and removed some of the tiles above where Jesus was. Then, after they made a big hole in the roof, they lowered by ropes the sleeping pad on which the paralyzed man lay. They lowered it through the hole, down in front of Jesus."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "5", "text": "After Jesus perceived that the men believed that he could heal this man, he said to the paralyzed man, “My friend, I forgive your sins!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "6", "text": "There were some men who taught the Jewish laws sitting there. They started deliberating within themselves like this:"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "7", "text": "“Who does this man think he is, talking like that [RHQ]? ◄He is insulting God!/Does he think he is God?► [RHQ] ◄No person can forgive sins!/Who can forgive sins?► [RHQ] Only God can forgive sins!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "8", "text": "Jesus knew right away within himself that they were deliberating like that within themselves. So he said to them, “◄You should not question within yourselves whether I have the right to forgive this man's sins!/Why do you question whether I have the right to forgive this man's sins?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "9", "text": "It is not risky[RHQ] for someone to tell the man who is paralyzed, ‘Your sins are forgiven { I forgive your sins},’ because no one can prove that it has happened. But no one would say to him, ‘Get up, pick up your stretcher, and then walk away’, unless he really had the power to heal him, because people can easily see whether it happens or not."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "10", "text": "So I will do something in order that you may know that God has authorized me, the one who came from heaven, to forgive sins on earth as well as to heal people.” Then he said to the paralyzed man,"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "11", "text": "“To you I say, ‘Get up! Pick up your sleeping pad! And then go home!’”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "12", "text": "The man stood up immediately! He picked up the sleeping pad, and then he went away, while all the people there were watching. They were all amazed, and they praised God and said, “We have never before seen anything like what happened just now!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "13", "text": "Jesus left Capernaum town again and walked with his disciples alongside Galilee lake. A large crowd came to him. Then he taught them."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "14", "text": "As he walked on further, he saw a man named Levi, whose other name was Matthew, and whose father's name was Alpheus. He was sitting in his office where he collected taxes for the Roman government. Jesus said to him, “Come with me and become my disciple!” So he got up and went with Jesus."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "15", "text": "Later, Jesus was eating a meal in Levi's house. Many men who collected taxes and other people who were considered to be sinning regularly were eating with Jesus and his disciples. This was not surprising, for there were many people like this who were going everywhere with Jesus."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "16", "text": "The men who taught the Jewish laws who were there and who were members of the Pharisee sect saw that Jesus was eating with men who collected taxes and others who were considered{ whom they considered} to be sinners. So they said to his disciples, “◄It is disgusting that he eats with such disgusting men as those who collect taxes, and with other sinners!/Why is it that he eats with such disgusting men as those who collect taxes, and with other sinners?►” [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "17", "text": "After Jesus heard what they were saying, he said to the men who taught the Jewish laws, “People who consider that they are well do not seek a doctor. On the contrary, it is those who are sick who seek a doctor[MET]!” This he said to indicate that it was those who knew that they had sinned who were coming to him in order that he might help them spiritually. And he said, “I did not come to invite people who think that[IRO] they are righteous to come to me and turn from their sinful behavior. On the contrary, I came from heaven to invite people who know that they are sinners, in order that they might turn from their sins and come to me.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "18", "text": "The disciples of John the Baptizer and some men who belonged to the Pharisee sect used to abstain from food to show that they wanted to please God. One day, some people came to Jesus and asked him critically, “The disciples of John and the Pharisees ◄fast/abstain from food► from time to time, but your disciples do not. We think they should abstain from food also. What do you say about that[RHQ]?”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "19", "text": "Jesus wanted them to understand that it was not appropriate for his disciples to show sorrow by abstaining from food while he was still with them. So he said to them, “When a man is marrying a woman, his friends will certainly not abstain from food while he is still with them, will they [RHQ]? No. During the time that he is with them, they will not abstain from food because they are happy together."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "20", "text": "But some day, he will be taken away {his enemies will take him away} from them. Then, in those days, they will abstain from food, because they will be sad.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "21", "text": "Jesus wanted to show that those who desire to live in accordance with his new message should not try to continue to obey the old religious traditions like fasting. So he also said to them, “People do not sew a patch of unshrunken cloth on an old garment in order to mend a hole. If they did that, when they washed the garment, the patch would shrink and the new piece of cloth would tear off more of the old cloth. As a result, the hole would become bigger!"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "22", "text": "Similarly, people do not put newly squeezed grape juice into old skin bags to store it. If they did that, that juice will burst the skin bags because they would not stretch when the wine ferments and expands. As a result both the wine and the skin bags would be ruined! On the contrary, people must put new wine into new skin bags!” [MET]"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "23", "text": "On one ◄Sabbath/Jewish day of rest► Jesus was walking through some grain fields with his disciples. As they were walking along through the grain fields, the disciples were plucking some of the heads of grain. They rubbed them in their hands to remove the chaff, and were eating the grain. The laws of Moses permitted people to do that if they were hungry."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "24", "text": "Some of the Pharisees saw them doing what they considered to be work. So they said to him, “Look! ◄They should not be doing on our ◄Sabbath day/day of rest► work that our laws forbid!/Why are they doing on our ◄Sabbath day/day of rest► work that our laws forbid?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "25", "text": "Jesus wanted to show them that the record in the Scriptures indicated that God permitted people to disobey certain religious laws when they needed food. So he said to them, “ It is written in the Scriptures what our revered ancestor, King David, did when he needed food, and both he and the men with him were hungry. You have read about that, but ◄ you do not think about what it implies./why do you not think about what it implies?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "26", "text": "During the time Abiathar was high priest, David entered the big tent where people worshipped God and asked for some bread. The high priest gave him some of the loaves of bread. That bread was the bread he had presented to God. It was permitted in one of Moses' laws that only the priests could eat that bread! But David ate some of it. Then he also gave some of it to the men who were with him. But God did not consider that was wrong! ”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "27", "text": "Jesus said to them further, “ God established ◄the day of rest/the Sabbath day► to help people! He did not create people to obey rules about◄the Sabbath/the day of rest►!"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "28", "text": "And think about this: I am the one who came from heaven. So I have the authority to determine what is right for my disciples to do◄on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day►!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "1", "text": "On another◄ Sabbath/Jewish day of rest►, Jesus entered ◄the synagogue/the Jewish meeting place► again. There was a man there whose hand was shriveled."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "2", "text": "Some men of the Pharisee sect watched him carefully in order to see whether he would heal the man ◄on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day►. They did this in order that if he healed the man, they would accuse him of disobeying their Jewish laws, because he worked◄ on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day►."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "3", "text": "Jesus said to the man whose hand was shriveled, “Stand up here in front of everyone!” So the man stood up."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "4", "text": "Then Jesus said to the Pharisees, “Do the laws that God gave Moses permit people to do good ◄ on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day►, or do they permit people to do evil? Specifically, do his laws permit us to save a person's life ◄on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day►, or do they permit us to let him die by refusing to help him?” But they did not reply."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "5", "text": "He looked around at them angrily. He was very distressed that they were stubbornly not wanting to help the man. So he said to the man, “Reach out your hand!” When the man reached out his withered hand, his hand became all right again!"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "6", "text": "Then the Pharisees decided to get rid of Jesus. So after they left the meeting house, they immediately met with some of the Jews who supported Herod Antipas, who ruled Galilee district. Together they planned how they could kill Jesus."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "7", "text": "Jesus and his disciples left that town and went to an area further along Galilee lake in order to get away from the people. But a great crowd of people followed him. They were people who came from Galilee district,"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "8", "text": "from Jerusalem city, from other towns of Judea district, from Idumea district, from the region on the east side of the Jordan River, and from the region around Tyre and Sidon cities. This great crowd of people came to him because they heard about what he was doing."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "9-10", "text": "Because he had healed many people, many other people who had various illnesses pushed forward in order that by touching him they would come well. So he told his disciples that they should get a small boat ready for him to get in and teach from it. He wanted to do this in order that the crowd would not crush him when they pushed forward to touch him."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "11", "text": "Whenever the evil spirits saw Jesus, they caused the people whom they controlled to fall down in front of Jesus in recognition of Jesus' power. Then they exclaimed, “You are ◄the Son of God/the man who is also God►!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "12", "text": "He commanded the evil spirits strongly that they should not tell anyone who he was."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "13", "text": "Jesus went with many other people up into the hills. After he picked out from among them the men whom he wanted to accompany him, they came close to him."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "14", "text": "He appointed twelve men in order that they might be with him and in order that he might send them out to preach. He called them apostles."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "15", "text": "He also gave them power in order that they might expel evil spirits from people."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "16", "text": "These were the twelve men he appointed: Simon, to whom he gave the new name Peter; his younger brother Andrew;"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "17", "text": "James, the son of Zebedee, and John, the younger brother of James, to both of whom he added the new name, ❛Men who are like Thunder❜ because of their fiery zeal;"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "18", "text": "Philip; Bartholomew; Levi, whose other name was Matthew; Thomas; another James, the son of Alphaeus; Thaddeus; another Simon, who was a member of the party that wanted to overthrow the Roman government;"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "19", "text": "and Judas Iscariot (OR, from the town of Kerioth). He was the one who later◄betrayed Jesus/helped Jesus' enemies seize him►."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "20", "text": "Jesus along with his disciples went to the house where he was staying in Capernaum. Again a crowd gathered where he was. There were many people crowding around him, so that he and his disciples had no time when they could eat or when they could do anything else."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "21", "text": "After his relatives heard about this, they went to take him home with them because ◄some people/they► were saying that he was insane."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "22", "text": "Around that time some men who taught the Jewish laws came down from Jerusalem city. They heard that Jesus was expelling demons. So they were telling people, “Beelzebub, who rules the evil spirits, controls him. He is the one who enables this man to expel evil spirits from people!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "23", "text": "Jesus summoned those men. Then he spoke to them in parables to enable them to realize that Satan would not oppose his own evil spirits. He also wanted them to realize that by expelling evil spirits, he was demonstrating that he was much more powerful than Satan. So he said, “◄ It is ridiculous to suggest that Satan would expel his own evil spirits!/Why would Satan expel his own evil spirits?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "24", "text": "If people who live in the same country are fighting one another, they will cease to be a single group under one ruler."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "25", "text": "And if people who live in the same house fight each other, they will certainly not remain as one family."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "26", "text": "Similarly, if Satan and his evil spirits were fighting one another, instead of remaining strong, he would become powerless."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "27", "text": "Contrary to what you say about me, someone can enter the house of a strong man like Satan and carry off his possessions only if he first ties up the strong man. Then and only then will he be able to steal the things in that man's house.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "28", "text": "Jesus also said, “Consider this carefully! People may sin in many ways and they may speak evilly about God, but if they then are sorry and ask God to forgive them, God will forgive them for doing that."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "29", "text": "But if anyone speaks evil words about what the Holy Spirit does, God will never forgive that. That person's guilt will remain with him forever.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "30", "text": "Jesus told them that because they refused to admit that the Holy Spirit was helping him to expel demons. Instead, they were saying, “An evil spirit is controlling him!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "31", "text": "Jesus' mother and younger siblings arrived. While they stood outside, they sent someone inside in order to call him outside."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "32", "text": "A crowd was sitting around Jesus. One of them said to him, “Listen/Hey, your mother and your younger brothers and sisters are outside, and they are wanting ◄to see/to talk with► you!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "33", "text": "Jesus replied to them, “◄ I will tell you something about my mother and my brothers. /Do you know whom I consider to be like my mother and my brothers?►” [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "34", "text": "After he looked around at the disciples who were sitting around him in a circle, he said, “Look here! I love these men as much as I love my mother and my brothers."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "35", "text": "Those who habitually do what God wants are as dear to me[MET] as my brother, my sister, or my mother!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "1", "text": "Another time Jesus began to teach people alongside Lake Galilee. As he was doing that, a very large crowd gathered around him. Because people were jostling him, he got into a boat in the lake so that he could speak to the crowd better. Then he sat in it and began to teach the crowd from the boat. At the same time, the crowd was on the shore close to the lake."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "2", "text": "Then he taught them many parables. While he was teaching them, he told them this:"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "3", "text": "“Consider well the meaning of this illustration: A man/farmer went out to his field to sow some seeds."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "4", "text": "As he was scattering them over the soil, some of the seeds fell on the path. Then some birds came and ate those seeds."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "5", "text": "Other seeds fell on ground where there was not much soil on top of rock. Very soon the seeds sprouted because the sun warmed the moist soil quickly where it was not deep."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "6", "text": "But after the sun shone on those young plants, they became scorched. Then they withered because they did not have deep roots."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "7", "text": "As the farmer sowed, other seeds fell on ground that contained roots of thorny plants. The seeds grew, but the thorny plants also grew up and crowded out the good plants. So the plants produced no grain."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "8", "text": "But as the farmer sowed, other seeds fell on good soil. As a result, they sprouted, they grew well, and then they produced plenty of grain. Some plants bore 30 grains. Some bore 60 grains. Some bore 100 grains.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "9", "text": "Then Jesus said, “If you want to understand this [MTY], you should consider carefully what I have just said.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "10", "text": "Later, when only the twelve disciples and a few other people were with him, they asked him about the parables."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "11", "text": "He said to them, “People have not understood before the new message about how God wants to rule people's lives. It is to you that this is being made known {that I am making this known}. But I tell about this only◄in parables/figuratively► to those who have not yet invited God to rule their lives."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "12", "text": "As a result it is true what a prophet has written,"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "13", "text": "He also said to them, “◄ I am disappointed that you do not understand this illustration!/Can you not understand this illustration?► [RHQ] If you do not understand this, ◄you will certainly not understand any of the other illustrations!/how will you understand any of the other illustrations?► [RHQ] Nevertheless, I will explain it to you."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "14", "text": "In the illustration that I told you, the man who sows seeds represents someone who declares God's message [DOU]."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "15", "text": "Some people are like the path on which some of the seeds fell. When they hear the message, Satan comes at once and causes them to forget what they have heard."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "16", "text": "Some people are like the ground where the soil was not very deep over the rock. When they hear God's message, they immediately accept it with joy."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "17", "text": "But, because the message does not penetrate deeply[MET] into their hearts/inner beings, they believe it for only a short time. They are like the plants that did not have deep roots. When others treat such people badly or cause them to suffer because they believe, those people who are suffering soon stop believing God's message."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "18", "text": "Some people are like the soil that had roots of thorny weeds in it. Although those people hear God's message,"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "19", "text": "they desire to be rich, and they desire to own many other things. So they worry only about material things. The result is that they forget God's message and they do not do the things that God wants them to do."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "20", "text": "But some people are like the good soil. They hear God's message and they accept it and they believe it. Then they do the things that God wants them to do. They are like the good plants that produced 30, 60 or 100 grains.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "21", "text": "He also told them another parable, saying, “◄People certainly do not light an oil lamp and then bring it in the house in order that it may be put {someone may put it} under a container or under a bed./Would anyone light an oil lamp and then bring it in the house in order that it may be put {someone may put it} under a container or under a bed?► [RHQ] ◄No, they light it in order that it may be put {someone may put it} in a place where it lights the house. /Wouldn't they light it in order that it may be put {someone may put it} in a place where it lights the house?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "22", "text": "Similarly, there are some parts of God's message that people do not know. But he intends that people will understand all the things that they do not know now."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "23", "text": "If you want to understand this, you should consider carefully what you have just heard.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "24", "text": "Then he said to them, “Consider carefully what you hear me say to you, for God will let you understand to the same degree that you consider what I say. He will let you understand even more than that."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "25", "text": "Those who consider what I say and understand it, God will enable them to understand more. But those who do not consider carefully what I say, they will forget even what they already know.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "26", "text": "Jesus also said, “God has the power to change people who let him rule their lives. I will illustrate how that can happen[MET]. A man planted seeds in the ground."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "27", "text": "Afterwards he slept each night and rose each day without worrying about the seeds. During that time the seeds sprouted and grew in a way that he did not understand, because by itself the soil caused the plants to grow and produce grain."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "28", "text": "First the stalks appeared. Then the heads appeared. Then the full kernels in the heads appeared."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "29", "text": "As soon as the grain was ripe he sent people[MTY] to harvest it because it was time to harvest the grain.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "30", "text": "Jesus told them another parable. He said, “I will tell you [RHQ] how the number of people whose lives God rules in a new way will continue to grow(OR, each continue to have more and more influence in this world). I hope [RHQ] that this illustration will show this to you."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "31", "text": "You know what happens to mustard seeds when we plant them. Though mustard seeds are among the smallest of seeds, here in Israel they become large plants."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "32", "text": "After they are planted, they grow up and become larger than the other garden plants. They put out big branches so that birds are able to make nests in their shade.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "33", "text": "Jesus used many such illustrations when he talked to the people about God. If they were able to understand some, he kept telling them more."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "34", "text": "He always used parables when he spoke to them. But he explained all the illustrations to his own disciples when he was alone with them."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "35", "text": "On that same day, when the sun was setting, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let's cross over to the opposite side of Lake Galilee in the boat.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "36", "text": "So they left the crowd, got in the boat where Jesus already was, and left. Other people went with them in other boats."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "37", "text": "A strong wind came up and the waves started coming into the boat! The boat was soon nearly full of water!"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "38", "text": "Jesus was in the back part of the boat. He was sleeping, with his head on a cushion. So they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher! ◄You ought to be concerned that we are about to die!/Are you not concerned that we are about to die?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "39", "text": "So Jesus got up and rebuked the wind. Then he said to the lake, “Be quiet! Be still! [DOU]” The wind stopped blowing and then the lake became very calm."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "40", "text": "He said to the disciples, “◄ I am disappointed that you are afraid like that!/Why are you afraid like that?► [RHQ] Do you not yet believe that I can protect you?”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "41", "text": "They were very awestruck. They said to one another, “ Not only do the demons obey this man, but even the wind and the waves obey him! “◄What kind of man is he?/This man is not like ordinary people!► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "1", "text": "Jesus and his disciples arrived on the east side of Lake Galilee. They landed near where the Gerasene people lived."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "2", "text": "There was a man in that region whom evil spirits controlled."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "3", "text": "Because that man was violent and people were afraid of him, they had tied him up many times. As he grew more violent, no one was able to tie him up any longer, not even with chains,"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "4", "text": "because the chains would be broken by him {he would break the chains} whenever he was bound {they bound him} with them. The iron shackles would also be smashed by him {He would also smash the iron shackles} whenever they were fastened {they fastened them} on his feet."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "5", "text": "He lived in one of the caves where they bury dead people. During both night and day he would scream among the caves and in the hills. He would also cut himself with sharp stones. That day he came out of the caves."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "6", "text": "As Jesus and his disciples got out of the boat, that man saw Jesus from a distance. He immediately ran to Jesus, and then he knelt before him."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "7-8", "text": "Jesus said to the evil spirit, “You evil spirit, come out of this man!” But the demon did not leave quickly. It shouted very loudly, “Jesus, I know that you are the Son of God, so ◄we have nothing in common./what do we have in common?► [IDM, RHQ] So leave me alone I ask you to promise, knowing God is listening, that you will not torture me now!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "9", "text": "So, in order to expel the demon more easily, Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Crowd/Mob because there are many of us evil spirits in this man.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "10", "text": "Then the evil spirits fervently kept begging Jesus that he not send them out of the region."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "11", "text": "At the same time, a large herd of pigs was ◄grazing/rooting for food► nearby on the hillside."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "12", "text": "So the evil spirits pleaded with Jesus, “Allow us to go to the pigs in order that we might enter them!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "13", "text": "He permitted them to do that. So the evil spirits left the man and entered the pigs. The herd, which numbered about 2,000, rushed down the cliff into the lake, and drowned in the lake."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "14", "text": "The men who had been tending the pigs ran and reported in the town and the countryside what had happened. Many people went to see what had happened."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "15", "text": "They came to the place where Jesus was. Then they saw the man whom evil spirits had previously controlled. He was sitting there with clothes on and mentally sound. As a result, they became afraid because they thought that he might destroy more of their property. (OR, they realized that Jesus must be very powerful.)"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "16", "text": "The people who had seen what had happened described what had happened to the man whom the evil spirits previously controlled. They also described what had happened to the pigs."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "17", "text": "Then the people pleaded with Jesus to leave their region."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "18", "text": "As Jesus got in the boat in order to leave, the man whom the evil spirits previously controlled begged Jesus, “ Please let me go with you!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "19", "text": "But Jesus did not let him go with him. On the contrary, he said to him, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord God has done for you, and tell them how God was kind to you.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "20", "text": "So the man left and traveled around the Ten Towns district. He told people how much Jesus had done for him. All the people who heard what the man said were amazed."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "21", "text": "Jesus and his disciples went in a boat back around Lake Galilee to where they were before. When they arrived at the shore of the lake, a large crowd gathered around Jesus."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "22", "text": "One of the men who presided over a ◄synagogue/Jewish meeting place►, whose name was Jairus, came there. When he saw Jesus, he prostrated himself at his feet."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "23", "text": "Then he pleaded with Jesus earnestly, “My twelve-year old daughter is sick and nearly dead! Please come to my house and place your hands on her in order that she will be healed {to heal her}, so that she will not die!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "24", "text": "So Jesus and the disciples went with him. A large crowd followed Jesus and many pushed close to him."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "25", "text": "There was a woman in the crowd who had vaginal bleeding [EUP] every day for twelve years."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "26", "text": "She had suffered much while many doctors treated her. But although she had spent all her money to pay the doctors, she had not been helped {they had not helped her}. Instead, she had become worse [EUP]."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "27", "text": "After she heard that Jesus healed people, she came to where he was and pushed in the crowd close behind Jesus."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "28", "text": "She did that because she was thinking, “If I touch him or even if I touch his clothes, I will be healed {his power will heal me}.” So she touched Jesus' clothes."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "29", "text": "At once her bleeding stopped. At the same time, she sensed that she had been cured of {that he had cured} her illness."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "30", "text": "Jesus also immediately sensed that his power had healed someone. So he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "31", "text": "One of his disciples replied, “You can see that many people are crowding close to you! Probably many people touched you So ◄why do you ask ‘Who touched me?’ /We are surprised that you ask ‘Who touched me?’ [RHQ]►”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "32", "text": "But Jesus kept looking around in order to see the one who had done it."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "33", "text": "The woman was very afraid and trembling. She thought that Jesus might be angry because she had violated the law that women who had such a sickness should not touch other people. But she knew that Jesus had healed her. So she prostrated herself before him. Then she told him truthfully about what she had done."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "34", "text": "He said to her, “◄Ma'am/Young lady►, because you have believed that I could heal you, I have healed you. You may go home with peace in your heart, because I promise that you will not be sick this way anymore.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "35", "text": "While Jesus was still speaking to that woman, some people arrived who had come from Jairus' house. They said to Jairus, “Your daughter has now died. So ◄it is useless that you bother the teacher any longer by urging him to go to your house!/why do you bother the teacher any longer by urging him to go to your house?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "36", "text": "But when Jesus heard what these men said, he said to Jairus, “Do not think that the situation is hopeless! Just keep believing that she will live! ”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "37-38", "text": "Then he allowed only his three closest disciples, Peter, James, and John, to go with him to Jairus' house. He did not allow any other people to go with him. After they arrived near the house, Jesus saw that the people there were in turmoil. They were weeping and wailing [DOU] loudly."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "39", "text": "He entered the house and then he said to them, knowing that he was going to cause her to live again, “◄Do not make such a disturbance!/Why are you making such a disturbance?► [RHQ] Stop crying, for the child is not dead! On the contrary, she is only sleeping [HYP, EUP]!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "40", "text": "The people laughed at him, because they knew that she was dead. But he sent all the other people outside the house. Then he took the child's father and mother and the three disciples who were with him. He went into the room where the child was lying."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "41", "text": "He took hold of the child's hand and said to her in her own language, “Talitha, Koum!” That means, “Little girl, get up!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "42", "text": "At once the girl got up and walked around. ( It was not surprising that she could walk, because she was twelve years old.) When this happened, all who were present were very astonished."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "43", "text": "Jesus ordered them strictly, “Do not tell anyone about what I have done! ” Afterwards he told them that something to eat should be brought to the girl {that they should bring the girl something to eat}."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "1", "text": "Jesus left Capernaum city and went to his hometown, Nazareth. His disciples went with him."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "2", "text": "◄On the Sabbath/On the Jewish rest day►, he entered the Jewish worship house and taught the people. Many who were listening to him were astonished. But some were saying, “ This man is just an ordinary person like we are! So◄ we cannot believe that this man is able to teach us about these things and that he has been made very wise {that God has made him very wise} and that he is performing such miracles! /how is it that[RHQ] this man is able to teach us about these things and that he has been made very wise {that God has made him very wise} and that he is performing such miracles?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "3", "text": "◄ We know that he is just an ordinary carpenter!/Isn't he just an ordinary carpenter [RHQ]?► We know him and his family! We know Mary his mother! ◄ We know his younger brothers James, Joses, Judas and Simon!/Are not his younger brothers James, Joses, Judas and Simon?► [RHQ] And ◄his younger sisters also live here in this town!/do not his younger sisters also live here in this town?► [RHQ]” So they despised him."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "4", "text": "Jesus knew that they refused to believe in him. So he said to them, “ It is certainly true that people honor me and other prophets in other places, but not in our hometowns! Even our relatives and the people who live in our own houses do not honor us!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "5", "text": "So, although he healed a few sick people there by touching them, he decided not to perform many other miracles in Nazareth because the people there did not believe that he was the Messiah."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "6", "text": "He was amazed that they did not believe in him. Jesus and his disciples went from town to town in that region teaching the people."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "7", "text": "One day he summoned the twelve disciples, and then he told them that he was going to send them out two-by-two to teach people in various towns. He gave them power to expel evil spirits from people."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "8-9", "text": "He also instructed them to wear sandals and to take along a walking stick when they were traveling. He told them not to take food, nor a bag in which travelers carry supplies, nor any money for their journey. He also did not allow them to take extra clothing. He wanted the people who heard their message to give them what they needed."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "10", "text": "He also instructed them, “After you enter a town, if someone invites you to stay in his house, go into his house. Eat and sleep in that same home until you leave that town."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "11", "text": "Wherever the people do not welcome you and wherever the people do not listen to you, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that place. By doing that, you will warn them that God will punish them for rejecting your message.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "12", "text": "So after the disciples went out to various towns, they were preaching that people should stop their sinful behavior."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "13", "text": "They were also expelling many evil spirits from people, and they were anointing many sick people with olive oil and healing them."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "14", "text": "King Herod Antipas heard about what Jesus was doing, because many people were talking about it. Some people were saying about Jesus, “ He must be John the Baptizer! He has risen from the dead! That is why he has God's power to perform these miracles!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "15", "text": "Others were saying about Jesus, “He is the former prophet Elijah, whom God promised to send back again.” Others were saying about Jesus, “ No, he is a different prophet, like one of the other prophets who lived long ago.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "16", "text": "Having heard what the people were saying, King Herod Antipas himself repeatedly said, “The man performing those miracles must be John! I commanded my soldiers to cut off his head, but he has come back to life again to get revenge for my killing him!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "17", "text": "The reason King Herod concluded that John wanted revenge is as follows: Some time before this, Herod married Herodias, while she was still the wife of his younger brother, Philip."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "18", "text": "John kept telling Herod, “ God's law does not permit you to marry the wife of your brother while he is still alive.” Then, because Herodias urged him to put John in prison, Herod himself sent soldiers to John. They seized John and put him in prison."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "19", "text": "But because Herodias wanted to get further revenge on John, she wanted someone to execute him. But she could not do that because while John was in prison, Herod kept John safe from her."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "20", "text": "Herod did this because he respected/feared John, because he knew that he was a righteous and holy man. The king did not know what he should do, but he liked to listen to him."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "21", "text": "But Herodias was able to have someone execute John when they honored/celebrated the day when Herod was born. On that day, he invited the most important government officials, the most important army leaders, and the most important men in Galilee district in order that they might eat and celebrate with him."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "22", "text": "While they were eating, Herodias' daughter came into the room and danced, and that pleased King Herod and his guests. So the king said to her, “Ask me for whatever you desire and I will give it to you!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "23", "text": "He said to her, “Whatever you ask, I will give it to you! I will give you up to half of what I own and rule, if you ask for it. May God punish me if I do not do what I have promised!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "24", "text": "The girl immediately left the room and went to her mother. She told her what the king had said, and asked her, “What shall I ask for?” Her mother replied, “ Ask the king to give you the head of John the Baptizer!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "25", "text": "The girl quickly entered the room again. She went to the king and she requested, “I want you to command someone to cut off the head of John the Baptizer and give it to me at once on a platter, so that my mother can know he is dead!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "26", "text": "The king became very distressed when he heard what she asked for because he knew John was a very righteous man (OR, because he now knew that he should not have made that promise to her). But he could not refuse what she requested because he had promised that he would give her anything she asked for, and because his guests had heard him promise that."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "27", "text": "So the king at once ordered the man who executes prisoners to go and cut off John's head and bring it to the girl. That man went to the prison and cut off John's head."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "28", "text": "He put it on a platter, brought it back, and gave it to the girl. The girl took it to her mother."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "29", "text": "After John's disciples heard what happened, they went to the prison and took John's body and then they buried it in a burial cave."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "30", "text": "The twelve apostles returned to Jesus from the places to which they had gone. They reported to him what they had done and what they had taught to people."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "31", "text": "He said to them, “Come with me to a place where no people are living, in order that we can be alone and rest a little while!” He said this because many people were continually coming to them and going away again, with the result that Jesus and his disciples did not have time to eat or do anything else."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "32", "text": "So they went away by themselves in a boat to a place where no people were living."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "33", "text": "But many people saw them leaving. They also recognized that they were Jesus and the disciples, and they saw where they were going. So they ran ahead on land from all the nearby towns to the place where Jesus and his disciples were going. They actually arrived there before Jesus and the disciples."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "34", "text": "As Jesus and his disciples got out of the boat, Jesus saw this large crowd. He felt sorry for them because they were confused, like sheep that do not have a shepherd. So he taught them many things."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "35", "text": "Late in the afternoon the disciples came to him and said, “This is a place where no people live and it is very late."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "36", "text": "So send the people away in order that they may go to the surrounding farms and villages in order that they can buy for themselves something to eat!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "37", "text": "But he replied, “ No, you yourselves give them something to eat!” They replied to him, “◄We could not buy enough bread to feed this crowd, even if we had as much money as a man earns by working 200 days!/How could we buy enough bread to feed this mob, even if we had as much money as a man earns by working 200 days?►” [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "38", "text": "But he replied to them, “How many loaves of bread do you have? Go and find out!” They went and found out and then they told him, “We have only five flat loaves and two cooked fish!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "39", "text": "He instructed the disciples to tell all the people to sit down on the green grass."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "40", "text": "So the people sat in groups. There were 50 people in some groups and 100 people in other groups."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "41", "text": "Jesus took the five flat loaves and the two fish. He looked up towards heaven and thanked God for them. Then he broke the loaves and fish into pieces and kept giving them to the disciples in order that they would distribute them to the people."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "42", "text": "Everyone ate this food until they all had enough to eat!"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "43", "text": "The disciples then collected twelve baskets full of pieces of bread and of the fish that were left over."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "44", "text": "There were approximately five thousand men who ate the bread and fish. They did not even count the women and children."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "45", "text": "Right away Jesus told his disciples to get into the boat and then go ahead of him to Bethsaida town, which was further around Lake Galilee. He stayed and dismissed the many people who were there."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "46", "text": "After he said goodbye to the people, he went up into the hills in order to pray."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "47", "text": "When it was evening, the disciples' boat was in the middle of the lake and Jesus was by himself on the land."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "48", "text": "He saw that the wind was blowing against them as they rowed. As a result, they were having great difficulty. He approached them early in the morning, when it was still dark, by walking on the water. He intended to walk by them."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "49", "text": "They saw him walking on the water, but they thought that he was a ghost. They screamed"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "50", "text": "because they all were terrified when they saw him. But he talked to them. He said to them, “Be calm! Do not be afraid, because it is I!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "51", "text": "He got into the boat and sat down with them and the wind stopped blowing. They were completely amazed about what he had done."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "52", "text": "Although they had seen Jesus multiply the bread and the fish, they did not understand from that how powerful he was, as they should have. They did not think clearly about it."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "53", "text": "After they went further around Lake Galilee in a boat, they came to the shore at Gennesaret town. Then they tied up the boat there."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "54", "text": "As soon as they got out of the boat, the people there recognized Jesus."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "55", "text": "So they ran throughout the whole district in order to tell others that Jesus was there. Then the people placed those who were sick on stretchers and carried them to any place where they heard people say that Jesus was."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "56", "text": "In whatever village, town or other place where he entered, they would bring to the marketplaces those who were sick. Then the sick people would beg Jesus to let them touch him or even the edge of his clothes in order that Jesus might heal them. All those who touched him or his robe were healed."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "1", "text": "One day some Pharisees and some men who teach the Jewish laws gathered around Jesus. They had come from Jerusalem to investigate him."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "2-4", "text": "The Pharisees and all of the other Jews strictly observe their traditions that their ancestors taught. For example, they refuse to eat until they first wash their hands with a special ritual, especially after they return from buying things in the marketplace. They think that God will be angry with them if they do not do that, because some person or thing unacceptable to God might have touched◄ them/the things they bought►. There are many other such traditions that they accept and try to obey. Specifically, they wash in a special way their cups, pots, kettles, containers, and beds in order that using these things will not make God reject them."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "5", "text": "That day, those Pharisees and men who taught the Jewish laws saw that some of his disciples were eating food with hands that they had not washed using the special ritual. So they questioned Jesus, saying, “ Your disciples disobey the traditions of our ancestors! ◄You should not let them eat food if they have not washed their hands using our special ritual!/Why do you let them eat food if they have not washed their hands using our special ritual?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "6", "text": "Jesus said to them, “Isaiah rebuked your ancestors, and his words describe very well you people who only pretend to be good! He wrote these words that God said: These people speak as if they honor me, but they [SYN] really do not think about honoring me at all."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "7", "text": "It is useless for them to worship me, because they teach only what people have commanded as if I myself had commanded them."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "8", "text": "You, like your ancestors, refuse to do what God has commanded. Instead, you follow only the traditions that ◄others/your ancestors► have taught.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "9", "text": "Jesus also said to them, “ You think[IRO] that you are clever in refusing to do what God commanded just so that you can obey your own traditions!"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "10", "text": "For example, our ancestor Moses wrote God's command, ‘Honor your fathers and your mothers’. He also wrote, ‘ The authorities must execute a person who speaks evil about his father or mother.’"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "11-12", "text": "But you teach people that it is all right that people no longer must help their parents. You teach people that it is all right if people give their things to God instead of giving them to their parents. You allow them to say to their parents, ‘What I was going to give to you to provide for you, I have now promised to give to God. So I cannot any longer help you! ’ As a result, you are actually telling people that they no longer have to help their parents!"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "13", "text": "And, by doing that, you disregard what God commanded! You teach your own traditions to others and tell them strongly that they should obey them And you do many other things like that.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "14", "text": "Then Jesus again summoned the crowd to come closer. Then he said to them figuratively, “All of you people listen to me! Try to understand [DOU] what I am about to tell you."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "15-16", "text": "Nothing that people eat causes God to consider them to be unacceptable. On the contrary, it is that which comes from people's ◄inner beings/hearts► that causes God to reject them.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "17", "text": "After Jesus had left the crowd and then entered a house with the disciples, they asked him about the parable that he had just spoken."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "18", "text": "He replied, “◄ I am disappointed that you also do not understand what it means! /Why can you not understand what it means?► [RHQ] ◄You ought to understand that nothing that enters us from outside can cause God to consider us unacceptable to him./Can you not understand that nothing that enters us from outside of us can cause God to consider us unacceptable to him?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "19", "text": "Instead of entering and ruining our minds/souls, it goes into our stomachs, and afterwards the refuse passes out of our bodies.” By saying this, Jesus was declaring that people can eat any food without causing God to reject them."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "20", "text": "He also said, “It is the thoughts and actions that come from within people that cause God to consider them unacceptable to him."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "21", "text": "Specifically, it is people's innermost being that causes them to think things that are evil; they act immorally, they steal things, they commit murder."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "22", "text": "They commit adultery, they are greedy, they act maliciously, they deceive people. They act indecently, they envy people, they speak evil about others, they are proud, and they act foolishly."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "23", "text": "People think these thoughts and then they do these evil actions, and that is what causes God to consider them unacceptable to him.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "24", "text": "After Jesus and his disciples left Galilee district, they went to the region around Tyre city. While he stayed at a certain house, he desired that no one know it, but people soon found out that he was there."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "25", "text": "A certain woman, whose daughter had an evil spirit within her, heard about Jesus. At once she came to him and prostrated herself at his feet."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "26", "text": "This woman was not a Jew. Her ancestors came from Greece country, but she was born in the region around Phoenicia town in Syria district. She pleaded with Jesus that he expel the evil spirit from her daughter."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "27", "text": "But he wanted to see how strongly she believed in him. So, suggesting that he should help the Jews first and not the non-Jews whom some Jews called dogs[MET], he spoke to her saying, “First let the children eat all they want, because it is not good for someone to take the food the mother has prepared for the children and then throw it to the little dogs.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "28", "text": "But to show that she believed that non-Jews could also receive help from God[MET], she replied to him, “Sir, what you say is correct, but even the little dogs, which lie under the table, eat the crumbs that the children drop.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "29", "text": "Jesus said to her, “Because of what you have said, you have shown me that you believe in what I can do for you. So I will help you. Now you may go home, because I have caused the evil spirit to leave your daughter.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "30", "text": "The woman returned to her house and saw that her child was lying quietly on the bed and that the evil spirit had left."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "31", "text": "Jesus and his disciples left the region around Tyre city and went north through Sidon city, then toward the east through the district of the Ten Towns, and then south to the towns near Lake Galilee."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "32", "text": "There, people brought to him a man who was deaf and who could hardly talk. They begged Jesus to lay his hands on him in order to heal him."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "33", "text": "So Jesus took him away from the crowd in order that the two of them could be alone. Then he put one of his fingers into each of the man's ears. After he spat on his fingers, he touched the man's tongue with his fingers."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "34", "text": "Then he looked up toward heaven, he sighed because he was concerned for the man, and then in his own language he said to the man's ears, “Ephphatha”, which means, “Be opened {Open up}!”."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "35", "text": "At once the man could hear plainly [MTY]. He also began to speak clearly because what was causing him to be unable to speak was healed {Jesus healed what was causing him to be unable to speak}."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "36", "text": "Jesus told ◄ the people/his friends► not to tell anyone what he had done. But, although he ordered them and others repeatedly not to tell anyone about it, they kept talking about it very much."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "37", "text": "People who heard about it were utterly amazed and were saying enthusiastically, “Everything he has done is wonderful! Besides doing other amazing things, he enables deaf people to hear! And he enables those who cannot speak to speak!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "1", "text": "During those days, a large crowd of people gathered again. After they had been there a couple days, they had no food to eat. So Jesus summoned the disciples to come closer and then he said to them,"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "2", "text": "“This is the third day that these people have been with me, and they have nothing left to eat, so now I feel very sorry for them."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "3", "text": "Furthermore, if I send them home while they are still hungry, some of them will faint on the way home, because some of them have come from far away.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "4", "text": "Knowing that he was suggesting that they give the people something to eat, one of his disciples replied, “◄We cannot possibly find food to satisfy this crowd, here in this place where no people live!/How can we find food to satisfy this crowd, here in this place where no people live?►” [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "5", "text": "Jesus asked them, “How many loaves of bread do you have?” They replied, “ We have seven flat loaves.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "6", "text": "Jesus commanded the crowd, “Sit down on the ground!” After they sat down, he took the seven loaves, he thanked God for them, he broke them into pieces and started giving them to his disciples in order that they might distribute them to the people."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "7", "text": "They found that they also had a few small dried fish. So after he thanked God for these, he told the disciples, “Distribute these also.” After they distributed the bread and fish to the crowd,"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "8", "text": "the people ate this food and they had plenty to satisfy them. The disciples collected the pieces of food that were left over. They filled seven large baskets full of those pieces."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "9", "text": "They estimated that there were about four thousand people who ate on that day."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "10", "text": "Jesus dismissed the crowd. Immediately after that, he got into the boat along with his disciples, and they went around Lake Galilee to Dalmanutha district."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "11", "text": "In those days some Pharisees came to Jesus. They asked him to perform a miracle that would show that God had sent him. They wanted to find a way by which they could convince the people to reject him. So they started to argue with him."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "12", "text": "Jesus sighed deeply within himself, and then he said, “I am disgusted that [RHQ], even though you people have seen how I have healed people, you keep asking me to perform miracles! Note this: Such a miracle will certainly not be shown {I will certainly not show such a miracle} just for you people!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "13", "text": "Then he left them. He got into the boat again, along with his disciples, and they went further around Lake Galilee."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "14", "text": "The disciples had forgotten to bring along enough food. Specifically, they had only one flat loaf of bread with them in the boat."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "15", "text": "As they were going, Jesus warned them against the attitudes the Pharisees and Herod Antipas had, attitudes that were having a bad effect on other people. He did this by telling them a parable. He said, “Be careful! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "16", "text": "The disciples misunderstood him. So they said to one another, “ He must have said that because we have no bread.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "17", "text": "Jesus knew what they were discussing among themselves. So he said to them, “◄ I am disappointed that you are discussing about your not having enough bread!/Why are you discussing about your not having enough bread?► [RHQ] ◄You should understand by now that I can provide miraculously for you if you need food! /Why do you not yet perceive or understand that I can provide miraculously for you if you need food?► [RHQ] ◄You are not thinking!/Why are you not thinking?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "18", "text": "◄I am also disappointed that, although you have eyes, you do not understand what you see!/Why is it that, although you have eyes, you do not understand what you see?► [RHQ] You have ears, but you do not understand what I say[RHQ]!” Then he asked, “Do you not remember what happened"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "19", "text": "when I broke only five loaves and fed the five thousand people [RHQ]? Not only was everyone satisfied, but there was food left over How many baskets full of pieces of bread that were left over did you collect?” They replied, “We collected twelve baskets full.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "20", "text": "Then he asked, “When I broke the seven loaves in order to feed the four thousand people, again when everyone had plenty to eat, how many large baskets of pieces of bread that were left over did you collect?” They replied, “ We collected seven large baskets full.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "21", "text": "Then he kept saying to them, “◄ I am disappointed that you do not understand yet that you should never worry that you do not have enough food!/Why do you not understand yet that you should never worry that you do not have enough food?►” [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "22", "text": "They arrived in the boat at Bethsaida town. People brought to Jesus a blind man and earnestly requested that Jesus touch him in order to heal him."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "23", "text": "Jesus took the hand of the blind man, led him outside the town, he put his saliva on the man's eyes, he put his hands on the man, and then he asked him, “Do you see anything?”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "24", "text": "The man looked up and then he said, “ Yes, I see people! They are walking around, but I cannot see them clearly. They look like trees!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "25", "text": "Then Jesus again touched the eyes of the blind man. The man looked intently and at that moment he was completely healed! He could see everything clearly."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "26", "text": "Jesus said to him, “Do not go into the town! First go straight home and tell the people there about what I did!” Then he sent the man to his home."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "27", "text": "Jesus and the disciples left Bethsaida town and went to the villages near Caesarea Philippi town. On the way he questioned them, “Who do people say that I really am?”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "28", "text": "They replied, “ Some people say that you are John the Baptizer, who has come back to life again. Others say that you are the prophet Elijah who has returned from heaven as God promised. And others say that you are one of the other former prophets who has come back to life again.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "29", "text": "He asked them, “What about you? Who do you say that I am?” Peter replied to him, “ We believe that you are the Messiah!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "30", "text": "Then Jesus warned them strongly that they should not tell anyone yet that he was the Messiah."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "31", "text": "Then Jesus began to teach them, “ Even though I am the one who came from heaven, it is necessary that I suffer very much. It is also necessary that I be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the men who teach the Jewish laws {that the elders, the chief priests, and the men who teach the Jewish laws reject me}, and that I be killed {they kill me}. But on the third day after I am killed I will become alive again.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "32", "text": "He said this to them clearly. But Peter took Jesus aside and then, because he assumed that the Messiah would never die, he started to rebuke Jesus for talking about dying."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "33", "text": "Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples. Then he rebuked Peter, saying, “Stop thinking like that! Satan is causing you to talk like that! Instead of wanting what God wants me to do, you are wanting me to do only what most people would want me to do.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "34", "text": "Then he summoned the crowd along with his disciples so that they might listen to him. He told them, “If any one of you wants to be my disciple, you must not do only what you yourself want to do. Specifically, you must be willing to allow people to hurt you and to disgrace you. That is what they do to criminals who are forced to carry crosses [MET] to the places where they will be crucified. That is what anyone who wants to be my disciple must do."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "35", "text": "You must do that, because those who try to save their lives by denying that they belong to me when people want to kill them for believing in me will not live eternally, but those who are killed because of being my disciples and because of telling others my good message will live forever with me."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "36", "text": "People might get everything they want in this world, but ◄they are really gaining nothing if they do not get eternal life because they do not become my disciples! /what will they gain if they do not get eternal life because they do not become my disciples?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "37", "text": "◄ Think carefully about the fact that there is absolutely nothing that people can give to God that would enable them to gain eternal life!/Is there anything that a person can give to God in order to gain eternal life?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "38", "text": "And think about this: Those who refuse to say that they belong to me and who reject what I say in these days when many people have turned away from God and are very sinful, I, the one who came from heaven, will also refuse to say that they belong to me when I come back with the holy angels and have the glorious brightness that my Father has!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "1", "text": "He also said to his disciples, “Listen carefully! Some of you who are here now will see God ruling powerfully in many ways. You will see it before you die!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "2", "text": "A week later Jesus took Peter, James and James' younger brother John and led them up a high mountain. While they were alone up there, he appeared very different to them."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "3", "text": "His clothes became dazzling white. They were whiter than anyone on earth could make them by bleaching them."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "4", "text": "Two prophets who had lived long ago, Moses and Elijah, appeared to them. Then the two of them began talking with Jesus."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "5", "text": "After a short time, Peter interrupted by exclaiming, “Teacher, it is wonderful to be here! So allow us to make three shelters. One will be for you, one will be for Moses, and one will be for Elijah!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "6", "text": "He said this because he wanted to say something, but he did not know what to say, because he and the other two disciples were very awestruck."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "7", "text": "Then a shining cloud appeared that covered them. God[EUP] spoke to them from the cloud saying, “This is my Son. I love him. Therefore, listen to him!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "8", "text": "When the three disciples looked around, they saw that suddenly Jesus was alone with them, and that there was no longer anyone else there."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "9", "text": "While they were coming down the mountain, Jesus told them that they should not tell anyone yet what had just happened to him. He said, “You may tell them after I, the one who came from heaven, ◄rise from the dead/become alive again► after I die.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "10", "text": "So they did not tell others about it for a long time. But they discussed among themselves what it meant when he said that he would ◄rise from the dead/become alive again► after he died."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "11", "text": "The three disciples had just seen Elijah, but Elijah had not done anything to prepare people to accept Jesus. So they asked Jesus, “The men who teach the Jewish laws say that Elijah must come back to the earth before the Messiah comes to earth. But you have been here a long time and Elijah came just today. So is what they are teaching wrong? ”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "12-13", "text": "Jesus wanted them to know that John the Baptizer was the one who represented Elijah. So he answered them, “It is true that God promised to send Elijah to come first so that people would be ready when I came. Elijah's representative has already come, and our leaders treated him very badly, just like they wanted to do, just like it was prophesied { the prophets prophesied} long ago. But, ◄I also want you to consider what is written {what the prophets wrote} in the Scriptures about me, the one who came from heaven./why have you not thought about what is written {what the prophets wrote} about me, the one who came from heaven?► [RHQ] It is written {They wrote} that I would suffer much and that I would be rejected {that many people would reject me}.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "14", "text": "Jesus and those three disciples returned to where the other disciples were. They saw a large crowd around the other disciples and some men who taught the Jewish laws arguing with them."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "15", "text": "As soon as the crowd saw Jesus, they were very surprised to see him come. So they ran to him and greeted him."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "16", "text": "He asked them, “What are you arguing about?”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "17", "text": "A man in the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son here in order that you would heal him. There is an evil spirit in him that makes him unable to talk."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "18", "text": "Whenever the spirit attacks him, it throws him down. He foams at the mouth, he grinds his teeth together, and he becomes stiff. I asked your disciples to expel the spirit, but they were not able to do it.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "19", "text": "Jesus replied by saying to those people, “◄I am very disappointed that although you have observed how I help people, you do not believe that you are able to do anything!/Why is it that although you have observed how I help people, you do not believe that you are able to do anything?► [RHQ] ◄I have been with you a long time, and you still cannot do what I do!/How long do I have to be with you before you can do what I do?► [RHQ] Bring the boy to me!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "20", "text": "So they brought the boy to Jesus. As soon as the evil spirit saw Jesus, it shook the boy severely, and the boy fell on the ground. He rolled around, and he foamed at the mouth."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "21", "text": "Jesus asked the boy's father, “How long has he been like this?” He replied, “ This started to happen when he was a child."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "22", "text": "The spirit does not only do this, but he also often throws him into the fire or into the water in order to kill him. But, pity us and help us, if you can!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "23", "text": "Jesus exclaimed to him, “ Do not say[RHQ] ‘If you can’, for God/I can do anything for people who believe in him/me!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "24", "text": "Immediately the child's father shouted, “I believe that you can help me, but I do not believe strongly. Help me to believe more strongly!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "25", "text": "Because Jesus wanted to heal the boy before the crowd got bigger, he rebuked the evil spirit, saying, “You evil spirit, you who are causing this boy to be deaf and unable to talk! I command you to come out of him and never enter him again!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "26", "text": "The evil spirit shouted, it shook the boy violently, and then it left the boy. The boy did not move. He seemed like a dead body. So many of the people there said, “He is dead!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "27", "text": "However, Jesus took him by the hand and helped him get up. Then the boy stood up. He was healed"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "28", "text": "Later, when Jesus and his disciples were alone in a house, one of them asked him, “Why were we not able to expel the evil spirit?”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "29", "text": "He said to them, “You can expel this kind of evil spirit only by your praying that God will give you the power to do it. There is no other way that you can expel them.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "30", "text": "After Jesus and his disciples left that district, they traveled through Galilee district. Jesus did not want anyone else to know that he was in their area; he did not want"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "31", "text": "anyone to interrupt him as he taught his disciples. He was telling them, “ Some day my enemies[SYN] will seize [MTY] me, the one who came from heaven, and I will be put {they will put me} into the hands of other men. Those men will kill me. But on the third day after I am killed {after they kill me}, I will become alive again!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "32", "text": "But they did not understand what he was telling them. Also, they were afraid to ask him about what he had said."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "33", "text": "Jesus and his disciples returned to Capernaum town. When they were in the house, he asked them, “What were you discussing while we were traveling on the road?”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "34", "text": "But they did not reply. They were ashamed to reply because, while they were traveling, they had been arguing with each other about which one of them would be the most important when Jesus became king."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "35", "text": "He sat down, he summoned the twelve disciples to come close to him, and then he said to them, “If anyone wants God to consider him to be the most important person of all, he must consider himself to be the least important person of all, and he must serve everyone else.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "36", "text": "Then he took a child and placed him among them. He took the child in his arms and then he said to them,"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "37", "text": "“Those who, because they love me, welcome a child like this one, God considers that they are welcoming me. So it is as though they are also welcoming God, who sent me.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "38", "text": "John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone who was expelling demons, ◄ claiming he had authority from you to do that/while telling people that you have told him to do it►. So we told him to stop doing it because he was not one of us disciples.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "39", "text": "Jesus said, “Do not tell him not to do that. For no one will speak evilly about me just after he performs a miracle while saying that I have told him to do it."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "40", "text": "Furthermore, those who are not opposing us are trying to achieve the same goals that we are."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "41", "text": "Also think about this: Those who belong to me who help you in any way, even if they just give you a cup of water to drink because you follow me, the Messiah, will certainly be rewarded by God!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "42", "text": "Jesus also said, “But if you cause someone who believes in me to sin, God will severely punish you, even if that person is socially unimportant like this little child. If someone tied a heavy stone around your neck and you were thrown {and threw you} into the sea, you would consider that was a severe punishment. But God will punish you more severely than that if you cause a person who believes in me to sin."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "43-44", "text": "So, if you are wanting to use one of[MTY, PRS] your hands to sin, stop using your hand! Even if you have to cut your hand off and throw it away to avoid sinning, do it[HYP]! It is good that you not sin and that you live eternally, even though you lack one of your hands while you are here on earth. But it is not good that you sin and as a result God throws your whole body into hell. There the fires never go out!"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "45-46", "text": "If you are wanting to use one of [PRS] your feet to sin, stop using your foot! Even if you have to cut off your foot to avoid sinning, do it[HYP]! It is good that you not sin and live eternally, even though you lack one of your feet while you are here on earth. But it is not good that you sin and go to hell."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "47", "text": "If because of what you see [MTY, PRS] you are tempted to sin, stop looking at those things Even if you have to gouge out your eye and throw it away [HYP] to avoid sinning, do it! It is good that you not sin and live eternally, even though you lack one of your eyes while you are here on earth. But it is not good that you sin and, as a result, God puts your whole body in hell."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "48", "text": "In that place people suffer forever and the fires are never put out {never go out}.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "49", "text": "“ You must endure difficulties in order that God will be pleased with you. Your difficulties are like a fire that makes things pure[MET]. Your enduring is also like[MET] salt being put on{people putting salt on their} sacrifices to make them pure."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "50", "text": "Salt is useful to put on food, but you cannot [RHQ] make salt to taste salty again if it becomes flavorless [MET]. Similarly, you must remain useful to God, because no one can make you useful to God again if you become useless. You must also live peacefully with each other.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "1", "text": "Jesus left ◄that place/Capernaum► with his disciples, and they went through Judea district and on across to the east side of the Jordan River. When crowds gathered around him again, he taught them again, as he customarily did."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "2", "text": "While he was teaching them, some Pharisees approached him and asked him, “Does our Jewish law permit a man to divorce his wife?” They asked that in order to be able to criticize him whether he answered “yes” or “no” ."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "3", "text": "He answered them, “What did Moses command your ancestors about a man divorcing his wife?”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "4", "text": "One of them replied, “Moses permitted that a man may write on paper his reason for divorcing his wife, give this paper to her, and then send her away.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "5", "text": "Jesus said to them, “It was because your ancestors stubbornly wanted just what they desired that Moses wrote that law for your ancestors, and you are just like them"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "6", "text": "Remember that he also wrote that, when God first created people, he made one man, and one woman to become that man's wife."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "7", "text": "That explains why God said, ‘When a man and woman marry, they should no longer live with their fathers and mothers after they marry."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "8", "text": "Instead, the two of them shall live together, and they shall become so closely united[MET] that they are like one person.’ Therefore, although the people who marry were two separate persons before, God regards them as one person now, so he wants them to remain married."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "9", "text": "Because that is true, a man must not separate from his wife whom God has joined to him, because God's plan is for them to remain together!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "10", "text": "When Jesus and his disciples were alone in a house, they asked him again about this."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "11", "text": "He said to them, “ God considers that a marriage lasts until either the husband or the wife dies, so he considers that any man who divorces his wife and marries another woman is committing adultery, even if he divorces his first wife."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "12", "text": "God also considers a woman who divorces her first husband to be committing adultery if she marries another man.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "13", "text": "One day, some people were bringing children to Jesus in order that he would touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded those people because they thought that Jesus◄ did not want to be bothered spending time with/was not concerned about► children."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "14", "text": "When Jesus saw that, he became angry. He said to the disciples, “Allow the children to come to me! Do not forbid them [DOU]! It is people who are humble and trust as they do who can experience ◄God's rule in their lives/God taking care of them► [MET]."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "15", "text": "Note this: Those who do not trustingly allow God to direct their lives, as children do, will not enter the place where God rules.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "16", "text": "Then he embraced the children. He also put his hands on them and asked God to bless them."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "17", "text": "As Jesus was starting to travel again with his disciples, a young man ran up to him. He knelt before Jesus and then he asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to have eternal life/in order to live with God eternally?”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "18", "text": "Jesus said to him, “◄You should consider carefully what you are implying(OR, that you are implying that I am God) by calling me good, because only God is good!/Do you realize what you are implying(OR, that you are implying that I am God) by calling me good, because only God is good?► [RHQ] No other person is good"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "19", "text": "But to answer your question, you know the commandments of Moses, which will cause you to live eternally if you obey them perfectly. He commanded things such as‘do not murder anyone, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not ◄testify falsely/lie►, do not cheat anyone, and honor your father and mother’.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "20", "text": "The man said to him, “Teacher, I have obeyed all those commandments ever since I was young. So is◄ that enough/there something else that I have not done►?”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "21", "text": "Jesus looked at him and loved him. He said to him, “There is one thing that you have not yet done. You must go home, sell all that you possess, and then give the money to poor people. As a result, you will be spiritually rich in heaven. After you have done what I have told you, come with me and be my disciple!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "22", "text": "The man became disappointed when he heard that. He went away sad, because he was very rich and he did not want to give away everything."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "23", "text": "Jesus looked around at the people. Then he exclaimed to his disciples, “It is very difficult for people who are wealthy to decide to let God rule their lives!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "24", "text": "The disciples were surprised at what he said. They thought that God favored the rich people, so if God did not save them, he would not save anyone. So Jesus replied again to them, “My dear friends, it is very difficult for anyone to decide to let God rule his life."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "25", "text": "It is impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. It is almost as difficult [HYP] for rich people to decide to let God rule their lives.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "26", "text": "The disciples were very astonished. So they said to each other, “If that is so, ◄it will be unlikely that anyone will be saved {that God will save anyone}!/will God save anyone?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "27", "text": "Jesus looked at them and then he said, “ Yes, it is impossible for people to save themselves! But God certainly can save them, because God can do anything!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "28", "text": "Peter exclaimed, “ You know that we have left behind everything and we have become your disciples. So, ◄ what about us/will God< accept us/reward us> ►?”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "29", "text": "Jesus replied, “I want you to know this: Those who have left their houses, their brothers, their sisters, their father, their mother, their children, or their plots of ground, to be my disciples and to proclaim the good news,"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "30", "text": "will receive in this life a hundred times as much as they left behind. That will include houses and people as dear as brothers and sisters and mothers and children, and plots of ground. Furthermore, although people will persecute them here on earth because they believe in me, in the future age they will ◄ have eternal life/live with God eternally►."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "31", "text": "But I warn you all: Many of you who now consider yourselves to be very important will be unimportant at that future time, and many of you who now consider yourselves to be unimportant will be very important at that future time!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "32", "text": "Some days later as they continued to travel, Jesus and his disciples were walking on the road that leads up to Jerusalem city. Jesus was walking ahead of them. The disciples/apostles were astonished that he was going to where there were many people who opposed him, and the other people who were with them were afraid about what would happen to him in Jerusalem. Along the way he took the twelve disciples to a place by themselves. Then he began to tell them again about what was going to happen to him, saying,"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "33", "text": "“Listen carefully! We are going up to Jerusalem. There the chief priests and the men who teach the Jewish laws will be enabled {someone will help the chief priests and those who teach our Jewish laws} to seize me. Then they will declare that I must die, even though I am the one who came from heaven. Then they will take me to the Roman authorities."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "34", "text": "Those men will ridicule me. They will spit on me. They will whip me. Then they will kill me. But on the third day after that, I will become alive again!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "35", "text": "Along the way James and John, who were the two sons of Zebedee, approached Jesus and they said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us what we will ask you to do!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "36", "text": "He said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "37", "text": "They said to him, “When you rule gloriously, let us rule with you. Let one of us sit at your right side and one sit at your left side.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "38", "text": "But Jesus said to them, “You do not understand what you are asking for.” Then he asked them, “Can you endure suffering [MTY] like I am about to suffer? Can you endure being killed [MTY] as I will be killed {people killing you as they will kill me}?”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "39", "text": "They said to him, “ Yes, we are able to do that!” Then Jesus said to them, “ It is true that you will endure suffering [MTY] like I will suffer, and you will endure being killed as I will be killed {people killing you as they will kill me}."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "40", "text": "But I am not the one who chooses the ones who will sit next to me and rule with me. God will give those places to the ones he appoints.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "41", "text": "The other ten disciples later heard about what James and John had requested. As a result, they were angry with them because they also wanted to rule with Jesus in the highest positions."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "42", "text": "Then, after Jesus called them all together, he said to them, “You know that those who rule the non-Jews enjoy showing that they are powerful. You also know that officials enjoy commanding others."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "43", "text": "But do not be like them! On the contrary, all those among you who want God to consider them great must become like servants to the rest of you."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "44", "text": "Furthermore, if anyone among you wants God to consider him to be the most important, he must act like a servant for the rest of you."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "45", "text": "You should imitate me. Even though I am the one who has come from heaven, I did not come to be served {for others to serve me}. On the contrary, I came in order to serve others and to allow others to kill me, in order that my dying for people would be like a payment to rescue many people from being punished{ God punishing them} for their sins.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "46", "text": "On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus and the disciples came to Jericho town. Afterwards, while they were leaving Jericho along with a great crowd, a blind man who habitually begged for money was sitting beside the road. His name was Bartimaeus and his father's name was Timaeus."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "47", "text": "When he heard people say that Jesus from Nazareth was passing by, he shouted, “Jesus! You who are the Messiah descended from King David, ◄be merciful to/help► me!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "48", "text": "Many people rebuked him and told him that he should be quiet. But he shouted even more, “ You who are the Messiah descended from King David, ◄be merciful to/help► me!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "49", "text": "Jesus stopped and said, “Call him to come over here!” They summoned the blind man, saying, “Jesus is calling you! So cheer up and get up and come!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "50", "text": "He threw aside his cloak as he jumped up, and he came to Jesus."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "51", "text": "Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “Sir, I want to be able to see again!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "52", "text": "Jesus said to him, “ I am healing you because you believed in me. So you may go home!” He could see immediately. And he went with Jesus along the road."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "1", "text": "When they came near to Jerusalem, they came to Bethphage and Bethany villages near Olive Tree Hill. Then Jesus summoned two of his disciples."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "2", "text": "He said to them, “Go to that village just ahead of you. As soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey that no one has ever ridden, that has been tied {people have tied} up. Untie it, and then bring it to me."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "3", "text": "If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing that?’, say, ‘Jesus, our Lord, needs to use it. He will send it back here with someone as soon as he no longer needs it.’”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "4", "text": "So the two disciples went and they found the young donkey. It was tied close to the door of a house, which was beside the street. Then they untied it."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "5", "text": "Some of the people who were there said to them, “Why are you untying the donkey?”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "6", "text": "They told them what Jesus had said. So the people permitted them to take the donkey."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "7", "text": "They brought the donkey to Jesus. The disciples put some of their clothes on it in order to make something for him to sit on."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "8", "text": "Many people spread their cloaks on the road to honor him as a king. Others, in order to honor him, spread along the road branches that they cut from palm trees in the fields beside the road."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "9", "text": "The people who were going in front of him and behind him were all shouting things like, “Praise God!” “May God bless this one who comes ◄with his authority/as his representative► [MTY].”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "10", "text": "“May you be blessed {May God bless you} when you rule like our ancestor King David ruled!” “Praise God who is in the highest heaven!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "11", "text": "He entered Jerusalem with them, and then he went into the Temple courtyard. After he looked around at everything there, he left the city because it was already late in the afternoon. He returned to Bethany town with the twelve disciples and slept there."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "12", "text": "The next day, as Jesus and his disciples were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "13", "text": "He saw from a distance a fig tree with all its leaves, so he went to it to see if he could find any figs on it. But when he came to it, he found only leaves on it. This was because it was not yet time when normal fig trees have ripe figs."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "14", "text": "But to illustrate how God would punish the nation of Israel, he said to the tree, “No one shall ever eat from you again because you will no longer bear figs.” The disciples heard what he said."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "15", "text": "Jesus and his disciples went back to Jerusalem. He entered the Temple courtyard. He saw people who were selling and buying animals for sacrifices. They were spoiling the place of worship. He chased those people from the Temple courtyard. He also overturned the tables of those who were giving Temple tax money in exchange for Roman coins. He overturned the seats of the men who were selling doves for sacrifice,"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "16", "text": "and he would not allow anyone who was carrying anything to sell to go through the Temple area."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "17", "text": "Then as he taught those people, he said to them, “It is written { One of the prophets wrote} in the Scriptures that God said, ‘ I want my house to be called { people to call my house} a house where people from all nations may pray’, but you bandits have made it like a cave where you can hide! ◄ You know that!/Do you not know that?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "18", "text": "The chief priests and the men who taught the Jewish laws later heard about what he had done. So they planned how they might kill him, but they knew that it would be difficult, because they realized that the crowd was amazed at what he was teaching and they feared that the people would soon decide that Jesus had more authority over the Temple than they did(OR, feared what the people would do if they tried to arrest Jesus)."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "19", "text": "That evening, Jesus and his disciples left the city and again slept in Bethany."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "20", "text": "The next morning while they were going along the road toward Jerusalem, they saw that the fig tree that Jesus had cursed had withered completely."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "21", "text": "Peter remembered what Jesus had said to the fig tree and he exclaimed to Jesus, “Teacher, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "22", "text": "Jesus replied, “ You should not be surprised that God did what I asked! You must trust that God will do whatever you ask him to do!"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "23", "text": "Also note this: If anyone says to this hill, ‘Be raised up {Rise up} and then be thrown {throw yourself} into the lake!’ and if he does not doubt that what he asks for will happen, that is, if he believes that what he asks for will happen, God will do it for him."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "24", "text": "So I tell you, whenever you ask God for something when you pray, believe that you will receive it, and, if you do, God will do it for you."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "25-26", "text": "Now, I tell you this also: Whenever you are praying, if you have a grudge against people because they have harmed you, forgive them, in order that your Father in heaven will likewise forgive your sins.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "27", "text": "Jesus and his disciples arrived in the Temple courtyard in Jerusalem again. While Jesus was walking there, a group consisting of chief priests, some men who taught the Jewish laws, and elders came to him and they said to him,"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "28", "text": "“By what authority are you doing these things? Who authorized you to do things like those you did here yesterday?”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "29", "text": "Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you who authorized me to do those things."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "30", "text": "Did God [MTY] or people authorize John to baptize those who came to him?”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "31", "text": "They debated among themselves as to what they should answer. They said to each other, “If we say that it was God who authorized him, he will say to us, ‘Therefore, ◄you should have believed what John said!/why did you not believe what John said?► [RHQ]’"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "32", "text": "On the other hand, if we say that it was people who authorized John, then what will happen to us?” They were afraid to say that about where John got his authority, because they knew that the people would be very angry with them. They knew that all the people truly believed that John was a prophet whom God had sent."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "33", "text": "So they answered Jesus, “We do not know where John got his authority.” Then Jesus said to them, “ Because you did not answer my question, I will not tell you who authorized me to do those things here yesterday.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "1", "text": "Then Jesus told those Jewish leaders a parable. He wanted to show what God would do to those who rejected the former prophets and himself. He said, “A certain man planted a vineyard. He built a fence around it in order to protect it. He made a stone tank to collect the juice that they would press out of the grapes. He also built a tower for someone to sit in to guard his vineyard. Then he leased the vineyard to some men to care for it and to give him some of the grapes in return. Then he went away to another country."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "2", "text": "When the time came to harvest the grapes, he sent a servant to the men who were taking care of the vineyard in order to receive from them his share of the grapes that the vineyard had produced."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "3", "text": "But after the servant arrived, they grabbed him and beat him, and they did not give him any fruit. Then they sent him away."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "4", "text": "Later the one who owned the vineyard sent another servant to them. But they beat that one on his head, and they insulted him."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "5", "text": "Later he sent another servant. That man they killed. They mistreated many other servants whom he sent. Some they beat and some they killed."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "6", "text": "The man still had one other person with him. It was his son. He loved him very much. So, finally he sent his son to them because he thought that they would respect him and give him some of the grapes."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "7", "text": "But when they saw his son coming, those men who were looking after the vineyard said to each other, ‘Look! Here comes the man who will some day inherit the vineyard! So let's kill him in order that this vineyard will be ours!’"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "8", "text": "They seized him and killed him. Then they threw his body outside the vineyard."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "9", "text": "So ◄do you know what the man who owns the vineyard will do?/I will tell you what the man who owns the vineyard will do [RHQ]►. He will come, and he will kill those evil men who were taking care of his vineyard. Then he will arrange for other people to take care of it."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "10", "text": "Now think carefully about these words, which you have read in the Scriptures: The men who were building the building rejected one stone. But others put that same stone in its proper place, and it has become the most important stone in the building [MET]!"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "11", "text": "The Lord has done this, and we marvel as we look at it.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "12", "text": "Then the Jewish leaders realized that he was accusing them when he told this story about what those wicked people did. So they wanted to seize him. But they were afraid of what the crowds would do if they did that. So they left him and went away."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "13", "text": "The Jewish leaders sent to Jesus some Pharisees who thought that the Jews should pay only the tax that their own Jewish authorities required people to pay. They also sent some members of the party that supported Herod Antipas and the Roman government. They wanted to make Jesus say something wrong that would make one of those groups very angry with him."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "14", "text": "After they arrived, they said to him deceivingly, “Teacher, we know that you teach the truth. We also know that you are not concerned about what people say about you, even if an important person does not like what you say. Instead, you teach truthfully what God wants us to do. So tell us what you think about this matter: Is it right that we pay taxes to the Roman government, or not [MTY]? Should we pay the taxes, or should we not pay them?”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "15", "text": "Jesus knew that they did not really want to know what God wanted them to do. So he said to them, “◄I know that you are just trying to make me say something wrong for which you can arrest me./Why are you just trying to make me say something wrong for which you can arrest me?► [RHQ] But I will answer your question anyway. Bring me a coin so that I might ask you something after I look at it.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "16", "text": "After they brought him a coin, he asked them, “Whose picture is on this coin? And whose name is on it?” They replied, “It is a picture and the name of Caesar, the man who rules the Roman government.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "17", "text": "Then Jesus said to them, “ That is correct, so give to the government [MTY] what they require, and give to God what he requires.” They were frustrated at his answer but amazed at what he said, because they were not able to accuse him because of what he said."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "18", "text": "Men who belong to the Sadducee sect deny that people become alive again after they die. In order to discredit Jesus by ridiculing the idea that people will live again, some of them came to him and asked him,"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "19", "text": "“Teacher, Moses wrote for us Jews that if a man who has no children dies, his brother should marry the dead man's widow. Then if those two bear children, everyone will consider that those children are the children of the man who died, and in that way the dead man will continue to have descendants."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "20", "text": "So here is an example. There were seven boys in one family. The oldest one married a woman, but he and his wife did not bear any children. Then he later died."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "21", "text": "The second brother followed this law and married that woman and he, too, did not bear any children. Then he later died. The third brother did like his other brothers did. But he also did not bear any children, and later died."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "22", "text": "Eventually all seven brothers married that woman one by one, but they had no children and one by one they died. Afterwards the woman died, too."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "23", "text": "Therefore, if it were true what some people say, that people will become alive again after they die, whose wife do you think that woman will be when people become alive again? ◄ Keep in mind that she was married to all seven brothers!/She was married to all seven brothers, so how can anyone decide[RHQ]?►”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "24", "text": "Jesus replied to them, “You are certainly wrong [RHQ]. You do not know what they have written in the Scriptures about this. You also do not understand God's power to make people alive again."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "25", "text": "That woman will not be the wife of any of them because when people have become alive again, instead of men having wives and women having husbands, they will be like the angels in heaven, who do not marry."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "26", "text": "But as to people becoming alive again after they die, in the book that Moses wrote, he said something about people who have died that I am sure that you have read [RHQ]. When Moses was looking at the bush that was burning, God said to him, ‘I am the God whom Abraham worships and the God whom Isaac worships and the God whom Jacob worships.’"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "27", "text": "It is not dead people who worship God. It is living people who worship him. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob died long before Moses lived, but God said that they were still worshipping him, so we know their spirits were still alive! So your claim that dead people do not become alive again is very wrong.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "28", "text": "A man who taught the Jewish laws heard their discussion. He knew that Jesus answered the question well. So he stepped forward and asked Jesus, “Which commandment is the most important?”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "29", "text": "Jesus answered, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, you people of Israel! You must worship the Lord, our God, our only Lord."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "30", "text": "You must show that you love him in all the ways that you live Show it in all that you want and feel, in all that you think, and in all that you do!’"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "31", "text": "The next most important commandment is: ‘You must love people you come in contact with as much as you love yourself.’ No other commandment is more important than these two!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "32", "text": "The man said to Jesus, “Teacher, you have answered well. You correctly said that he is the only God and that there is no other God we must worship/obey."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "33", "text": "You have also said correctly that we ◄ should/must show that we► love God by all that we are, by all that we think, and by the way that we live. And you have said correctly that we must love ◄people with whom we come in contact/others► as much as we love ourselves. And you have also correctly said that doing these things pleases God more than offering/giving animals to him or burning other sacrifices.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "34", "text": "Jesus realized that this man had answered wisely. So he said to him, “ I perceive that you will soon decide to let God rule your life.” After that, the Jewish leaders were afraid to ask him any more questions like that to try to trap him."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "35", "text": "Later, while he was teaching in the Temple courtyard, Jesus said to the people, “These men who teach the Jewish laws, ◄they must be wrong when they say that the Messiah is merely a descendant of King David!/why do they say that the Messiah is merely a descendant of King David?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "36", "text": "The Holy Spirit caused David himself to say about the Messiah, God said to my Lord, ‘Sit here beside me at the place where I will highly honor you! Sit here while I completely defeat your enemies! [MTY]’"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "37", "text": "Therefore, because David himself calls the Messiah‘my Lord,’ ◄the Messiah cannot be just a man who descended from King David! /how can the Messiah be just a man who descended from King David?► [RHQ] He must be much greater than David! ” Many people listened to him gladly as he taught those things."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "38", "text": "While Jesus was teaching the people, he said to them, “Beware that you do not act like the men who teach our Jewish laws. They like people to honor them, so they put on long robes and walk around in order to show people how important they are. They also like people to greet them respectfully in the marketplaces."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "39", "text": "They like to sit in the most important seats in our ◄synagogue/Jewish meeting place►. At festivals, they like to sit in the seats where the most honored people sit."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "40", "text": "They ◄swindle/take for themselves► the houses and property of widows by cheating them. Then they pretend that they are good by praying long prayers publicly. God will certainly punish them severely!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "41", "text": "Later, Jesus sat down in the Temple courtyard opposite the boxes in which people put offerings. As he was sitting there, he watched as all the people put money in the box. Many rich people put in large amounts of money."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "42", "text": "Then a poor widow came along and put in two small copper coins, which had a very small value."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "43-44", "text": "He gathered his disciples around him and said to them, “The truth is that these other people have a lot of money, but they gave only a small part of it. But this woman, who is very poor, has put in all the money that she had to pay for the things she needs. So God considers that this poor widow has put more money into the box than all the other people!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "1", "text": "While Jesus was leaving the Temple area, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, look at how marvelous these huge stones in the walls are and how wonderful these buildings are!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "2", "text": "Jesus said to him, “ Yes, these buildings that you are looking at[RHQ] are wonderful, but I want to tell you something about them. They will be destroyed { Foreign invaders will destroy them} completely, with the result that no stone here in this Temple area will be left on top of another stone.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "3", "text": "After they arrived on Olive Tree Hill across the valley from the Temple, Jesus sat down. When Peter, James, John, and Andrew were alone with him, they asked him,"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "4", "text": "“Tell us, when will that happen to the buildings of the Temple? Tell us what will happen that will show us that all these things that God has planned are about to be finished {that God is about to finish all these things that he has planned}.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "5", "text": "Jesus replied to them, “ I cannot give you a simple answer to your questions. All I will say is, beware that no one deceives you concerning what will happen"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "6", "text": "Many people will come and say ◄that I sent them/that they have my authority► [MTY]. They will say, ‘I am the Messiah! ’ They will deceive many people."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "7", "text": "Whenever people tell you about wars that are close or wars that are far away, do not be troubled. God has said that those things must happen. But when they do happen, do not think that God will finish all that he has planned at that time!"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "8", "text": "Groups who live in various countries will fight each other, and various governments will fight each other. There will also be big earthquakes in various places; and there will be famines. Yet, when these things happen, people will have only just begun to suffer. The first things that they suffer will be like the first pains a woman suffers who is about to bear a child. They will suffer much more after that."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "9", "text": "Be ready for what people will do to you at that time. Because you believe in me, they will arrest you and put you on trial before the religious councils. ◄In the synagogue/In the Jewish meeting place►, you will be beaten {others will beat you}. You will be put { People will put you} on trial in the presence of high government authorities. As a result, you will be able to tell them about me."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "10", "text": "My good message must be proclaimed { You must proclaim my good message} to people in all people-groups before God finishes all that he has planned."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "11", "text": "And when people arrest you in order to prosecute you because you believe in me, do not worry before that happens about what you will say. Instead, say what God puts into your mind at that time. Then it will not be just you who will be speaking. It will be the Holy Spirit who will be speaking through you."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "12", "text": "Other evil things will happen: People who do not believe in me will ◄betray/help others seize► their brothers and sisters in order that the government can execute them. Parents will betray their children, and children will betray their parents so that the government will kill their parents."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "13", "text": "In general, you will be hated by most [HYP] people {most [HYP] people will hate you} because you believe in me. But all you who continue to trust in me strongly until your life is finished will be saved { God will save all you who continue to trust in me strongly until your life ends}."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "14", "text": "During that time the disgusting thing/person that the prophet Daniel described will enter the Temple. It/He will defile the Temple when he enters it and will cause people to abandon it. When you see it/him standing there where it/he should not be, you should run away quickly(May everyone who is reading this pay attention to this warning from Jesus!) At that time those people who are in Judea district must flee to higher hills."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "15", "text": "Those people who are outside their houses must not enter their houses in order to get anything before they run away."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "16", "text": "Those who are working in a field must not return to their houses in order to get additional clothes before they flee."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "17", "text": "But I feel very sorry for women who will be pregnant and women who will be nursing their babies in those days, because it will be very difficult for them to run away"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "18-19", "text": "In those days people will suffer very severely. People have never suffered like that since the time when God first created the world until now; and people will not suffer that way again. So pray that this painful time will not happen in ◄winter/the rainy season►, when it will be hard to travel."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "20", "text": "If the Lord God had not decided that he would shorten that time when people suffer so much, everyone would die. But he has decided to shorten that time because he is concerned about you people whom he has chosen [DOU]."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "21-22", "text": "At that time people who will falsely say that they are Messiahs and prophets will appear. Then they will perform many kinds ◄of miracles/of things that ordinary people cannot do► [DOU]. They will even try to deceive you people whom God has chosen, but they will not be able to do that. So at that time if someone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or if someone says, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it!"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "23", "text": "Be alert! Remember that I have warned you about all this before it happens."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "24", "text": "After the time when people suffer like that, the sun will become dark, the moon will not shine,"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "25", "text": "the stars will fall from the sky, and all things in the sky will be shaken { God will cause all things in the sky to shake}."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "26", "text": "Then people will see me, the one who came from heaven, coming through the clouds powerfully and gloriously."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "27", "text": "Then I will send out my angels in order that they gather together the people whom God has chosen from everywhere, and that includes all the most remote places on earth [IDM, DOU]."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "28", "text": "Now I want you to learn something from this parable about the way fig trees grow. In this area, when their buds become tender and their leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "29", "text": "Similarly, when you see what I have just described happening, you yourselves will know that it is very near the time for me to return[MTY]. It will be as though I am already at the door [HEN]."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "30", "text": "Keep this in mind: You have observed the things that I have done and said, but all of those events that I have just told you about will happen before all of you will die."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "31", "text": "You can be certain that these things that I have prophesied will happen. You can be more certain of that than you can be certain that the earth and what is in the sky will stay in place."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "32", "text": "But no one knows the exact time when I will return. The angels in heaven also do not know. Even I, God's son, do not know. Only my Father knows."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "33", "text": "So be ready, like people who are waiting for an important man to come, because you do not know when that time will come when all these events will happen!"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "34", "text": "When a man who wants to travel to a distant place is about to leave his house, he tells his servants that they should manage the house. He tells each one what he should do. Then he tells the doorkeeper to be ready for his return."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "35", "text": "That man must always be ready, because he does not know whether his master will return in the evening, at midnight, when the rooster crows, or at dawn. Similarly, you also must always be ready, because you do not know when I will return."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "36", "text": "May it not happen that when I come suddenly, I will find that you are not ready!"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "37", "text": "These words that I am saying to you disciples I am saying to everyone who believes in me: Always be ready!” That is what Jesus warned his disciples."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "1", "text": "It was only two days before the people◄ celebrated/started to celebrate► for one week the festival which they called Passover. During those days they also◄ celebrated the festival of Unleavened Bread/ ate bread that had no yeast in it►. The chief priests and the men who taught the Jewish laws were planning how they could seize Jesus secretly. They wanted to accuse him in front of the Roman authorities so that they would execute him."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "2", "text": "But they were saying to one another, “We must not do it during the celebration, because, if we do it then, the people will be very angry with us and riot!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "3", "text": "Jesus was at Bethany town in the house of Simon, whom Jesus had healed from leprosy. While they were eating, a woman came to him. She was carrying a stone jar that contained expensive fragrant perfume called nard. She opened the jar and then she poured the perfume on Jesus' head."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "4", "text": "One of the people who were present became angry and said to the others, “◄ It is terrible that she wasted that perfume!/ Why did she waste that perfume?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "5", "text": "It could have been sold { We could have sold it} for ◄a huge amount of money/an amount of money for which a person works for a year►, and then the money could have been given { we could have given the money} to poor people!” So he rebuked her."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "6", "text": "But Jesus said, “Stop scolding her! She has done to me what I consider to be very appropriate/delightful. So ◄you should not bother her!/why do you bother her?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "7", "text": "You will always have poor people among you. So you can help them whenever you want to. But I will not be here among you much longer. So it is good for her to show now that she appreciates me."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "8", "text": "It is appropriate that she has done what she was able to do. It is as if she knew that I was going to die soon and has anointed my body for their burying it."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "9", "text": "I will tell you this: Wherever the good message about me is preached {people preach the good message} throughout the world, what she has done will be told {people will tell others what she has done to me}, and as a result people will remember her.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "10", "text": "Then Judas Iscariot (OR, the man from Kerioth village) went to the chief priests in order to talk to them about helping them to seize Jesus. He did that even though he was one of the twelve disciples"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "11", "text": "When they heard what he was willing to do for them, they were very happy. They promised that they would give him a large amount of money for doing that. Judas agreed, so they gave him the money. As a result, he began watching for an opportunity ◄to betray Jesus/to enable Jesus' enemies to seize him►."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "12", "text": "Two days later, when they killed the lambs for the festival at the beginning of the week when people ate bread that had no yeast in it, Jesus' disciples said to him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare the meal for the Passover celebration in order that you can eat it with us?”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "13", "text": "So he chose two of his disciples to prepare everything. He said to them, “Go into Jerusalem city. A man will meet you, who will be carrying a large jar full of water. Follow him."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "14", "text": "When he enters a house, say to the man who owns the house, ‘ Our teacher wants us to prepare the meal of the Passover celebration so that he can eat it with us his disciples. ◄Please show us the room that he arranged with you about./Where is the room that he arranged with you about?► [RHQ]’"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "15", "text": "He will show you a large room that is on the upper floor of the house. It will be furnished and ready for us to eat a meal in it. Then prepare the meal there for us.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "16", "text": "So the two disciples left. They went into the city and found everything to be just like he had told them. They prepared the meal for the Passover celebration and then returned to Jesus and the other disciples."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "17", "text": "When it was evening, Jesus arrived at that house with the twelve disciples."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "18", "text": "As they were all sitting there and eating, Jesus said, “Listen carefully to this: One of you will enable my enemies to seize me. Specifically, it is one of you who will do this in spite of the fact that he is eating with me right now!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "19", "text": "The disciples became very sad and they said to him one by one, “Surely ◄it is not I!/I am not the one, am I?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "20", "text": "Then he said to them, “It is one of you twelve disciples, the one who is dipping bread into the sauce in the dish along with me."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "21", "text": "It is certain that I, the one who came from heaven, will die, because that is what has been {what the prophets have} written about me. But there will be terrible punishment for the man by whom I will be betrayed {who will ◄betray me/help my enemies to seize me►}! In fact, it would be better for that man if he had never been born!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "22", "text": "While they were eating, he took a flat loaf of bread and thanked God for it. Then he broke it into pieces and gave it to them and said to them, “This bread represents[MET] my body. Take it and eat it.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "23", "text": "Afterwards, he took a cup that contained wine and thanked God for it. Then he gave it to them, and then, as they all drank from it,"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "24", "text": "he said to them, “This wine represents[MET] my blood, which is about to be shed {which is about to flow from my body} when my enemies kill me. With this blood I will sign the agreement that God has made to forgive the sins of many people."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "25", "text": "I want you to know this: I will not drink any more wine in this way until the time when I drink it with a new meaning when I begin to rule as a king.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "26", "text": "After they sang a hymn, they went out toward Olive Tree Hill."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "27", "text": "While they were on their way, Jesus said to them, “It has been { The prophets have} written in the Scriptures that God said about me, ‘I will kill the shepherd and his sheep will scatter.’ Those words will come true. When they are about to capture me, all of you will leave me and run away."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "28", "text": "But after I have been made { God has made me} alive again, I will go ahead of you to Galilee district and meet you there.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "29", "text": "Then Peter said to him, “Perhaps all the other disciples will leave you, but not I! I will not leave you!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "30", "text": "Then Jesus said to him, “The truth is that this very night, before the rooster crows a second time, you yourself will deny three times that you know me!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "31", "text": "But Peter replied strongly, “Even if they kill me as I defend you, I will never deny that I know you!” And all the other disciples said the same thing."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "32", "text": "On the way, Jesus and the disciples came to the place that people call Gethsemane. Then he said to some/eight of his disciples, “Stay here while I pray!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "33", "text": "Then he took Peter, James, and John with him. He became extremely distressed, and he said to them,"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "34", "text": "“I [SYN] am very sorrowful. It is as if I were about to die. You men remain here and stay awake!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "35", "text": "He went a bit further and threw himself on the ground. Then he prayed that if it were possible, he would not have to suffer[MTY]."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "36", "text": "He said, “O my Father, because you are able to do everything, rescue me so that I do not have to suffer now[MTY]! But do not do what I want. Instead, do what you want!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "37", "text": "Then he returned and found his disciples sleeping. He woke them up and said, “Simon! ◄ I am disappointed that you fell asleep and that you were not able to stay awake for just a short time!/ Why is it that you fell asleep and that you were not able to stay awake for just one hour?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "38", "text": "And he said to them, “You want to do what I say, but you are not strong enough [MTY] to actually do it. So keep awake and pray in order that you can resist when something like this tempts you!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "39", "text": "Then he went away again and prayed again what he prayed before."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "40", "text": "When he returned, he found that they were sleeping again because they were so sleepy that they could not keep their eyes open. Because they were ashamed, they did not know what to say to him when he awakened them."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "41", "text": "Then he went and prayed again. He returned a third time; and he found them sleeping again. He woke all of them and said to them, “◄ I am disappointed that you are sleeping again!/ Why are you sleeping again?► [RHQ] You have slept enough. The time for me to suffer is about to begin. Look! Someone is about to enable sinful men to seize me, the one who came from heaven."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "42", "text": "So get up! Let's go toward him Look! Here comes the one who is enabling them to seize me!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "43", "text": "While he was still speaking, Judas arrived. Even though he was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, he came to enable Jesus' enemies to seize him. A crowd who carried swords and clubs was with him. The leaders of the Jewish Council had sent them."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "44", "text": "Judas, who was ◄betraying Jesus/helping Jesus' enemies to seize him►, had previously told this crowd, “The man whom I kiss is the one whom you want. When I kiss him, seize him and lead him away while you guard him carefully.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "45", "text": "So, when Judas arrived, he immediately went to Jesus and said, “My teacher!” Then he kissed Jesus on his neck/cheek."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "46", "text": "Then the crowd seized Jesus."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "47", "text": "But one of the disciples who was standing nearby drew his short sword. He struck the servant of the high priest with it to kill him, but he only cut off his ear."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "48-49", "text": "Jesus said to them, “◄ It is ridiculous that you come here to seize me with swords and clubs, as if I were a bandit!/Have you come here to seize me with swords and clubs, as if I were a bandit [RHQ]?► Day after day I was with you in the Temple courtyard teaching the people Why did you not seize me then? But this is happening in order that what the prophets have written in the Scriptures about me may be fulfilled {may happen}.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "50", "text": "All the disciples at once left him and ran away."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "51", "text": "At that time, ◄a young man/I► was following Jesus. He/ I was wearing only a linen cloth around his/my body. The crowd seized him/me."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "52", "text": "But, as he/I pulled away from them, he/I left behind the linen cloth in their hands, and then he/I ran away naked."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "53", "text": "The men who had seized Jesus led him away to the house where the high priest lived. All of the Jewish Council were gathering there."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "54", "text": "Peter followed Jesus at a distance. He went into the courtyard of the house where the high priest lived, and sat there with the men who guarded the house of the high priest. He was warming himself beside a fire."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "55", "text": "The chief priests and all the rest of the Jewish council had already tried to find people who would tell lies about Jesus in order that they could convince the Roman authorities to execute him. But they did not succeed,"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "56", "text": "because, although many people spoke lies about him, they contradicted each other."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "57", "text": "Finally, some stood up and accused him falsely by saying,"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "58", "text": "“We heard him when he said, ‘I will destroy this Temple that was built by men, and then within three days I will build another temple ◄without help from anyone else/that human hands will not build►.’”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "59", "text": "But, what some of these men said also did not agree with what others of them said."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "60", "text": "Then the high priest himself stood up in front of them and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to reply? What do you say about all the things that they are saying in order to accuse you?”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "61", "text": "But Jesus was silent and did not reply [DOU]. Then the high priest tried again. He asked him, “Are you the Messiah? Do you say that you are◄the Son of God/the man who is also God►?”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "62", "text": "Jesus said, “I am. Furthermore, you will see me, the one who came from heaven, ruling beside God, who is completely powerful. You will also see me coming down through the clouds in the sky!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "63", "text": "In response to Jesus' words, the high priest tore his outer garment. That was their custom to show that he was shocked that Jesus had said that he was equal to God. Then he said, “We certainly do not [RHQ] need any more people who will testify against this man,"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "64", "text": "because you have heard what he said against God! He claimed to be equal with God Therefore, what have you decided?” They all said that Jesus was guilty and deserved ◄to be executed/that they should kill him►."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "65", "text": "Then some of them began spitting on Jesus. They put a blindfold on him, and then they began striking him and saying to him, “ If you are a prophet, tell us who hit you!” And those who were guarding Jesus struck him with their hands."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "66", "text": "While Peter was outside in the courtyard of the high priest's house, one of the girls who worked for the high priest came near him."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "67", "text": "When she saw Peter warming himself beside the fire, she looked at him closely. Then she said, “You also were with Jesus, that man from Nazareth town!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "68", "text": "But he denied it by saying, “I do not know or understand [DOU] what you are talking about!” Then he went away from there to the gate of the courtyard."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "69", "text": "The servant girl saw him there and said to the people who were standing nearby, “This man is one of those who have been with that man they arrested.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "70", "text": "But he denied it again. After a little while, one of those who were standing there said to Peter again, “ The way you speak shows that you also are from Galilee district. So it is certain that you are one of those who accompanied Jesus! ”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "71", "text": "But he began to exclaim, “I do not know the man that you are talking about! Because God knows that I am speaking truthfully, may he punish me if I am lying!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "72", "text": "Immediately the rooster crowed a second time. Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said to him before, “Before the rooster crows a second time, you will deny three times that you know me.” When he realized that he had denied it three times, he started crying."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "1", "text": "Very early in the morning the chief priests met together with the rest of the Jewish council, in order to decide how to accuse Jesus before the Roman governor. Their guards tied Jesus' hands again. They took him to the house of Pilate, the governor, and they started to accuse him, saying“ Jesus is claiming that he is a king! ”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "2", "text": "Pilate asked Jesus, “Do you claim to be the king of the Jews?” Jesus answered him, “You yourself have said so.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "3", "text": "Then the chief priests claimed that Jesus had done many bad things."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "4", "text": "So Pilate asked him again, “Don't you have anything to say? Listen to how many bad things they are saying that you have done!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "5", "text": "But even though Jesus was not guilty, he did not say anything more. The result was that Pilate was very much surprised."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "6", "text": "It was the governor's custom each year during the Passover celebration to release one person who was in prison. He customarily released whichever prisoner the people requested."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "7", "text": "At that time there was a man called Barabbas who had been {whom the soldiers had} put in prison with some other men. Those men had murdered some soldiers when they rebelled against the Roman government."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "8", "text": "A crowd approached Pilate and asked him to release someone, just like he customarily did for them during the Passover celebration."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "9", "text": "Pilate answered them, “Would you like me to release for you the man whom you Jewish people say is your king?”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "10", "text": "He asked this because he realized what the chief priests were wanting to do. They were accusing Jesus because they were jealous of him because many people were becoming his disciples."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "11", "text": "But the chief priests urged the crowd to request that Pilate release Barabbas for them instead of Jesus."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "12", "text": "Pilate said to them again, “ If I release Barabbas, what do you want me to do with the man whom some of you Jews say is your king?”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "13", "text": "Then they shouted again, “ Command that your soldiers crucify him!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "14", "text": "Then Pilate said to them, “Why? What crime has he committed?” But they shouted even louder, “ Command your soldiers to crucify him!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "15", "text": "So, because Pilate wanted to please the crowd, he released Barabbas for them. Then, after his soldiers had whipped Jesus with leather straps into which they had fastened metal pieces, Pilate told the soldiers to take him away in order that he would be crucified {they would crucify him}."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "16", "text": "The soldiers took Jesus into the courtyard of the palace where Pilate lived. That place was the government headquarters. Then they summoned the whole ◄cohort/group of soldiers► who were on duty there."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "17", "text": "After the soldiers gathered together, they put a purple robe on Jesus. Then they placed on his head a crown that they made from branches of thornbushes. They did those things in order to ridicule him by pretending that he was a king."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "18", "text": "Then they greeted him like they would greet a king, in order to ridicule him, saying, “Hooray for the King who rules the Jews!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "19", "text": "They repeatedly struck his head with a reed and spat on him. By kneeling down, they pretended to honor him."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "20", "text": "When they had finished ridiculing him, they pulled off the purple robe. They put his own clothes on him, and then they led him outside of the city in order to nail him to a cross."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "21", "text": "After Jesus carried his cross a short distance, a man named Simon from Cyrene city came along. He was the father of Alexander and Rufus. He was passing by while he was returning home from outside the city. The soldiers compelled Simon to carry the cross for Jesus."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "22", "text": "They brought them both to a place that they call Golgotha. That name means, ❛a place like a skull❜."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "23", "text": "Then they tried to give Jesus wine that was {that they} mixed with medicine called myrrh. They wanted him to drink it so that he would not feel so much pain when they crucified him. But he did not drink it."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "24", "text": "Some of the soldiers took his clothes. Then they nailed him to a cross. Afterwards, they divided his clothes among themselves by gambling with something like dice. They did this in order to determine which piece of clothing each one would get."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "25", "text": "It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified him."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "26", "text": "They attached to the cross above Jesus' head a sign on which it had been written {someone had written} the reason why they were nailing him to the cross. But all that it said was, “The King of the Jews.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "27-28", "text": "They also nailed to crosses two men who were bandits. They nailed one to a cross at the right side of Jesus and one to a cross at the left side of Jesus."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "29", "text": "The people who were passing by insulted him by shaking their heads as if here were an evil man. They said, “Aha! You said that you would destroy the Temple and then you would build it again within three days."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "30", "text": "If you could do that, then rescue yourself by coming down from the cross!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "31", "text": "The chief priests, along with the men who taught the Jewish laws, also wanted to make fun of Jesus. So they said to each other, “He claims to have saved others from their sicknesses[IRO] but he cannot save himself!"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "32", "text": "He said, ‘I am the Messiah, I am the King who rules the people of Israel.’ If his words are true, he should come down now from the cross! Then we will believe him! ” The two men who were crucified beside him also insulted him."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "33", "text": "At noon the whole land became dark, and it stayed dark until three o'clock in the afternoon."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "34", "text": "At three o'clock Jesus shouted loudly, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” That means, “My God, my God, why have you deserted me?”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "35", "text": "When some of the people who were standing there heard the word ❛Eloi❜, misunderstanding it, they said, “Listen! He is calling for the prophet Elijah!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "36", "text": "One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine. He placed it on the tip of a reed, and then he held it up for Jesus to suck out the wine that was in it. While he was doing that, someone said, “Wait! Let's see whether Elijah will come to take him down from the cross! ”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "37", "text": "And then, after Jesus shouted loudly, he stopped breathing and died."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "38", "text": "At that moment the heavy thick curtain that closed off the most holy place in the Temple split into two pieces from top to bottom. That showed that ordinary people could now go into the presence of God."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "39", "text": "The officer who supervised the soldiers who nailed Jesus to the cross was standing in front of Jesus. When he saw how Jesus died, he exclaimed, “Truly, this man was ◄the Son of God/the man who was also God►!”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "40-41", "text": "There were also some women there, watching these events from a distance. They had accompanied Jesus when he was in Galilee district, and they had provided what he needed. They had come with him to Jerusalem. Among those women was Mary from Magdala town. There was another Mary, who was the mother of the younger James and of Joses. There was also Salome."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "42-43", "text": "When evening was near, a man named Joseph from Arimathea town came there. He was a member of the Jewish council, one whom everyone respected. He was also one of those who had been waiting expectantly for the time when God would send his king to begin to rule. He knew that, according to Jewish law, people's bodies had to be buried{ someone had to bury people's bodies} on the day they died. He also realized that it was the day when people prepared things for◄ the Jewish day of rest/the Sabbath►, and that the Sabbath would start when the sun set. So he became courageous and went to Pilate and asked Pilate to permit him to take the body of Jesus down from the cross and bury it immediately."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "44", "text": "Pilate was surprised when he heard that Jesus was already dead. So he summoned the officer who was in charge of the soldiers who crucified Jesus, and he asked him if Jesus had already died."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "45", "text": "When the officer told Pilate that Jesus was dead, Pilate allowed Joseph to take away the body."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "46", "text": "After Joseph bought a linen cloth, he and others took Jesus' body down from the cross. They wrapped it in the linen cloth and laid it in a tomb that previously had been dug out of the rock cliff. Then they rolled a huge flat stone in front of the entrance to the tomb."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "47", "text": "Mary from Magdala village and Mary the mother of Joses were watching where Jesus' body was placed {where they placed Jesus' body}."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "1", "text": "On Saturday evening when ◄the Sabbath/the Jewish day of rest► had ended, Mary from Magdala village, Mary the mother of the younger James, and Salome bought fragrant ointment. The Jews had a custom of anointing bodies before they buried them, and the women wanted to follow this custom."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "2", "text": "So very early on Sunday, just after the sun rose, they took the fragrant ointment and started toward the tomb."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "3", "text": "While they were going there, they were saying to each other, “Who will roll away for us the stone that blocks the entrance of the tomb?”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "4", "text": "After they arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone had already been rolled away {that someone had already rolled away the stone}. They were surprised because it would have been difficult to move such a huge stone."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "5", "text": "They entered the tomb and saw an angel who looked like a young man. He was sitting at the right side of the cave. He was wearing a shining white robe. As a result, they were astonished."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "6", "text": "The young man said to them, “Do not be astonished! I know that you are looking for Jesus, the man from Nazareth town, who was nailed to a cross {whom they nailed to a cross}. But he has become alive again! He is not here! Look! Here is the place where they placed his body."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "7", "text": "But, instead of remaining here, go and tell his disciples. Particularly be sure that you tell Peter. Tell them, ‘ Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee district, and you will see him there, just like he told you previously’! ”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "8", "text": "The women went outside and ran from the tomb. They were trembling because they were afraid, and they were astonished. But they did not say anything to anyone about this while they were going, because they were afraid. ["}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "9", "text": "When Jesus became alive again early on Sunday morning, he appeared first to Mary from Magdala town. She was the woman from whom he had previously expelled seven evil spirits."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "10", "text": "She went to those who had been with Jesus, while they were mourning and crying. She told them what she had seen."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "11", "text": "But when she told them that Jesus was alive again and that she had seen him, they refused to believe it."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "12", "text": "Later that day, Jesus appeared to two of his disciples while they were walking from Jerusalem to their homes in the surrounding area. But they did not recognize him quickly because he looked very different."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "13", "text": "After they recognized him, those two went back to Jerusalem. They told his other followers what had happened, but they did not believe it."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "14", "text": "Later he appeared to the eleven apostles while they were eating. He rebuked them because they had stubbornly refused to believe the reports of those who saw him after he had become alive again."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "15", "text": "Later he said to them, “Go into the whole world and preach the good message to everyone!"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "16", "text": "Everyone who believes your message and who is baptized will be saved { God will save}. But everyone who does not believe it will be condemned { God will condemn}."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "17", "text": "Those who believe my good message will perform miracles. Specifically, by my power they will expel evil spirits. They will speak in languages that they have not learned."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "18", "text": "If they pick up snakes accidentally or if they drink any poisonous liquid accidentally, they will not be hurt. Whenever they put their hands on sick people in order that God will heal them, those sick people will become well.”"}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "19", "text": "After the Lord Jesus had said this to the disciples, he was taken{ God took him} up into heaven. Then he sat down on his throne beside God to rule with him."}
{"book": "MRK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "20", "text": "As for the disciples, they went out from Jerusalem, and then they preached everywhere. Wherever they went, the Lord enabled them to perform miracles. By doing that, he showed people that God's message is true."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "1-2", "text": "My noble friend Theophilus, many people saw the things that Jesus did while he was with us, from the time when he started [MTY] his ministry. They served God by teaching people the message about the Lord Jesus. Many of those who heard what they taught wrote down for us accounts of the things that Jesus did from the time when he began his ministry."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "3", "text": "I myself have studied carefully these accounts. So I decided that it would be good for me also to write for you(sg) an accurate account of these matters."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "4", "text": "I want you to know the truth about what you have been taught {what others have taught you}."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "5", "text": "When King Herod the Great ruled Judea district, there was a Jewish priest named Zechariah. He belonged to the group of priests called the Abijah group. He and his wife Elizabeth were both descended from the first priest of Israel, Aaron."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "6", "text": "God considered that both of them were righteous, because they constantly obeyed without fault everything that God had commanded."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "7", "text": "But they had no children, because Elizabeth was unable to bear children. Furthermore, she and her husband were very old."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "8", "text": "One day Zechariah's group was doing their work in the Temple in Jerusalem, and he was serving as a priest in God's presence."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "9", "text": "Following their custom, the other priests chose him by lot to enter the Lord's temple and burn incense."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "10", "text": "While he was burning the incense, many people were outside in the courtyard, praying."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "11", "text": "Then an angel whom God had sent appeared to him. The angel was standing at the right side of the place where the priests burned incense."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "12", "text": "When Zechariah saw the angel, he was startled and became very afraid."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "13", "text": "But the angel said to him, “Zechariah, do not be afraid! When you(sg) prayed asking God for a son(OR, that God would send the Messiah), God heard what you prayed. So your wife Elizabeth shall bear a son for you. You must name him John."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "14", "text": "He will cause you to be very happy, and many other people will also be happy because he is born."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "15", "text": "God will consider him to be very important. He must never drink wine or any other alcoholic drink, in order that he will be completely dedicated to God. He will be controlled by the Holy Spirit {The Holy Spirit will control him} from before he is born."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "16", "text": "He will persuade many people in Israel to turn away from their sins and please the Lord their God."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "17", "text": "As God's Spirit enables him to preach powerfully as the prophet Elijah did, he will precede the Messiah. He will cause parents [SYN] to act peacefully toward their children again. He will cause many people who do not obey God to hear and obey the wise things that righteous people tell them. He will do this in order to make many people to be ready when the Lord comes.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "18", "text": "Then Zechariah said to the angel, “I am very old, and my wife is also so old that she cannot bear a child. So◄I cannot believe that what you(sg) said will happen!/how can I believe that what you(sg) said will happen?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "19", "text": "Then the angel said to him, “I am God's chief angel, Gabriel! I do what God tells me, because I constantly stand in God's presence! I was sent { He sent me} to tell you(sg) this good message about what will happen to you."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "20", "text": "What I have told you will certainly happen at the time God decides, but you did not believe my words. So now God will cause that you will be unable to talk until the day your son is born! ”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "21", "text": "While Zechariah and the angel were talking, the people in the courtyard were waiting for Zechariah to come out. They wondered, “Why is he staying in the Temple for such a long time?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "22", "text": "When he came out, he was not able to speak to them. Because he could not talk, he made motions with his hands to try to convey what had happened. Then they realized that he had seen ◄a vision from God/something that God showed him► while he was in the Temple."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "23", "text": "When Zechariah's time to work as a priest in the Temple was finished, he left Jerusalem and returned to his home."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "24", "text": "Some time later his wife Elizabeth became pregnant [EUP]. She did not go out of her house for five months, because she knew that people would laugh at her during that time if she told them that she was pregnant."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "25", "text": "But she said to herself, “God has enabled me to become pregnant. At this time he has pitied me and has caused that I will no longer be ashamed because I have no children!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "26", "text": "When Elizabeth had been pregnant[EUP] for almost six months, the angel Gabriel was sent by God {God sent the angel Gabriel} again."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "27", "text": "This time he went to Nazareth town in Galilee district, to a virgin whose name was Mary. It had been { Her parents had} promised that she would marry a man named Joseph, who was descended from King David."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "28", "text": "The angel said to her, “Greetings! ◄The Lord/God► is with you(sg) and you will be greatly blessed { has decided to greatly bless you}!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "29", "text": "But Mary was greatly confused when she heard that. She wondered what the angel meant by these words."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "30", "text": "Then the angel said to her, “Mary, God is very pleased with you(sg) , so do not be afraid."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "31", "text": "You will become pregnant and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "32", "text": "He will become great. He will be called { People will call him} ◄the Son of God/the man who is also God►. God, the Lord, will make him a king [MTY] as his ancestor King David was."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "33", "text": "He will be the King of the Jews, the descendants [MTY] of your ancestor Jacob, forever. He will rule as king forever!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "34", "text": "Then Mary said to the angel, “I am a virgin, so how can I have a baby?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "35", "text": "The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come to you(sg) and the power of God [MTY/EUP] will be on you to enable you to become pregnant. So the child you will bear will be completely set apart {give himself completely} to obey God, and he will be called { people will say that he is} ◄the Son of God/the man who is also God►."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "36", "text": "I also need to tell you something else. Your cousin Elizabeth is very old, and it was thought { people said} that she could not bear any children. But she has been pregnant[EUP] for almost six months, and will bear a son!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "37", "text": "You should not be surprised at that, because God can do everything!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "38", "text": "Then Mary said, “All right, I want to serve ◄the Lord/God►, so may what you(sg) have said about me come true!” Then the angel left her."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "39", "text": "Very soon after that, Mary got ready and went quickly to a town in the highlands of Judea district where Zechariah lived."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "40", "text": "She entered his house and greeted his wife Elizabeth."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "41", "text": "As soon as Elizabeth heard Mary greet her, the baby leaped inside Elizabeth's womb. The Holy Spirit took complete control of Elizabeth,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "42", "text": "and she said loudly to Mary, “ God has blessed you more than he has blessed any other woman, and he has blessed the child you will bear!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "43", "text": "◄I am not worthy that God would allow you to visit me!/Why is God allowing you to visit me?► [RHQ] You will be the mother of my Lord!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "44", "text": "I realize this because as soon as I heard you greet me, the baby inside my womb leaped because he was so happy that you had come"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "45", "text": "God is pleased with you because you believed that what ◄the Lord/God► told you would come true.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "46", "text": "Then Mary praised God by saying/singing: O, how I [SYN] praise ◄the Lord/God►!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "47", "text": "I rejoice in my inner being because God is the one who saves me."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "48", "text": "I was only his lowly servant girl, but he did not forget me. So from now on, people living in all ◄ages/future time► will say that God was pleased with me,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "49", "text": "because they will hear about the things that God [MTY], the mighty one, has done for me. He [MTY] is awesome!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "50", "text": "He acts mercifully from one generation to the next toward those who respect him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "51", "text": "He shows people that he [MTY] is very powerful. He scatters those who think proudly within their inner beings."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "52", "text": "He sends mighty kings away and does not let them rule [MTY] anymore, but he honors the people who are oppressed (OR, humble)."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "53", "text": "He gives good things to eat to those who are hungry, but he sends away the rich people without giving them anything."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "54-55", "text": "He promised to Abraham and all our other ancestors who descended from him that he would act mercifully toward them forever. And now he has remembered what he promised. So he has helped me and all the other people of [MTY] Israel who serve him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "56", "text": "Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months. Then she returned to her home."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "57", "text": "When it was time for Elizabeth to bear her child, she bore a son."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "58", "text": "Her neighbors and relatives heard how ◄the Lord/God► had greatly blessed her, so they were happy along with Elizabeth."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "59", "text": "Seven days later they gathered together for the ceremony for circumcising the baby to show that he belonged to God. Since his father's name was Zechariah, they wanted to give the baby the same name."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "60", "text": "But his mother said, “No, his name will not be Zechariah. His name will be John!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "61", "text": "So they said to her, “ John is not the name of any of your(dl) relatives, so you(dl) should not give him that name!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "62", "text": "Then they made motions with their hands to his father, for him to indicate what name he wanted to be given {to give} to his son."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "63", "text": "So he signaled that they should give him a tablet to write on. When they gave him one, he wrote on it, “His name is John.” All those who were there were surprised!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "64", "text": "Immediately Zechariah was able to speak again [MTY], and he praised God."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "65", "text": "All their neighbors were amazed/awestruck! They told other people who lived all over the highlands of Judea about what had happened."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "66", "text": "Everyone who heard about it kept thinking about it. They were saying, “We wonder what work the child will do for God when he grows up[RHQ]!” They wondered that because from what had happened they were sure that God would be helping him [SYN] in a powerful way."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "67", "text": "After Zechariah's son was born, Zechariah was completely directed by the Holy Spirit {the Holy Spirit completely directed Zechariah} as he spoke these words that came from God:"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "68", "text": "Praise the Lord, the God whom we(inc) people of Israel worship, because he has come to set us, his people, free from our enemies."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "69", "text": "He is sending us someone who will powerfully [MTY] save us, someone who is descended from [MTY] King David, who served God well."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "70", "text": "Long ago God caused his prophets to say that he would do that."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "71", "text": "He will rescue us from our enemies, and he will save us from the power of all those who hate us."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "72", "text": "He will do this because he has not forgotten what he promised our ancestors; he made an agreement that he would act mercifully to us, their descendants."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "73", "text": "That is what he strongly promised our ancestor Abraham that he would do."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "74", "text": "God told him that we would be rescued {he would rescue us} from the power of our enemies, that he would enable us to serve him without being afraid,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "75", "text": "that he would cause us to be completely dedicated to him, and enable us to live righteously all of our lives."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "76", "text": "Then Zechariah said this to his little son: My child, you will be called {people will say that you are} a prophet whom God [MTY/EUP] has sent; you will begin your work before ◄the Lord/Messiah► comes; you will prepare people so that they will be ready for him. (OR, you will begin your work before the Messiah comes)."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "77", "text": "You will tell God's people how he will forgive them and save them from being punished for their sins."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "78", "text": "Our God will do that because he is very kind to us. Just like a new day begins when the sun rises [MET], God will do that new thing for us when the Messiah comes to us from heaven."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "79", "text": "People who do not know God [MET] are like those who sit in the darkness. They are afraid [MTY] that they will soon die. But when the Messiah tells us God's message, it will be like causing such people to see a bright light. He will guide us [SYN] so that we will be living peacefully."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 1, "verse": "80", "text": "Later, Zechariah's son grew up and became spiritually strong. Then he lived in a desolate region until he began to preach to the Israelite people."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "1", "text": "About that time the Emperor Augustus commanded that ◄ his officials must write down the names/ a census be taken► of all the people who lived in countries controlled by the Roman government{that the Roman government controlled}, so that the government could collect taxes from them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "2", "text": "That was the first time that they ◄wrote down the names/took a census► in Syria province, which included Judea district. They did this while Quirinius was the governor of the province."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "3", "text": "Every person had to go to the town where his most famous ancestor had lived, so that the officials could write down their names."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "4", "text": "So, because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he went up from Nazareth, the town in Galilee district where he lived, to Bethlehem town in Judea district. That was the town where King David grew up."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "5", "text": "Joseph went with Mary, who was considered{whom people considered} to be his wife, who was now pregnant. They went so that they could put his name and Mary's name in the record book."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "6-7", "text": "When they arrived in Bethlehem, there was no place for them to stay in the house where travelers stay. So they stayed in a cattle shed. When the time for Mary to give birth arrived, she gave birth to her first son there. She wrapped him in strips of cloth and placed him in a trough where people put food for the animals."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "8", "text": "That night, there were some shepherds who were taking care of their sheep as usual in the fields near Bethlehem."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "9", "text": "An angel from God appeared to them. A great light ◄from the Lord/from God► shone on them and around them. So they became very afraid."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "10", "text": "But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! I have come to tell you good news, which will make you very happy! This message is for everyone to hear"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "11", "text": "The message is that today a baby has been born in Bethlehem, the town where King David grew up. That baby will eventually save you from the guilt of your sins! He is the Messiah, your Lord!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "12", "text": "I will tell you how you will recognize him(OR, how you will know that what I say is true): In Bethlehem you will find a baby who has been wrapped { whose mother has wrapped him} in strips of cloth and placed in a trough where people put food for the animals.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "13", "text": "Suddenly a large group of angels from heaven appeared and joined the other angel. They all praised God, singing/saying,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "14", "text": "“May all the angels in the highest heaven praise God! And on the earth may the people to whom God has shown his favor have peace with him!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "15", "text": "After the angels left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let's go to Bethlehem to see this wonderful thing that has happened, which ◄the Lord/God► has told us about!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "16", "text": "So they went quickly. They found the place where Mary and Joseph were staying, and they saw the baby lying in the trough where people put food for the animals."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "17", "text": "Then they told Mary and Joseph and others what had been told them {what the angel had told them} about this child."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "18", "text": "Everyone who heard what was said by the shepherds {what the shepherds said} to them was amazed."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "19", "text": "But Mary did not talk to others about what the angels said; she just kept thinking very much about it."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "20", "text": "The shepherds returned to their sheep. They kept praising God very much for all the things that they had heard and seen, because everything happened exactly like the angels told them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "21", "text": "Seven days later, when the priests circumcised the baby, his parents named him Jesus. That was the name that they were told by the angel {the angel told them} to give him before Mary became pregnant."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "22-23", "text": "It had been written by Moses {Moses had written} long ago in a law that God gave him, that when a woman gave birth to her first son, the parents had to take him to the Temple in Jerusalem in order that they might dedicate him ◄to the Lord/to God►. So when the time came for them to do those rituals so that God would consider them pure again, Mary and Joseph took Jesus there."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "24", "text": "God had commanded in his laws that if the first child of a couple was a boy, his parents should offer as a sacrifice to God two turtledoves or two young pigeons. So Joseph and Mary gave the priest two birds so he could offer them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "25", "text": "At that time there was an old man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. He habitually did what was pleasing to God and he obeyed God's laws. The Holy Spirit was directing him as he was waiting for God[MTY] to encourage the Israelite people by sending the Messiah."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "26", "text": "It was previously revealed by the Holy Spirit {The Holy Spirit previously revealed} to him that he would see God's promised Messiah before he died."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "27", "text": "When Joseph and Mary brought their baby Jesus to the Temple in order to perform the rituals that God had commanded in his laws, the Spirit led Simeon to enter the Temple courtyard, and revealed to him that Jesus was the Messiah."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "28", "text": "So he took Jesus up in his arms and praised God, saying,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "29-32", "text": "Lord, you promised me that I would see the one [MTY] who would enable you to save people of all people-groups from the guilt of their sins. He will be [MET] like a light that will reveal your truth to non-Jews, and he will cause people to think highly of your people, the Israelite people. Since I [SYN] have now seen this one that you promised to send, now let me die peacefully."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "33", "text": "His parents marveled about what Simeon said about Jesus. Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "34", "text": "“Note what I say: God has determined that because of this child, many Israelite people will turn away from God, and many others will turn to God [MET]. Although he will be like a sign [MET] to warn people, many people will oppose him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "35", "text": "As a result, the evil thoughts of many people will be made evident {he will reveal the evil thoughts of many people}. Furthermore, the cruel things that they will do to him[MET] will be like a sword that will pierce your ◄soul/inner being►.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "36", "text": "There was also in the Temple courtyard a very old woman named Anna. She was a prophetess. Her father Phanuel was a member of the tribe of Asher. After she had been married seven years, her husband died."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "37", "text": "After that, she lived until she was eighty-four years old, and she was still a widow. She stayed in the Temple area all the time, night and day, worshipping God. She often ◄abstained from food/fasted► as she prayed."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "38", "text": "While Joseph and Mary and the baby were still in the Temple, Anna came to them. She thanked God for the baby. Then she spoke about Jesus to many people who were expecting God to send the Messiah[MTY] to set the people of[MTY] Jerusalem free from their enemies."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "39", "text": "After Joseph and Mary had finished performing the rituals that ◄the Lord/God► required the parents of a first son to perform, they returned to their own town, Nazareth, in Galilee district."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "40", "text": "As the child grew up, he became strong and very wise, and God was very pleased with him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "41", "text": "Every year Jesus' parents went to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover festival."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "42", "text": "So when Jesus was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem as they always did."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "43", "text": "When the celebration ended, his parents started to return home, but Jesus stayed in Jerusalem. His parents did not realize that Jesus stayed there."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "44", "text": "They thought that he was with the other people who were traveling with them. They walked all day. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "45", "text": "They did not find him, so they returned to Jerusalem to search for him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "46", "text": "Two days later, they found him. He was in the Temple courtyard, sitting with the Jewish religious teachers. He was listening to what they said, and he was asking them questions."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "47", "text": "Everyone who heard what he said was amazed at how much he understood and how well he answered the questions that the teachers asked."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "48", "text": "When his parents saw him, they were very surprised. His mother said to him, “My son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been very worried as we(exc) have been searching for you!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "49", "text": "He said to them, speaking about the Temple being God his Father's house, “◄I am surprised that you(dl) did not know where to find me!/Why did you not know where to find me?► [RHQ] ◄You(dl) should have known that it was necessary for me to be in my Father's house!/Did you not know that it was necessary for me to be in my Father's house?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "50", "text": "But they did not understand the meaning of what he said to them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "51", "text": "Then he returned with them down to Nazareth. He always obeyed them. But his mother kept thinking about all those things."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 2, "verse": "52", "text": "As the years passed, Jesus continued to become wiser and he grew taller. God and people continued to approve of him more and more."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "1", "text": "When the Emperor Tiberius had been ruling the Roman Empire for fifteen years, and while Pontius Pilate was the governor of Judea district, and Herod Antipas was ruling Galilee district, and his brother Philip was ruling Iturea and Trachonitis districts, and Lysanius was ruling Abilene district,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "2", "text": "and while Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests in Jerusalem, God gave messages to Zechariah's son John while he was living in the desolate region."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "3", "text": "So John went all over the area close to the Jordan River. He kept telling people, “If you want God to forgive you for your sins, you must ◄repent/turn away from your sinful behavior► before you ask me to baptize you!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "4", "text": "John was the one who fulfilled these words that had been written by the prophet Isaiah {that the prophet Isaiah had written} on a scroll long ago: In a desolate area, someone [SYN] will be heard shouting to the people who pass by, Prepare yourselves to receive the Lord when he comes! Make yourselves ready so that you will be prepared when he comes, just like people straighten out the road [MET] for an important official[MET, DOU]!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "5", "text": "Just like people level off all the places where the land rises and just like they fill all the ravines, and just like people make the road straight wherever it is crooked, and just like people make smooth the bumps in the road, Similarly you need to remove all the obstacles which prevent God from blessing you!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "6", "text": "Then people [SYN] everywhere will understand how God can save [MTY] people."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "7", "text": "Although large groups of people came to John to be baptized {in order that he would baptize them}, he knew that many of them were not sincere. So he kept saying to them, “You people are evil[MET] like poisonous snakes! I warn you that God will some day punish [MTY] everyone who sins. And ◄do not think that you can escape from his punishing[MTY] you if you do not turn from your sinful behavior!/did someone tell you that you can escape from his punishing[MTY] you if you do not turn from your sinful behavior?► [RHQ] (OR, Who told you that you could escape God's punishment? )"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "8", "text": "Do the deeds that are appropriate for people who have truly turned from their sinful behavior! God promised to give Abraham many descendants. In order to fulfill that promise, God does not need you! I tell you that he can change these stones to make them descendants of Abraham! So do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We(exc) are descendants of Abraham, so God will not punish us, even though we have sinned!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "9", "text": "God is ready to punish you if you do not turn away from your sinful behavior, just like a man[MET] lays his axe at the roots of a fruit tree to chop it down and throw it into the fire if it does not produce good fruit[MET].”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "10", "text": "Then various ones in the crowd asked him, “What shall we(exc) do to escape God punishing us(OR), to show that we have repented?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "11", "text": "He answered them, “If any of you has two shirts, you should give one of them to someone who has no shirt. If any of you has plenty of food, you should give some to those who have no food.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "12", "text": "Some tax collectors came and asked to be baptized { asked him to baptize them}. They asked him, “Teacher, what shall we(exc) do to please God?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "13", "text": "He said to them, “Do not take from the people any more money than the Roman government tells you to take!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "14", "text": "Some soldiers asked him, “What about us? What should we(exc) do to please God?” He said to them, “Do not say to anyone, ‘ If you(sg) do not give me some money, I will hurt you,’ and do not take people to court and falsely accuse them of doing something wrong! And be content with your wages.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "15", "text": "People were expecting that the Messiah would come soon. Because of that, many of them wondered about John. Some of them asked him if he was the Messiah."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "16", "text": "John replied to them all, “No, I am not. I used only water when I baptized you. But the Messiah will soon come! He is far greater than I am. He is so great that I am not worthy to be like his slave and untie his sandals [MET] like a slave would do! He will put his Holy Spirit within [MTY] you to truly change your lives, and he will judge others of you and punish you in the fire [MET] in hell."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "17", "text": "He is like a man[MET] who wants to clear away the grain on the ground where it has been threshed {they have threshed it}. That man uses a huge fork to throw the grain into the air to separate the wheat from the chaff [MET], and then he cleans up the threshing area. Similarly, God will separate righteous people from the evil people, like a man who gathers the wheat into his storage area, and then he will burn those who are like chaff with a fire ◄that will never be put out/that will burn forever►.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "18", "text": "John kept telling them many things to urge them to turn to God, as he told them the good message from God."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "19", "text": "He also rebuked the ruler of the district, Herod Antipas. He rebuked him for marrying Herodias, his brother's wife, while his brother was still alive, and for doing many other evil things."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "20", "text": "But Herod had his soldiers put John in prison. That was another evil thing he did."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "21", "text": "But before John was put in prison, when many people were being baptized {when he was baptizing many people}, after Jesus was baptized and {he baptized Jesus} and Jesus was praying, the sky opened."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "22", "text": "Then the Holy Spirit, resembling a dove, descended upon Jesus. And God[SYN/EUP] spoke to Jesus from heaven, saying, “You(sg) are my Son, the one whom I love dearly. I am very pleased with you!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "23", "text": "When Jesus began his work for God, he was about thirty years old. It was { People} thought that he was the son of Joseph. Joseph was the son of Heli."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "24", "text": "Heli was the son of Matthat. Matthat was the son of Levi. Levi was the son of Melchi. Melchi was the son of Jannai. Jannai was the son of Joseph."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "25", "text": "Joseph was the son of Mattathias. Mattathias was the son of Amos. Amos was the son of Nahum. Nahum was the son of Esli. Esli was the son of Naggai."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "26", "text": "Naggai was the son of Maath. Maath was the son of Mattathias. Mattathias was the son of Semein. Semein was the son of Josech. Josech was the son of Joda."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "27", "text": "Joda was the son of Joanan. Joanan was the son of Rhesa. Rhesa was the son of Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was the son of Shealtiel. Shealtiel was the son of Neri."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "28", "text": "Neri was the son of Melchi. Melchi was the son of Addi. Addi was the son of Cosam. Cosam was the son of Elmadam. Elmadam was the son of Er."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "29", "text": "Er was the son of Joshua. Joshua was the son of Eliezer. Eliezer was the son of Jorim. Jorim was the son of Matthat. Matthat was the son of Levi."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "30", "text": "Levi was the son of Simeon. Simeon was the son of Judah. Judah was the son of Joseph. Joseph was the son of Jonam. Jonam was the son of Eliakim."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "31", "text": "Eliakim was the son of Melea. Melea was the son of Menna. Menna was the son of Mattatha. Mattatha was the son of Nathan. Nathan was the son of David."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "32", "text": "David was the son of Jesse. Jesse was the son of Obed. Obed was the son of Boaz. Boaz was the son of Sala. Sala was the son of Nahshon."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "33", "text": "Nahshon was the son of Amminadab. Amminadab was the son of Admin. Admin was the son of Arni. Arni was the son of Hezron. Hezron was the son of Perez. Perez was the son of Judah."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "34", "text": "Judah was the son of Jacob. Jacob was the son of Isaac. Isaac was the son of Abraham. Abraham was the son of Terah. Terah was the son of Nahor."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "35", "text": "Nahor was the son of Serug. Serug was the son of Reu. Reu was the son of Peleg. Peleg was the son of Eber. Eber was the son of Shelah."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "36", "text": "Shelah was the son of Cainan. Cainan was the son of Arphaxad. Arphaxad was the son of Shem. Shem was the son of Noah. Noah was the son of Lamech."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "37", "text": "Lamech was the son of Methuselah. Methuselah was the son of Enoch. Enoch was the son of Jared. Jared was the son of Mahalalel. Mahalalel was the son of Cainan."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 3, "verse": "38", "text": "Cainan was the son of Enos. Enos was the son of Seth. Seth was the son of Adam. Adam was the man God created."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "1", "text": "As Jesus left the Jordan River valley, the Holy Spirit was completely controlling him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "2", "text": "For forty days the Spirit led him around in the desolate area. During that time Jesus was being tempted by the devil {the devil was tempting him}, and Jesus did not eat anything. When that time ended, he was very hungry."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "3", "text": "Then the devil said to Jesus, “Because you claim that you◄ have a relationship with God as a son has with his father[MET]/are the man who is both God and man►, prove it by telling these stones to become bread so that you can eat them! ”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "4", "text": "Jesus replied, “ No, I will not change stones into bread, because it is written{ Moses wrote} in the Scriptures that eating food sustains people physically, but it does not sustain them spiritually. They also need food for their spirits.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "5", "text": "Then the devil took him on top of a high mountain and showed him in an instant all the nations in the world."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "6", "text": "Then he said to Jesus, “I will give you the authority to rule all these areas and will make you famous. I can do this because God has permitted me to control these areas, and I can allow anyone I desire to rule them!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "7", "text": "So if you worship me, I will let you rule them all!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "8", "text": "But Jesus replied, “ No, I will not worship you, because it is written { the Psalmist wrote} in the Scriptures, ‘It is the Lord, your God, whom you must worship, and you must serve only him!’”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "9", "text": "Then the devil took Jesus to Jerusalem. He set him on the highest part of the Temple and said to him, “Because you claim that you◄ have a relationship with God as a son has with his father[MET]/are the man who is both God and man►, prove it by jumping down from here."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "10", "text": "You will not be hurt, because it is written {the Psalmist wrote} in the Scriptures, ‘God will command his angels to protect you(sg) ."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "11", "text": "They will lift you up in their hands when you are falling, so that you will not get hurt. You will not even strike your foot on a stone.’”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "12", "text": "But Jesus replied, “ No, I will not do that, because it is written { Moses wrote} in the Scriptures: ‘Do not try to test the Lord your God to see if he will prevent something bad from happening to you when you do something foolish’.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "13", "text": "Then, after the devil had finished trying to tempt Jesus in many ways, he left him. He wanted to try to tempt him later at an appropriate time."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "14", "text": "As the Spirit empowered him, Jesus returned to Galilee district. People throughout all that region heard about what he was doing."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "15", "text": "He taught people in their ◄synagogues/meeting places►. As a result, he was praised by everyone {everyone praised him}."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "16", "text": "Then Jesus went to Nazareth, the town where he grew up. ◄On the Sabbath/On the Jewish rest day► he went ◄to the synagogue/to the Jewish meeting place►, as he usually did. He stood up to indicate that he wanted to read Scriptures to them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "17", "text": "A scroll containing the words that the prophet Isaiah had written was given to him { Someone gave to him a scroll containing the words that the prophet Isaiah had written}. He opened the scroll and found the place from which he wanted to read. He read these words:"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "18", "text": "The Spirit ◄of the Lord/of God► is upon me. He has appointed [MTY] me to declare God's good news to the poor. He has sent me here to proclaim that God will deliver those whom Satan has captured, and he will enable me to enable those who are blind to see. He will enable me to free people who have been oppressed {whom others have oppressed}."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "19", "text": "And he sent me to declare that now is the time when ◄the Lord/God► will act favorably toward people."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "20", "text": "Then he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down to teach the people. Everyone in the synagogue was looking intently [MTY] at him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "21", "text": "He said to them, “Today as you have been hearing [MTY] me speak, I am beginning to fulfill this Scripture passage.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "22", "text": "At first everyone there spoke well about him, and they were amazed at the charming words that he spoke. But then some of them said, “◄He is only Joseph's son!/Isn't he only Joseph's son?► [RHQ] So◄ it is useless for us(exc) to listen to what he says!/why should we(exc) listen to what he says?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "23", "text": "He said to them, “Surely some of you will quote to me the proverb that says, ‘Doctor, heal yourself!’ What you will mean is, ‘People told us that you did miracles in Capernaum town, but we(exc) do not know if those reports are true. So do miracles here in your own hometown, too!’”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "24", "text": "Then he said, “It is certainly true that people do not accept the message of a prophet when he speaks in his hometown, just like you(pl) are not accepting my message now."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "25", "text": "But think about this: There were many widows in Israel during the time when the prophet Elijah lived. During that time, because of there being no rain [MTY] for three years and six months, there was a great famine throughout the country."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "26", "text": "But God did not send Elijah to help any of those Jewish widows. God sent him to Zarepath town near Sidon city, to help a non-Jewish widow."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "27", "text": "There were also many Jewish lepers in Israel during the time when the prophet Elisha lived. But Elisha did not heal any of them. He healed only Naaman, a non-Jewish man from Syria.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "28", "text": "When all the people in the synagogue heard him say that, they were very angry, because they realized that he was inferring that he similarly would help non-Jewish people instead of helping Jews(OR, that they also were not worthy of receiving God's help)."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "29", "text": "So they all got up and shoved him out of the town. They took him to the top of the hill outside their town in order to throw him off the cliff and kill him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "30", "text": "But he simply walked through their midst and went away."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "31", "text": "One day he went with his disciples down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee district. On the next ◄Sabbath/Jewish day of rest► (OR, Each ◄Sabbath/Jewish day of rest►), he taught the people ◄ in the synagogue/in the Jewish meeting place►."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "32", "text": "They were continually amazed at what he was teaching, because he spoke◄ with authority/as people speak who have the right to command others what to do►."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "33", "text": "That day, (OR, On one of those Jewish days of rest,) there was a man in the synagogue who was controlled by an evil spirit. That man shouted very loudly,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "34", "text": "“Hey! Jesus, from Nazareth! We(exc) evil spirits have nothing in common with you, so ◄ do not interfere with us now!/why should you interfere with us now?► [RHQ] ◄Do not destroy us now! /Have you come to destroy us now?► [RHQ] I know who you are. You are the Holy One who has come from God!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "35", "text": "Jesus rebuked the evil spirit, saying, “Be quiet! And come out of the man!” The demon threw the man down on the ground in the midst of the people. But without harming the man, the demon left him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "36", "text": "The people were all amazed. They said to each other, “◄What he says to the demons has great power!/ What kind of teaching is this?► [RHQ] He speaks to them like he knows that they must obey him, and as a result they leave people!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "37", "text": "The people were telling everyone in every village in the surrounding region what Jesus had done."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "38", "text": "Jesus and his disciples left ◄the synagogue/the Jewish meeting place► and went into Simon's house. Simon's mother-in-law was sick and had a high fever. So others in Simon's family(OR, the disciples) asked Jesus to heal her."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "39", "text": "So he bent over her and rebuked the fever. At once she became well! She got up and served them some food."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "40", "text": "When the sun was setting that day, and the restriction about not traveling◄on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day► was ended, many people [HYP] whose friends or relatives were sick or who had various diseases brought them to Jesus. He put his hands on them and healed all of them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "41", "text": "He also was expelling demons from many people. As the demons left those people, they shouted to Jesus, “You are ◄the Son of God/the one who is God and man►!” But he rebuked those demons and would not allow them to tell people about him, because they knew that he was the Messiah, and for various reasons he did not want everyone to know that yet."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "42", "text": "Early the next morning Jesus left that house and went to an uninhabited place to pray. Many people searched for him, and when they found him they kept urging him not to leave them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "43", "text": "But he said to them, “I must tell people in other towns also the good message about how God wants to rule [MET] their lives, because that is what I was sent { God sent me} to do.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 4, "verse": "44", "text": "So he kept preaching in ◄the synagogues/Jewish worship places► in various towns in Judea province."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "1", "text": "One day while many people were crowding around him to hear the message from God, Jesus was standing on the shore of Gennesaret Lake, which is also called Lake Galilee."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "2", "text": "He saw two fishing boats at the edge of the lake. The fishermen had gone out of the boats and were washing their fishing nets on the shore. One of the boats belonged to Simon."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "3", "text": "Jesus got in that boat and asked Simon to push the boat a little bit away from the shore so that he could speak to the crowd more easily. Jesus sat in the boat and taught the people who were on the shore."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "4", "text": "After he finished speaking to them, he said to Simon, “Push the boat out to where the water is deep. Then let your nets down into the water to catch some fish!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "5", "text": "Simon replied, “Master, we(exc) worked hard all night but we did not catch any fish But because you(sg) tell me to do it, I will let down the nets.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "6", "text": "When Peter and the men with him had done that, they caught so many fish that their nets were breaking."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "7", "text": "They motioned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. So they came and filled both the boats with fish from the net. The result was that the boats were so full that they began to sink."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "8-9", "text": "Simon and all the men who were with him were amazed at how many fish they had taken. James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, who were Simon's partners, were among those who were amazed. When Simon, whose other name was Peter, saw the fish, feeling ashamed to be in the presence of someone who obviously had God's power, he prostrated himself before Jesus and said, “Lord, you should go away from me, because I am a sinful man!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "10", "text": "But Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid! Up until now you(sg) have been gathering fish[MET], but from now on you will gather people to become my disciples.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "11", "text": "So after they brought the boats to the shore, they left their business [HYP] in the hands of others and went with Jesus."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "12", "text": "While Jesus was in one of the cities there in the district of Galilee, there was a man there who was very severely affected by leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he prostrated himself before him and, wanting Jesus to heal him, pleaded with him, “Lord/Sir, please heal me, because you are able to heal me if you are willing to!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "13", "text": "Then Jesus, disregarding the religious law that forbade people to come close to lepers, reached out his hand and touched the man. He said, “I am willing to heal you; and I heal you now!” Immediately the man was healed. He was no longer a leper [PRS]!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "14", "text": "Then Jesus told him, “Make sure that you do not report your healing immediately. First, go to a priest in Jerusalem and show yourself to him so that he can examine you and verify that you no longer have leprosy. After the priest tells the local people, they will know that you have been healed, and you will be able to associate with them again. Also take to the priest the offering that Moses commanded that people who have been healed from leprosy should offer.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "15", "text": "But many people heard the man's report of what Jesus had done. The result was that large crowds came to Jesus to hear his message and to be healed of their sicknesses {so that he would heal their sicknesses}."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "16", "text": "But he often would go away from them to the desolate area and pray."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "17", "text": "One day when Jesus was teaching, some men from the Pharisee sect were sitting there. Some of them were men who taught the Jewish laws. They had come from many [HYP] villages in Galilee district and also from Jerusalem and from other villages in Judea district. At that time while God was giving Jesus power to heal people,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "18", "text": "several men brought on a sleeping pad a man who was paralyzed. They wanted to bring him into the house and lay him in front of Jesus."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "19", "text": "But there was no way to do that because of the large crowd of people, so they went up the steps onto the roof. They tied ropes onto the sleeping pad and, after removing some of the tiles on the roof, they lowered the man on the sleeping pad. They lowered him through the opening into the midst of the crowd in front of Jesus."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "20", "text": "When Jesus perceived that they believed that he could heal the man, he said to him, “My friend, I forgive your sins!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "21", "text": "The men who taught the Jewish laws and the rest of the Pharisees began to question within themselves, “Who does this man think he is, saying that? He is insulting God! ◄Nobody can forgive sins!/What person can forgive sins?► [RHQ] Only God can do that!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "22", "text": "Jesus perceived what they were thinking. So he said to them, “◄You should not question within yourselves about what I said! /Why do you question within yourselves about what I said?► [RHQ] Consider this:"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "23", "text": "It would not be risky for someone to say to this man, ‘ I forgive your sins,’ because no one could see whether or not his sins were really forgiven. But no one[RHQ], without having the power to heal, would say to him, ‘Get up and walk!’ because people could easily see whether he was healed or not."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "24", "text": "But as a result of my healing this man you(pl) will know that God has authorized me, the one who came from heaven, to forgive the sins of people while I am on the earth, as well as to heal people.” Then he said to the man who was paralyzed, “To you I say, ‘Get up, pick up your sleeping pad, and go home!’”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "25", "text": "Immediately the man was healed He got up in front of them. He picked up the sleeping pad on which he had been lying, and he went home, praising God."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "26", "text": "All the people there were amazed! They praised God and were completely awestruck. They kept saying, “We(inc) have seen wonderful things today!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "27", "text": "Then Jesus left the town and saw a man who collected taxes for the Roman government. His name was Levi. He was sitting in the booth where he collected the taxes. Jesus said to him, “Come with me and become my disciple!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "28", "text": "So Levi left his work [HYP] and went with Jesus."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "29", "text": "Afterwards, Levi prepared a big feast in his own house for Jesus and his disciples. There was a large group of tax collectors and others eating together with them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "30", "text": "The men who were there who taught the Jewish laws, ones who belonged to the Pharisee sect, complained to Jesus' disciples, saying, “◄ It is disgusting that you are eating with tax collectors and others who we(exc) consider to be sinners!/Why are you eating with tax collectors and others who we(exc) consider to be sinners?►” [RHQ]"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "31", "text": "Then, to indicate that it was those who knew that they had sinned who were coming to him for help, Jesus said to them, “ It is people who are sick who need a doctor, not those who are well [MET]."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "32", "text": "Similarly, I did not come from heaven to invite those who think they are righteous to come to me. On the contrary, I came to invite those who know that they are sinners to turn from their sinful behavior and come to me.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "33", "text": "Those Jewish leaders said to Jesus, “The disciples of John the Baptizer often abstain from food to show that they want to please God, and the disciples of the Pharisees do that, too. But your disciples keep on eating and drinking! Why do not they fast like the others?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "34", "text": "To show them that it was not appropriate for his disciples to be sad and abstain from food while he was still with them[MET], Jesus said to them, “When ◄the bridegroom/man who is getting married► is with his friends at the time of the wedding, you certainly do not make his friends abstain from food, do you [RHQ]? No, you do not do that."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "35", "text": "But some day he will be taken away { his enemies will take him away} from them. Then, at that time, his friends will abstain from food, because they will be sad.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "36", "text": "Then Jesus told them two parables to show them that those who desire to live according to God's new message should not be forced to obey the old religious traditions like◄ fasting/abstaining from food►, and that those who know only the old traditions are not eager to accept new ones[MET]. He said, “People never tear a piece of cloth from a new garment and attach it to an old garment to mend it. If they did that, not only would they be ruining the new garment by tearing it, but the new piece of cloth would not match the old garment."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "37", "text": "Neither does anyone put freshly- squeezed grape juice into old skin bags to store it. If anyone did that, the grape juice would burst the skin bags because they would not stretch when the new wine ferments and expands. Then the skin bags would be ruined, and the wine would also be spilled."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "38", "text": "On the contrary, new wine must be put into new wineskins."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 5, "verse": "39", "text": "Furthermore, those who have drunk only old wine are content with that. They do not want to drink the new wine, because they say, ‘The old wine is [MET] good!’”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "1", "text": "One ◄Sabbath/Jewish day of rest►, while Jesus was walking through some grain fields with his disciples, they picked some of the heads of grain. They rubbed them in their hands to separate the grains from the husks, and ate the grain. The law of Moses permitted people to do that if they were hungry."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "2", "text": "Some Pharisees who were watching said to Jesus, “◄You should not be doing on our rest day work that our laws forbid!/Why are you doing on our rest day work that our laws forbid?►” [RHQ]"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "3", "text": "Jesus wanted to show them that the record in Scriptures indicated that God permitted people to disobey certain religious laws when they needed food. So he replied, “ It is written in the Scriptures what our revered ancestor, King David did when he and the men with him were hungry. You have read about that, ◄ but you do not think about what it implies/so why do you not think about what it implies?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "4", "text": "David entered God's big worship tent and asked for some food. The high priest gave him the bread that the priests had presented to God. It was permitted in one of Moses' laws that only the priests could eat that bread. But even though David was not a priest, he ate some, and gave some to the men who were with him. And God did not consider that what David did was wrong!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "5", "text": "Jesus also said to them, “ I am the one who came from heaven, so I have the authority to determine what is right for my disciples to do on the day of rest!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "6", "text": "Another ◄Sabbath/Jewish day of rest► Jesus entered a ◄synagogue/Jewish meeting place► and taught the people. There was a man there whose right hand was shriveled."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "7", "text": "The men who taught the Jewish laws and the Pharisees who were there watched Jesus, to see if he would heal the man ◄on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day►. They did this so that, if he healed the man, they would accuse him of disobeying their laws by working on the day of rest."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "8", "text": "But Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Come and stand here in front of everyone!” So the man got up and stood there."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "9", "text": "Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you this: Do the laws that God gave Moses permit people to do what is good ◄on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day►, or do they permit people to harm others? Do they permit us to save a person's life on our day of rest or to let him die [HYP] by refusing to help him?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "10", "text": "They refused to answer him. So after he looked around at them all, he said to the man, “Stretch out your withered hand!” The man did that, and his hand became all right again!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "11", "text": "But the menn who taught the Jewish laws and the Pharisees were very angry, and they discussed with one another what they could do to get rid of Jesus."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "12", "text": "About that time Jesus went up into the hills to pray. He prayed to God all night."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "13", "text": "The next day he summoned all his disciples to come near him. From them he chose twelve men, whom he called apostles."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "14", "text": "They were Simon, to whom he gave the new name, Peter; Andrew, Peter's younger brother; James and his younger brother, John; Philip; Bartholomew;"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "15", "text": "Matthew, whose other name was Levi; Thomas; another James, the son of Alpheus; Simon, who belonged to the party that encouraged people to rebel against the Roman government;"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "16", "text": "Judas, the son of another James; and Judas Iscariot (OR, Judas from the town of Kerioth), the one who later ◄betrayed Jesus./enabled the Jewish leaders to seize Jesus.►"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "17", "text": "Jesus came down from the hills with his disciples and stood on a level area. There was a great crowd of his disciples there. There was also a large group of people who had come from Jerusalem and from many other places in Judea district, and from the coastal areas near Tyre and Sidon cities."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "18", "text": "They came to hear Jesus talk to them and to be healed {and for him to heal them} from their diseases. He also healed those whom evil spirits had troubled."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "19", "text": "Everyone in the crowd tried to touch him, because he was healing everyone by his/God's power."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "20", "text": "He looked [MTY] at his disciples and said, “ God is pleased with you who know that you lack what he wants you to have; he will allow you to be the people whose lives he rules over."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "21", "text": "God is pleased with you who sincerely desire to receive what [MTY] he wants you to have; he will give you what you need, until you are satisfied. God is pleased with you that grieve now because of sin. Later you will be joyful."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "22", "text": "God is pleased with you when other people hate you, when they will not let you join with them, when they insult you, when they say that you are evil because you believe in me, the one who came from heaven."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "23", "text": "When that happens, rejoice! Jump up and down because you are so happy! God will give you a great reward in heaven! When they do these things to you, it will prove that you are God's servants. (OR, People have always treated God's servants like that.) Do not forget that their ancestors did the same things to the prophets who served God faithfully."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "24", "text": "But there will be terrible punishment for you that are rich; the happiness you have received from your riches is all that you will get."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "25", "text": "There will be terrible punishment for you who think that you have all that you need now; you will realize that these things will not make you feel satisfied. There will be terrible punishment for you who are joyful now; you will later be very sad."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "26", "text": "When most [HYP] people speak well about you, trouble is ahead for you; it will not prove that you are God's servants, because your ancestors used to speak well about those who falsely claimed that they were prophets.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "27", "text": "“But I say this to each of you disciples who are listening to what I say: Love your enemies as well as your friends Do good things for those who hate you!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "28", "text": "Ask God to bless those who curse you! Pray for those who mistreat you!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "29", "text": "If someone insults one of you by striking you on one of your cheeks, turn your face so that he can strike the other cheek also. If a bandit wants to take away your(sg) coat, let him also have your shirt."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "30", "text": "Give something to everyone who asks you(sg) for something. If someone takes away things that belong to you(sg) , do not ask him to return them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "31", "text": "In whatever way you(pl) want others to act toward you, that is the way that you should act toward them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "32", "text": "If you love only those who love you, do not expect God to praise you for doing that[RHQ], because even sinners love those who love them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "33", "text": "If you do good things only for those who do good things for you, do not expect God to reward you for doing that[RHQ], because even sinners do that."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "34", "text": "If you lend things or money only to those who you expect will give something back to you, do not expect that God will reward you [RHQ] for doing that Even sinners lend to other sinners, because they expect them to pay everything back."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "35", "text": "Instead, love your enemies! Do good things for them! Lend to them, and do not expect them to pay anything back! If you do that, God will give you a great reward. And you will be acting like his children should. Remember that God is kind to people who are not grateful and to people who are wicked, and he expects you to be like that too."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "36", "text": "Act mercifully toward others, just like your Father in heaven acts mercifully toward you.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "37", "text": "“Do not say how sinfully others have acted, and then God will not say how sinfully you have acted. Do not condemn others, and then he will not condemn you [DOU]. Forgive others for the evil things that they have done to you, and then God will forgive you."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "38", "text": "Give good things to others, and then God will give good things to you. It will be as though[MET] God is putting things in a basket for you. He will give you a full amount, pressed down in the basket, which he will shake so that he can put more in, and it will spill over the sides! Remember that the way you act toward others will be the way that God will act toward you!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "39", "text": "He also told his disciples this parable to show them that they should be like him, and not be like the Jewish religious leaders: “◄You certainly would not expect a blind man to lead another blind man./Would you expect a blind man to lead another blind man?► [RHQ] If he tried to do that, ◄they would both probably fall into a hole!/wouldn't they both probably fall into a hole?► [RHQ] I am your teacher, and you disciples should be like me."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "40", "text": "A disciple should not expect to be greater than his teacher. But if a student is fully trained {if someone fully trains a student}, the student can become like his teacher [MET]. So you should be content to be like me."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "41", "text": "Why do you notice someone else's small faults?/None of you should be concerned about someone else's small faults[MET, RHQ]. That would be like noticing a speck in that person's eye. But you should be concerned about your own big faults. They are like planks in your own eye, which you do not notice."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "42", "text": "◄You(sg) should not say, ‘Friend, let me take out that speck in your eye!’ when you do not notice the log in your own eye!/Why do you say, ‘Friend, let me take out that speck in your eye!’ when you do not notice the log in your own eye?► [RHQ] If you do that, you are a hypocrite! You should first stop committing your own sins. That will be like removing the plank from your own eye. Then, as a result, you will have the spiritual insight you need to help others get rid of the faults that are like specks in their eyes.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "43", "text": "“ People are like trees[MET]. Healthy trees do not bear bad fruit (OR, bear only good fruit), and unhealthy trees do not bear good fruit."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "44", "text": "Just like you can tell if a tree is good or bad by looking at its fruit, you can tell which people are good and which are bad by looking at the way they conduct their lives. For example, because thornbushes cannot produce figs, no one can pick figs from thornbushes. And since bramble bushes cannot produce grapes, no one can pick grapes from bramble bushes."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "45", "text": "Similarly, good people will conduct their lives in a good way because within themselves they think a lot of good things, and evil people will live in an evil way because within themselves they think a lot of evil things. The basic principle is that people speak and act according to all that they think in their ◄minds/inner beings►.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "46", "text": "“ Because people should obey what their masters tell them, ◄it is disgraceful that you say that I am your master but you do not do what I tell you!/why do you say that I am your master but you do not do what I tell you?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "47", "text": "Some people come to me, and hear my messages and obey them. I will tell you what they are like."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "48", "text": "They are like a man who dug deep into the ground to prepare to build his house. He made sure that the foundation was on solid ground. Then when there was a flood, the water tried to wash away the house. But the river could not shake the house, because it was built {he built it} on a solid foundation."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 6, "verse": "49", "text": "But some people hear my messages but do not obey them. They are like a man who built a house on top of the ground without digging a foundation. When the river flooded, the house collapsed immediately and was completely ruined. So it is important for you to obey what I teach you.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "1", "text": "After Jesus finished saying this to the people, he went with his disciples to Capernaum town."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "2", "text": "There was a Roman army officer there who had a slave whom he greatly esteemed. This slave was so sick that he was about to die."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "3", "text": "When the officer heard about Jesus, he summoned some Jewish elders. He told them to go to Jesus and ask him to come and heal his slave."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "4", "text": "When they came to where Jesus was, they earnestly asked Jesus to return with them. They said, “This officer deserves that you(sg) do this for him,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "5", "text": "because he loves us Jewish people, and he paid the money to build a synagogue for us.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "6", "text": "So Jesus went with them. When he was near the officer's house, the officer decided that it was not necessary for Jesus to come to his house. So he summoned some friends. He told them to go to Jesus and tell him this: “Lord/Sir, do not bother to come. Because I am a non-Jew, I am not worthy for you(sg) , a Jew, to come into my house [MTY] and associate with me."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "7", "text": "I did not feel worthy to come to you, either. But please command that my servant be healed, and he will become well!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "8", "text": "I believe this because, as for me, there are people who have authority over me and I obey them. I also have soldiers under my authority. When I say to one of them, ‘Go!’ he goes. When I say to another ‘Come!’ he comes. When I say to my slave, ‘Do this!’ he does it. And I believe that you speak with a similar kind of authority.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "9", "text": "When the officer's friends arrived and told that to Jesus, he marveled at what the officer had said. Then he turned and said to the crowd that was going with him, “I tell you, I have never before found anyone who trusted in me like this non-Jewish man does. No one from Israel, where I would expect people to believe in me, has trusted in me like he has!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "10", "text": "When those men returned to the officer's house, they found that the slave was well."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "11", "text": "Soon after that, Jesus went to a town called Nain. His disciples and a large crowd of other people went with him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "12", "text": "As they approached the town gate, the corpse of a young man who had just died was being carried out on a stretcher{ people were carrying out on a stretcher the corpse of a young man who had just died}. His mother was a widow, and he was her only son. A large group of people from the town were accompanying them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "13", "text": "When the Lord saw her, he pitied her. He said to her, “Do not cry!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "14", "text": "Then, ignoring the Jewish laws about not coming near a corpse, he came close and touched the stretcher on which the body was lying. So the men carrying it stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "15", "text": "The man sat up and began to talk! Jesus returned him to his mother to care for her."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "16", "text": "Then everyone there was amazed/awestruck. They praised God, saying, “A great prophet has come among us!” They also said, “God has come to help his people!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "17", "text": "Then they reported what Jesus had done throughout all of Judea district and other nearby areas."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "18", "text": "The disciples of John the Baptizer went to the prison where John was and told him about those things."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "19", "text": "So one day John summoned two of his disciples and told them to go to the Lord and ask him: “Are you the Messiah who the prophets prophesied would come, or is it someone else that we should expect to come?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "20", "text": "When those two men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptizer sent us to ask you(sg) this: Are you the Messiah that we are expecting God to send, or shall we(exc) expect someone else?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "21", "text": "At that very time Jesus was healing many people of their diseases and other sicknesses, he was casting out evil spirits, and he was causing many blind people to be able to see."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "22", "text": "So he answered those two men, “Go back and report to John what you have seen me doing and what you have heard me telling people. I am enabling blind people to see. I am enabling lame people to walk. I am healing people who have leprosy. I am enabling deaf people to hear. I am causing dead people to become alive again, and I am telling God's good message to poor people."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "23", "text": "Also tell John that God is pleased with those who do not stop believing in me because what I do is not what they expect the Messiah to do.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "24", "text": "When the men whom John had sent left, Jesus began to talk to the crowd of people about John. He said to them, “ Think about what sort of person you went to see in the desolate area when you went there to see John[RHQ]. You did not go there to listen to a man who constantly changed the nature of his message[MET], like a reed that is blown back and forth by the wind [RHQ]."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "25", "text": "Then what kind of man did you go there to see [RHQ]? Was he [RHQ] a man who wore expensive clothes? No! You know very well that people who wear beautiful clothes and live in luxury are in kings' palaces, not in the desolate areas"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "26", "text": "Then what kind of person did you go to see? Did you[RHQ] go there to see John because he was a prophet? Yes! But I will tell you that John is more important than an ordinary prophet."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "27", "text": "He is the one about whom these words that God said to the Messiah have been written { the prophet Malachi wrote these words} in the Scriptures: ‘Listen! I am going to send my messenger ahead of you(sg) [SYN]. He will prepare people for your coming.’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "28", "text": "I tell you that from among all the people who have ever lived, God considers that no one is greater than John. However, God considers everyone who has let God rule their lives[MET] to be greater than John, even if they are insignificant people.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "29", "text": "When they heard what Jesus said(OR, what John preached), all the people, including tax collectors, whom many people despised, agreed that God's way was right. By being baptized by John {By letting John baptize them}, they had agreed that what God required people to do in order to be saved was right."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "30", "text": "But the Pharisees and the men who taught the Jewish laws were not baptized by John {did not let John baptize them} because they rejected what God wanted them to do."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "31", "text": "Then Jesus also said, “◄ Many of you people have heard what John and I have taught. I will illustrate what you are like./Do you know what many of you people who have heard what John and I have taught are like?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "32", "text": "You are like children who are playing games in an open area. Some of them are calling to the others, saying, ‘We(exc) played happy music for you on the flute, but you did not dance! Then we sang sad funeral songs for you, but you did not cry!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "33", "text": "Similarly, you people are dissatisfied with both John the Baptizer and me! When John came and preached to you, he did not eat ordinary food [SYN] or drink wine, like most people do. But you rejected him, saying, ‘A demon is controlling him!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "34", "text": "In contrast, I, the one who came from heaven, eat the same food and drink wine as others do. But you reject me, saying, ‘Look! This man eats too much food and drinks too much wine, and he associates with tax collectors and other sinners!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "35", "text": "But those who are truly God's children [PRS] realize that what John and I do is truly wise.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "36", "text": "One day one of the Pharisees named Simon invited Jesus to eat a meal with him. So Jesus went to the man's house and reclined to eat."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "37", "text": "There was a woman in that city who many people knew had been a prostitute [EUP]. She heard that Jesus was eating in the Pharisee's house. So she went there, taking a stone jar that contained perfume."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "38", "text": "As they were reclining to eat, the woman stood behind Jesus, at his feet. As she was crying because she was sorry for her sins, her tears fell on Jesus' feet. Then she wiped his feet with her hair, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the perfume."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "39", "text": "When the Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw that, he thought within himself, “ Prophets know about other people's lives, so if Jesus were a prophet, he would have known who this woman is who is touching him, and what kind of a person she is. He would have known that she is a prostitute! [EUP]”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "40", "text": "Jesus said to him, “Simon, there is something I want to tell you(sg) .” He replied, “Teacher, what is it?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "41", "text": "Jesus replied, “Two people owed some money to a man who earned money by lending it to others. One owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other owed him fifty silver coins."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "42", "text": "Neither of them was able to pay back what he owed, so the man very kindly said that they did not have to pay back anything. So, which of those two men will love that man more?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "43", "text": "Simon replied, “I think that the one who owed the most money and did not have to pay it back will love him more.” Jesus said to him, “That is correct.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "44", "text": "Then he turned toward the woman, and said to Simon, “◄Think about what this woman has done!/Do you(sg) see what this woman has done?► [RHQ] When I entered your house, you did not follow our custom of welcoming guests by giving me any water to wash my feet, but this woman has wet my feet with her tears and then wiped them with her hair!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "45", "text": "You did not follow our custom of greeting by kissing me, but since I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "46", "text": "You did not follow our custom of welcoming guests by anointing my head with olive oil, but she has anointed my feet with fragrant perfume."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "47", "text": "So I will tell you that even though she has sinned very much, she has been forgiven { I have forgiven her}. By what she has done she has shown that she loves me very much. But a person who has sinned just a little bit, but whom I have forgiven, will love me just a little bit.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "48", "text": "Then he said to the woman, “You have been forgiven { I have forgiven you} for your sins.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "49", "text": "Then those who were eating with him said among themselves, “◄This man must think that he is God!/ Who does this man think that he is [RHQ]►, saying that he can forgive people for their sins?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 7, "verse": "50", "text": "But Jesus said to the woman, “Because you have trusted [PRS] in me, God has saved you from the guilt of your sins. May God give you inner peace as you go!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "1", "text": "Soon after that, Jesus went, along with his twelve disciples, through various cities and villages. As they went, he was telling people the good message about how God wants ◄to have complete control/to rule► [MET] over their lives."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "2", "text": "Some women from whom he had expelled evil spirits and healed of diseases also went with him. These included Mary, the woman from Magdala village, from whom he had expelled seven evil spirits;"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "3", "text": "Joanna, the wife of Chuza, who was one of King Herod Antipas' officials; Susanna; and many others. They were providing some of their own funds to help Jesus and his disciples."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "4", "text": "A great crowd of people came to Jesus from many towns. Then he told them this parable:"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "5", "text": "“A man went out to his field to sow some seeds. As he was scattering them over the soil, some of the seeds fell on the path. Then people walked on those seeds, and birds ate them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "6", "text": "Some of the seeds fell on rock on which there was a thin layer of moist soil. As soon as the seeds grew, the plants dried up because they had no moisture."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "7", "text": "Some of the seeds fell on ground that contained roots of thorny weeds. The thorny weeds grew together with the young plants, and they crowded out the plants."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "8", "text": "But some of the seeds fell on good soil and grew well. Each seed later produced a hundred grains.” Then Jesus shouted to them, “If you want to understand [MTY] this, you must consider carefully what I have just said!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "9", "text": "Jesus' disciples later asked him about the meaning of the parable he had just told."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "10", "text": "He said, “God is revealing to you what he did not reveal before, about how he wants to rule [MET] over people's lives. But when I am telling other people about these things, I tell them only in parables. The result will be like a prophet predicted long ago: They will see what I am doing, but will not perceive what it means. They will hear what I am saying, but will not understand it."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "11", "text": "So this is the meaning of that parable: The seeds represent God's message."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "12", "text": "Some people are like the path on which some of the seeds fell. When these people hear God's message, the devil comes and causes them to forget what they have heard. As a result, they do not believe it and will not be saved { God will not save them}."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "13", "text": "Some people are like the soil with rock underneath. When they hear God's message, they accept it joyfully. But because it does not penetrate deeply[MET] into their inner beings, they believe it for only a short time. They are like the plants that did not have deep roots. When difficult things happen to them, they stop believing God's message."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "14", "text": "Some people are like the soil that had roots of thorny weeds in it. They are people who accept God's message, but later on they worry about things, and try to become rich, and enjoy things that give them a lot of pleasure. So they do not become spiritually mature."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "15", "text": "But some people are like the good soil. They hear God's message and accept it. They become good, honest people, and they continue doing things that please God[MET].”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "16", "text": "“After people light a lamp, they do not cover it with a basket or put it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a lampstand, so that those who enter the house can see things from its light [MET]. Similarly, you must tell God's truth to others so that they can know what I can do for them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "17", "text": "God wants to make clear all of his truth that was not evident previously. He intends that all of the truth that he had not revealed before be told openly {that his people openly tell others all of the truth that he has not revealed before}."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "18", "text": "So listen carefully to what I tell you, because God will enable those who accept my truth to understand even more. But God will cause those who do not accept my truth to not understand even the little that they think they have understood.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "19", "text": "One day Jesus' mother and his younger brothers came to see him, but they could not get near him because there was a large crowd around him in the house."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "20", "text": "Someone told him, “Your mother and your younger brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "21", "text": "He replied, “Those who hear God's message and obey it are as dear to me[MET] as my mother and my brothers.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "22", "text": "One day Jesus got into a boat with his disciples. He said to them, “Let's go around to the other side of the lake.” So they started to go."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "23", "text": "As they were sailing, he fell asleep. A big windstorm came down on the lake. Soon the boat was filling with water, and they were in danger."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "24", "text": "They woke him up. They said to him, “Master! Master! We(inc) are going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and told the waves to be calm. The wind stopped blowing and the waves calmed down. The lake became calm."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "25", "text": "He said to them, “◄I am disappointed that you did not trust me to help you!/Why did you not trust me to help you?►” [RHQ] They were afraid. They were also amazed. They said to each other, “◄What kind of man is this?/This man is not like ordinary men!► [RHQ] He not only commands people, but when he commands the wind and the water, they also obey him!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "26", "text": "Jesus and his disciples arrived at the region near Gerasa, a town which was on the eastern side of Lake Galilee."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "27", "text": "There was a man in that region in whom demons lived. He was from the town of Gerasa. (OR, In that area there was a man from that town whom demons controlled.) For a long time he had not worn clothes. He did not live in a house. Instead, he lived in burial caves."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "28-29", "text": "Many times demons attacked him. He was guarded { People tried to guard him} so that he would not injure others. Chains were fastened {They fastened chains} on his hands and shackles on his feet, but he would break the chains and shackles. Then he would be sent away by the demons {the demons would send him away} to the desolate area. When Jesus stepped out of the boat onto the shore, the man saw him. He ran to Jesus and prostrated himself before him. Then Jesus commanded, “You evil spirit, come out of that man!” But it did not leave immediately. Instead, it caused the man to shout very loudly, “Jesus, Son of the great God in heaven, since we(inc) have nothing in common, leave me alone[RHQ]! I beg you, do not torture me now!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "30", "text": "In order to expel the demon more easily, Jesus asked the demon, “What is your(sg) name?” He replied, “My name is Crowd/Mob.” He said that because many demons had entered that man."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "31", "text": "The demons kept begging Jesus that he would not command them to go into the deep place where God punishes demons."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "32", "text": "There was a large herd of pigs ◄grazing/rooting for food► on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus that he allow them to enter the pigs. So he did."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "33", "text": "The demons left the man and entered the pigs. Then the herd of pigs rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "34", "text": "When the men who were taking care of the pigs saw what happened, they ran! They told people inside the town and outside the town what had happened."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "35", "text": "So people went out to see what had happened. When they came to where Jesus was, they saw that the man from whom Jesus had expelled the demons was sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to him. He had clothes on, and his mind was normal again. Then those people became afraid because they thought that he would destroy more of their property(OR, because they realized that he must be very powerful)."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "36", "text": "The people who had seen what happened told those who had just arrived how Jesus had healed the man whom demons were controlling before."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "37", "text": "Then those people and many other people [HYP] from the area near Gerasa asked Jesus to leave their area. They were very afraid of what else Jesus would do to them. So Jesus and the disciples got into the boat to go back across the lake."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "38", "text": "The man from whom he had expelled the demons begged him saying, “ Please, let me go with you!” But Jesus refused. Instead, he said to him,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "39", "text": "“ No, go home and tell people how much God has done for you!” Then he sent him away. So he went away and told people throughout the town how much Jesus had done for him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "40", "text": "When Jesus and the disciples returned to Capernaum, a crowd of people who had been waiting for him welcomed him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "41", "text": "Just then a man named Jairus, who was one of the leaders ◄of the synagogue/of the Jewish meeting place► there, came near and prostrated himself at Jesus' feet. He pleaded with Jesus, “Please come to my house and heal my daughter,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "42", "text": "because my only daughter, who is about twelve years old, is dying!” As Jesus went with him, many people crowded close to Jesus."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "43", "text": "Then a woman came near. She had been suffering from constant vaginal[EUP] bleeding for twelve years, but she could not be healed by anyone {no one could heal her}."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "44", "text": "She came behind Jesus and touched the edge of his robe in order to be healed. At once her bleeding stopped."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "45", "text": "Jesus said, “Who touched me?” When everyone said that they had not touched him, Peter said, “Lord, there is a great crowd of people around you(sg) and crowding against you, so any one of them might have touched you!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "46", "text": "But Jesus said, “ I know that someone deliberately touched me, because my power has healed someone who touched me.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "47", "text": "When the woman realized that she could not prevent Jesus(OR, people) from knowing that she was healed, her body began to shake. She was afraid that because she had disobeyed the law that a woman with such a condition should not touch others, Jesus might scold her for doing that. She prostrated herself before him. As the other people were listening, she told why she had touched him and how she had been healed immediately."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "48", "text": "Jesus said to her, “◄Ma'am/My dear woman►, because you believed [PRS] that I could heal you, I have healed you. Go from here, and may you experience God's peace within you.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "49", "text": "While he was still talking to her, a man from Jairus' house came and said to him, “Your daughter has died. So ◄it is useless that you bother the teacher any longer by urging him to go to your house!/why do you bother the teacher any longer by urging him to go to your house?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "50", "text": "But when Jesus heard that, he said to Jairus, “Do not think that there is nothing more that can be done. Just believe that I can help her. If you(sg) do that, she will live again.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "51", "text": "When they arrived outside the house, he allowed only Peter, John, James, and the girl's mother and father to go in the house with him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "52", "text": "All the people there were crying and beating their breasts to show that they were sad. But, knowing that he would cause the girl to live again, he said to them, “Stop crying! She is not dead! She is just sleeping [MET]!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "53", "text": "The people laughed at him, because they knew that the girl was dead."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "54", "text": "But Jesus took hold of her hand and called to her, saying, “Child, get up!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "55", "text": "At once her spirit returned to her body and she got up. Jesus told them to give her something to eat."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 8, "verse": "56", "text": "Her parents were amazed, but Jesus told them not to tell anyone else yet what had happened."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "1", "text": "One day Jesus summoned his twelve apostles, and gave them power to expel all kinds of demons and to heal people with diseases. He gave them authority to do that."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "2", "text": "Before he sent them out to heal people and to tell people what it meant to let God ◄rule/have complete control over► their lives,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "3", "text": "he said to them, “Do not take things for your journey. Do not take a walking stick or a traveler's bag or food or money. Do not take ◄an extra shirt/extra clothes►."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "4", "text": "Whenever you enter some house to lodge there, stay in that house until you leave that town."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "5", "text": "In towns where the people do not welcome you, you should not continue to stay there. Just leave those towns. And as you leave, shake off the dust from your feet. Do that to warn them that God will punish them for rejecting your message.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "6", "text": "Then they left and traveled through many villages. Everywhere they went, they told people God's good message and healed sick people."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "7", "text": "Herod Antipas, the ruler of that district, heard about the things that Jesus and his disciples were doing. He had previously commanded his soldiers to execute John the Baptizer, so now he was perplexed, because some people were saying that John had become alive again and was doing those miracles."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "8", "text": "Others were saying that the prophet Elijah had appeared again as had been prophesied. Others were saying that one of the other former prophets had become alive again and was doing those miracles."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "9", "text": "But Herod said, “ It cannot be John who is doing these things, because I commanded my soldiers to cut off his head. So who is this man that I am hearing these things about?” And he kept wanting to see Jesus."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "10", "text": "When the apostles returned from traveling to various towns, they told Jesus the things that they had done. Then he took them and they went by themselves by boat to a town called Bethsaida."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "11", "text": "But when the crowds of people who had been with Jesus found out about that, they followed him on land. When they got to where he was, he welcomed them. He taught them about how God is going to some day ◄rule as king/have complete control over people's lives►. He also healed the sick people."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "12", "text": "Late in the afternoon the twelve apostles came to him and said, “This is a place where nobody lives, so dismiss the people so that they can go to the surrounding villages and other places where they can get some food and find places to stay.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "13", "text": "But he said to them, “ No, you yourselves give them something to eat!” They replied, “We(exc) have only five small loaves and two cooked fish. Are you(sg) going to give us the money to go somewhere and buy food for all these people?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "14", "text": "There were about five thousand men there. He replied to the disciples, “ No, just tell the people to sit down. Tell them to sit in groups, with about fifty people in each group.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "15", "text": "After they told the people that, they all sat down."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "16", "text": "Then he took the five small loaves and the two fish. He looked up towards heaven and thanked God for them. Then he broke them into pieces and gave them to the disciples so that they would distribute them to the crowd."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "17", "text": "All the people in the crowd ate until they all had enough to eat. Then the disciples collected twelve baskets full of the broken pieces that were left over!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "18", "text": "One day Jesus was praying in a place where only the disciples were with him. He asked them, “The crowds of people, who do they say that I really am?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "19", "text": "They replied, “ Some people say that you are John the Baptizer, who has come back to life again. Others say that you are the prophet Elijah, who has returned from heaven as God promised. Others say that you are one of the other prophets who lived long ago, who has come back to life again.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "20", "text": "He asked them, “What about you(pl) ? Who do you say that I am?” Peter replied, “You(sg) are the Messiah, who has come from God.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "21", "text": "Then Jesus warned them strongly not to tell that to anyone yet."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "22", "text": "Then he said, “ Even though I am the one who came from heaven, it is necessary that I suffer very much. It is also necessary that I be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the men who teach the Jewish laws {that the Jewish elders and the chief priests and the men who teach the Jewish laws will reject me}. It is necessary that I be killed {that people will kill me}. Then on the third day after that, I will become alive again.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "23", "text": "Then he said to all of them, “If any one of you wants to be my disciple, you must not do only what you yourself desire to do. Specifically, you must be willing each day [MET] to let others hurt you and disgrace you. That is like what is done to criminals who are forced to carry [MET] crosses to the place where they will be executed. That is what anyone who wants to be my disciple must do."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "24", "text": "You must do that, because those who try to save their lives by denying that they belong to me when people want to kill them for believing in me will not live eternally, but those who are killed because of being my disciples will live forever with me."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "25", "text": "People might get everything that they want in this world, but ◄they are really gaining nothing if they do not get eternal life by becoming my disciples!/are they really gaining anything if they do not get eternal life by becoming my disciples?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "26", "text": "Those who reject my message and refuse to say that they belong to me, I, the one who came from heaven, will also refuse to say that they belong to me when I come back with the holy angels, and have the glorious brightness that my Father has."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "27", "text": "But listen carefully! Some of you(pl) who are here now will see God ruling [MET] in many powerful ways. You will see it before you die!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "28", "text": "About a week after Jesus said those things, he took Peter, James, and James' brother John and led them up a mountain so that he could pray there."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "29", "text": "As he was praying, his face appeared very different to them. His clothes became as bright as lightning."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "30-31", "text": "Suddenly, two men appeared who had the brightness of heaven surrounding them. They were prophets who had lived long ago, Moses and Elijah. They started talking with Jesus about how he would accomplish what God had planned when he died[EUP] very soon in Jerusalem."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "32", "text": "Peter and the other disciples who were with him were sound asleep. When they woke up, they saw Jesus' brightness. They also saw the two men standing with him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "33", "text": "As Moses and Elijah were starting to leave Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is wonderful for us to be here! Allow us to make three shelters, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah!” But he really did not realize what he was saying."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "34", "text": "As he was saying that, a bright cloud appeared and covered them. The disciples were afraid as the cloud surrounded them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "35", "text": "God[MTY/EUP] spoke to them from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son. He is the one whom I have chosen to do a great work for me. So you must listen to him!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "36", "text": "After God[MTY/EUP] finished saying that, the three disciples saw that only Jesus was there. They did not tell anyone what they had seen until much later."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "37", "text": "The next day, after they had come down from the mountain, a large crowd of people met Jesus."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "38", "text": "Then a man from the crowd exclaimed, “Teacher, I plead with you, do something to help my son! He is my only child!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "39", "text": "At various times an evil spirit suddenly seizes him and causes him to scream. The evil spirit shakes him violently and causes him to foam at the mouth. It does not leave until my child is completely exhausted."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "40", "text": "I pleaded with your disciples who were here for them to expel the evil spirit, but they were not able to do it!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "41", "text": "Jesus replied by saying to everyone who had gathered there, “ You who have seen how I help people do not believe that you can do anything What you think is perverted! How long must I be with you before you are able to do what I do[RHQ]? How long must I endure your lack of faith?” Then he said to the boy's father, “Bring your(sg) son here to me!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "42", "text": "While they were bringing the boy to Jesus, the demon attacked the boy, threw him to the ground, and shook him severely. But Jesus rebuked the evil spirit and healed the boy. Then he returned him to his father's care."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "43", "text": "All the people there were amazed at the great power of God. While they were all amazed at all the miracles Jesus was doing, he said to his disciples,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "44", "text": "“Think carefully [MTY] about what I am about to tell you: Even though I am the one who came from heaven, I will soon be handed over to the authorities (OR, my enemies) { someone is about to enable [MTY] my enemies to seize me}.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "45", "text": "But the disciples did not understand what he was saying; God prevented them from understanding it, so that they would not know yet what he meant. And they were afraid to ask him about what he had said."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "46", "text": "The disciples began to argue among themselves about which one of them would be the greatest when Jesus became king."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "47", "text": "But Jesus perceived what they were thinking. So he brought a young child to his side."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "48", "text": "He said to the disciples, “Those who, because they love me, (OR, because they want to behave like me) welcome a little child ◄ like this one/ as I would► [MTY], God considers that[MET] they are welcoming me. And those who welcome me, God considers that [MET] they are welcoming him, the one who sent me. Remember that those among you who think of themselves as being very unimportant will be the ones whom God considers to be great.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "49", "text": "John replied to Jesus, “Master, we(exc) saw a man who was expelling demons, claiming that he had authority from you [MTY] to do that. So we told him to stop doing it, because he is not one of us disciples.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "50", "text": "But Jesus said to him and the other disciples, “Do not tell him not to do that Remember that those who are not opposing you are trying to achieve the same goals that you are!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "51", "text": "When it was almost time for God to take him up to heaven, Jesus firmly resolved to go to Jerusalem."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "52", "text": "He sent some messengers to go ahead of him, and they entered a village in Samaria district to prepare for him [SYN] to go there."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "53", "text": "But the Samaritans did not like the Jews because of their insisting that it was necessary to go to Jerusalem to worship God. So, because Jesus had firmly resolved to go to Jerusalem, they would not let him come to their village."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "54", "text": "When two of his disciples, James and John, heard about that, they said, “Lord, do you(sg) want us(exc) to pray that God will send fire down from heaven, as the prophet Elijah did long ago, and destroy those people?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "55", "text": "But Jesus turned and rebuked them for saying that."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "56", "text": "So they went to a different village."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "57", "text": "As Jesus and the disciples were walking along the road, one man said to him, “I will go with you(sg) wherever you go!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "58", "text": "In order that the man might know what he could expect if he went with him, Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes in the ground in which to live, and birds have nests, but even though I am the one who came from heaven, I do not have a home where I can sleep!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "59", "text": "Jesus told another man, “Come with me!” But the man said, “Lord/Sir, let me go home first. After my father dies I will bury him, and then I will come with you.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "60", "text": "But Jesus said to him, “ God considers that those who do not have eternal life are dead [MET]. Let those people do the work of burying people who die. As for you, go and tell people about how God wants ◄to rule/to have complete control over► people's lives!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "61", "text": "Someone else said, “Lord, I will come with you and be your disciple, but first let me go home to say goodbye to my relatives.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 9, "verse": "62", "text": "Jesus said to him, “Anyone who is plowing his field should not look back to see what he has done. He must look forward to what is ahead. Similarly, anyone who continues to be concerned about his family and other things he has left behind is not fit to serve me and tell others about how God wants to rule [MTY] people's lives.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "1", "text": "After that, the Lord Jesus appointed seventy-two other people. He prepared to send them out, two-by-two, to every town and village where he [SYN] intended to go."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "2", "text": "He said to them, “The people who are ready to receive my message are like a field of[MET] grain that is ready for people to harvest {to be harvested}. But there are not many people to bring them to God. So pray and ask the Lord God to send more workers who will gather people together and teach them my message, just like a landowner sends workers into his fields to gather the harvest."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "3", "text": "Start going; but remember that I am sending you(pl) out to tell my message to people who will try to get rid of you. You will be like lambs among wolves."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "4", "text": "Do not take along any money in a purse. Do not take a traveler's bag. Do not take extra sandals. Do not spend a lot of time greeting people along the way."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "5", "text": "Whenever you enter a house to lodge there, first say to those people, ‘May God give inner peace to you people[MTY] in this house!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "6", "text": "If people who live there are ◄desiring to have/worthy of receiving► God's peace, they will experience the inner peace that you are offering them. If people who live there are not desiring to have God's peace, you will experience God's inner peace, but they will not."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "7", "text": "If they welcome you, stay in that same house until you leave that village. Do not move around from one house to another. Eat and drink whatever they provide for you. A worker deserves to get pay [MET] from the people for whom he works, so you deserve to receive food and a place to stay from the people to whom you go."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "8", "text": "Whenever you enter a town and the people there welcome you, eat what is provided {what they provide} for you."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "9", "text": "Heal the people there who are sick. Tell them, ‘It is almost time for God to send his king to rule [MET] your lives.’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "10", "text": "But if you enter a town whose people do not welcome you, go into its main streets and say,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "11", "text": "‘ Because you have refused to hear our message, we(exc) will not only leave, we will also shake off the dust of your town that clings to our sandals, to warn you that God will reject/punish you. But we want you to know that it is almost the time when God will start to rule!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "12", "text": "I will tell you this: On the [MTY] final day when God judges everyone, he will punish the wicked people [MTY] who long ago lived in Sodom, the city that he destroyed because its people were so wicked. But he will punish even more severely the people [MTY] of that town who refused to hear your message!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "13", "text": "“There will be terrible punishment for you people who live in[MTY] Chorazin and Bethsaida cities I did great miracles in your cities to show God's power, but you did not turn from your sinful behavior. If the miracles that I performed in your cities had been done in Tyre and Sidon cities, the wicked people who lived there would have long ago shown that they were sorry for their sins by sitting on the ground wearing coarse cloth and putting ashes on their heads."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "14", "text": "But they did not have the opportunity that you have, so when God punishes people, he will punish the wicked people who lived in Tyre and Sidon, but he will punish you more severely because you did not pay attention to my message"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "15", "text": "I also have something to say to you people who live in Capernaum city. ◄Do not think that you will be honored{ that God will honor you} in heaven!/Do you think that you will be honored{ that God will honor you} in heaven?► [RHQ] That will not happen! On the contrary, after you die, God will send you down to the place where sinful people will be punished forever!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "16", "text": "Jesus also said to the disciples, “God will consider that those who listen to your message are listening to me, and that those who reject your message are rejecting me. And he will consider that those who reject me are rejecting God, the one who sent me.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "17", "text": "The seventy-two people whom Jesus appointed went and did as he told them to. When they returned, they were very joyful. They said, “Lord, people did what we(exc) told them to do! But demons also obeyed us when by your(sg) authority [MTY] we commanded them to leave people!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "18", "text": "He replied, “ When those demons were obeying you, because God had enabled you to defeat them, it was as though[MET] I saw Satan fall from heaven as suddenly and quickly as lightning strikes"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "19", "text": "Listen! I have given you authority so that if you oppose evil spirits [MET] they will not hurt you. I have given you authority to defeat our enemy, Satan. Nothing shall hurt you."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "20", "text": "But although you can rejoice that evil spirits obey you, you should rejoice more that your names have been written {that God has written your names} in heaven, because you will be with God forever.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "21", "text": "At that time the Holy Spirit caused Jesus to be very happy. He said, “Father, you(sg) rule over everything in heaven and on the earth! Some people think that they are wise because they are well-educated. But I thank you that you have prevented them from knowing these things. Instead, you have revealed them to people who accept your truth as readily[MET] as little children do. Yes, Father, you have done that because it seemed good to you to do so.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "22", "text": "Jesus also said to the 72 disciples, “ God, my Father, has revealed to me all I need to know and the power I need for my work. Only my Father knows who I really am. Furthermore, only I and those people to whom I wish to reveal him know what God my Father is like.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "23", "text": "Then when his disciples were alone with him, he turned toward them and said, “ God is pleased with you [SYN] who have seen the things that I have done!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "24", "text": "I want you to know that many prophets and kings who lived long ago desired to see the things that you are seeing me do, but those things did not happen then. They longed to hear the things that you have been hearing me say, but I did not reveal them then.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "25", "text": "One day as Jesus was teaching people, a man who had studied carefully the laws that God gave Moses was there. He wanted to ask Jesus a difficult question. So he stood up and asked, “Teacher, what shall I do in order to live with God forever?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "26", "text": "Jesus said to him, “You(sg) have read [RHQ] what Moses has written in the laws that God gave him. What did Moses write about that?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "27", "text": "The man replied, “ He wrote that we(inc) must love the Lord our God in our ◄inner beings/hearts►. We must show that by what we feel and by what we do and by what we think. He also wrote that we must love people that we come in contact with as much as we love ourselves.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "28", "text": "Jesus replied, “You(sg) have answered your question correctly. If you do all that continually, you will live with God forever.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "29", "text": "But the man wanted to defend the way he acted toward people that he came in contact with(OR, to defend why he had asked a question that Jesus answered so simply). So he said to Jesus, “Which people that I come in contact with should I love?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "30", "text": "Jesus replied by telling him this illustration: “A Jewish man was once going down along the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. Bandits attacked him. They took away most of the man's clothes and everything else that he had, and they beat him until he was almost dead. Then they left him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "31", "text": "It happened that a Jewish priest was going along that road. When he saw that man, instead of helping him, he passed by on the other side of the road."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "32", "text": "Similarly, a man who worked in the temple in Jerusalem came to that place and saw the man. But he also passed by on the other side of the road."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "33", "text": "Then a man from Samaria province came along that road to where the man was lying. People from Samaria despise Jews. But when he saw that man, he pitied him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "34", "text": "He went close to him and put some olive oil and wine on the wounds to help heal them. He wound strips of cloth around the wounds. He placed the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn and took care of him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "35", "text": "The next morning he gave two silver coins to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of this man. If you(sg) spend more than this amount to care for him, I will pay you back when I return.’”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "36", "text": "Then Jesus said, “Three people saw the man whom bandits attacked. Which one of them acted in a loving way toward that man?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "37", "text": "The man who studied the Scriptures replied, “The one who acted mercifully toward him.” Jesus said to him, “You(sg) go and act like that toward everyone whom you can help!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "38", "text": "As Jesus and his disciples continued to travel, they entered a village near Jerusalem. A woman whose name was Martha invited them to come to her house."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "39", "text": "Her younger sister, whose name was Mary, was sitting near Jesus. She was listening to what he was teaching."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "40", "text": "But Martha was very much concerned about preparing the meal. She went to Jesus and said, “Lord, ◄do you not care that my sister has left me to prepare everything by myself?/you do not seem to care that my sister has left me to prepare everything by myself!► [RHQ] Tell her that she should help me!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "41", "text": "But the Lord replied, “Martha, Martha, you(sg) are very worried about many things."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 10, "verse": "42", "text": "But only one thing is truly necessary, and that is, to listen to what I am teaching. Mary has decided to do that, and that is better. The blessing that she is receiving from doing that will not be taken away from her {No one will take away from her the blessing that she is receiving from doing that}.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "1", "text": "One day Jesus was somewhere praying. When he finished praying, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us what to say when we(exc) pray, as John the Baptizer taught his disciples!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "2", "text": "He said to them, “When you pray, say things like this: ‘Father, we want you(sg) [MTY] to be honored/revered. We want people to let you(sg) [MTY, MET] rule over their lives."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "3", "text": "Give us(exc) each day the food [SYN] that we need."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "4", "text": "Forgive us for the wrong things that we have done, because we forgive people for the wrong things that they do to us. Do not let us do wrong things when we are tempted { someone or something tempts us}.’”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "5", "text": "Then he said to them, “Suppose that one of you goes to the house of a friend at midnight. Suppose that you(sg) stand outside and call out to him, ‘My friend, please lend me three buns!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "6", "text": "Another friend of mine who is traveling has just arrived at my house, but I have no food ready to give to him!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "7", "text": "Suppose that he answers you from inside the house, ‘Do not bother me! The door has been locked { We(exc) have locked the door} and all my family are in bed. So I cannot get up and give you(sg) anything!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "8", "text": "I will tell you that even if he does not want to get up and give you any food, to avoid being ashamed for not helping you because you are his friend (OR, if without being ashamed you continue asking him to do that), he certainly will get up and give you whatever you need."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "9", "text": "So I tell you this: Keep asking God for what you need. If you do that, he will give it to you(pl) . Confidently keep expecting God to give you the things that you need, and he will give them to you [MET]. It will be like looking for what you need and finding it. Keep on praying urgently to God. Then God will answer you. It will be like knocking on a door. And God will open the way for you to get what you pray for."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "10", "text": "Remember that God will give things to everyone who continues to ask him for them. He will give things to whoever confidently keeps asking. He will open the way for people to get the things that they keep urgently praying for."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "11", "text": "If one of you had a son who asked you(sg) for a fish to eat, ◄you(sg) certainly would not give him a poisonous snake instead!/would you give him a poisonous snake instead?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "12", "text": "If he asked you for an egg, ◄you(sg) certainly would not give him a scorpion!/would you give him a scorpion?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "13", "text": "Even though you people are evil, you know how to give good things to your children. So your Father in heaven will certainly give good things to those who ask him, including giving the Holy Spirit, who is the best gift.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "14", "text": "One day there was a man there who, because a demon controlled him[MTY], was unable to speak. After Jesus expelled the demon, the man began to talk. Most of the people there were amazed."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "15", "text": "But some of them said, “It is Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons, who enables this man to expel demons!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "16", "text": "Other people there asked him to perform a miracle to prove ◄he was the Messiah/that he had come from God► [MTY/EUP]. They wanted to trap him into not being able to perform a miracle or into doing something ridiculous."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "17", "text": "But he knew what they were thinking. So he said to them, “If the people in one nation fight against each other, their nation will be destroyed { they will destroy their nation}. If the people in[MTY] one house are divided, they will cease to remain as one family."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "18", "text": "Similarly, if Satan and his demons were fighting against each other, ◄his rule over them would certainly not last!/how would his rule over them last?► [RHQ] I say this because you are saying that I am expelling demons by the power of the ruler of his own demons"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "19", "text": "Furthermore, if it is true that Satan enables me to expel demons, is it also true that your disciples who expel demons do so by Satan's power [RHQ]? No, that is not true. So they will show that you are not thinking logically."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "20", "text": "But because it is by the power [MTY] of God that I expel demons, I am showing you that the power of God to [MET] rule people's lives has come to you.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "21", "text": "Then, to show that by expelling evil spirits he was making it clear that he was much more powerful than Satan, Jesus said[MET], “When a strong man who has many weapons guards his own house, no one can steal the things in his house."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "22", "text": "But when someone else who is stronger attacks that man and subdues him, he is able to take away the weapons in which the man trusted. Then he can take from that man's house anything he wants to."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "23", "text": "No one can be neutral. Those who do not help me are opposing me, and those who do not gather people to become my disciples are causing those people to go away from me.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "24", "text": "Then Jesus said this: “ Sometimes when an evil spirit leaves someone, it wanders around in desolate areas seeking someone in whom it can rest. If it does not find anyone, it says to itself, ‘I will return to the person in whom I used to live!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "25", "text": "So it goes back and finds that the Spirit of God is not in control of that person's life. The person's life is like a house that has been {that someone has} swept clean and everything put {put everything} in order, but a house that is empty."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "26", "text": "Then this evil spirit goes and gets seven other spirits that are even more evil than it is. They all enter that person and begin living there. So, although that person's condition was bad before, it became much worse.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "27", "text": "When Jesus said that, a woman who was listening called out to him, “ God is pleased with the woman who gave birth to you(sg) and let you nurse at her breasts!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "28", "text": "But he replied, “God is much more pleased with those who hear his message and obey it!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "29", "text": "When the group of people around Jesus got larger, he said, “ Many of you people who have been observing my ministry are evil. You want me to perform a miracle to prove that I have come from God, but the only miracle that I will perform for you is one like happened to Jonah."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "30", "text": "After Jonah was inside a huge fish for three days, God performed a miracle to bring Jonah back to life again. Jonah went and testified about that to the people in Nineveh city. God will perform a similar miracle for me, the one who came from heaven. When you people have seen that miracle, you will believe my message."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "31", "text": "The queen from Sheba, far south of Israel, who lived long ago, traveled a long distance to hear Solomon speak many wise things. But now I, a man who is much greater and wiser than Solomon, am here, but you have not listened to what I have told you. Therefore, at the time when God judges all people, the queen from Sheba will stand there, along with you people, and will condemn you."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "32", "text": "The people who lived in Nineveh city turned from their sinful ways when Jonah preached to them. But now I, who am greater than Jonah, have come and preached to you, but you have not turned from your sinful ways. Therefore, at the time when God judges all people, the people who lived in Nineveh will stand there with you and condemn you.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "33", "text": "Then, to show them that they did not need more miracles, but that they needed only to understand better what he had already told them, he said to them[MET], “People who light a lamp do not then hide it, or put it under a basket. Instead, they put it on a lampstand so that those who enter the house can see things from its light. Similarly, I have not concealed God's truth. I have revealed it to you."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "34", "text": "Your eyes [MET] are like a lamp for your body, because they enable you to see things. If your eyes are healthy, you are able to see everything well [MET]. Similarly, if you(sg) accept my teaching, you will be able to know all that God wants you to know. But if your eyes are bad, you are not able to see anything. It is like being in darkness [MET]. And similarly, if you(pl) do not accept what I teach, you will not be able to know all the things that God wants you to know."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "35", "text": "Therefore, you(pl) do not need to see more miracles. You need to think carefully about what I have already told you, so that the things that you have heard from others do not cause you to remain in spiritual darkness [MET]."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "36", "text": "If you live completely according to God's truth, you will be able to know everything that God wants you to know. It will be like being in a room with a lamp shining brightly, enabling you to see everything clearly.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "37", "text": "While Jesus finished saying those things, a Pharisee invited him to eat a meal with him. So Jesus went to his house and ate with him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "38", "text": "The Pharisee was surprised when he saw that Jesus did not follow the Pharisees' ritual by washing his hands before eating. The Pharisees washed their hands in a certain way to be cleansed from anything that might have contaminated them. They were afraid that God might reject them if they had touched something unacceptable to God."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "39", "text": "The Lord Jesus said to Him, “You Pharisees are concerned about things that are outside your bodies, not with what is in your◄ inner beings/hearts► [MET]. You wash the outside of cups and dishes before you eat because you think that doing that will make you acceptable to God, but within yourselves you are very greedy and wicked."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "40", "text": "You foolish people! God is concerned about things that are outside our bodies, but ◄he is certainly also concerned about our inner beings!/isn't he also concerned about our hearts?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "41", "text": "Give money to those who are poor. Give according to what you know within your ◄inner beings/hearts► that you should give. Then you will be surprised to realize that you will be acceptable to God without having to perform all those rituals about washing."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "42", "text": "But there will be terrible punishment for you Pharisees! You give to God a tenth of all you produce, even the various herbs that you grow, but you do not remember that you must act justly toward others and love God! It is good to give a tenth of your income to God, but you ought to do these other things also!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "43", "text": "There will be terrible punishment for you Pharisees, because you like to sit in the best seats in our worship places so that people will think highly of you, and you like people to greet you respectfully in the marketplaces."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "44", "text": "There will be terrible punishment for you, because you are like ground where there is no marker to indicate that there is a grave underneath. People walk there, but they cannot see what is rotten down below[MET]! Similarly, people who see you do not realize how polluted you are within yourselves.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "45", "text": "One of those who taught the Jewish laws replied, “Teacher, by saying this you(sg) are criticizing us also!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "46", "text": "Jesus said, “It will be terrible also for you who teach the Jewish laws! You require people to obey many rules that are difficult to obey[MET]. That is like making them carry heavy burdens on their backs. But you yourselves do not obey the laws that you require others to obey. (OR, you do not do anything to help others to obey the laws.)"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "47", "text": "There will be terrible punishment for you! You decorate the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors killed, but you do not live according to what the prophets taught."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "48", "text": "So you are declaring that you approve of what your ancestors did. They killed the prophets, and you are not honoring them! You just decorate their tombs!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "49", "text": "So God, who is very wise [PRS], said, ‘I will send prophets and apostles to you Jews. You will kill some of them and cause some of them to suffer greatly."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "50", "text": "As a result, I will consider that many of you people who have observed my Son's ministry will be guilty [MTY] of murder, as if you had killed all the prophets that other people have killed, from the time I created the world,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "51", "text": "starting from Adam's son Cain killing his brother Abel and continuing until they killed the prophet Zechariah in the holy place between the altar and the temple.’ Yes, what I am saying is true[MTY]. God will punish you people who have observed my ministry whom he considers to be guilty [MTY] for killing all those prophets!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "52", "text": "There will be terrible punishment for you men who teach the Jewish laws, because you have not let people know God's truth[MET]! It is as though you are taking away a key to a house. You are not going into the house yourselves, and you are not letting other people enter it, either.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "53", "text": "After Jesus finished saying those things, he left there. Then the men who taught the Jewish laws and the Pharisees began to act in a very hostile way toward him. They tried to make him say what he thought about many things."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 11, "verse": "54", "text": "They kept waiting for him to say something wrong for which they could accuse him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "1", "text": "While they were doing that, many thousands of people gathered around Jesus. There were so many that they were stepping on each other. Then he said to his disciples, “Beware of becoming hypocrites like the Pharisees. Their evil influence[MET] spreads to others like yeast spreads its influence in dough."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "2", "text": "People will not be able to continue concealing the things that they or other people try to conceal now. God will some day cause the things that are hidden now to be known { everyone to know the things that they hide now}."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "3", "text": "All the things that you say in the dark secretly, some day will be heard {people will hear them} in the daylight. The things you have whispered [SYN] among yourselves in your rooms will be proclaimed { people will proclaim them} publicly.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "4", "text": "“My friends, listen carefully Do not be afraid of people who are able to kill you, but after they kill you, there is nothing more that they can do to hurt you"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "5", "text": "But I will warn you about the one that you should truly be afraid of. You should be afraid of God, because he not only has the power to cause people to die, he has the power to throw them into hell afterward! Yes, he is truly the one that you should be afraid of!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "6", "text": "Think about the sparrows. They have so little value that you can [RHQ] buy five of them for only two small coins. But not one of them is ever forgotten by God {God never forgets one of them}!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "7", "text": "You are more valuable to God than many sparrows. So do not be afraid of what people can do to you God even knows how many hairs there are on each of your heads, so that if you(sg) lose one hair, he knows about it. So nothing bad can happen to you without his knowing it."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "8", "text": "I want to tell you also that if people, without being afraid, are willing to tell others that they are my disciples, I, the one who came from heaven, will acknowledge before God that they are my disciples. I will do that while God's angels listen."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "9", "text": "But if they are afraid to say in front of others that they are my disciples, I will say while God's angels listen, that they are not my disciples."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "10", "text": "I will tell you also that God is willing to forgive people who say bad things about me, the one who came from heaven, but he will not forgive anyone who says evil things about what the Holy Spirit does."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "11", "text": "So when people ask you in Jewish worship houses and in the presence of rulers and other authorities about your trusting in me, do not worry about how you will answer them when they accuse you. Do not worry about what you should say,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "12", "text": "because the Holy Spirit will tell you at that very time what you should say.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "13", "text": "Then one of the people in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my older brother to divide my father's property and give me the part that belongs to me!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "14", "text": "But Jesus replied to him, “Man, ◄no one appointed me in order that I would settle matters when people are disputing about property!/did anyone appoint me in order that I would settle matters when people are disputing about property?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "15", "text": "Then he said to the whole crowd, “Guard yourselves very carefully, in order that you do not desire other people's things in any way! No one can make his life secure by obtaining many possessions.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "16", "text": "Then he told them this illustration: “There was a certain rich man in whose fields abundant crops grew."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "17", "text": "So he said to himself, ‘I do not know what to do, because I do not have any place big enough to store all my crops!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "18", "text": "Then he said to himself, ‘ I know what I will do! I will tear down my grain bins and then build larger ones! Then I will store all my wheat and other goods in the big new bins."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "19", "text": "Then I will say to myself [SYN], “Now I have plenty of things stored up. They will last for many years. So now I will take life easy. I will eat and drink all that I want to and be happy for a long time!”’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "20", "text": "But God said to him, ‘You foolish man Tonight you will die! ◄Then all the goods you have saved up for yourself will belong to someone else, not to you!/Do you think that you will benefit from all that you have stored up for yourself?► [RHQ]’”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "21", "text": "Then Jesus ended this illustration by saying, “That is what will happen to those who store up goods just for themselves, but who do not value the things that God considers valuable.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "22", "text": "Then Jesus said to his disciples, “So I want to tell you this: Do not worry about things you need in order to live. Do not worry about whether you will have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "23", "text": "It is important to have sufficient food and clothing, but ◄the way you conduct your lives is more important./is not the way you conduct your lives more important?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "24", "text": "Think about the birds: They do not plant seeds, and they do not harvest crops. They do not have rooms or buildings in which to store crops. But God provides food for them. And you are certainly much more valuable than birds. So God will certainly provide what you need!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "25", "text": "◄There is not a one of you who can add a little bit to how long he lives by worrying about it!/Is there any of you who can add a little bit to how long he lives by worrying about it?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "26", "text": "That is a small thing to do. So since you cannot do that, ◄you certainly should not worry about other things that you need to have in order to live! /why do you worry about other things that you need to have in order to live?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "27", "text": "Think about the way that flowers grow in the fields. They do not work to earn money, and they do not make their own clothes. But I tell you that even though King Solomon, who lived long ago, wore very beautiful clothes, his clothes were not as beautiful as one of those flowers."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "28", "text": "God makes the flowers beautiful, but they grow in the fields for only a short time. Then they are cut at the same time that the other grass is cut, and thrown into an oven to be burned to make heat for baking bread. So they really are not worth very much. But you are very precious to God, and he will care for you much more than he cares for the grass by filling it with beautiful flowers. So he will certainly provide clothes for you, who live much longer than the grass. Why[RHQ] do you trust him so little?"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "29", "text": "Do not always be concerned about having enough to eat and drink, and do not be worrying about those things."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "30", "text": "The people who do not know God are always worried about such things. But your Father in heaven knows that you need those things, so you should not worry about them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "31", "text": "Instead, be concerned about letting God completely direct your life. Then he will also give you enough of the things you need."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "32", "text": "You who are my disciples are like a small flock of sheep, and I am like your shepherd. So you should not be afraid. Your Father in heaven wants to let you rule with him in heaven."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "33", "text": "So now sell the things that you own. Give the money that you get for those things to poor people. If you do that, it will be as though you are providing for yourselves purses that will not wear out, and God will give you a treasure in heaven that will always be safe. There, no thief can come near to steal it, and no termite can destroy it."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "34", "text": "Remember that the things that you think are the most valuable are the things that you will be constantly concerned about.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "35", "text": "“Be always ready for doing God's work[MET], like people who have put on their work clothes and are ready during the day, with their lamps burning all night."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "36", "text": "Be ready for me to return[MET], like servants who are waiting for their master to return after being at a wedding feast for several days. They are waiting to open the door for him and start working for him again as soon as he arrives and knocks at the door."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "37", "text": "If those servants are awake when he returns, he will be very pleased with them. I will tell you this: He will put on the kind of clothes that servants wear and tell them to sit down, and he will serve them a meal."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "38", "text": "Even if he comes between midnight and sunrise, if he finds that his servants are awake and ready for him, he will be very pleased with them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "39", "text": "But you must also remember this: If owners of a house knew what time the thief was coming, they would stay awake and would not allow the house to be broken into and their goods to be stolen{ the thief to break into the house and steal their goods}."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "40", "text": "Similarly, you must be ready for me to return, because I, the one who came from heaven, will come again at a time when you do not expect me to come.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "41", "text": "Peter said, “Lord, are you(sg) speaking this illustration only for us or for everyone else also?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "42", "text": "The Lord replied, “ I am saying it for you and for anyone else[MET, RHQ] who is like a faithful and wise manager in his master's house. His master appoints him to supervise affairs in his house and to give all the other servants their food at the proper time. Then he leaves on a long trip."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "43", "text": "If the servant is doing that work when his master returns, his master will be very pleased with him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "44", "text": "I tell you this: His master will appoint him to supervise all of his affairs permanently."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "45", "text": "But that servant might say to himself, ‘My master has been away for a long time, so he probably will not return soon and find out what I am doing.’ Then he might start to beat the other servants, both male and female ones. He might also start to eat a lot of food and get drunk."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "46", "text": "If he does that, and if his master returns on a day that he does not know about, at a time when the servant does not expect him, then his master will ◄cut him into two pieces/punish him severely► [HYP] and put him in the place where he puts all those who do not serve him faithfully."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "47", "text": "Every servant who knows what his master wants him to do but who does not get himself ready and does not do what his master desires will be beaten severely { The master will beat severely every servant who knows what his master wants him to do but who does not get himself ready and does not do what his master desires}."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "48", "text": "But every servant who did not know what his master wanted him to do, and who did things for which he deserved to be punished, will be beaten lightly { the master will beat lightly every servant who did not know what his master wanted him to do and did the things for which he deserved that his master would beat him}. God will treat his people similarly, because he expects a lot from those people whom he has allowed to understand a lot. People who entrust things to others' care expect those people to care for those things very well. Similarly, God expects a lot from those people whom he has allowed to understand a lot. Furthermore, he expects the most from people to whom he has given the most ability.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "49", "text": "“I came to earth to bring trials[MET], which will separate and purify you as fire purifies metal(OR, to cause judgment/divisions). I wish that the time when you will be purified {when God will purify you} (OR, when divisions will be caused {to cause divisions among people}) had already begun."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "50", "text": "I must soon suffer [IDM] greatly. I am distressed, and I will continue to be distressed until my suffering is finished."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "51", "text": "Do you think that as a result of my coming to earth people will live together peacefully? No! I must tell you, that is not what will happen! Instead, people will be divided."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "52", "text": "Because some people in one house will believe in me and some will not, they will be divided. Three people in one house who do not believe in me will oppose two who do believe, or two who do not believe in me will oppose three who do believe."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "53", "text": "A man will oppose his son, or a son will oppose his father. A woman will oppose her daughter, or a woman will oppose her mother. A woman will oppose her daughter-in-law, or a woman will oppose her mother-in-law.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "54", "text": "He also said to the crowds, “ In this country, when you see a dark cloud forming in the west, you immediately say ‘It is going to rain!’ and that is what happens."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "55", "text": "In this region, when the wind blows from the south, you say, ‘It is going to be a very hot day!’ and that is what happens."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "56", "text": "You hypocrites! By observing the clouds and the wind, you are able to discern what is happening regarding the weather. It is disgusting that you are not able to discern what God is doing at this present time [RHQ]!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "57", "text": "◄Each of you ought to determine now what is the right thing for you to do, while you still have time to do that!/Why cannot each of you determine what is the right thing for you to do now while you still have time to do that?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "58", "text": "If you do not do that, God will punish you[MET]. It will be like what happens when someone takes one of you to court, saying that you(sg) have done something very bad. You should try to settle things with him while you are still on the way to the court. If he forces you to go to the judge, the judge will decide that you are guilty and put you into the hands of the court officer. Then that officer will put you in prison."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 12, "verse": "59", "text": "I tell you that if you go to prison, you will never get out, because you will never be able to pay every bit of what the judge says you owe[MET]. Similarly, you ought to settle accounts with God before you die, too.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "1", "text": "Some people who were listening to Jesus at that time told him about some people from Galilee district who had gone to Jerusalem. Pilate, the Roman governor, had ordered soldiers to kill them [MTY] while they were offering sacrifices in the Temple there."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "2", "text": "Jesus replied to them, “Do you think that this happened to those people from Galilee because they were more sinful than all the other people from Galilee?"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "3", "text": "I assure you, that was not so! But instead of being concerned about them, you need to remember that God will similarly punish you eternally if you do not turn from your sinful behavior."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "4", "text": "Or, consider the eighteen people who died when the tower at Siloam outside Jerusalem fell on them. Do you think that this happened to them because they were more sinful than all the other people who lived in Jerusalem?"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "5", "text": "I assure you, that was not so! But instead, you need to realize that God will similarly punish you eternally if you do not turn from your sinful behavior!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "6", "text": "Then Jesus told them this illustration to show how God would treat the Jews, whom he continually blessed, but who did not do things that please him: “A man planted a fig tree on his farmland. ◄Each year/Many times► he came to it looking for figs, but there were no figs."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "7", "text": "Then he said to the gardener, ‘Look here I have been looking for fruit on this fig tree every year for the past three years, but there have been no figs. Cut it down! ◄It is just using up the nutrients in the soil for nothing!/Why should it continue using up the nutrients in the soil for nothing?► [RHQ]’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "8", "text": "But the man replied to the owner, ‘Sir, leave it here for another year. I will dig around it and put manure around it."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "9", "text": "If it bears fruit next year, we(inc) will allow it to keep growing. If it does not bear fruit next year, you(sg) can cut it down.’”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "10", "text": "One ◄Sabbath/Jewish day of rest►, Jesus was teaching people in one of the Jewish meeting places."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "11", "text": "There was a woman there whom an evil spirit [MTY] had crippled for eighteen years. She was always bent over; she could not stand up straight."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "12", "text": "When Jesus saw her, he called her over to him. He said to her, “Woman, I am freeing you(sg) from your illness!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "13", "text": "He put his hands on her. Immediately she stood up straight, and she praised God!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "14", "text": "But the man in charge ◄of the synagogue/of the meeting place► was angry because Jesus had healed her ◄on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day►. He considered that healing was doing work. So he said to the people, “There are six days each week in which our Jewish laws permit people to work. If you need healing, those are the days to come ◄ to the synagogue/to the meeting place► and be healed. Do not come on our Jewish day of rest!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "15", "text": "Then the Lord replied to him, “You(sg) and your fellow religious leaders are hypocrites! ◄On the Sabbath/On the our Jewish day of rest►, just like on every other day, ◄each of you unties his ox or donkey, and then leads it from the food trough to where it can drink water./does not each of you untie his ox or donkey, and then lead it from the food trough to where it can drink water?► [RHQ] That is work, too!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "16", "text": "This woman is more important than an animal; she is a Jew, descended from Abraham! But Satan has kept her[MET] crippled for eighteen years, as though he had tied her and not let her escape! So ◄it is certainly right that she be freed {that I free her}, even if this is a Sabbath day!/was it not right that she be freed {that I free her}, even if this is a Jewish rest day?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "17", "text": "After he said that, all the people there who opposed him were ashamed. But all the other people there were happy about all the wonderful things he was doing."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "18", "text": "Then he said, “◄I will tell you how the number of people who let God rule [MET] their lives will increase./Do you know how the number of people who let God rule [MET] their lives will increase?► [RHQ] I will tell you what I can compare it to."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "19", "text": "It is like a tiny mustard seed that a man planted in his field. It grew until it became big, like a tree. It was so big that birds built nests in its branches.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "20", "text": "Then he said, “I will tell [RHQ] you something else, to illustrate how the people who let God rule [MET] their lives can influence their society more and more."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "21", "text": "It is like a little bit of yeast that a woman mixed with about fifty pounds of flour. That small amount of yeast made the whole batch of dough swell up.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "22", "text": "Jesus continued traveling, along with the disciples, through various towns and villages on the way to Jerusalem. As they went, he was teaching the people."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "23", "text": "Someone asked him, “Lord, will there be only a few people who are saved {whom God saves}?” He replied to them, “ There will not be many, because the way to heaven[MET] is like a narrow door."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "24", "text": "Therefore, try hard to enter that narrow doorway, because I tell you that many people will try to enter heaven by some other way, but they will not be able to get in."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "25", "text": "God is like the owner of a house. Some day he will lock the door. Then some of you will begin to stand outside the door and knock. You will say, ‘Lord, open the door for us!’ But he will reply, ‘ No, I will not open it, because I do not know you, and I do not know where you are from!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "26", "text": "Then you will say, ‘◄ You must have forgotten that/Surely you know us, because► [RHQ] we(exc) ate meals with you(sg) , and you taught people in the streets of our towns! ’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "27", "text": "But he will say, ‘ I tell you again, I do not know you, and I do not know where you are from. You are wicked people! Get away from here!’”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "28", "text": "Then Jesus continued by saying, “ From where God will send you, you will see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the distance. All the prophets who lived long ago will also be there, in the kingdom where God is ruling. But you will be outside, crying and grinding your teeth because you will have severe pain!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "29", "text": "Furthermore, many non-Jewish people will be inside. There will be ones who have come from lands to the north, east, south, and west. They will be feasting in ◄that place where God is ruling/God's kingdom►."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "30", "text": "Think about this: Some people whom others do not consider important now, God will make them very important then, and some people whom others consider very important now, God will make to be not important then.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "31", "text": "At that very time, some Pharisees came and said to Jesus, “Leave this area, because the ruler Herod Antipas wants to kill you(sg) !”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "32", "text": "He replied to them, “Herod is [MET] as cruel as a fox, but also as insignificant as a fox. So I do not worry about him. But to show him that no one can harm me until it is the time and place God has determined, go tell him this message from me: ‘Listen! I am expelling demons and performing miracles today, and I will continue doing it for a short time. After that, I will finish my work."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "33", "text": "But I must continue my trip to Jerusalem during the coming days, because they killed many other prophets there, and since I am also a prophet, no other place is appropriate for people to kill me.’”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "34", "text": "Then Jesus said, “O people of[MTY] Jerusalem [APO]! You killed the prophets who lived long ago, and you killed others, whom God sent to you, by throwing stones at them. Many times I wanted to gather you together to protect you[SIM] like a hen gathers her young chicks under her wings. But you did not want me to do that."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 13, "verse": "35", "text": "So listen to this: Your city [MTY] (OR, your temple) is going to be abandoned (OR, God will no longer protect it). I will [MTY] also tell you this: I will enter your city only once more. After that, you will not see me until the time when I return and you say about me, ‘God is truly pleased with this man who comes with God's authority [MTY]!’”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "1", "text": "One ◄Jewish day of rest/Sabbath day►, Jesus went to eat [SYN] at the house of an important Pharisee. Some men who studied the Jewish laws and other Pharisees who were there were watching him carefully to see if he would do something for which they could accuse him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "2", "text": "Unexpectedly, there was a man in front of Jesus whose arms and legs were swollen."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "3", "text": "Jesus said to them, “Is it permitted in our(inc) Jewish laws to heal someone◄on our Jewish rest day/on the Sabbath►, or not?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "4", "text": "They knew that their laws permitted it, but they thought that healing was work, which they thought was wrong to do◄on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day► (OR, they knew that their laws permitted it, but they did not want to admit it). So they did not reply. Then Jesus put his hands on the man and healed him. Then he told him to go home."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "5", "text": "Then he said to the rest of them, “If you had a son or an ox that fell into a well on a ◄Sabbath/our day of rest►, would you immediately work to pull him out, or would you(sg) let him stay there until the next day?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "6", "text": "They knew that they would immediately work to pull him out, even on their day of rest, so they could not justly say that Jesus did wrong by healing the man on that day. So they said nothing to reply to Jesus."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "7", "text": "Jesus noticed that those people who had been {whom the Pharisee had} invited to the meal chose to sit in the places where important people usually sit. Then he gave this advice to them:"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "8", "text": "“When one of you(sg) is invited by someone {someone invites one of you(sg) } to a wedding feast, do not sit in a place where important people sit. Perhaps the man giving the feast has invited a man more important than you(sg) ."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "9", "text": "When that man comes, the man who invited both of you will come to you(sg) and say to you, ‘Let this man take your seat!’ Then you(sg) will have to take the most undesirable seat, and you will be ashamed."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "10", "text": "Instead, when you are invited { someone invites one of you} to a feast, go and sit in the most undesirable seat. Then when the man who invited everyone comes, he will say to you(sg) , ‘Friend, sit in a better seat!’ Then all the people who are eating with you(sg) will see that he is honoring you."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "11", "text": "Also, remember this: God will humble those who exalt themselves. And he will exalt those who humble themselves.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "12", "text": "Jesus also said to the Pharisee who had invited him to the meal, “When you(sg) invite people to a midday or evening meal, do not invite your friends or your family or your other relatives or your rich neighbors. They can later invite you(sg) for a meal. In that way they will repay you."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "13", "text": "Instead, when you(sg) give a feast, invite poor people, crippled people, lame people, or blind people."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "14", "text": "They will be unable to repay you. But God will bless you! He will repay you at the time when he causes righteous people to become alive again.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "15", "text": "One of those who were eating with him heard him say that. He said to Jesus, “God has truly blessed us Jews who will eat with the Messiah when he starts to rule!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "16", "text": "But to show that many Jews whom God had invited would not accept God's invitation[MET], Jesus replied to him, “One time a man decided to prepare a large feast. He invited many people to come."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "17", "text": "When it was the day for the feast, he sent his servant to tell those who had been {whom he had} invited, ‘Come now because everything is ready!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "18", "text": "But when the servant did that, all of the people whom he had invited began to say why they did not want to come. The first man the servant went to said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go there and see it. Please ask your master to forgive me for not coming!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "19", "text": "Another person said, ‘I have just bought five pair of oxen, and I must go to examine them. Please ask your master to forgive me for not coming!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "20", "text": "Another person said, ‘I have just been married. So I cannot come.’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "21", "text": "So the servant returned to his master and reported what everyone had said. The owner of the house was angry because the reasons they gave for not coming were ridiculous. He said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and alleys of the city and find poor and crippled and blind and lame people, and bring them here into my house!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "22", "text": "After the servant went and did that, he came back and said, ‘Sir, I have done what you(sg) told me to do, but there is still room for more people.’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "23", "text": "So his master said to him, ‘Then go outside the city. Search for people along the highways. Search also along the narrow roads with hedges beside them where homeless people may be staying. Strongly urge the people in those places to come to my house. I want it to be full of people!’”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "24", "text": "Then Jesus said, “I tell you(pl) this: Very few of you Jewish people will enjoy my feast, even though I invited you first to eat it with me when I become king.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "25", "text": "Large groups of people were traveling with Jesus. He turned and said to them,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "26", "text": "“If anyone comes to me who loves his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters more than[HYP] he loves me, he cannot be my disciple. He must even love me more than he loves his own life!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "27", "text": "People who are ready to execute a prisoner make him carry his cross [MET] to the place where others will nail him on it. Only those who are willing to allow others to hurt them and disgrace them like that because of being my disciples, and who are willing to obey what I teach, can be my disciples."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "28", "text": "I will illustrate[MET]. If one of you desired to build a ◄tower/big house►, ◄you would surely first sit down and determine how much it would cost!/would you not first sit down and determine how much it would cost?► [RHQ] Then you would determine whether you had enough money to complete it."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "29", "text": "If you did not do that, if you laid the foundation and were not able to finish the rest of the tower, everyone who saw it would make fun of you."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "30", "text": "They would say, ‘This man started to build a tower, but he was not able to finish it!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "31", "text": "Or, if a king decided to send his army to war against another king, ◄he would surely first sit down with those who advised him./would he not first sit down with those who advised him?► [RHQ] They would determine whether his army, which had only ten thousand soldiers, could defeat the other army, which had twenty thousand soldiers, and was about to attack his army."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "32", "text": "If he decided that his army could not defeat that army, he would send messengers to the other king while the other army was still far away. He would tell the messengers to say to that king, ‘What things must I do to have peace with your country?’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "33", "text": "So, similarly, if any one of you does not first decide that you(sg) are willing to give up all that you have, you cannot be my disciple.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "34", "text": "Jesus also said, “You are like[MET] salt, which is useful to put on food. But ◄salt certainly cannot be made { you certainly cannot make salt} to taste salty again if it stops tasting salty!/can salt be made {can you make salt} to taste salty again if it quits tasting salty?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 14, "verse": "35", "text": "If salt does not taste salty anymore, it is not good for the soil or even for the manure heap. People throw it away. The same thing will happen to you if you become useless to God. If you want to understand what I just said [IDM], you must consider carefully what you have heard!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "1", "text": "Many [HYP] tax collectors and others whom people considered to be habitual sinners kept coming to him to listen to him teach."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "2", "text": "The Pharisees and men who taught the Jewish laws who were there[SYN] began to grumble, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and he also defiles himself by eating with them!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "3", "text": "So Jesus told them this parable:"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "4", "text": "“Suppose that one of you had a hundred sheep. If one of them were lost, ◄you(sg) would certainly leave the ninety-nine sheep in the pastureland, and go and search for the one lost sheep until you found it./would you not leave the ninety-nine sheep in the pastureland, and go and search for the one lost sheep until you found it?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "5", "text": "When you(sg) found it, you would lay it on your shoulders and be happy."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "6", "text": "When you brought it home, you would call together your friends and neighbors and say to them, ‘Be happy with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "7", "text": "I tell you(pl) that similarly God will be very happy about each and every sinner who turns from doing evil. God does not need to be happy about ninety-nine people who think that they are [IRO] righteous and think that they do not need to turn from doing evil."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "8", "text": "Or, suppose that a woman has ten very valuable silver coins. If she loses one of them, ◄she will certainly light a lamp and sweep the floor and search carefully until she finds it!/will she not light a lamp and sweep the floor and search carefully until she finds it?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "9", "text": "When she finds it, she will call together her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Be happy with me, because I have found the coin that I lost!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "10", "text": "I tell you that similarly the angels will be happy about even just one sinner who turns from doing evil.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "11", "text": "Then he told them this parable to compare what the Pharisees and teachers of the Jewish law thought about those who turn from their sinful behavior with what God thinks about such people. He said, “A certain man had two sons."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "12", "text": "One day the younger son said to his father, ‘Father, I do not want to wait until you(sg) die. Give me now the share of your property that belongs to me!’ So the man divided his property between his two sons."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "13", "text": "A few days later, the younger son sold his share. He gathered his money and other things together and went to a country far away. There he spent all his money foolishly in reckless/wild living."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "14", "text": "After he had spent all his money, there was a great famine throughout that country. And soon he did not have enough food to eat."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "15", "text": "So he went to one of the landowners in that area and asked for work. The man sent him to work taking care of the pigs in his field."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "16", "text": "Because he was very hungry, he would have been glad to eat the bean pods that the pigs ate. But no one gave him anything."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "17", "text": "Finally he thought clearly about what he had done. He said to himself, ‘All of my father's hired servants have plenty of food! They have more [SYN] than they can eat, but here I am dying because I do not have anything to eat [HYP]!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "18", "text": "So I will leave here and go back to my father. I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against God [MTY, EUP] and against you(sg) ."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "19", "text": "I am no longer worthy to be called {of you calling me} your son. Just hire me to be like one of the other hired servants.”’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "20", "text": "So he left there and went back to his father's house. But while he was still some distance from the house, his father saw him. He pitied him. He ran to his son and embraced him and kissed him on the cheek."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "21", "text": "His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against God [MTY/EUP] and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called {of you calling me} your son.’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "22", "text": "But his father said to his servants, ‘Go quickly and bring to me the best robe in the house! Then put it on my son. Put a ring on his finger to show that I am honoring him again as my son! Put sandals on his feet to show that I do not consider him as a slave!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "23", "text": "Then bring the fat calf and kill it and cook it We(inc) must eat and celebrate,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "24", "text": "because this is my son! It is as though[MET] he was dead and is alive again! It is as though he was lost and now has been found!’ So they did that, and they all began to celebrate."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "25", "text": "While all that was happening, his older son was out working in the field. When he came near to the house, he heard people playing music and dancing."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "26", "text": "He called one of the servants and asked what was happening."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "27", "text": "The servant said to him, ‘Your younger brother has come home Your father has told us to kill the fat calf to celebrate because your brother has returned safe and healthy.’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "28", "text": "But the older brother was angry. He refused to enter the house. So his father came out and pleaded with him to come in."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "29", "text": "But he replied to his father, ‘Listen to me! For many years I have worked for you like a slave. I always obeyed everything you told me to do. But you never even gave me a young goat, so that I could kill it and cook it and celebrate with my friends."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "30", "text": "But this son of yours spent all the money he got from what you gave him. He spent it to pay for sleeping with prostitutes! Now he has returned home, but it is not fair that you have told your servants to kill the fat calf and cook it for him!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "31", "text": "But his father said to him, ‘My son, you have always been with me, and all my property that I did not give to your brother has been yours."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 15, "verse": "32", "text": "But it is as though[MET] your brother was dead and is alive again! It is as though he was lost and now he has been found! So it is appropriate for us to be happy and celebrate!’”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "1", "text": "Jesus also said to his disciples, “Once there was a rich man who had a household manager. One day he was told { someone told him} that the manager was managing the rich man's money badly."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "2", "text": "So he summoned the manager and said to him, ‘◄It is terrible what they are saying about you(sg) !/Is it true what they are saying about you(sg) [RHQ]?► Give me a written account of the funds you have been managing, because you can no longer be my household manager!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "3", "text": "Then the manager said to himself, ‘My master is going to dismiss me from my work, so ◄I do not know what to do./what shall I do [RHQ]?► I am not strong enough to work by digging ditches, and I am ashamed to beg for money.’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "4", "text": "Suddenly he had an idea. ‘I know what I will do, so that people will take me into their houses and provide for me after I am dismissed {after my master dismisses me} from my work!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "5", "text": "So one by one he summoned the people who owed his master money. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you(sg) owe my master?’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "6", "text": "The man replied, ‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill and sit down and quickly change it to 400 gallons! ’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "7", "text": "He said to another man, ‘How much do you owe?’ The man replied, ‘A thousand bushels of wheat.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill and change it to eight hundred bushels!’ He did similar things for the others who owed his master money."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "8", "text": "When his master heard what the manager had done, he admired the dishonest manager for the clever thing he had done. The truth is that the ungodly people in this world act more wisely toward other people than godly people [MET] act."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "9", "text": "So I tell you(pl) this: Use the money that you have here on earth to help others so that they will become your friends. Then when you die and you cannot take any money with you, God and his angels will welcome you into a home in heaven that will last forever."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "10", "text": "People who faithfully manage small matters will also faithfully manage important matters. People who are dishonest in the way they handle small matters will be dishonest in the way they handle important matters."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "11", "text": "So if you have not faithfully handled the money that God has given you here on earth, ◄he will certainly not allow you to possess the true spiritual riches in heaven! /would he allow you to possess the true spiritual riches in heaven?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "12", "text": "And if you have not faithfully managed things that belong to other people, ◄ God will certainly not allow you to receive treasures in heaven that would belong to you!/would God allow you to receive treasures in heaven that would belong to you?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "13", "text": "No servant is able to serve two different bosses at the same time. If he tried to do that, he would hate one of them and love the other one, or he would be loyal to one of them and despise the other one. Similarly, you cannot devote your life to worshipping God and worshipping money and material goods at the same time.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "14", "text": "There were some Pharisees there. They loved to acquire money. When they heard Jesus say that, they ridiculed him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "15", "text": "But he said to them, “You try to make other people think that you are righteous, but God knows your ◄inner beings/hearts►. So he will reject you. Keep in mind that many things that people think are important, God thinks are detestable."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "16", "text": "The laws that God gave Moses and what the prophets [MTY] wrote were ◄ in effect/what you needed to obey► until John the Baptizer came. Since then I have been preaching about how God wants to rule people's lives in a new way, and many people are accepting that message and very eagerly asking God to control their lives. But that does not mean that God has abolished the laws that he established previously."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "17", "text": "All of God's laws, even those that seem insignificant, are more permanent than heaven and earth."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "18", "text": "For example, because God considers that a marriage lasts until either the husband or the wife dies, he considers that any man who divorces his wife and marries another woman is committing adultery. He also considers that any man who marries a woman who has been divorced by her husband {whose husband has divorced her} is also committing adultery.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "19", "text": "Jesus also said[MET], “Once there was a rich man who wore expensive purple and linen garments. He ate luxuriously every day."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "20", "text": "And every day a poor man whose name was Lazarus was laid { some people also laid a poor man whose name was Lazarus} at the gate of the rich man's house. Lazarus' body was covered with sores."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "21", "text": "He was so hungry that he wanted to eat the scraps of food that fell from the table where the rich man ate. Furthermore, to make things worse, dogs came and licked his sores."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "22", "text": "Eventually the poor man died. Then he was taken by the angels {the angels took him} to start feasting next to his great ancestor Abraham. The rich man also died, and his body was buried { some people buried his body}."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "23", "text": "In the place where dead people wait for God to judge them, he was suffering great pain. He looked up and saw Abraham far away, and he saw Lazarus sitting close to Abraham."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "24", "text": "So he shouted, ‘Father Abraham, I am suffering very much in this fire! So please pity me, and send Lazarus here so that he can dip his finger in water and touch my tongue to cool it!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "25", "text": "But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that while you(sg) were alive on earth you enjoyed many good things. But Lazarus was miserable. Now it is fair that he is happy here, and you are suffering."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "26", "text": "Besides that, there is a huge ravine between you(sg) and us. So those who want to go from here to where you(sg) are, are not able to. Furthermore, no one can cross from there to where we(exc) are.’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "27", "text": "Then the rich man said, ‘If that is so, father Abraham, I ask you(sg) to send Lazarus to my father's house."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "28", "text": "I have five brothers who live there. Tell him to warn them to turn away from their sinful behavior so that they do not also come to this place, where we(exc) suffer great pain!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "29", "text": "But Abraham replied, ‘ No, I will not do that, because your brothers are able to go to the Jewish meeting places where the priests read what Moses and the prophets wrote. They should listen to what Moses and the prophets [MTY] wrote!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "30", "text": "But the rich man replied, ‘No, father Abraham, that will not be enough But if someone from those who have died goes back to them and warns them, they will turn from their sinful behavior.’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 16, "verse": "31", "text": "Abraham said to him, ‘No! If they do not listen to what[MTY] Moses and the prophets [MTY] wrote, even if someone would rise from among the dead and go and warn them, they would not be convinced {he could not convince them} that they should turn from their sinful behavior.’”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "1", "text": "One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Things that will tempt people to sin are certain to happen, but it will be terrible for anyone who causes them to happen!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "2", "text": "Suppose you caused one of these people who do not believe in me very strongly to sin. If a huge stone was fastened {someone fastened a huge stone} around your neck and you were thrown {and threw you} into the sea, you would consider that a severe punishment, but God will punish you even more severely if you cause someone to sin!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "3", "text": "Be careful how you act. If you know about a fellow believer who sins, you(sg) should rebuke him. If he says that he is sorry for having sinned and asks you to forgive him, forgive him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "4", "text": "Even if he sins against you(sg) seven times in one day, if he comes to you each time and says, ‘I am sorry for what I did’, you must continue forgiving him.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "5", "text": "One day the apostles said to the Lord, “Help us to trust in you(OR, in God) more strongly!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "6", "text": "The Lord replied, “Mustard seeds are very small, but in this area they grow and produce large[MET] plants. Similarly, if your faith grows until you truly believe that God will do what you ask him to, you will be able to do anything. You could even say to this mulberry tree, ‘Pull yourself out with your roots and plant yourself in the sea!’ and it would obey you!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "7", "text": "Jesus also said, “Suppose that one of you had a servant who was plowing your fields or taking care of your sheep. After he comes into the house from the field, you(sg) would not say [RHQ], ‘Sit down and eat immediately!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "8", "text": "Instead, you would say to him, ‘Put on your apron and prepare a meal for me! Then serve it to me so that I can eat and drink it! Afterwards you(sg) can eat and drink.’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "9", "text": "◄You will not thank your servant for doing the work that he had been told {you had told him} to do!/Would you thank your servant because he did the work that he had been told {you had told him} to do?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "10", "text": "Similarly, when you(pl) have done everything that God has told you to do, you should say, ‘We(inc) are not worthy of God thanking us{ being thanked}. We are only God's servants. We have only done the things that he told us to do.’”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "11", "text": "As Jesus and his disciples were walking along the road to Jerusalem, they were going through the region between Samaria and Galilee districts."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "12", "text": "As they entered one village, ten lepers came near the road. Because lepers were not permitted to come near other people, they stood at some distance"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "13", "text": "and called out, “Jesus, Master, pity us and heal us!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "14", "text": "When he saw them, he said to them, “Each of you should go and show yourself to a priest in Jerusalem so that he can see if you are healed.” As they were going there, they were healed."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "15", "text": "Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God loudly."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "16", "text": "He came to Jesus, prostrated himself at Jesus' feet, and thanked him. This man was a Samaritan, not a Jew."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "17", "text": "Then Jesus said, “ I healed ten lepers◄I am disappointed that the other nine did not come back!/Where are the other nine?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "18", "text": "I am disappointed [RHQ] that this non-Jewish man was the only one who returned to thank God; none of the others came back to me!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "19", "text": "Then he said to the man, “Get up and continue on your journey. God[PRS] has saved you and healed you(sg) because you trusted in me.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "20", "text": "One day Jesus was asked by some Pharisees [SYN] { some Pharisees [SYN] asked Jesus}, “When is God going to rule as king?” He replied, “God's ruling [MET] is not something people will be able to see with their eyes."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "21", "text": "And people will not be able to say, ‘Look! He is ruling here!’ Or ‘He is ruling there!’ because, contrary to what you think, God's ruling is within people's inner beings (OR, is already happening among you).”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "22", "text": "Jesus said to his disciples, “There will be a time when you will want to see me[MTY], the one who came from heaven, ruling powerfully. But you will not see that."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "23", "text": "Some people will say to you, ‘Look, the Messiah is over there!’ or they will say‘Look, he is here!’ When they say that, do not believe them. Do not follow them to go see the Messiah."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "24", "text": "Because when the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, everyone can see it. Similarly[SIM], at the time [MTY] when I, the one who came from heaven, come back again, everyone will see me."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "25", "text": "But before that happens, I must suffer in many ways (OR, very much). And I will be rejected by people {people will reject me}, even though they have observed me doing good for people."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "26", "text": "But when I, the one who came from heaven, come again, people will be doing things just like people were doing at the time when [MTY] Noah lived."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "27", "text": "At that time people ate and drank as usual, and they got married as usual, up until the day when Noah and his family entered the big boat. But then the flood came and destroyed all those who were not in the boat."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "28", "text": "Similarly, when Lot lived in Sodom city, people there ate and drank as usual. They bought things and they sold things. They planted crops and they built houses as usual."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "29", "text": "But on the day that Lot and his family left Sodom, fire and burning sulfur came down from the sky and destroyed all those who stayed in the city."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "30", "text": "Similarly, when I, the one who came from heaven, return to earth people will be unprepared(OR, enjoying normal life)"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "31", "text": "On that day, those who are outside their houses, with all the things that they own inside the houses, must not go inside to take them away, because there will not be enough time to do that. Similarly, those who are working in a field must not turn back to get anything; they must flee quickly."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "32", "text": "Remember Lot's wife! Because she turned back and wanted to get some of her things from Sodom, she died immediately and became a pillar of salt."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "33", "text": "Anyone who wants to hold onto his life and his possessions will not receive eternal life. But anyone who is willing to die for my sake will live eternally."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "34", "text": "I tell you this: On the night when I return, there will be two people sleeping in one bed. The one who believes in me will be taken { God will take the one who believes in me} to heaven, and the other one will be left behind and punished{and he will leave the other one behind and punish him}."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "35-36", "text": "Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left { God will take one and leave the other} behind.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 17, "verse": "37", "text": "His disciples said to him, “Lord, where will this happen?” He replied to them, “Wherever there is an animal carcass, the vultures will gather to eat it[MET]. Similarly, wherever there are people who are spiritually dead, God will punish them.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "1", "text": "Jesus told his disciples a parable to teach them that they always ought to pray confidently and not be discouraged if God does not immediately answer their prayers."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "2", "text": "He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not revere God, and did not care about people, either."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "3", "text": "There was a widow in that city who kept coming to him, saying, ‘Please decide what is just in the dispute between me and the man who is opposing me in court!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "4", "text": "For a long time the judge refused to help her. But later he said to himself, ‘I do not revere God and I do not care about people,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "5", "text": "but this widow keeps bothering me! So I will judge her case and show that she is right. If I do not do that, she will exhaust me by continually coming to me!’”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "6", "text": "Then the Lord Jesus said, “ Even though the judge was not a righteous man, think carefully about what he said!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "7", "text": "Similarly, ◄God will certainly show that what you have done has been right!/will God not show that what you have done has been right?► [RHQ] He will do this for you whom he has chosen. He will do this for you who pray earnestly to him night and day, asking him to help you. He may delay helping you."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "8", "text": "But I tell you, some day he will show that what you did was right, and he will do it quickly. But when I, the one who came from heaven, return to earth, ◄there may not be many people who will still be trusting that I will vindicate them(OR, who will still be trusting in me)./will there be many people who will still be trusting that I will vindicate them(OR, who will still be trusting in me)?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "9", "text": "Jesus also told a parable to warn people who mistakenly thought that they were doing things that made them acceptable to God. Besides, they also despised other people."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "10", "text": "He said this: “Two men went up to the Temple in Jerusalem to pray. One was a Pharisee. The other was a tax collector."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "11", "text": "The Pharisee stood and prayed silently, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men. Some extort money from others; some treat others unjustly; some commit adultery. I do not do such things. And I am certainly not like this tax collector who cheats people!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "12", "text": "Our law says that we(exc) should◄fast/abstain from food► once a week, but I do more than that. I fast twice a week! I give you ten percent of all that I earn!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "13", "text": "But the tax collector stood far from the other people in the Temple courtyard because he felt very unworthy. He would not even look up toward heaven. Instead, he beat on his chest to show that he was sorry for his sin. He said, ‘God, I am a sinner; be merciful to me and forgive me!’”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "14", "text": "Then Jesus said, “I tell you(pl) that as the tax collector went home, the record of his sins was erased { God erased the record of his sins}, not that of the Pharisee. Remember this: Those who exalt themselves will be humbled { God will humble all those who exalt themselves}, but those who humble themselves will be exalted { he will exalt those who humble themselves}.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "15", "text": "One day when many people were coming to Jesus, they were also bringing small children. They wanted him to put his hands on the children and bless them. When the disciples saw that, they rebuked those who were bringing them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "16", "text": "But Jesus called the children to come to him. He said, “Let the children come to me! Do not stop them! It is people who are humble and trusting like they are who can experience God ruling their lives."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "17", "text": "Note this: Those who do not trustingly allow God to direct their lives, as children do, will not enter the [MET] place where God rules.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "18", "text": "A Jewish leader asked Jesus, “Good teacher, what shall I do in order to have eternal life?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "19", "text": "Jesus said to him, “Only God is good! No one else is good! ◄So you(sg) should consider carefully what you are implying by calling me good!/ Do you realize that you are implying that I am God by calling me good?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "20", "text": "But to answer your question, you(sg) know the commandments that God gave Moses. He commanded such things as‘do not commit adultery, do not commit murder, do not steal, do not testify falsely about what you have seen or heard, honor your father and mother.’”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "21", "text": "The man said, “I have obeyed all those commandments ever since I was young. So◄ there must be something else I have not done./is that enough?►”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "22", "text": "When Jesus heard him say that, he replied to him, “There is one thing that you(sg) have not done yet. Sell all that you own. Then give the money to poor people. The result will be that you will have spiritual riches in heaven. Then come and be my disciple!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "23", "text": "The man went away sad when he heard that, because he was very rich and he did not want to give everything away."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "24", "text": "Jesus looked at him as the man left, and he said, “It is very difficult for those who are wealthy to decide to let God rule [MET] their lives."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "25", "text": "You would say that it is impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. It is almost as difficult [HYP] for rich people to decide to let God rule their lives.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "26", "text": "The Jews thought that God favored rich people, so they thought that if God did not save rich people he would not save others, either. So one of the disciples who heard him say that replied, “If that is so, it seems that no one will be saved { that God will not save anyone} [RHQ]!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "27", "text": "But he said, “It is impossible for people to save themselves. But God can save them, because God can do anything!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "28", "text": "Then Peter said, “ You know that we(exc) have left everything we had and have become your disciples [RHQ]. So what about us? (OR, So will God accept/save us? ”)"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "29", "text": "He said to them, “Keep this in mind: Those who have left their homes, their wives, their brothers, their parents, their children, or any other family members, to tell others about how God wants to rule [MET] people's lives,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "30", "text": "will receive in this life many times as much as they left. And in the future age they will ◄be living eternally with God/ have eternal life►.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "31", "text": "Jesus took the twelve disciples to a place by themselves and said to them, “Listen carefully! We(inc) are now going up to Jerusalem. While we are there, everything that has been written by the prophets {that the prophets have written} about me, the one who came from heaven, will be fulfilled {will occur}."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "32", "text": "I will be put { My enemies will put me} into the hands of non-Jews. The non-Jews will make fun of me and mistreat me and spit on me."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "33", "text": "They will whip me, and then they will kill me. But on the third day after that I will become alive again.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "34", "text": "But the disciples did not understand any of those things that he said. They were prevented { Something prevented them} from understanding the meaning of what he was telling them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "35", "text": "As Jesus and his disciples came near to Jericho city, a blind man was sitting beside the road. He was begging for money."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "36", "text": "When he heard the crowd of people passing by, he asked someone, “What is happening?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "37", "text": "They told him, “Jesus, the man from Nazareth town, is passing by.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "38", "text": "He shouted, “Jesus, you who are Messiah descended from King David, pity me!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "39", "text": "Those who were walking at the front of the crowd scolded him and told him to be quiet. But he shouted more loudly, “You who are the Messiah descended from King David, pity me!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "40", "text": "Jesus stopped and told people to bring the man to him. When the blind man came near, Jesus asked him,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "41", "text": "“What do you(sg) want me to do for you?” He replied, “Lord, enable me to see again!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "42", "text": "Jesus said to him, “ Then see! Because you have trusted [PRS] in me, I have healed you!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 18, "verse": "43", "text": "Immediately he was able to see. And he went with Jesus, praising God. And when all the people who were going with him saw it, they also praised God."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "1", "text": "They entered Jericho and were going through the city."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "2", "text": "There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector, who was rich."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "3", "text": "He tried to see Jesus, but he was very short and there was a big crowd of people near Jesus. So he was not able to see him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "4", "text": "So he ran further ahead along the road that Jesus was walking on. He climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see Jesus."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "5", "text": "When Jesus got there, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, because God wants me to go with you(sg) to your house and stay there tonight! ”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "6", "text": "So he came down quickly. He took Jesus to his house and welcomed him joyfully."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "7", "text": "The people who saw Jesus go there grumbled saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "8", "text": "Then Zacchaeus stood up while they were eating and said to the Lord Jesus, “Lord, I want you(sg) to know that I am going to give half of what I own to poor people. And as for the people whom I have cheated, I will pay them back four times the amount I have gotten from them by cheating.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "9", "text": "Jesus said to him, “Today God has forgiven [PRS] you and the other people in[MTY] this house, because you(sg) also have shown that you have trusted in God as your ancestor Abraham did."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "10", "text": "Remember this: I, the one who came from heaven, came to seek and save people like you(sg) who have gone astray from God, just like a shepherd who searches for his lost sheep.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "11", "text": "They were coming near to Jerusalem, and the people who were going with Jesus who heard him say these things thought that as soon as he got to Jerusalem he would become their king."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "12", "text": "So he told them this parable: “A prince prepared to go to a distant country in order that the Emperor would make him a king. He intended to return later."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "13", "text": "Before he left, he summoned ten of his servants. He gave each of them a coin worth three months' wages. He said to them, ‘Do business with these coins until I return!’ Then he left."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "14", "text": "But many of his fellow-citizens hated him. So they sent some messengers after him to tell the Emperor, ‘We(exc) do not want this man to be our king!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "15", "text": "But the Emperor made him king anyway. Later the new king returned. Then he commanded that the servants to whom he had given the coins should be summoned {that someone should summon the servants to whom he had given the coins}. He wanted to know how much they had gained by doing business with the coins."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "16", "text": "The first man came to him and said, ‘Sir, with your one coin I have earned ten more coins!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "17", "text": "He said to this man, ‘ You are a good servant! You have done very well! Because you have handled faithfully a small amount of money, I will give you authority to rule ten cities.’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "18", "text": "Then the second servant came and said, ‘Sir, with your one coin I have earned five more coins!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "19", "text": "He said to that servant similarly, ‘ Good! I will give you authority to rule five cities.’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "20", "text": "Then another servant came. He said, ‘Sir, here is your coin. I wrapped it in a napkin and put it away, so that nothing would happen to it."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "21", "text": "I did that because I was afraid of what you would do to me if the business failed. I know you are a man who does not do foolish things with your money. You even take from others money that does not really belong to you, like a farmer who harvests grain from another man's field where he did not even do the planting.’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "22", "text": "He said to that servant, ‘You wicked servant! I will condemn you by the very words [MTY] that you have just now spoken◄You know that I do not do foolish things with my money./Did you not know that I do not do foolish things with my money?► [RHQ] You said that I even take from others money that does not really belong to me, like a farmer who harvests grain from another man's field where he did not even do the planting."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "23", "text": "So ◄you should at least have given my money to money lenders!/why did you not at least give my money to bankers?► [RHQ] Then when I returned I could have collected that amount plus the interest it would have earned! ’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "24", "text": "Then the king said to those who were standing near, ‘Take the coin from him and give it to the servant who has ten coins!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "25", "text": "They protested, ‘But Sir, he already has ten coins!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "26", "text": "But the king said, ‘I tell you this: To the people who use well what they have received, more will be given { I will give more}. But from the people who do not use well what they have received, even what they already have will be taken away { I will take away even what they already have}."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "27", "text": "Now, as for those enemies of mine who did not want me to rule over them, bring them here and execute them while I am watching!’”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "28", "text": "After Jesus said those things, he continued on the road up to Jerusalem, going ahead of the disciples."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "29", "text": "When they got near Bethphage and Bethany villages, near the hill that is called {that they call} Olive Tree Hill,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "30", "text": "he said to two of his disciples, “Go to the village just ahead of you. As you two enter it, you will see a young animal that no one has ever ridden that has been {someone has} tied up. Untie it and bring it to me."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "31", "text": "If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say to him, ‘The Lord needs it.’”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "32", "text": "So the two disciples went to the village and found the animal, just like he had told them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "33", "text": "As they were untying it, its owners said to them, “Why are you two untying that young animal?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "34", "text": "They replied, “The Lord needs it.” So the owners said that they could take it."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "35", "text": "The two disciples brought the animal to Jesus. They threw their cloaks on the animal's back for him to sit on and helped Jesus get on it."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "36", "text": "Then as he rode along, others spread their cloaks on the road to honor him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "37", "text": "As they came near to Jerusalem, on the road that descends from Olive Tree Hill, the whole crowd of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God loudly for all the great miracles that they had seen Jesus do."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "38", "text": "They were saying things like, “May the Lord God bless our king who comes representing [MTY] him!” “May there be peace between God in heaven and us his people!” “May everyone praise God!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "39", "text": "Some of the Pharisees who were in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples for saying things like that! ”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "40", "text": "He replied, “I tell you this: If these people would be silent, the stones themselves would shout to praise me! ”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "41", "text": "When Jesus came near to Jerusalem and saw the city, he cried about its people."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "42", "text": "He said, “ My disciples know what they need to do to have peace with God; I wish that even today the rest of you people knew it. But now you are unable to know [MTY] it."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "43", "text": "I want you to know this: Soon your enemies will come and will set up a barricade around your city. They will surround the city and attack it on all sides."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "44", "text": "They will break through the walls and destroy everything. They will smash you and your people/children. When they finish destroying everything, there will not be one stone left on top of another. All this will happen because you did not recognize the time when God sent his Messiah to save you!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "45", "text": "Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the Temple courtyard. He saw in that place the people who were selling things,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "46", "text": "and he began to chase them out. He said to them, “It has been written { A prophet wrote} in the Scriptures that God said, ‘ I want my house to be a place where people pray’; but you bandits have made it a cave where you can hide!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "47", "text": "Each day during that week Jesus was teaching people in the Temple courtyard. The chief priests and the men who taught the Jewish laws and other Jewish leaders tried to find a way to kill him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 19, "verse": "48", "text": "But they did not find any way to do it, because all the people there listened eagerly to him and would have resisted them if they had tried to hurt him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "1", "text": "One day during that week Jesus was teaching the people in the Temple courtyard and telling them God's good message. As he was doing that, the chief priests, the men who taught the Jewish laws, and other Jewish elders came to him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "2", "text": "They said to him, “Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Who authorized you to do things like you did here yesterday?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "3", "text": "He replied, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "4", "text": "where did John the Baptizer get his authority to baptize those who came to him? Did he get it from God [MTY/EUP] or from people?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "5", "text": "They discussed this among themselves. They said, “ If we(inc) say, ‘ It was from God [MTY/EUP],’ he will say to us, ‘ Then◄you should have believed John's message!/why did you not believe what John preached?► [RHQ]’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "6", "text": "But if we say, ‘It was from people,’ the people here will kill us by throwing stones at us, because they all believe that John was a prophet from God.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "7", "text": "So they replied, “We(exc) do not know where John got his authority.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "8", "text": "Then Jesus said to them, “ Because you did not answer my question, I will not tell you who authorized me to do those things here yesterday.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "9", "text": "Then Jesus told the people this parable to illustrate what God would do to the Jews who rejected the former prophets and himself: “A certain man planted a vineyard. He rented the vineyard to some men to care for it and to give him some of the grapes in return. Then he went to another country and stayed there several years."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "10", "text": "When it was time to harvest the grapes, he sent a servant to the men who were taking care of the vineyard. He expected that they would give him some of the grapes that the vineyard had produced. But after the servant arrived, they beat him and they did not give him any grapes. They just sent him away."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "11", "text": "Later, the owner sent another servant. But they beat him and mistreated him also. They sent him away without giving him any grapes."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "12", "text": "Still later, the owner sent another servant. That one they wounded and threw him out of the vineyard."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "13", "text": "So the owner of the vineyard said to himself, ‘◄I do not know what to do!/What shall I do?► [RHQ]’ Then he had an idea. He said to himself, ‘I will send my son, whom I love very much. Perhaps they will respect him and give him my share of the grapes.’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "14", "text": "So he sent his son, but when the men who were caring for the vineyard saw him coming, they said to each other, ‘Here comes the man who will some day inherit the vineyard Let's kill him so that this vineyard will be ours!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "15", "text": "So they dragged him outside the vineyard and they killed him. So ◄I will tell you what the owner of the vineyard will do to them!/do you know what the owner of the vineyard will do to them?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "16", "text": "He will come and kill those men who were taking care of the vineyard. Then he will arrange for other people to take care of it.” When they heard that, they said, “ We would not do anything like those wicked men did!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "17", "text": "But Jesus looked directly at them and said, “You can say that, but think about the meaning of these words that are written {which a prophet wrote} [RHQ] in the Scriptures, The men who were building a house rejected a certain stone. But others put that same stone in its proper place, and it has become the most important stone in the building [MET]."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "18", "text": "That stone represents me, the Messiah, and those who reject me are like people who fall on this stone. Everyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces {This stone will break to pieces everyone who falls on it}, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "19", "text": "The chief priests and the men who taught the Jewish laws realized that he was accusing them when he told the parable about what those wicked men did. So they immediately tried to find a way to seize [MTY] him, but they did not seize him, because they were afraid of what the people there would do if they did that."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "20", "text": "So they watched him carefully. They also hired ◄spies/secret agents► who pretended to be sincere. But they really wanted to get him to say something for which they could accuse him. They wanted to be able to turn him over to the authority of the governor of the province. But they also knew that the Jews were disgusted with having to pay taxes to the government."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "21", "text": "So one of them asked him, “Teacher, we(exc) know that you(sg) speak and teach what is right. You tell the truth even if important people do not like it. You teach truthfully what God wants us to do."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "22", "text": "So tell us what you think about this matter: Is it right that we pay taxes to the Roman government [MTY], or not?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "23", "text": "But he knew that they were trying to trick him to get him into trouble, either with the Jews, who hated to pay those taxes, or with the Roman government. So he said to them,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "24", "text": "“Show me a Roman coin. Then tell me whose picture they have put on it. And tell me whose name is on it.” They showed him a coin and said, “It has the picture and name of Caesar, the head of the Roman government.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "25", "text": "He said to them, “In that case, give to the government [MTY] what they require, and give to God what he requires.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "26", "text": "While the people were there, the spies were unable to find fault with him for what he said. They were amazed at his answer. So they said nothing."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "27", "text": "Some Sadducees came to Jesus. They are a Jewish sect who do not believe that people will become alive again after they die."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "28", "text": "They wanted to ask Jesus a question in order to discredit the idea that dead people will live again. One of them said to him, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us Jews that if a man who has a wife but no children dies, his brother should marry the dead man's widow so that she can have a child by him. People will consider that the child is the descendant of the man who died, and in that way the dead man will have descendants."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "29", "text": "Well, there were seven boys in one family. The oldest one married a woman, but he and his wife did not bear any children. Later he died."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "30", "text": "The second brother followed this law and married the widow, but the same thing happened to him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "31", "text": "Then the third brother married her, but the same thing happened again. All seven brothers, one by one, married that woman, but they had no children, and one by one they died."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "32", "text": "Afterwards, the woman died, too."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "33", "text": "Therefore, if it is true that there will be a time when dead people will become alive again, whose wife do you think that woman will be then? ◄ Keep in mind that she was married to all seven brothers!/It will be impossible to decide because she was married to all seven brothers!► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "34", "text": "Jesus replied to them, “Men who live here in this world take wives, or are given wives by their parents{their parents choose wives for them}."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "35", "text": "But the men whom God considers worthy of being in heaven after they become alive again will not be married."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "36", "text": "You need to know also that they cannot die anymore, because they will be immortal[SIM] like angels. The fact that God has caused them to be alive again will show that they are God's children."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "37", "text": "But as to people becoming alive again after they die, Moses wrote something about that. In the place where he wrote about the burning bush, he mentions the Lord as being the God whom Abraham worships and the God whom Isaac worships and the God whom Jacob worships."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "38", "text": "It is not dead people who worship God. It is living people who worship him. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob died long before Moses lived, but God said that they were still worshipping him, so we(inc) know their spirits were still alive! All people whose spirits are alive again after they die continue to live to honor him!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "39", "text": "Some of the men who taught the Jewish laws replied, “Teacher, you(sg) have answered very well!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "40", "text": "After that, they no longer dared to ask him any more questions like that to try to trap him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "41", "text": "Later he said to them, “◄I will show you (OR, prove to you) that people are wrong who say that the Messiah is merely a descendant of King David!/Why do people say that the Messiah is merely a descendant of King David?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "42", "text": "Because David himself wrote in the book of Psalms about the Messiah, God said to my Lord, Sit here beside me on my right, where I will highly honor you(sg) [MTY]."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "43", "text": "Sit here while I completely defeat your enemies."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "44", "text": "King David calls the Messiah‘ my Lord’! So ◄ the Messiah cannot be just someone descended from King David!/how can the Messiah be just someone descended from King David?► [RHQ] What I just said proves that he is much greater than David, isn't that right? ”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "45", "text": "While all the other people were listening, Jesus said to his disciples,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "46", "text": "“Beware that you do not act like the men who teach our Jewish laws. They like to put on long robes and walk around to make people think that they are very important. They also like people to greet them respectfully in the marketplaces. They like to sit in the most important places in the Jewish meeting places. At dinner parties they like to sit in the seats where the most honored people sit."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 20, "verse": "47", "text": "They swindle [MET] the houses and property of widows. Then they pretend they are good, as they pray long prayers publicly. God will certainly punish them very severely.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "1", "text": "Jesus looked up from where he was sitting and saw rich people putting their gifts into the offering boxes in the Temple courtyard."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "2", "text": "He also saw a poor widow putting in two small copper coins."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "3-4", "text": "He said to his disciples, “The truth is that these rich people have a lot of money, but they gave only a small part of it. But this woman, who is very poor, has put in all the money that she had to pay for the things she needs! So God considers that[HYP] this poor widow has put more money into the box than all the others.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "5", "text": "Some of Jesus' disciples talked about the Temple. They commented about the beautiful stones used in building the Temple and the other decorations that people had given, decorations that were on the walls. But he said,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "6", "text": "“ I want to tell you something about these things that you are looking at. They will be destroyed{ Foreign invaders will destroy these buildings} completely. Every stone in these buildings will be thrown down {They will throw down every stone in these buildings}. Not one stone will be left {They will not leave one stone} on top of another.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "7", "text": "Later they asked him, “Teacher, when will that happen? What will happen to indicate that the things you(sg) just told us are about to happen?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "8", "text": "He said, “ All that I will say is, be sure that you are not deceived {that they do not deceive you} about these things Many people will come and say ◄that I sent them/that they have my authority► [MTY]. They will say, ‘I am the Messiah!’ They will also say‘It is now the time when God will begin to rule!’ Do not follow them to become their disciples"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "9", "text": "Also, whenever you hear about wars and riots, do not be terrified. Keep in mind that God has said that those things must happen. But when they happen, it will not mean that the world will end right away!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "10", "text": "Then he said to them, “ Groups in various countries will fight each other, and various governments will also fight against each other."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "11", "text": "There will be big earthquakes, and in various places there will be famines and plagues. People will see things that will terrify them. There will also be unusual things happening in the sky."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "12", "text": "But before all these things happen, some of you will be persecuted and arrested {people will persecute you and arrest you} [MTY]. Some of you will be put {They will put some of you} on trial in the places where you gather to worship, and you will be thrown into prison. You will be put on trial { They will put you on trial} in front of high government authorities because you are my [MTY] disciples."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "13", "text": "That will be a time for you to tell them about me."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "14", "text": "So determine within yourselves not to be thinking before that happens what you will say to defend yourselves,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "15", "text": "because I will make you wise [HEN] so that you will know what to say. As a result, none of your enemies will be able to oppose what you say or ◄refute you/show that you are wrong►."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "16", "text": "And there will also be other evil things that will happen: Even your parents and brothers and other relatives and friends who do not believe in me will ◄betray you/help your enemies to seize you►. They will kill some of you."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "17", "text": "In general, most people will [HYP] hate you because you believe in me [MTY]."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "18", "text": "But your souls will be absolutely safe [IDM]."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "19", "text": "By enduring all these things people will do to you, you will preserve your eternal life [SYN].”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "20", "text": "“But when you see that Jerusalem has been surrounded by the armies of your enemies, you will know that it is the time for this city to be completely destroyed { them to completely destroy this city}."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "21", "text": "At that time those of you who are in Judea district must flee to the higher hills. Those who are in this city must leave quickly. Those who are in the nearby countryside must not go back into the city to get any of their possessions before they flee."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "22", "text": "You must obey what I tell you because, in order that all the things that are written in the Scriptures will be fulfilled, God will very severely punish the people who stay in this city."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "23", "text": "I feel very sorry for women in this city who will be pregnant, and women who will be nursing their babies in those days, because it will be very difficult for them to run away! I feel sorry because the people in this land will suffer greatly [MTY] when God punishes them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "24", "text": "Many of them will be killed {Their enemies will kill many of them} with swords. Others will be captured and taken {They will capture others and take them} to [HYP] other countries. Non-Jewish people will trample over Jerusalem until the time that God has determined for them to rule the city is ended.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "25", "text": "“There will also be strange things that will happen to the sun, the moon, and the stars. In many nations on the earth, people will be very frightened, and they will be anxious when they hear the ocean roaring and see the huge waves."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "26", "text": "People will faint because they will be afraid as they wait for what will happen in the world. They will be afraid because the powerful objects in the sky will be shaken {shake}."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "27", "text": "Then they will see me, the one who came from heaven, coming in a cloud powerfully and very gloriously."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "28", "text": "So when these things that I have just now described begin to happen, stand up straight and be brave, because it will be close to the time when God will free you from all suffering.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "29", "text": "Then he told them this parable: “Think about the fig tree, and all the other trees."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "30", "text": "As soon as you see their leaves beginning to sprout, you know that summer is near."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "31", "text": "Similarly, when you see these things that I have just described happening, you will know that it is almost time for God to truly rule as king."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "32", "text": "Keep this in mind: All the things that I have just now described will happen before all the people who have observed the things that I have done have died."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "33", "text": "You can be certain that these things that I have told you about will happen. That they will happen is more certain than that the earth and sky will continue to exist.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "34", "text": "“But be on guard. Do not be getting drunk with carousing or let yourselves be distracted by worries concerning your lives [SYN] {or let worries concerning your lives [SYN] distract you}. If you do wrong things like these, you may be suddenly surprised by my return[MTY], like a trap suddenly catches an animal in it."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "35", "text": "You need to know that my return will surprise everyone all over the earth."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "36", "text": "So be ready at all times. Pray that you will be able to endure without being afraid of all these difficult things that will happen, so that you will then stand confidently before me, the one who came from heaven.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "37", "text": "Each day during that week Jesus taught the people in the Temple courtyard in Jerusalem. But at night he and his disciples left the city and stayed on Olive Tree Hill."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 21, "verse": "38", "text": "Early each morning many people came to the Temple courtyard to listen to him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "1", "text": "It was now almost time to celebrate the festival of Unleavened Bread, which began with the Passover feast."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "2", "text": "The chief priests and the men who taught the Jewish laws were seeking a way to kill Jesus. But they wanted to do it secretly, because they were afraid that if they did not do it secretly, the people might riot."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "3", "text": "Then even though Judas, who was called the man from Kerioth village, was one of the twelve disciples, Satan entered him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "4", "text": "He went and conferred with the chief priests and the officers of the Temple guards. He discussed with them how he could enable them to seize Jesus."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "5", "text": "They were pleased that he wanted to do that. They offered to give him money for doing it."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "6", "text": "So he agreed, and they gave him the money. Then he tried to find an opportunity to enable them to seize Jesus when there was no crowd around him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "7", "text": "Then the day during the first part of the week-long festival of Unleavened Bread came, the day when the lambs for the Passover celebration had to be killed."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "8", "text": "So Jesus said to Peter and John, “Go and prepare the meal for the Passover celebration.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "9", "text": "They replied to him, “Where do you(sg) want us to prepare it?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "10", "text": "He said to the two of them, “Listen carefully. When you two enter the city, a man who is carrying a large jar of water will meet you. Follow him. When he enters a house,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "11", "text": "tell the owner of the house, ‘ Our teacher says that we(exc) should ask you(sg) to please show us the room that he arranged with you where he can eat the Passover meal with us, his disciples [RHQ].’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "12", "text": "He will show you a large room that is on the upper floor of the house. It will be all set up for a meal. Prepare the meal for us there.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "13", "text": "So the two disciples went into the city. They found everything to be just like Jesus had told them. So they prepared the meal for the Passover celebration there."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "14", "text": "When it was time [MTY] to eat the meal, Jesus came and sat down with the twelve apostles."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "15", "text": "He said to them, “I have greatly desired to eat this Passover meal with you before I suffer and die."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "16", "text": "I want you to know that I will not eat the Passover meal again until all those whose lives God rules completely realize what it represents.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "17", "text": "Then he took a cup of wine and thanked God for it. Then he said, “Take this, and each of you drink some of it."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "18", "text": "I want you to know that from now on I will not drink wine until God makes me king.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "19", "text": "Then he took some bread and thanked God for it. He broke it into pieces and gave it to them to eat. He said, “This bread represents my body, which I am about to sacrifice for you. Keep on eating bread this way regularly to remember what I have done for you.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "20", "text": "Similarly, after they had eaten the meal, he took another cup of wine. He said, “ The wine in[MTY] this cup represents my blood, which will soon flow from my body when I die. With this blood I will sign the new agreement that God is making with you."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "21", "text": "But note that the one [SYN] who will enable my enemies to seize me is eating right here with me!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "22", "text": "It is certain that I, the one who came from heaven, will die, because that is what God has planned. But there will be terrible punishment for the man who will ◄betray me/enable my enemies to seize me►!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "23", "text": "Then they began to ask one another, “Which of us would do such a thing?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "24", "text": "The apostles began to argue among themselves, saying, “Which one of us will be the greatest when Jesus becomes king?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "25", "text": "So Jesus said to them, “The kings of the non-Jews enjoy showing that they are powerful. Yet they give themselves the title, ‘ones who help the people.’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "26", "text": "But you should not be like them! Instead, those who want God to consider them the greatest should act as though they were the youngest, since the youngest are expected to serve the older ones. Whoever is a leader should be one who serves the others."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "27", "text": "Keep in mind who is the most important one [RHQ]. It is certainly the one who just sits at the table, not [RHQ] those who serve the meal. But I, your leader, have been an example for you by serving you while I have been among you."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "28", "text": "You are the ones who have stayed with me during all my troubles."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "29", "text": "So now, just like my Father has appointed me to rule as a king, I am appointing you"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "30", "text": "so that you can sit and eat and rule[MET] with me when I become king. You will sit on thrones to judge the people of the twelve tribes of Israel.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "31", "text": "“Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has asked God to let him test you, and God has permitted him to do it. Satan wants to cause you to suffer distress(OR, distress you) so that you will not believe/trust in me anymore/longer. He wants to shake you, just like a man shakes wheat in a sieve[MET]."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "32", "text": "But I have prayed for you, Simon, that you will not completely stop believing in me. So when you(sg) restore your relationship with me, help your fellow apostles to trust in me more!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "33", "text": "Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you(sg) if they put you in prison, or even to die with you!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "34", "text": "Jesus replied, “Peter, I want you(sg) to know that this night, before the rooster crows, you will say three times that you do not know me!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "35", "text": "Then Jesus asked all of them, “After I sent you out to other villages, and you went without taking any money or a traveling bag or extra sandals, you did not lack anything, did you?” They replied, “ That's right, we(exc) did not lack anything.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "36", "text": "Then, to show them that now many people would oppose them, (OR, to show them that they needed to be prepared to protect themselves,) he said to them, “Now things will be different. So whoever among you has some money should take it with him. Likewise, he should take a carrying bag. Whoever does not have a sword should sell his coat and buy a sword."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "37", "text": "Because, I now tell you, something must happen to me to fulfill these words that a prophet wrote: ‘He was treated {They treated him} as though he were a criminal.’ Do not forget that everything that is {that they have} written about me in the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "38", "text": "The disciples said, “Lord, look! We(exc) have two swords!” Realizing that they did not understand the meaning of what he said, he replied to them, “That is enough talk about swords! ”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "39", "text": "As Jesus left the city, he went, as he usually did, to Olive Tree Hill. His disciples went with him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "40", "text": "When he came to the place where he often spent the night, he said to them, “Pray that God will help you whenever something tempts you.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "41", "text": "Then he went from them a distance of about thirty meters/yards. (OR, as far as someone can throw a stone.) He knelt and prayed,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "42", "text": "“ My Father, if you are willing to do it, permit that I do not have to undergo these terrible things that are about to happen to me[MTY]. But do not do what I want. Instead, do what you want.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "43", "text": "Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and caused him to become stronger."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "44", "text": "He was greatly distressed. So he prayed more earnestly. His sweat fell down on the ground as though it was large drops of blood."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "45", "text": "When he got up from praying, he returned to his disciples. He found that they were sleeping. They were exhausted because they were very sorrowful."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "46", "text": "He woke them and said to them, “◄I am disappointed that you are sleeping!/Why are you sleeping?► [RHQ] Get up! Pray that God will help you whenever you are tempted {when something like this tempts you}!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "47", "text": "While Jesus was still speaking, a crowd came to him. Judas, even though he was one of the twelve disciples, was leading them. He came close to Jesus and kissed him on the cheek to signal to those with him which one was Jesus."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "48", "text": "Jesus said to him, “Judas, ◄I am disappointed that it is by kissing me that you are enabling my enemies to seize me, the one who came from heaven!/is it by kissing me as though you loved me that you are enabling my enemies to seize me, the one who came from heaven?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "49", "text": "When the disciples who were around Jesus realized what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, shall we(exc) strike them with our swords?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "50", "text": "One of them drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest to kill him, but only cut off his right ear."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "51", "text": "But Jesus said, “Do not do any more of that!” He touched the servant's ear and healed him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "52-53", "text": "Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the Temple guards, and the Jewish elders who had come to seize him, “◄It is ridiculous that you have come here with swords and clubs to capture [MTY] me, as if I were a bandit!/Why have you come here with swords and clubs to capture [MTY] me, as if I were a bandit?► [RHQ] Day after day I was with you in the Temple courtyard, and you did not seize me! But this is the time [MTY] when God is allowing you to do what you want. It is also the time [MTY] when God is allowing Satan, who rules[MTY] in the darkness, to do what he wants.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "54", "text": "They seized Jesus and led him away. They brought him to the high priest's house. Peter followed them at a distance."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "55", "text": "They kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together. Peter sat among them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "56", "text": "As the light from the fire shone on his face, a female servant saw him and looked intently at him. She said, “This man was also with the man whom they have arrested!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "57", "text": "But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "58", "text": "A little later someone else saw Peter and said, “You(sg) also are one of those who were with the man they arrested!” But Peter said, “Man, I am not one of them!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "59", "text": "About an hour later someone else said emphatically about Peter, “ The way that this man speaks shows that he is from Galilee district. Certainly this man was also with the man whom they arrested, who is from Galilee!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "60", "text": "But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you(sg) are talking about!” Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "61", "text": "The Lord Jesus turned around and looked right at Peter. Then Peter remembered what the Lord had said to him, “This night, before the rooster crows, you(sg) will deny three times that you know me.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "62", "text": "And he went out of the courtyard and cried very sorrowfully."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "63", "text": "The men who were guarding Jesus made fun of him and beat him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "64", "text": "They put a blindfold on him and beat him again. Then they said to him, “ Because you(sg) say[IRO] that you are a prophet, prove it by telling us who it was that struck you!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "65", "text": "They said many other evil things about him, insulting him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "66", "text": "At dawn the next morning, many of the Jewish leaders gathered together. The group included the chief priests and the men who taught the Jewish laws. They took Jesus to the Jewish Council. There they said to him,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "67", "text": "“If you(sg) are the Messiah, tell us!” But he replied, “If I tell you that, you will not believe me."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "68", "text": "If I ask you what you think about the Messiah, you will not answer me."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "69", "text": "But some day you will see me, the one who came from heaven, sitting next to almighty God and ruling [MTY]!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "70", "text": "Then they all said, “If that is so, are you(sg) saying that you are ◄the Son of God/the Man who is also God►?” He said to them, “ Yes, it is just like you say [MTY].”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 22, "verse": "71", "text": "Then they said to each other, “◄We(inc) certainly do not need any more people to testify against him!/Why should we ask for any more people to testify against him?► [RHQ]” We ourselves have heard him say [MTY] that he is equal with God!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "1", "text": "Then the whole group got up and took him to Pilate, the Roman governor."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "2", "text": "They began to accuse him, saying, “We(exc) have determined that this fellow has caused political trouble in our country. He has been telling people that they should not pay taxes to the Roman government [MTY]. Also, he says that he is the Messiah, a king!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "3", "text": "Pilate asked him, “Do you(sg) claim that you are the King of the Jews?” He replied, “ It is as you have just now said.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "4", "text": "Pilate said to the chief priests and the rest of the crowd, “I do not conclude that this man is guilty of any crime.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "5", "text": "But they kept insisting, saying, “He is inciting the people to riot! He has been teaching his ideas throughout all of Judea district. He started doing it in Galilee district and now he is doing it here!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "6", "text": "When Pilate heard that, he asked, “Is this man from Galilee district?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "7", "text": "When they told him that Jesus was from Galilee, which was the district that Herod Antipas ruled, he told them to take Jesus to Herod Antipas, because Herod was in Jerusalem at that time."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "8", "text": "So they did. When Herod saw Jesus, he was very happy. He had heard about Jesus, and he had been hoping for a long time that he could see Jesus perform a miracle."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "9", "text": "So he asked Jesus many questions, but Jesus did not reply to any of them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "10", "text": "The chief priests and men who taught the Jewish laws stood near him, accusing him very strongly."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "11", "text": "Then Herod and his soldiers ◄made fun of/ridiculed► Jesus. They put gorgeous clothes on him to mock him as being a king. Then Herod sent him back to Pilate."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "12", "text": "Until that time Herod and Pilate had been very hostile to each other, but that very day they became friends."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "13", "text": "Pilate then gathered together the chief priests and other Jewish leaders and the crowd that was still there."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "14", "text": "He said to them, “You brought this man to me, saying that he had caused trouble among the people. But I want you to know that after having examined him while you were listening, I do not conclude that he is guilty of any of the things that you are accusing him about."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "15", "text": "Obviously Herod did not conclude that either, because he sent him back to me without punishing him. So it is clear that this man has not done anything for which we(inc) should kill him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "16-17", "text": "So I will have my soldiers whip him and then release him.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "18", "text": "But the whole crowd shouted, “Execute this man! Release Barrabas for us(exc) !”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "19", "text": "Barrabas was a man who had tried to persuade people in the city to rebel against the Roman government. While doing that, he had murdered someone. So he had been put {they had put him} in prison, where he was waiting for them to execute him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "20", "text": "Because Pilate wanted to release Jesus, he tried to persuade the crowd again."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "21", "text": "But they kept shouting, “ Command your soldiers to kill him by nailing him to a cross!/Have him crucified!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "22", "text": "He spoke to them a third time and asked them, “Why? What crime has he committed? I have concluded that he has done nothing for which he deserves to die. So I will have my soldiers whip him and then release him.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "23", "text": "But they kept insisting. They shouted loudly that Jesus should be nailed {that Pilate should have his soldiers nail Jesus} to a cross. Finally, because they continued to shout [PRS] so loudly,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "24", "text": "Pilate decided to do what they requested."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "25", "text": "The man who had been {whom they had} put in prison because he had rebelled against the government and who had murdered someone, he released! That was the man whom the crowd had asked him to release. He put Jesus into the hands of the soldiers, to do what the crowd wanted."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "26", "text": "As the soldiers were taking Jesus away, they seized a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene city in Africa. He was returning to Jerusalem from out in the countryside. They took from Jesus the cross that he had been carrying. Then they put it on Simon's shoulders, and told him to carry it behind Jesus."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "27", "text": "A large crowd followed Jesus. The crowd included many women who were beating their breasts to show how sad they were, and wailing for him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "28", "text": "But Jesus turned to them and said, “You women of Jerusalem, do not cry for me! Instead, cry because of what is going to happen to yourselves and your children!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "29", "text": "I want you to know that there will soon be a time when people will say, ‘Women [SYN] who have never borne children or nursed babies are fortunate!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "30", "text": "Then, in order that they will not have to suffer greatly when their enemies destroy this city, people who are left in the city will say to the mountains, ‘Fall down on us!’ And people will say to the hills, ‘Cover us!’"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "31", "text": "I am innocent[MET]. I am like a living tree that people do not try to burn. But the people of Jerusalem deserve that their enemies punish them. They are like dry wood that is ready to burn. So if they nail me to the cross, ◄ their enemies will certainly do much worse things to them!/what worse things will God do to them?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "32", "text": "Two other men who were criminals were also being led away { The soldiers also led away two other men who were criminals}. They were going to be executed { The soldiers were going to execute them} with Jesus."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "33", "text": "When they came to the place which is called ❛The Skull❜, they nailed Jesus to a cross after removing his clothes. They did the same thing to the two criminals. They put one at the right side of Jesus and one at his left side."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "34", "text": "Jesus said, “ My Father, forgive them, because they do not realize whom they are doing this to.” Then the soldiers divided his clothing by gambling with something like dice, to decide which piece of clothing each one would get."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "35", "text": "Many people stood nearby, watching. And the Jewish leaders ◄made fun of/ridiculed► Jesus, saying, “He said[IRO] that he saved other people! If he is the Messiah, the one God has chosen, he should save himself!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "36", "text": "The soldiers also ridiculed him because he claimed to be a king. They came up to him and offered him some sour wine."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "37", "text": "They said to him, “If you(sg) are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "38", "text": "They also fastened on the cross above his head a sign that stated why they were nailing him to the cross. But all it said was, ❛This is the King of the Jews❜."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "39", "text": "One of the criminals who was hanging on a cross began to insult him, saying, “You(sg) said that you are the Messiah, so you must be powerful! So save yourself, and save us, too!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "40", "text": "But the other criminal rebuked him, saying, “◄You(sg) should be afraid of God punishing you!/Are you not afraid of God punishing you?► [RHQ] They are punishing him and us similarly."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "41", "text": "They have justly decided that we(inc) two must die. They are punishing us as we deserve for the evil things that we did. But this man has done nothing wrong!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "42", "text": "Then he said, “Jesus, please remember me and take care of me when you become king!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "43", "text": "Jesus replied, “I want you(sg) to know that today you(sg) will be with me in the place where everyone is happy!” (OR, that today you will be with me in Paradise!)"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "44", "text": "Then it was about noontime. It became dark over the whole land, and it stayed dark until three o'clock in the afternoon."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "45", "text": "There was no light from the sun. Then the thick curtain that closed off the most holy place in the Temple split into two pieces. That signified that ordinary people could now go into the presence of God."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "46", "text": "As that happened, Jesus shouted loudly, “Father, I put my spirit into your care [MTY]!” When he said that, he stopped breathing [EUP] and died."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "47", "text": "When the officer who supervised the soldiers who were executing Jesus saw what happened, he praised God for the way Jesus died, saying, “ I am sure that this man had done nothing wrong!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "48", "text": "When the crowd of people who had gathered to see those events saw what happened, they returned to their homes, beating their breasts to show that they were sorrowful."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "49", "text": "All of Jesus' friends, including the women who had come with him from Galilee district, stood at a distance and saw all that happened."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "50", "text": "There was a man named Joseph who came there. He was from the town of Arimathea in Judea. He was a good and a righteous man, and he was a member of the Jewish Council."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "51", "text": "But he had not agreed with the other Council members when they decided to kill Jesus and when they planned how to do it. He was waiting expectantly for the time when God would send his king to begin to rule."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "52", "text": "He went to Pilate and asked Pilate to permit him to take Jesus' body and bury it. After Pilate allowed him to do that,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "53", "text": "he and some others took Jesus' body down from the cross. They wrapped it in a linen cloth. Then they put his body in a tomb that he had hired others to dig out of a rock cliff. No one had ever put a body in it before."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "54", "text": "They had to do it quickly because that was Friday, the day when people prepared things for the Jewish day of rest. ◄The Sabbath/The day of rest► was about to start at sunset, so they had to finish burying his body before sunset."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "55", "text": "The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee district followed Joseph and the men who were with him. They saw the tomb, and they saw how the men laid Jesus' body inside it, and saw the men roll a huge stone across the entrance."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 23, "verse": "56", "text": "Then the women returned to the houses where they were staying. The following evening they prepared spices and ointments to put on Jesus' body, but ◄on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day► they rested, according to what Moses had commanded."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "1", "text": "Before dawn on Sunday those women went to the tomb. They took with them the spices that they had prepared to put on Jesus' body."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "2", "text": "They discovered that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance to the tomb."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "3", "text": "They went in the tomb, but the body of the Lord Jesus was not there!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "4", "text": "They did not know what to think about that. Then suddenly two men stood by them wearing bright shining clothes!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "5", "text": "The women were frightened. As they prostrated themselves on the ground, the two men said to them, “◄You should not be seeking someone who is alive in a place where they bury dead people!/Why are you seeking in a place where they bury dead people someone who is alive?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "6", "text": "He is not here; he has ◄become alive again/risen from the dead►! Remember that while he was still with you in Galilee district he said to you,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "7", "text": "‘ Even though I am the one who came from heaven, someone will enable sinful men to seize [MTY] me. They will kill me by nailing me to a cross. But on the third day after that, I will become alive again.’”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "8", "text": "The women remembered that he had said that."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "9", "text": "So they left the tomb and went to the eleven apostles and his other disciples and told them those things."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "10", "text": "The ones who kept telling those things to the apostles were Mary from Magdala village, Joanna, Mary who was the mother of James, and the other women who were with them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "11", "text": "But they thought that what the women said was nonsense. They did not believe what the women said."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "12", "text": "But Peter got up and ran to the tomb anyway. He stooped down and looked inside. He saw the linen cloths in which Jesus' body had been wrapped. The cloths were by themselves (OR, He did not see anything else). So, wondering what had happened, he went to where he was staying."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "13", "text": "That same day two of Jesus' disciples were walking to a village named Emmaus. It was about ◄seven miles/eleven kilometers► from Jerusalem."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "14", "text": "They were talking with each other about all the things that had happened to Jesus."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "15", "text": "While they were talking and discussing those things, Jesus himself approached them and started walking with them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "16", "text": "But they were prevented { something prevented them} from recognizing [MTY] him."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "17", "text": "Jesus said to them, “What have you two been talking about while you were walking?” They stopped, and their faces looked very sad."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "18", "text": "One of them, whose name was Cleopas, said, “◄You(sg) must be the only person who is visiting Jerusalem for the Passover festival who does not know the events that have happened there in recent days!/Are you the only person who is visiting Jerusalem for the Passover festival who does not know the events that have happened there in recent days?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "19", "text": "He said to them, “What events?” They replied, “ The things that happened to Jesus, the man from Nazareth, who was a prophet. Many people saw him perform great miracles, and God enabled him to teach wonderful messages!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "20", "text": "But our chief priests and leaders handed him over to the Roman authorities. The authorities sentenced him to die, and they killed him by nailing him to a cross."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "21", "text": "We(exc) were hoping that he was the one who would free us Israelites from our enemies But this does not seem possible now, because three days have already passed since that happened."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "22", "text": "On the other hand, some women from our group amazed us. Early this morning they went to the tomb,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "23", "text": "but Jesus' body was not there! They came back and said that they had seen some angels in a vision. The angels said that he was alive!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "24", "text": "Then some of those who were with us went to the tomb. They saw that things were exactly as the women had reported. But they did not see Jesus.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "25", "text": "He said to them, “ You two foolish men You are so slow to believe all that the prophets have written about the Messiah!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "26", "text": "◄ You should certainly have known that it was necessary that the Messiah should suffer all those things and die, and then enter his glorious home in heaven!/Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer all those things and die, and then enter his glorious home in heaven?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "27", "text": "Then he explained to them all the things that the prophets had written in the Scriptures about himself. He started with what Moses [MTY] wrote and then explained to them what all the other prophets wrote."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "28", "text": "They came near to the village to which the two men were going. He indicated that he would go further,"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "29", "text": "but they urged him to not do that. They said, “Stay with us tonight, because it is late in the afternoon and it will soon be dark.” So he went in the house to stay with them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "30", "text": "When they sat down to eat, he took some bread and asked God to bless it. He broke it and gave some pieces to them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "31", "text": "And then God enabled them to recognize [MTY] him. But immediately he disappeared!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "32", "text": "They said to each other, “ While we were walking along the road and he talked with us and enabled us(inc) to understand the Scriptures, we became so excited that it was as though[MET] a fire was burning within us [RHQ]! We should not stay here; we should go tell others what happened! ”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "33", "text": "So they left immediately and returned to Jerusalem. There they found the eleven apostles and others who had gathered together with them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "34", "text": "They told those two men, “It is true that the Lord has become alive again, and he has appeared to Simon/Peter!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "35", "text": "Then those two men told the others what had happened as they were walking along the road. They also told them how they both recognized him as he broke some bread for them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "36", "text": "As they were saying that, Jesus himself suddenly appeared among them. He said to them, “ May God give you inner peace!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "37", "text": "They were startled and afraid, because they thought that they were seeing a ghost!"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "38", "text": "He said to them, “◄You should not be alarmed!/Why are you alarmed?► [RHQ] And ◄you should not be doubting that I am alive/Jesus!/why are you doubting that I am alive/Jesus?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "39", "text": "Look at the wounds in my hands and my feet! You can touch me and see my body. Then you can see that it is really I myself. You can tell that I am really alive because ghosts do not have bodies, as you see that I have!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "40", "text": "After he said that, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his feet."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "41", "text": "They were joyful and amazed, but they still did not believe that he was really alive(OR, that he was the one that they were seeing). So he said to them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "42", "text": "So they gave him a piece of broiled fish."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "43", "text": "While they were watching, he took it and ate it."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "44", "text": "Then he said to them, “ I will repeat what I told you while I was still with you: Everything that was written about me by Moses and the other prophets [MTY] and in the Psalms must be fulfilled!”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "45", "text": "Then he enabled them to understand the things that had been written about him in the Scriptures."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "46", "text": "He said to them, “This is what they wrote: That the Messiah would suffer and die, but on the third day after that he would become alive again."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "47", "text": "They also wrote that the message must be preached { that his followers must preach the message} everywhere that people must turn from their sinful ways for God to forgive their sins. They wrote that his followers should preach that message, claiming his authority [MTY]. They wrote that they should start preaching it in Jerusalem and then go and preach it to all ethnic groups."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "48", "text": "You apostles must tell people that you know that those things that happened to me are true."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "49", "text": "And I want you to know that I will send the Holy Spirit[MTY] to you, as my Father promised that he would do. But you must stay in this city until God fills you with the power of his Spirit.”"}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "50", "text": "Then Jesus led them outside the city until they came near Bethany village. There he lifted up his hands and blessed them."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "51", "text": "As he was doing that, he left them and went up to heaven."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "52", "text": "They worshipped him. And then they returned to Jerusalem very joyfully."}
{"book": "LUK", "chapter": 24, "verse": "53", "text": "Each day [SYN] they went into the Temple courtyard, and spent a lot of time praising God."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "1", "text": "The one who expresses [MET] ◄ God's character/what God is like► has always existed ◄from the beginning [MTY] of everything/before everything began►. He has always existed with God, and he has God's nature."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "2", "text": "He always existed with God before he began [MTY] to create anything."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "3", "text": "He is the one by whom God caused everything to exist. He is the one who created absolutely everything [LIT]."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "4", "text": "He is the one who caused everything to live. He, who caused us people to live, revealed to us the truth about God as a light [MET] reveals what is in the darkness."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "5", "text": "People do not want him to reveal that what they do is evil[MET], just like darkness is evil. But just like darkness cannot put out light [MET], evil people have never prevented the one who was like a light from revealing God's truth(OR, evil people have never understood the one who was like a light.)"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "6", "text": "A man whose name was John was sent by God {God sent a man whose name was John}."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "7", "text": "He came to tell people about the one who was like[MET] a light. He came to show that everything that the one who was like a light[MET] said was true, in order that he could enable all people to believe in the one who was like a light."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "8", "text": "John himself was not the one who was like a light [MET]. Instead, he came to tell others about that one who was like a light."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "9", "text": "While John was doing that, the one who was truly like a light was about to show himself to the world. He was the one who enables all people to know about God, as a light [MET] enables people to know what is in the darkness."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "10", "text": "Although the one who was like a light was here on the earth, and although he was the one whom God caused to create everything, most people [MTY, HYP] did not realize who he was. (OR, although he was the one whom God caused to create everything, most people did not accept him.)"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "11", "text": "Although he came to the land that belonged to him because he created it, most of his own people, the Jews, rejected him (OR, did not accept him)."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "12", "text": "But those of us who welcomed him, God authorized that we would have a relationship with him [MET] like children have a relationship with their father. We were people who believed that what he said about himself [MTY] was true."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "13", "text": "We became like God's children, not because our ancestors belonged to God, or because of someone's sexual desires, nor because some man desired to have children like himself. Instead, we were caused by God {God caused us} to become like his children."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "14", "text": "The one who expresses [MET] ◄ God's character/what God is like► became a human being, and he lived among us for a while. As a result, we saw how wonderful he is. He came from God his father, and there was no other person as wonderful as he. He was wonderful because he always acted ◄kindly toward us/in ways we did not deserve►, and he always spoke truthfully to us about God."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "15", "text": "One day when John was telling people about him, he saw Jesus. Then he shouted to them, “I told you previously that someone will come later who is more important than I am, since he existed long before me. This is the man I was talking about!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "16", "text": "We have all benefited very much from what he has done. Again and again, he has acted in kind way toward us in ways we did not deserve."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "17", "text": "Moses proclaimed God's laws to our ancestors. But what Jesus Christ did for us was much better. He acted in kindness toward us in ways we did not deserve and told us the truth about God."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "18", "text": "No one has ever seen God. But God's only Son, Jesus, who has always had a very close relationship with God, has told us about God."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "19", "text": "The Jewish leaders[SYN] in Jerusalem city sent some Jewish priests and ◄Levites/men who worked in the temple► to where John was to ask him some questions. They said to him, “What do you claim about yourself?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "20", "text": "So John told them the truth, and he told them clearly [DOU]. He said, “ I am not ◄the Messiah/God's chosen king►!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "21", "text": "Then they asked him, “Then what do you say about yourself? Are you the prophet Elijah that was prophesied to return{◄ someone/another prophet► prophesied would return} before the Messiah?” He replied, “No, I am not.” Then they asked him, “Are you the prophet like Moses that◄ we are waiting for/God promised to send►?” He replied, “No.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "22", "text": "So they asked him, “Then who do you claim to be? Tell us so that we can go back and report to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "23", "text": "John replied, “ I am the one the prophet Isaiah said would proclaim this new message loudly to the people who would pass by in this desolate area: ‘Prepare yourselves to receive the Lord when he comes [MET], just like people prepare a road for an important official.’ ”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "24", "text": "Some of those people who were questioning John were ones who had been sent by the Pharisee religious group{whom the Pharisee religious group had sent}."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "25", "text": "They asked John, “Since you say you are not the Messiah, nor the prophet Elijah, nor the prophet like Moses, what authority do you have? Furthermore, why are you baptizing Jews, treating them as though they were non-Jews who wanted to become Jews?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "26", "text": "John replied, “I am just baptizing people with water to prepare them to welcome the Messiah. But right now someone is among you whom you people do not know."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "27", "text": "He will preach to you after I am gone. He is so important that I am not worthy to serve him as a slave[MET] by untying his sandals.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "28", "text": "Those things happened at a place called Bethany, on the east side of the Jordan River, where John was baptizing people."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "29", "text": "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him. He said to the people, “Look! Here is the man whom God has appointed to be a sacrifice[MET], like the lambs that the people of Israel sacrificed! By sacrificing himself he will make it possible for everyone in the world to be no longer guilty for having sinned."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "30", "text": "He is the one about whom I said before, ‘Someone will come later who is more important than I am, since he existed long before me.’"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "31", "text": "I myself did not previously recognize that he was the Messiah. But now I know who he is, and I have baptized people with water to enable you people of Israel to recognize who he is.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "32", "text": "John spoke clearly what God had shown him about Jesus. He said, “I saw God's Spirit as he was descending from heaven in the form of a dove. The Spirit remained on Jesus."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "33", "text": "I myself did not know previously that he was the Messiah. However, God sent me to baptize people with water, people who said they wanted to turn from their sinful ways. While I was doing that, God told me, ‘The man on whom you will see my Spirit descend and remain is the one who will put the Holy Spirit within you(pl) to truly change your lives.’"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "34", "text": "I saw the Spirit descend on him, and I tell you that he is ◄the Son of God/the person who is both God and man►.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "35", "text": "The next day John was at the same place again ◄with two of us/with two of his disciples►."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "36", "text": "When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look! There is the man God has appointed to be a sacrifice, like the lambs [MET] the people of Israel have sacrificed! ”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "37", "text": "◄When we/those two disciples► heard John say this, we/they went with Jesus."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "38", "text": "Jesus turned around and saw us/them coming behind him. So he asked us/them, “What do you want?” We/They replied, “Teacher, tell us where you are staying, because we want to talk with you.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "39", "text": "He replied, “Come with me, and you will see where I am staying!” So we/they went with him and saw where he was staying. We/They stayed with him until about 4 o'clock (OR, from about 4 PM until the next day)."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "40", "text": "◄One of us/One of the two men► who heard what John had said and who went with Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's younger brother."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "41", "text": "After Andrew left Jesus, the first thing he did was to find his own older brother Simon and say to him, “We have found the Messiah!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "42", "text": "Then he took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked intently at him, and then said, “You are Simon. Your father's name is John. You will be given { I will give you} the name Cephas.” Cephas is an Aramaic name that means ❛solid rock❜. It means the same in Greek as the name Peter."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "43", "text": "The next day Jesus decided to leave the Jordan River valley. He went to Galilee district and (OR, on the way there he) found a man named Philip. Jesus said to him, “Come with me!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "44", "text": "Philip and Andrew and Peter were all from Bethsaida town."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "45", "text": "Then Philip searched for Nathaniel and found him, and said to him, “We have met the Messiah, the one Moses wrote about! The prophets also prophesied that he would come. He is Jesus, from Nazareth town. His father's name is Joseph.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "46", "text": "Nathaniel replied, “Nazareth? ◄Nothing good can come from such an unimportant place!/Can anything good come from such an unimportant place?► [RHQ]” Philip replied, “Come and see!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "47", "text": "When Jesus saw Nathaniel approaching, he said about Nathaniel, “Here is an example of a good Israelite! He never deceives anyone!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "48", "text": "Nathaniel asked him, “How do you know what I am like?” Jesus replied, “I saw you before Philip called you, when you were by yourself under the fig tree.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "49", "text": "Then Nathaniel declared, “Teacher, you must be◄the Son of God/the person who is both God and man►! You are the King of Israel we have been waiting for!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "50", "text": "Jesus replied to him, “You [RHQ] believe those things about me because I told you I saw you when you were under the fig tree. I was able to see you supernaturally even though I was far away from you. But you will see me do things that are more surprising than that!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "51", "text": "Then Jesus said to him, “This is the absolute truth: Just like what your ancestor Jacob saw long ago in a vision, some day you(pl) will see heaven opened up, and you will see God's angels ascending from me and descending on me, the one who came from heaven.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "1", "text": "Two days later there was a wedding celebration in Cana town, in Galilee district. Jesus' mother was there."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "2", "text": "Jesus and we his disciples were also there, because we had been invited {someone had invited us} also."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "3", "text": "When the guests had drunk all the wine that was there, Jesus' mother said to him, “The wine is all gone; can you do something about that?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "4", "text": "Jesus said to her, “Ma'am/Woman, ◄do not tell me what to do!/why do you tell me what to do?► [RHQ] It is not yet time [MTY] to show that I am the Messiah by working miracles.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "5", "text": "Then Jesus' mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "6", "text": "There were six empty stone jars there. The Jews habitually put water in them to use for washing things to make them acceptable to God. Each jar held ◄20 to 30 gallons/80 to 120 liters►."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "7", "text": "Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water!” So they filled the jars to the brim."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "8", "text": "Then he told them, “Now, ladle out some of it and take it ◄to the head waiter/to the master of ceremonies►.” So the servants did that."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "9", "text": "◄The head waiter/The master of ceremonies► tasted the water, which had now become wine. He did not know where the wine had come from, but the servants who had ladled out the wine knew. The wine was delicious So he called the bridegroom over,"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "10", "text": "and said to him, “Everyone else serves the best wine first. Then when the guests have drunk so much that they cannot tell the difference, they serve the cheap wine. But you have not done what others do. You have kept the best wine until now!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "11", "text": "That was the first miracle that Jesus did. He did it in Cana town, in Galilee district. By doing it he showed how awesome he is, and as a result, we his disciples believed that he truly was the Messiah."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "12", "text": "Jesus then went down to Capernaum city with his mother and younger brothers and us his disciples. We stayed there several days."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "13", "text": "Later, when it was almost time for the Jewish Passover celebration, Jesus and we his disciples went up to Jerusalem."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "14", "text": "There, in the Temple courtyard, he saw some men who were selling cattle, sheep, and pigeons for sacrifices. He also saw men who were sitting at tables, making a big profit as they gave people Temple tax coins in exchange for their Roman coins."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "15", "text": "Then Jesus made a whip from some cords and used it to chase out the sheep and cattle from the Temple courtyard. By overturning their tables he scattered the coins of the men who were exchanging them."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "16", "text": "He said to those who were selling doves, “Take these doves away from here Stop defiling my Father's Temple by making it a market!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "17", "text": "Then we disciples remembered that these words had been written {that someone/David had written these words} in the Scriptures prophesying what the Messiah would say: “Others [PRS] will strongly oppose me because I greatly desire that people respect your Sacred Tent.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "18", "text": "So one of the Jewish leaders[SYN] replied to him, “What miracle will you perform to show us that you have authority from God to do these things?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "19", "text": "Jesus replied to them, “If/When you destroy this temple, I will build it again within three days.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "20", "text": "So the Jewish leaders[SYN] said, “We have been building this Temple for forty-six years and it is not finished yet So ◄there is no way you will build it within three days!/how will you build it within three days?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "21", "text": "But when Jesus said that about the temple, he was really talking about his own body."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "22", "text": "Later, after Jesus had died and had become alive again, we his disciples remembered the words he had said. As a result, we believed what had been prophesied in the Scriptures about the Messiah becoming alive again, and we believed that what Jesus said was true."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "23", "text": "While Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many people came to believe that he was the Messiah because they saw the miracles he was performing."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "24", "text": "But he did not let them tell him what he should do as the Messiah, because he knew within himself what they were all thinking."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "25", "text": "He did not need anyone to tell him what others were thinking, because he already knew what they were thinking and wanting."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "1", "text": "There was a man named Nicodemus, who was a member of the Jewish religious council. He belonged to the Pharisee religious sect."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "2", "text": "He went to see Jesus at night, to talk to him about God's kingdom. He said to Jesus, “Teacher, we believe that you are a teacher who has come from God. We believe this because we know that someone could perform the miracles you are doing only if God were helping him.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "3", "text": "Jesus replied to him, “Listen to this carefully: Unless people are born again and have a new life from God, they cannot even see the place where God rules [MET]!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "4", "text": "Then Nicodemus said to him, “◄No one can be born when he is old!/How can anyone be born when he is old?► [RHQ] ◄There is no way he can enter his mother's womb and be born a second time!/How can he enter his mother's womb and be born a second time?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "5", "text": "Jesus answered, “Note this: Being born naturally is not enough; people need to also be born spiritually by God's Spirit. If that does not happen, they cannot experience God ruling [MET] their lives."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "6", "text": "Humans give birth to humans. But those who are born again as a result of what God's Spirit does receive a new spiritual nature from God."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "7", "text": "Do not be surprised about my telling you that you must be born again and have a new life from God."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "8", "text": "Let me illustrate: The wind blows wherever it wants to blow. You hear its sound, but you do not know where the wind comes from or where it is going. Similarly, those who do not know God cannot understand/control/predict how people are born again as a result of what God's spirit does.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "9", "text": "Nicodemus replied to him, “How can that happen?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "10", "text": "Jesus replied to him, “You(sg) are a well-known teacher among us Israelite people, so ◄I am surprised that you do not understand these things!/how is it that you do not understand these things?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "11", "text": "Listen to this carefully: ◄My disciples and I/I► tell you(pl) about the things that my disciples and I have seen and know are true, but you(pl) do not admit that what my disciples and I are saying is true."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "12", "text": "I have told you about the things that happen here on earth that are true, but you(pl) do not believe me. So if I tell you(sg) about things that happen in heaven, ◄you certainly will not believe me!/how will you believe me?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "13", "text": "I am the only one who has gone up to heaven; no one else has gone up there. I am also the one who came down from heaven. So I know what happens there."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "14", "text": "Long ago when the Israelite people rebelled against God in the desolate area, God sent poisonous snakes to bite them. But when Moses lifted up on a pole the model of a poisonous snake, everyone who looked at that model was healed from their snake bites. Similarly, even though I am the one who came from heaven, some day people will lift me up on a cross to kill me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "15", "text": "As a result, everyone who believes/trusts in me will have eternal life.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "16", "text": "God loved us people [MTY] in the world so much that he gave his only Son as a sacrifice for us, in order that everyone who believes in him would not be separated from God forever. Instead, they would have eternal life."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "17", "text": "When God sent his Son into the world, his purpose was not to punish the people in[MTY] the world for their sins. Instead, he sent him in order that they might be saved by him {he might save them} from being◄ guilty/punished► for their sins."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "18", "text": "Everyone who trusts in his Son, God says that they will not be punished {that he will not punish them}. But God has already said that everyone who does not trust in his Son will be punished {that he will punish everyone who does not trust in his Son}, because they have not trusted in what his only Son has done for them."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "19", "text": "The one who was like a light [MET] to reveal God's truth to us came into the world. But people loved doing what was evil, like darkness [MET] is evil, instead of loving the one who was like a light. That is the reason God will judge people and condemn them."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "20", "text": "Everyone who does what is evil hates the one who is like a light, and they will not come to the one who is like a light, because it would be shown { the one who is like a light would show} that their deeds are evil, and he would rebuke them."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "21", "text": "But those who live according to God's truth come to the one who is like a light, in order that it may be seen clearly {that people may see clearly} that the things they have done they did them because they have depended on God."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "22", "text": "Some time later Jesus and we disciples went to Judea district. He stayed with us there and directed us as we baptized people."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "23", "text": "John the Baptizer was also baptizing people. He was doing that at Aenon village near Salim town in Samaria district, because there were many springs in that area. Many people kept coming to John and were being baptized {he was baptizing them}."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "24", "text": "That happened before John was put {they put John} in prison."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "25", "text": "Then some of John's disciples and a certain Jew started arguing about the Jewish rituals of washing things to make them acceptable to God."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "26", "text": "Then those disciples went to John and said to him, “Teacher, do you remember the man who was with you when you were baptizing people on the other side of the Jordan River? He is the one you were telling us about. Well, now he is baptizing people, and many people are going to him instead of coming to us!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "27", "text": "John replied, “A person can become important only if God [MTY] permits it. So we should not be jealous about Jesus being popular"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "28", "text": "You yourselves can verify what I said. I told you that I am not ◄the Messiah/God's promised king►. Instead, I told you that I was sent {that God sent me} to prepare the way for him."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "29", "text": "Let me illustrate[MET]: He is like a◄ bridegroom/man who is being married►, and I am like his friend. The friend of the bridegroom stands there and waits for him to come. That friend is very happy when he hears the bridegroom's voice when he arrives. Similarly, I am very happy about what you have told me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "30", "text": "It is necessary for Jesus to become more important by making more disciples than I have, and for me to become less important.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "31", "text": "Jesus came from heaven. He is more important than anyone else. Those who are born from parents here on earth [MTY] are just humans, and they speak about things that happen here on the earth. But since Jesus came from heaven, his words are more important than anyone else's."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "32", "text": "He tells people what he has seen and what he heard in heaven, but very few people [HYP] listen to what he says."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "33", "text": "Those who have accepted what he has said verify that what God has said is true."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "34", "text": "We know it is true because Jesus, the one God sent, speaks the message of God. That is also true because God causes his Spirit to live in Jesus to completely direct everything he says and does."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "35", "text": "God loves his Son, and has caused him to have control/power over everything."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "36", "text": "Those who trust in God's Son have eternal life. But those who reject God's Son will never have eternal life. Instead, God is angry with them and he will surely punish them."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "1-2", "text": "At that time, many people were asking Jesus to baptize them. He did not baptize people; it was we his disciples who were doing the baptizing. But when some of the Pharisee religious group heard people say that Jesus was making more disciples than John the Baptizer and was baptizing them, they became very jealous."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "3", "text": "When the Lord Jesus heard about that, so that the Pharisees would not cause trouble for him, he left Judea district, and went again with us disciples to Galilee district."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "4", "text": "He knew that God wanted him to travel through Samaria district."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "5", "text": "So we arrived at a town named Sychar in Samaria district. That was near the plot of ground that our ancestor Jacob had given to his son Joseph long ago."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "6-8", "text": "The well that used to belong to Jacob was on that plot of ground. Jesus was tired from walking. So while we disciples went into the town to buy some food, he sat down alongside the well. It was about noontime. A woman who lived there in Samaria came to get some water from the well. Jesus said to her, “Will you give me from the well some water to drink?” The woman knew that Jews did not like ◄ to touch things that belong to Samaritans/ to come near Samaritans►, (OR, Jews did not like to associate with Samaritans,)"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "9", "text": "so the woman said to him, “You are a Jew, and I am from Samaria. Furthermore, I am a woman. So ◄ I am surprised that you are asking me for a drink of water!/how is it that you are asking me for a drink of water?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "10", "text": "Jesus replied to her, “If you(sg) knew what God wanted to give you, and if you knew who I am, the one who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked me, and I would have given you water that gives life.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "11", "text": "She thought he was talking about ordinary water. So she said to him, “Sir, you do not have a bucket or a rope with which to get water from the well, and the well is deep. So since you cannot get water from this well, where can you get that life-giving water?"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "12", "text": "Our ancestor Jacob left us this well. He drank water from it, and there was enough good water so that his sons and his flocks of sheep and goats drank from it also. Do you claim that you are greater than Jacob, and because of that you can give us life-giving water?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "13", "text": "Jesus replied to her, “Everyone who drinks water from this well will later become thirsty again."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "14", "text": "But those who drink the water that I will give them will never be thirsty again. On the contrary, the water that I give them will become in their inner beings like a spring of water that will enable them to have eternal life.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "15", "text": "The woman did not understand that Jesus was speaking figuratively about something that would sustain her spiritually. So she said to him, “Sir, give me that kind of water so that I will not get thirsty again, and so that I will not have to keep returning here to get water!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "16", "text": "Jesus knew that she did not understand, but he wanted to show her by his God-given knowledge of her personal life that because he was the Messiah he could supply her spiritual need. So he said to her, “Woman, go and call your husband, and bring him here!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "17", "text": "She replied, “I do not have a husband!” Jesus said to her, “You said that you do not have a husband, and that is true."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "18", "text": "It is also true that you have had five husbands one by one. And the man you are living with now is not your husband! What you have said is very true.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "19", "text": "The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive you must be a prophet because you are able to know people's secrets."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "20", "text": "But let me ask you a different question: Our ancestors worshipped God here on Gerizim mountain, but you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place where we must worship God. So who is right?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "21", "text": "Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me when I say that there will be a time when it will not matter whether you worship God our Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem or somewhere else."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "22", "text": "You people from Samaria do not know the one you are worshipping. But we(exc) Jews know whom we worship, because it is from us Jews that God has sent the one who will save people from the guilt of their sins."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "23", "text": "However, there will be a time when those who genuinely worship God will worship him as God's Spirit directs and according to God's truth. In fact, that time is now. Those are the kind of worshipers my Father seeks."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "24", "text": "God is a spiritual being. So it is necessary that those who worship him must worship him as his Spirit directs and according to God's truth.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "25", "text": "The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will tell us everything we need to know.” ('Messiah❜ and ❛Christ❜ both mean ❛God's promised king❜.)"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "26", "text": "Jesus said to her, “I, the one speaking to you, am the Messiah!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "27", "text": "Just then we disciples returned from town. Since it was contrary to our custom for Jewish religious teachers to converse with a woman they did not know, we were surprised that he was talking to a woman. However, none of us asked her, “What do you want?” and none of us asked him, “Why are you talking with her?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "28", "text": "The woman left her water jar there and went into the town. She said to the people there,"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "29", "text": "“Come and see a man who was able to tell me all about my past life [HYP], even though I never met him before Could this man be the Messiah?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "30", "text": "So many people left the town and started going where Jesus was."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "31", "text": "Meanwhile, we disciples were urging him, “Teacher, eat some of the food we brought!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "32", "text": "But he said to us, “I have food to eat that you do not know anything about!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "33", "text": "So we started saying to each other, “◄Surely no one has brought him any food when we were not here!/Has anyone brought him any food when we were not here?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "34", "text": "Jesus said to us, “Doing what my Father who sent me wants me to do and finishing the work he gave me to do is ◄ what sustains me/like my food► [MET]."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "35", "text": "At this time of the year you are saying (OR, your ancestors used to say), ‘There are four months left before we harvest the crops.’ But I say to you, look carefully at the non-Jewish people around here. God says, ‘They are ready to accept my message[MET], like crops in fields that are ready for people to harvest."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "36", "text": "If you help them to accept my message, I will reward you [MET], as an owner of a field pays those who harvest the crops. Because of your work, people will gain eternal life.’ I have been telling people God's message. That is like[MET] a man who plants seeds. You will help people to accept my message. That will be like[MET] harvesting crops. When that happens, both you and I will rejoice."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "37", "text": "As a result, this saying will become true: One person plants seeds, but others harvest the crops."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "38", "text": "I am sending you to enable people to accept my message, but you will not be the first ones who tell them God's message. Others previously worked hard to tell people God's message, and now you will be harvesting the results of their work.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "39", "text": "Many of the Samaria district people who lived in that town believed that Jesus was the Messiah because they heard what that woman said about Jesus, “That man was able to tell me all about my past life [HYP]!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "40", "text": "So when those people of Samaria came to Jesus, they urged him to stay with them. So we stayed there two days."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "41", "text": "Many more of those people believed ◄ in Jesus/that he was the Messiah► because of what he said."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "42", "text": "They told the woman, “We believe in Jesus now, but not just because of what you told us. Now we have heard him ourselves. And now we know that this man truly is the one who can save people[MTY] from the guilt of their sins.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "43-44", "text": "Jesus had said previously that people did not honor prophets like himself when they tried to teach people in their own home area. So, two days later, Jesus and we disciples left that area and went to his own area in Galilee district, because he knew that people there would not think very highly of him, and as a result the Jewish leaders would not be jealous."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "45", "text": "However, when we arrived in Galilee district, many of the people there welcomed him, because they had been in Jerusalem during the Passover celebration and had seen all the things he did there."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "46", "text": "Jesus went again to Cana town in Galilee district. That was where he previously turned water into wine. There was one of the king's officials who lived in Capernaum city, whose son was very sick."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "47", "text": "When that man heard others say that Jesus had returned to Galilee district from Judea district, he went to Jesus in Cana and pleaded with him, “Please come down to Capernaum and heal my son, who is about to die!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "48", "text": "Jesus said to him, “You people will believe my message only if you see me perform more miracles!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "49", "text": "But the official said to him, “Sir, ◄ I believe in you/I believe that you came from God►. So please come down to my home before my son dies!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "50", "text": "Jesus said to him, “Then you may go home. Your son ◄will live/not die►!” The man believed what Jesus said, and left."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "51", "text": "The next day while he was on the way home, his servants met him. They told him, “Your child is going to live!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "52", "text": "He asked them, “At what time did my son start to become well?” They said to him, “His fever ceased yesterday afternoon at one o'clock.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "53", "text": "Then the boy's father realized that this was the time Jesus told him, “Your son will ◄live/not die►.” So he and all the people in his house believed that Jesus was the Messiah."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "54", "text": "That was the second miracle that Jesus performed in Galilee district, after he had returned from Judea district."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "1", "text": "Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem when the Jews were having another celebration."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "2", "text": "At one of the gates into the city called the Sheep Gate, there is a pool. In our language we call it Bethzatha. Around the pool were five open areas with roofs over them."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "3-4", "text": "Many people were lying there. They were people who were blind, lame, or paralyzed."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "5", "text": "One of those who was there had been paralyzed for thirty-eight years."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "6", "text": "Jesus saw him lying there and found out that the man had been like that for a long time. He said to the man, “Do you want to become well?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "7", "text": "The paralyzed man replied to him, “ Yes, sir, I want to get well, but there is no one to help me get down into the pool when the water is stirred {stirs}. While I am trying to get to the pool, someone else always gets there before me.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "8", "text": "Jesus said to him, “Get up! Then pick up your mat and walk!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "9", "text": "The man immediately was healed. He picked up his mat and started walking! The day on which this happened was a Jewish day of rest."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "10", "text": "So the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “Today is ◄the Sabbath/our rest day►, and in our Jewish laws it is written that people should not work on our◄ Sabbath/rest day►, so you should not be carrying your mat!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "11", "text": "The man replied to them, “The man who healed me, he himself said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk!’”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "12", "text": "They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick it up and walk!’?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "13", "text": "But since Jesus had disappeared in the crowd without telling the man his name, the man did not know who it was who had healed him."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "14", "text": "Later, Jesus found the man in the Temple courtyard. He told the man his name, and said to him, “Listen! You are healed! So stop sinning! If you do not stop sinning, something will happen to you that will be worse than the illness you had before!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "15", "text": "The man went away and told the Jewish leaders[SYN] that it was Jesus who had healed him."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "16", "text": "So the Jewish leaders[SYN] started to harass Jesus, because Jesus was doing these things ◄on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day►."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "17", "text": "Then Jesus replied to them, “My Father has always been working every day, including◄ the Sabbath/the day of rest►, up until now. I am doing the same thing!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "18", "text": "The Jewish leaders [SYN] considered that he was disobeying their rules about ◄the Sabbath/the day of rest►, and that by saying that God was his Father, he was making himself equal with God. And they considered that both these things were grounds for killing him. So they sought even harder for a way to kill him."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "19", "text": "Jesus replied to them by saying, “You need to know this: I can do nothing by my own authority. I do only the kind of things that I see my Father doing. Whatever kinds of things my Father is doing, those are the things I am doing."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "20", "text": "My Father loves me, and he shows me everything that he is doing. He will show me the miracles that he wants me to do that will be greater than the ones that you have already seen me do, so that you may be amazed."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "21", "text": "For example, just like my Father causes people who have died to become alive again, I will give eternal life to everyone that I want to."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "22", "text": "Furthermore, my Father is not the one who judges people concerning their sins. Instead, he has given to me the work of judging people,"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "23", "text": "in order that all people may honor me, just like they honor my Father. My Father considers that anyone who does not honor me is not honoring him, the one who sent me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "24", "text": "Listen to this carefully: Those who hear my message and believe that God is the one who sent me have eternal life. God will not ◄condemn them/say that he will punish them►. They are no longer separated from God. Instead, they have eternal life."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "25", "text": "Listen to this carefully: There will be a time when those who are ◄spiritually dead/separated from God► will hear the voice of me, ◄the Son of God/the man who is also God►. In fact, it is that time already. Those who hear and pay attention to my message will have eternal life."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "26", "text": "My Father has power to make things live. Similarly, he has given me the power to enable people to live eternally."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "27", "text": "Because I am the one who came from heaven, he has given me the authority to judge people concerning their sins."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "28", "text": "Do not be surprised about that, because there will be a time when all people who have died will hear my voice"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "29", "text": "and they will become alive again. Those who have lived good lives will rise from their graves and live forever. But those who have lived evil lives will rise, and I will ◄condemn them/declare that I will punish them for their sins►."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "30", "text": "I do not do anything like that by my own authority. I judge people only according to what I hear my Father tell me. I will judge people fairly, because I do not want to please only myself. Instead, I want to please my Father, who sent me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "31", "text": "If I were the only one to tell people about myself, people could rightly say that what I say is not true."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "32", "text": "But there is someone else who tells people about me. And I know that what he tells people about me is true."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "33", "text": "As for you, when you sent messengers to John the Baptizer to ask about me, he told the truth about me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "34", "text": "I do not need that people tell others about me. But instead, I am reminding you about what John told people about me, in order that you will believe it and be saved { God will save you}."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "35", "text": "John's message about me(OR, John) [MET] was like a lamp that shines brightly. For a short while you were willing to be made happy by that message{to let that message make you happy}."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "36", "text": "But there is something else that tells you about me. It should prove who I am more than what John said about me. The miracles [PRS] that my Father told me to do, the miracles that I am performing, show (OR, prove) to people that my Father sent me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "37", "text": "Furthermore, my Father, who sent me, tells people about me. You have never heard his voice or seen him."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "38", "text": "Furthermore, you have not believed in me, the one he sent. So you have not believed his message in your inner beings."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "39", "text": "You carefully study (OR, Study) the Scriptures, because you think that by studying them you will find the way to have eternal life. And those Scriptures tell people about me!"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "40", "text": "But you refuse ◄to come to me/to believe my message► in order that you may have eternal life."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "41", "text": "It does not matter to me whether people praise me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "42", "text": "But you want people to praise you. I know that within yourselves you do not love God."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "43", "text": "Although I have come to earth with my Father's authority [MTY], you do not accept me. But if someone else comes with his own authority [MTY], you accept him!"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "44", "text": "You accept your praising each other, but you do not try to do things that will result in God himself praising you. So ◄there is no way you can believe in me!/how can you believe my message?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "45", "text": "But do not think that I am the one who will accuse you while my Father is listening! No, it is Moses who will accuse you! You thought that he would defend you."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "46", "text": "Moses wrote about me, so if you had believed what he wrote, you would have believed what I said"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "47", "text": "But because you did not believe what he wrote about me, ◄you will certainly not believe what I say!/how will you believe what I say?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "1", "text": "Some time later, when Jesus was in Galilee district, near the time of the Jewish Passover celebration, Jesus went with us disciples by boat and crossed to another place along Galilee Lake. This lake is also called Tiberias Lake."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "2", "text": "A large crowd of people kept following Jesus on land because they had been seeing the miracles he performed by healing sick people."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "3", "text": "Jesus went up on the hillside and sat down with us disciples to teach us."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "4", "text": "Then he looked up and saw a great crowd of people coming toward him."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "5", "text": "He said to Philip, “Where will we buy food for all these people to eat?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "6", "text": "He asked this only to find out if Philip believed what Jesus could do, because Jesus already knew what he himself was going to do."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "7", "text": "Philip replied to him, “ Even if we had the amount of money a man earns in eight months, that would not be enough to buy bread so that each person could have a little bit!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "8", "text": "Another one of us disciples, Andrew, who was Simon Peter's younger brother, said to Jesus,"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "9", "text": "“There is a boy here who has five small barley loaves and two cooked fish. But ◄they will not help much among so many people!/what good will that do among so many people?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "10", "text": "Jesus said, “Tell the people to sit down!” There was plenty of grass there, so they all sat down comfortably. There were about five thousand men among the crowd."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "11", "text": "Then Jesus took the small loaves and the fish and thanked God for them. Then he gave them to us, and we distributed the small loaves and the fish to all the people sitting on the ground. Because God caused the food to keep increasing, everyone ate as much as they wanted."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "12", "text": "When everyone had all the food they wanted, he said to us disciples, “Gather up the pieces that are left over. Do not let anything be wasted!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "13", "text": "So we gathered up the pieces of the small loaves that were left over by those who had eaten. We filled twelve baskets with those pieces!"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "14", "text": "After the people saw that miracle that Jesus had performed, many of them started to say, “Surely this is the prophet like Moses that God promised to send to the world!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "15", "text": "So, because Jesus realized that they were about to come and seize him to make him their king, he left them again and went up into the hills by himself."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "16", "text": "When it was evening, we disciples went down to Galilee Lake."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "17", "text": "When it became dark and Jesus had still not joined us, we got into a boat and went across the lake towards Capernaum city."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "18", "text": "A strong wind started to blow and caused the water ◄to become very rough/to have high waves►."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "19", "text": "After we had rowed ◄three or four miles/five or six kilometers►, we saw Jesus coming near the boat; he was walking on the water! So we were terrified!"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "20", "text": "But he said to us, “Do not be afraid! It is I!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "21", "text": "We were glad to take him into the boat. As soon as we did that, the boat reached the shore where we were going!"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "22", "text": "The next day the crowd of people that had stayed on the other side of the lake were perplexed about how Jesus had left that area. They knew that there had been only one boat there the previous day. They knew that we had gone away in it by ourselves. They knew that Jesus had not gone with us."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "23", "text": "Then some men came from Tiberias city in boats. They were hoping to take some of the crowd back to Tiberias. They arrived near the place where the people had eaten the food after Jesus had given thanks and caused it to multiply."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "24", "text": "When the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor we disciples were there, some of them got into those boats and they sailed to Capernaum to find Jesus."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "25", "text": "When they found him in Capernaum further around the lake, they asked him, “Teacher, since you(sg) did not come in a boat, when and how did you get here?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "26", "text": "Jesus replied to them, “Listen to this carefully: Do you know why you are looking for me? It is not because you saw me perform miracles and as a result have realized who I really am. No! You are looking for me only because you had plenty of bread to eat after I provided it for you by performing a miracle."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "27", "text": "Stop desiring food that will soon spoil! Instead, desire to get spiritual food that will last forever! Yearn for eternal life! That is what I, the one who came from heaven, will give you. God my Father has shown that he approves of me doing that.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "28", "text": "Then the people asked him, “What things should we do to please God?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "29", "text": "Jesus replied, “What God wants you to do is this: He wants you to believe that I am the one he has sent.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "30", "text": "So they said to him, “Then perform another miracle so that we may see it and believe that you came from God. What miracle would you like to perform?"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "31", "text": "Our ancestors ate the food called manna that God provided for them by a miracle in the desolate area. This is written { The Psalmist wrote this} in the Scriptures about what Moses caused to happen: ‘He gave them food from heaven to eat.’ Will you perform a miracle like that?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "32", "text": "So Jesus said to them, “The truth is that it was not Moses who gave your ancestors that food from heaven. No, it was my Father who gave it to them. And my Father is the one who gives you the true food from heaven."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "33", "text": "The true bread from God came down from heaven, and he is the one who will give eternal life to the people of the world [MTY].”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "34", "text": "Not understanding what he meant, they said to him, “Sir, give us that kind of bread all the time!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "35", "text": "Jesus said to them, “ Just like food [MET] sustains physical life, I am the one who enables you to have spiritual life. Those who eat ordinary food and drinks will later be hungry and thirsty. But those who come to me to receive that life will never again lack anything spiritually."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "36", "text": "I told you before that you have seen my miracles, but after seeing them, instead of understanding who I am, you have not believed in me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "37", "text": "All the people that my Father entrusts to me will come to me, and I will certainly ◄welcome/never send away► [LIT] anyone who comes to me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "38", "text": "When I came down from heaven, it was not to do what I want. Instead, I came to do what ◄ God/my Father►, who sent me, wants."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "39", "text": "What the one who sent me wants is that I ◄keep forever all/never lose any► [LIT] of those whom he has entrusted to me. He wants me to cause all of them to become alive again ◄on the last day/on the day when I judge everyone► [MTY]."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "40", "text": "Long ago in the desolate area when those who were bitten by snakes looked at the bronze replica of a snake, they were healed[MET]. What my Father wants is that similarly everyone who looks at what I have done and believes in me will have eternal life. I will cause them to become alive again ◄on the last day/on the day when I judge everyone► [MTY].”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "41", "text": "The Jewish leaders[SYN] began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the one who is like true bread who came down from heaven.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "42", "text": "They said, “◄This man is Jesus, the son of Joseph!/Isn't this man the son of Joseph?► [RHQ] We know the names of both his father and his mother. He certainly did not come from heaven, so ◄he is lying by saying ‘I came from heaven.’/why is he now saying, ‘I came from heaven?’► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "43", "text": "Jesus replied to them, “Stop grumbling among yourselves about what I just said"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "44", "text": "My Father, who sent me, makes people want to come to me. No others will come to me to receive eternal life. Those who come to me are the only ones who will believe in me. I will ◄cause them to be alive again/raise them from the dead► ◄on the last day/on the judgment day►."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "45", "text": "It was written ◄ by one of the prophets/by the prophet Isaiah► {◄ One of the prophets/The prophet Isaiah► wrote} about all those who will trust in me, ‘God will teach them all.’ Everyone who listens to what my Father says and learns from him will ◄come to/believe in► me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "46", "text": "I came from God. I am the only one who has seen my Father. No one else has seen him."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "47", "text": "Listen to this carefully: Everyone who believes ◄ my message/in me► has eternal life."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "48", "text": "Just like food [MET] sustains your physical life, I am the one who enables you to have spiritual life."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "49", "text": "Even though your ancestors ate the manna while they were traveling in the desolate area, they died anyway."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "50", "text": "But the bread I am talking about is something that came down from heaven. If people eat that bread, their spirits will never die."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "51", "text": "I am the one who came down from heaven to enable people to have spiritual life. If people take what I will give them, they will live forever. What I will give them is my flesh, which I will give to all the people in[MTY] the world in order that they may have spiritual life.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "52", "text": "Then the Jewish leaders[SYN] began to argue among themselves. They said, “◄There is no way this man can give us his flesh to eat!/How can this man give us his flesh to eat?►” [RHQ]"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "53", "text": "So, speaking figuratively of the need for them to accept for themselves the benefits of his sacrificing himself and shedding his blood to atone for their sins[MET], Jesus said to them, “Listen carefully to this: Although I am the one who came from heaven, if you do not eat my flesh and drink my blood, you will not have eternal life."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "54", "text": "Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will cause them to become alive again at ◄the last day/the judgment day►,"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "55", "text": "because my flesh and my blood are truly spiritual food."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "56", "text": "Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood will have a close relationship with me, and I will have a close relationship with them."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "57", "text": "My Father, who is the source of everything that lives, sent me, and I live because my Father has given me life. Similarly those who eat my flesh will live eternally because of what I do for them."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "58", "text": "I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Although our ancestors ate manna, they later died anyway. But those who eat this bread will live forever.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "59", "text": "He said this while he was teaching people in ◄the synagogue/the Jewish meeting place► in Capernaum."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "60", "text": "After they heard him say that, many of his disciples said, “What he is teaching is hard to understand; ◄it is very difficult for anyone to accept it!/how can anyone accept it?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "61", "text": "Jesus was aware that his disciples were grumbling about it, so he said to them, “◄I am sorry that this is offending you./Is this offending you?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "62", "text": "◄ Perhaps you will believe my message if you see me, the one who came from heaven, ascending there to where I was before!/ (What will you think if you see me, the one who came from heaven, ascending there to where I was before)?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "63", "text": "God's Spirit is the one who gives people eternal life. Human efforts are no help at all for giving people eternal life. The message I have spoken to you gives spiritual life (OR, comes from God's Spirit and gives eternal life.)"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "64", "text": "But there are some of you who do not believe my message.” Jesus said that because he knew from the time he started [MTY] his ministry which of them would not believe his message. He also knew who would ◄betray him/enable his enemies to seize him►."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "65", "text": "Then he continued by saying, “That is why I told you that only those whom my Father has enabled to believe in me will come to me and receive eternal life.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "66", "text": "From that time, many of his disciples left him and no longer went with him."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "67", "text": "So he said to us twelve apostles, “You do not want to leave me also, do you?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "68", "text": "Simon Peter replied to him, “Lord, we will not leave you, because◄there is no other person like you to whom we can go!/what other person is there like you to whom we can go?► [RHQ] You have the message about eternal life!"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "69", "text": "We have come to believe for certain that you are the holy one who has come from God!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "70", "text": "Then Jesus replied to us, “ You are saying that as though all you twelve men whom I have chosen [RHQ] believe that. But one of you is under the control of Satan!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 6, "verse": "71", "text": "He was talking about Judas, the son of Simon, from Kerioth village. Even though Judas was one of us twelve apostles, he was about ◄to betray Jesus/to enable Jesus' enemies to seize him►."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "1", "text": "After those things happened, Jesus went around in Galilee province. He did not want to travel in Judea province, because he knew that the Jewish leaders there were wanting to kill him."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "2", "text": "But when the time of the Jewish celebration called❛Celebration of Living in Shelters❜ was near,"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "3", "text": "Jesus' younger brothers said to him, “ Since many people here have left you, you should leave and go to Judea province and perform some miracles there, so that your disciples may see them!"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "4", "text": "No one who wants to become famous does things secretly. You say you are doing these miracles, so do some miracles there so that everyone [MTY] can see them!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "5", "text": "They said this critically, because even though they were his own younger brothers, they did not believe he was from God."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "6", "text": "So Jesus said to them, “It is not yet time for me [MTY] to go to the celebration. For you, any time is right to go to the celebration."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "7", "text": "The people[MTY] who◄ do not believe in me/do not belong to God► cannot hate you, but they hate me because I tell them that what they are doing is evil."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "8", "text": "You(pl) go ahead to the celebration. I am not going up to Jerusalem to the celebration yet, because now is not the right time for me to go.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "9", "text": "After he said that, Jesus stayed a little longer in Galilee."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "10", "text": "However, a few days after his younger brothers left to go up to the celebration, he went also. He went, along with us disciples, but no others went with us."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "11", "text": "At the celebration, the Jewish leaders were looking for him. They were asking people, “Has Jesus come?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "12", "text": "Among the crowds, many people were whispering about Jesus. Some were saying, “He is a good man!” But others were saying instead, “No! He is deceiving the crowds!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "13", "text": "But no one was speaking so that others could hear them, because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders[SYN]."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "14", "text": "In the middle of the days of the celebration, Jesus went to the Temple courtyard and began to teach people."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "15", "text": "The Jewish elders were amazed at what he was saying. They said, “This man never studied in one of our religious schools! So ◄how can he have learned so much about Scripture?/it is difficult for us to believe that he has learned so much about Scripture!► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "16", "text": "Jesus replied to them, “What I teach does not come from myself. It comes from God, the one who sent me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "17", "text": "Those who choose to do what God wants will find out whether what I teach comes from God or whether I am speaking with only my own authority."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "18", "text": "Those who speak with only their own authority do that only so that others will honor them. But I am doing things so that others will honor the one who sent me, and I am someone who speaks the truth. I never lie."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "19", "text": "Think about the laws that Moses gave you [RHQ]. None of you completely obeys those laws. So why are you trying to kill me, saying I do not obey the laws concerning◄ the Sabbath/the Jewish day of rest►?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "20", "text": "Someone in the crowd answered, “ By saying this you show that you are crazy (OR, A demon is controlling you)! Certainly no one is trying to kill you!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "21", "text": "Jesus replied to them, “Because I did a miracle of healing someone◄on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day►, you are all shocked."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "22", "text": "Moses gave you a law that you must circumcise the male children and that you must do that exactly seven days after they are born. Actually, it was your ancestors, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, not Moses, who started that ritual. But because of that law, you sometimes circumcise them ◄on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day►, but that is working, too"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "23", "text": "You sometimes circumcise boys ◄on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day► so that the law of Moses is not disobeyed { you do not disobey the law of Moses}, so ◄it is ridiculous that you are angry with me, saying I worked◄on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day► by healing a man!/why are you angry with me, saying I worked◄on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day► by healing a man?► [RHQ] Healing someone is far more helpful than circumcising a baby boy!"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "24", "text": "Stop deciding whether my healing this man is wrong according to what you see! Instead, decide according to what is really the right action to help people! ”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "25", "text": "Some of the people from Jerusalem were saying, “◄This is the man that they are trying to kill!/Isn't this the man that they are trying to kill?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "26", "text": "He is saying these things ◄publicly/in front of many people►, but our Jewish rulers are not saying anything to oppose him. Is that because they have decided that he is truly ◄the Messiah/God's chosen king►?"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "27", "text": "But he cannot be the Messiah, because we know where this man came from. When the Messiah really comes, no one will know where he comes from.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "28", "text": "They said that because they thought Jesus was born in Nazareth. So while Jesus was teaching people in the Temple courtyard, he shouted, “Yes, you say that you know me, and you think you know [IRO] where I am from. But I have come here not ◄because I appointed myself/with my own authority►. Instead, God is the one who truly sent me. You do not know him."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "29", "text": "But I know him, because I have come from him. He is the one who sent me!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "30", "text": "Then they tried to seize him because he said that he had come from God. But no one put their hands on him to do that, because it was not yet the time [MTY] for him to die."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "31", "text": "But many of the crowd believed that he had come from God. They said, “When the Messiah comes, he certainly will not do more miracles than this man has done, will he?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "32", "text": "The Pharisees heard them whispering these things about him. So they and the chief priests sent some Temple guards to seize him."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "33", "text": "Then Jesus said, “I will be with you for only a short time. Then I will return to the one who sent me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "34", "text": "Then you will search for me, but you will not find me. And you will not be able to come to the place where I am.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "35", "text": "So the Jewish leaders[SYN] said to themselves, “Where is this man about to go with the result that we will not be able to find him? Some Jewish people have dispersed and live among Greek people. He is not intending to go and live among them and teach them, is he?"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "36", "text": "When he said ‘You will search for me, but you will not be able to find me,’ and when he said ‘You will not be able to come to the place where I am,’ what did he mean?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "37", "text": "On each of the seven days of the celebration, the high priest poured out some water on the altar in the Temple to remember how God provided water for the people in the desolate area long ago. But the water he poured did not help anyone who was thirsty. So on the last day of the festival, which was the most important day, Jesus stood up in the Temple courtyard and said with a loud voice, “Those who are thirsty should come to me to drink what I will give them."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "38", "text": "Just like the Scriptures teach, streams of water shall flow out from the inner beings of those who believe in me, and that water will cause them to live eternally.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "39", "text": "When Jesus said that, he was referring to God's Spirit, whom those who believed in Jesus would receive later. Up to that time God had not sent the Spirit to live within believers, because Jesus had not yet died and returned to his glorious home in heaven, from where he would send the Spirit."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "40", "text": "When some of the crowd heard those words, they said, “Surely this man is the prophet whom God promised to send who would be like Moses!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "41", "text": "Others said, “He is the Messiah!” But others, thinking Jesus was born in Galilee, said, “The Messiah will not come from Galilee province, will he?"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "42", "text": "◄Did a prophet not write in the Scriptures that the Messiah will come from King David's family, and be born in Bethlehem, where King David lived?/ It is written in the Scriptures that the Messiah will come from King David's family, and be born in Bethlehem, where King David lived!► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "43", "text": "So the people were divided because of what they thought about Jesus."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "44", "text": "Some people wanted to seize him, but no one tried to do that."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "45", "text": "So the Temple guards returned to the chief priests and the Pharisees, the ones who had sent them to arrest Jesus. They said to the guards, “Why did you not seize him and bring him here?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "46", "text": "They replied, “No one ever spoke such amazing things as this man does!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "47", "text": "Then the Pharisees replied, “Have you been deceived {Has he deceived you}, too?"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "48", "text": "◄None of our rulers nor any of us Pharisees have believed that< he is the Messiah!/he came from God! > /Have any of our Jewish rulers or any of us Pharisees believed that< he is the Messiah?/he came from God? > ► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "49", "text": "Not one! But, on the contrary, some of this crowd have believed in him. They do not know the true teachings of our laws! They will go to hell for listening to him!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "50", "text": "Then Nicodemus spoke. He was the one who earlier went to Jesus at night. He was also a member of the Jewish council. He said to the rest of the Council members,"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "51", "text": "“ We have not listened to what he says to find out what he is doing. ◄It is not permitted in our Jewish law [PRS] for us to say, before questioning someone, that we must punish him!/Is it permitted in our Jewish law [PRS] for us to say, before questioning someone, that we must punish him?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "52", "text": "They replied to him, “◄Are you another disgusting person from Galilee?/ You talk like another disgusting person from Galilee!► [RHQ] Read what is written in the Scriptures You will find that no prophet comes from Galilee province, like he does!” ["}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 7, "verse": "53", "text": "Then they all left and went to their own homes."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "1", "text": "But Jesus went with us disciples to Olive Tree Hill and we stayed near there that night."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "2", "text": "Early the next morning, we returned to the Temple courtyard. Many people gathered around Jesus, so he sat down to teach them."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "3", "text": "Then men who taught the Jewish laws and some of [SYN] the Pharisee religious group brought a woman to him. She was seized { They had arranged to seize her} while she was having sex with a man who was not her husband. They made her stand up in front of the group that was listening to Jesus."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "4", "text": "Then they said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was seized { we seized this woman} while she was having sex with a man who is not her husband."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "5", "text": "Moses commanded us in the laws that he gave us that we should throw stones at such women and kill them. So what do you say we should do?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "6", "text": "They asked this question as a trap so that they could accuse him. If he said that they should not kill her, they would shame him for disobeying the law of Moses. If he said that they should kill her, they could accuse him to the Roman governor. But Jesus bent down and wrote something on the ground with his finger."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "7", "text": "While they continued to question him, he stood up and said to them, “Whichever one of you has never sinned can be the first one to start throwing stones at her.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "8", "text": "Then he stooped down and wrote some more on the ground."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "9", "text": "After they heard what he said, those who were questioning him went away, one by one, the older ones first and then the younger ones, knowing they were all sinners. Finally only Jesus was there, along with the woman."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "10", "text": "Jesus stood up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one said you must die for your sin?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "11", "text": "She said, “No, sir, no one.” Then Jesus said, “I do not condemn you either. Go home now, and do not continue your sinful life any longer!”]"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "12", "text": "Jesus spoke to the people again. He said, “I am like a light [MET] for all the people in[MTY] the world. Just like a light reveals what has been in the darkness[MET], I reveal God's truth to them. Those who walk in the darkness are unaware of what is around them. But those who become my disciples will always be aware of God's truth[MET]. They will have my light which shows them how to have eternal life.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "13", "text": "So the Pharisees said to him, “You are just telling about yourself! Since there is no one else to verify these things that you say about yourself, we do not need to accept that what you say is true.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "14", "text": "Jesus replied, “Even if I were the only one to say these things about myself, what I say is true, because I know that I came from heaven, and I know that I am going back to heaven. But you do not know where I came from or where I am going."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "15", "text": "You judge people according to human standards. The reason that I am here is not ◄to condemn people/to say that I will punish people► for their sins."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "16", "text": "But if I did judge people, what I decided would be correct, because I am not the only one who will decide those things. I and the one who sent me will both decide."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "17", "text": "It is written { Moses wrote} in your law that if at least two people testify that some event has happened, people should consider that what they say is true."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "18", "text": "I am telling you about myself, and the other one who is telling you about me is my Father who sent me. So you should believe that what we declare is true.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "19", "text": "Then they asked him, “ If you have a father whom we can question about you, where is he?” Jesus replied, “You do not know who I really am. If you knew who I really am, you would know who my Father is also.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "20", "text": "He said these things when he was in the Temple courtyard, near the place where the people put their offerings. This was also very close to the place where the Jewish council met. But no one seized him to arrest him, because it was not yet time [MTY] for him to suffer and die."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "21", "text": "Jesus also said to them, “I will soon be going away. Then at the end of your life you will seek me, but you will die without God forgiving your sins. Where I will go, you will not be able to come.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "22", "text": "So the Jewish leaders said among themselves, “Is he going to kill himself? Is that the reason that he said, ‘Where I go, you will not be able to come’?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "23", "text": "But Jesus continued by saying to them, “You were born here in this world, but I came from heaven. You belong to those who are opposed to God [MTY]. I do not belong to them."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "24", "text": "I told you that you will die without God forgiving your sins. If you do not believe that I am who I say that I am, you will die without God forgiving your sins.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "25", "text": "So they said to him, “You! Who do you think you are?” Jesus said to them, “Ever since I began teaching, I have been telling you who I am!"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "26", "text": "I could judge you and say that you are guilty of many things. But instead, I will say only what the one who sent me tells me to say. What he says is true, and I tell the people in the world [MTY] what I have heard from him.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "27", "text": "They did not understand that he was talking about his Father in heaven."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "28", "text": "So Jesus said, “I am the one who came down from heaven, but when you lift me up on a cross to kill me, you will know who I am. You will also know that I do not do anything with my own authority. Instead, I say just what my Father has taught me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "29", "text": "He is the one who sent me, and he helps me. Because I always do the things that please him, he has never abandoned me.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "30", "text": "As Jesus was saying these things, many people believed that he was◄ from God/the Messiah►."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "31", "text": "Then Jesus said to the Jews who now said they believed in him, “If you continue to live in accordance with my message, you will truly be my disciples."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "32", "text": "Then you will know God's truth, and as a result of your believing his truth, he [PRS] will free you from being controlled by the one who has made you his slaves.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "33", "text": "They replied to him, “We are descendants of Abraham. We have never been anyone's slaves. So why do you say we will be freed from being someone's slaves?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "34", "text": "Jesus replied, “Listen carefully to what I am going to tell you. All those who continue to sin are forced to obey their sinful desires [MET], just like a slave is forced to obey his master."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "35", "text": "A slave is not a permanent member of a family. But a son is a member of a family forever. Similarly, you say you are members of God's family because you are descendants of Abraham, but really, because you are like slaves of your sinful desires, you are no longer permanent members of God's family."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "36", "text": "So if you allow me to free you, you will truly be free."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "37", "text": "I know that you are Abraham's descendants. But you are trying to kill me because you are not allowing [PRS] my message to continue to change your inner being."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "38", "text": "I am telling you what I saw when I was with my Father. But you do the things that you have heard from your father.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "39", "text": "They replied to him, “Abraham is our ancestor.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham's descendants, your character would be like Abraham's character, and you would do good things like Abraham did."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "40", "text": "I have been telling you the truth that I heard from God, but you are trying to kill me. Abraham did not do things like that."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "41", "text": "No! You are doing the things that your real father does.” They said to him, “ We do not know about you, but we are not illegitimate children. And spiritually, we have only one Father. That is God, and you do not know who your father is!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "42", "text": "Jesus said to them, “If God were your father, you would love me, because I came from God, and now I have come here to this world. My coming was not ◄because I appointed myself/with my own authority►. He sent me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "43", "text": "◄And I will tell you why you do not understand what I say./Do you know why you do not understand what I say?► [RHQ] It is because you do not want to accept my message."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "44", "text": "You belong to your father, ◄the devil/Satan►, and you desire to do what he wants. He has caused people to become murderers from the time when people first sinned. He has abandoned God's truth because he is a liar by his nature. Whenever he lies, he is speaking according to his nature, because he is a liar and is the one who originates [MET] all lies."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "45", "text": "But because I tell you the truth, you do not believe me!"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "46", "text": "Since I have never sinned, ◄none of you can show that I have sinned./can anyone among you show that I have sinned?► [RHQ] So, since I tell you the truth, ◄there is no good reason for your not believing me!/why is it that you do not believe me?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "47", "text": "Those who belong to God habitually obey God's message. You do not belong to God, so you do not obey his message.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "48", "text": "The Jewish leaders[SYN] replied to him, “◄We are certainly right by saying that you believe what is false as the Samaritans do!/Are we not right by saying that you believe what is false as the Samaritans do?► [RHQ] And that ◄a demon/an evil spirit► controls you!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "49", "text": "Jesus replied, “A demon does not control me! I honor my Father, and you do not honor me!"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "50", "text": "I am not trying to honor myself. There is someone else who desires to honor me, and he is the one who will judge whether it is I who am telling the truth or whether it is you who are telling the truth."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "51", "text": "But the truth is that anyone who obeys what I say will never die!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "52", "text": "Then the Jewish leaders[SYN], thinking that he was talking about ordinary death and not about spiritual death, said to him, “Now we are sure that a demon controls you! Abraham and the prophets died long ago! But you say that anyone who obeys what you teach will never die!"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "53", "text": "◄You are certainly not greater than our ancestor Abraham!/Do you think you are greater than our ancestor Abraham?► [RHQ] He died, and all the prophets died, so who do you think you are by saying something like that?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "54", "text": "Jesus replied, “If I were honoring myself, that would be worthless. My Father is the one who you say is your God. He is the one who honors me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "55", "text": "Although you do not know him, I know him and have a close relationship with him. If I said that I did not know him, I would be a liar like you are. But I know him, and I obey what he says."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "56", "text": "Your ancestor Abraham was happy when he thought about what I would do during my life [MTY]. It was as though he saw that, and was happy.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "57", "text": "Then the Jewish leaders[SYN] said to him, “You are not fifty years old yet! So ◄you certainly did not see him!/how could you have seen him?► [RHQ] Because he died long ago!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "58", "text": "Jesus said to them, “The truth is that I existed before Abraham was born!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 8, "verse": "59", "text": "So, because they were very angry about Jesus thus saying that he◄ had eternally existed/was equal with God►, they picked up stones to throw at him to kill him. But Jesus caused them not to be able to see him, and he left the Temple courtyard."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "1", "text": "As Jesus walked along with us, he saw a man who had been blind from the time he was born."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "2", "text": "We disciples asked him, “Teacher, was this man blind from when he was born because his parents sinned or because he himself sinned?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "3", "text": "Jesus replied, “His being blind was not because he or his parents sinned. Instead, he has been blind in order that people can see the power of God {the power of God can be seen} as a result of what will now happen to him."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "4", "text": "While there is still time, I must do the work that the one who sent me wants me to do. Just like daytime is followed by nighttime when people do not work, at the end of our lives[MET] it is too late for us to do what God wants."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "5", "text": "While I am still living in this world, I am the one who enables people to know about God, like[MET] a light enables the people in [MTY] this world to see what is in the darkness.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "6", "text": "After he said that, he spat on the ground. He made a little bit of mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "7", "text": "Then he said to him, “Go and wash in Siloam pool!” (That name means ❛sent;❜ just like they sent the water by a channel into the pool, God sent Jesus). So the man went and washed in the pool, and when he went home he was able to see!"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "8", "text": "His neighbors and others who previously had seen him when he was begging said, “He is the man who used to sit here and beg, isn't he?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "9", "text": "Some said, “ Yes, he is.” Others said, “No, he is not. It is just a man who looks like him!” But the man himself said, “Yes, I am that man!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "10", "text": "So they said to him, “How is it that now you can see?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "11", "text": "He replied, “The man whose name is Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. Then he told me to go to Siloam pool and wash. So I went there and washed, and then I could see.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "12", "text": "They said to him, “Where is that man now?” He said, “I do not know.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "13", "text": "They took to the Pharisees the man who was previously blind."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "14", "text": "The day on which Jesus made the mud and enabled the man to see again was a ◄Sabbath/Jewish day of rest►. The Pharisees considered that healing someone was work, and their rules did not permit people to do any work◄ on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day►."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "15", "text": "So the Pharisees also asked him, “How did you become able to see?” He said to them, “The man put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I can see!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "16", "text": "So some of the Pharisees said, “Since this man Jesus disobeys our rules about working◄on the Sabbath/on the Jewish rest day►, he is not from God.” But others said, “If he was a sinner, ◄he could certainly not do such miracles!/how could he do such miracles?► [RHQ]” So they were divided."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "17", "text": "So one of them said to the blind man again, “You are the man whom he enabled to see. What do you yourself say about him?” The man said, “ I think he is a prophet!” So they told him to go."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "18", "text": "The Jewish leaders[SYN] still did not believe that the man was blind when he was born, and that he was now able to see. So they sent someone to bring the man's parents."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "19", "text": "When they got there, one of the Jewish leaders asked them, “Is that man your son? Do you say that he was blind when he was born? If that is true, how is he now able to see?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "20", "text": "His parents replied, “We know that he is our son. We know that he was blind when he was born."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "21", "text": "But we do not know how he is able to see now. We also do not know who enabled him to see. Ask our son! He is old enough to answer questions from authorities like you He can tell you himself!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "22", "text": "The Jewish leaders[SYN] had previously declared that they would prevent anyone who declared that Jesus was the Messiah from entering their synagogues. His parents knew that, so they were afraid of the Jewish leaders[SYN]."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "23", "text": "That is the reason that they said, “He is old enough to answer questions, so ask him!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "24", "text": "So they sent someone to bring back to them the man who had been blind. When he got there, the Jewish leaders said to him, “Knowing that God is listening[IDM], tell the truth! We know that the man who healed you is a sinner.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "25", "text": "He replied, “I do not know if he is a sinner or not. But one thing I do know is that I was blind, but now I can see!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "26", "text": "So they said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he enable you to see?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "27", "text": "He replied, “I told you that already, but you did not [RHQ] pay attention! Why do you want to hear me tell you again? ◄Do you also want to become his disciples?/You talk as though [IRO] you also want to become his disciples [RHQ]►.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "28", "text": "Then they insulted him angrily. They said, “You are that man's disciple, but we are Moses' disciples!"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "29", "text": "We know that God spoke to Moses; but this man, we do not know where he is from or where he gets any authority from!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "30", "text": "The man replied, “That is very surprising! You say that you do not know where he gets any authority. But he enabled me to see!"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "31", "text": "We know that God does not help sinners who ask God to help them. Instead, he listens to and helps godly people who pray. He listens to people who do what God wants."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "32", "text": "No one has ever enabled a man to see who was blind when he was born like I was. That has never happened since the world began!"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "33", "text": "So if this man had not come from God, he would not be able to do anything like that!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "34", "text": "They replied to him, “You ◄were born as a result of your parents' sin [EUP]/bastard►! ◄Do you think you are qualified to teach us?/You are not qualified to teach us!► [RHQ]” Then they threw him out of the synagogue."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "35", "text": "Jesus heard people say that they had thrown that man out. He found the man and said to him, “Do you believe that the one who came down from heaven is the Messiah?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "36", "text": "The man answered, “Sir, who is he? Tell me, in order that I may believe in him.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "37", "text": "Jesus said to him, “You have seen him. In fact, it is I, the one who am speaking to you.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "38", "text": "The man said, “Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah!” Then he knelt down before Jesus and worshipped him."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "39", "text": "Jesus said, “I have come into this world to judge the people in the world. The result will be that those who realize that they do not know God's truth will perceive it. That is like[MET] enabling those who are blind to see. But the result will also be that people who falsely think[IRO] that they understand God's truth will never understand it. That is like[MET] people who are blind remaining blind permanently.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "40", "text": "Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard him say that, and said to him, “You are not suggesting that we are like blind people, are you?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 9, "verse": "41", "text": "Jesus said to them, “If you realized that you did not yet know God's truth, but you wanted to, then you would be like blind people who wanted to see. God would be able to forgive your sins. But you are now falsely claiming that you know God's truth, so you are like people who are blind who claim that they can see. Because of that, God is not able to forgive your sins.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "1", "text": "Jesus continued by saying to us, “Listen carefully to what I say. Anyone who does not enter the sheep pen through the gate, if he climbs in some other way, he is a thief or a bandit."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "2", "text": "The man who enters the pen through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "3", "text": "The man who watches the gate at night opens the gate for him. The sheep recognize the shepherd's voice. He summons his own sheep by calling out the names he has given them. Then he leads them outside the pen."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "4", "text": "After he has brought out all his own sheep, he goes in front of them. His sheep follow him because they recognize and pay attention to his voice."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "5", "text": "But they will never follow a stranger. Instead, they will run away from him, because they do not recognize a stranger's voice.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "6", "text": "Jesus said that [MET] to illustrate the difference between himself and the Pharisees, who were deceiving the people. But they did not understand what he was telling them."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "7", "text": "So Jesus spoke to them again. He said, “Listen carefully to what I am saying. I am like[MET] a gate for the sheep to enter the sheepfold, because I am the one who allows people to enter God's presence."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "8", "text": "All of your religious leaders who have come previously without my authority are like[MET] thieves and bandits because they act violently and dishonestly for their own benefit. But just like sheep do not obey strangers, God's people do not pay attention to them."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "9", "text": "I am like a gate. Those will be saved { God will save all those} who come to God by trusting in me. Just like sheep go in and out through the gate safely to find pasture [MET], I will provide for them and protect them."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "10", "text": "Thieves come to a sheep pen only to steal or kill or destroy sheep[MET]. Similarly, your religious leaders injure God's people spiritually. But I have come in order that people may have eternal/spiritual life, and that they may have abundantly all they need to sustain them spiritually."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "11", "text": "I am like a good shepherd. A good shepherd is willing to die to save the sheep [MET]. Similarly, I am ready to sacrifice myself to save those who belong to me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "12", "text": "A worker whom someone has hired to look after the sheep is not like the shepherd or the one who owns the sheep. So when he sees a wolf coming, he leaves the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock of sheep and seizes one sheep and causes the others to scatter."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "13", "text": "The worker runs away because he is only a man whom someone has hired. He is not really concerned about what happens to the sheep [MET]. Similarly, your religious teachers do not really care what happens to you."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "14", "text": "I am like a good shepherd. Just like a good shepherd knows his sheep [MET], I know those who belong to me, and they know me"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "15", "text": "in the same way as my Father knows me and I know my Father. Furthermore, I am ready to sacrifice myself for those who belong to me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "16", "text": "And I have other people who are not Jews who will some day belong to me. They will be like[MET] sheep from another sheep pen. I must bring them to God/myself also. They will pay attention to what I say, and eventually all those who belong to me will be like one flock, and I will be like[MET] their one shepherd."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "17", "text": "The reason my Father loves me is that I will sacrifice my life. But after I do that, I will become alive again."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "18", "text": "No one is causing me to die. Instead, I have chosen to sacrifice myself. I have authority to sacrifice myself and I have authority to become alive again. That is what my Father has commanded me to do.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "19", "text": "After hearing these words that Jesus said, the Jews were divided again."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "20", "text": "Many of them said, “A demon is controlling him and has caused him to become crazy. ◄It is useless to listen to him!/Why should we listen to him?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "21", "text": "But others said, “What he is saying is not something a man whom a demon is controlling would say. ◄No demon could enable a blind man to see like he did!/ How could a demon enable a blind man to see like he did?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "22", "text": "Then it was time for the celebration to remember when our ancestors rededicated the Temple in Jerusalem. It was in winter."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "23", "text": "Jesus was in the Temple courtyard, walking in the place that people called King Solomon's porch."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "24", "text": "The Jewish leaders[SYN] gathered around him and said, “How long will you keep us from knowing for sure if you are the Messiah? If you are the Messiah, tell us clearly!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "25", "text": "Jesus answered them, “I have told you that I am the Messiah, but you do not believe me! You should know who I am because of the miracles I do with my Father's authority [MTY]."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "26", "text": "But instead, you do not believe in me because you do not belong to me. You are like[MET] sheep who belong to a different shepherd."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "27", "text": "Just like sheep heed the voice of their true shepherd[MET], my people pay attention to what I say. I know them, and they have become my disciples."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "28", "text": "I will give them eternal life. No one will separate them from me, not ever. No one shall ever pull them away from belonging to me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "29", "text": "Those that my Father has given to me are more precious than anything else (OR, My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than anything that opposes them). So no one can pull them away from belonging to him [MTY]."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "30", "text": "My father and I are equal.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "31", "text": "The Jewish leaders[SYN] again picked up stones to throw at him and kill him because they were angry at his saying that he was equal with God."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "32", "text": "But Jesus said to them, “You have seen me perform many miracles that my Father told me to do. You should realize from seeing them that I am equal with God. So because of which of these miracles [IRO] are you wanting to kill me by throwing stones at me?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "33", "text": "The Jewish leaders[SYN] replied, “We are wanting to throw stones at you not because you performed a great miracle. Instead, we are wanting to do it because you are dishonoring God. You are just a man, but you are saying that you are God!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "34", "text": "Jesus replied to them, “In the Scriptures it is written {◄ someone/the Psalmist► has written} [RHQ] what God said to the rulers whom he had appointed, ‘I have said that you are like gods.’"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "35", "text": "God said that to those leaders when he appointed them. No one objected to that. And nothing that is in Scripture can be set aside {no one can set aside anything that is in Scripture}."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "36", "text": "But I am the one my Father set apart to completely belong to him. He sent me here into this world. So ◄why are you angry with me for saying that I am equal with God when I say that I am the Son of God?/you should not be angry with me for saying that I am equal with God when I say that I am the person who is both God and man!► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "37", "text": "If I were not doing the miracles that my Father told me to do, I would not expect you to believe in me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "38", "text": "But because I perform these miracles, believe what these miracles show about me, even though you do not believe what I say. If you do that, then you will know and understand that my Father has a close relationship with me, and I have a close relationship with my Father.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "39", "text": "After they heard that, they tried to seize him again, but he got away from them."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "40", "text": "Then Jesus went, along with us, back across to the east side of the Jordan River. We went to the place where John was previously baptizing people. He/We stayed there for a few weeks."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "41", "text": "Many people came to Jesus. They were saying, “John never performed a miracle, but this man has performed many miracles Everything that John said about this man is true!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 10, "verse": "42", "text": "Many people who came there believed ◄ that Jesus was the Messiah/that Jesus truly had come from God►."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "1", "text": "One time there was a man whose name was Lazarus who was very sick. He lived in Bethany village, where his older sisters Mary and Martha also lived."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "2", "text": "Mary was the woman who later poured perfume on the feet of the Lord Jesus, and then wiped his feet with her hair."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "3", "text": "So the two sisters sent someone to tell Jesus about Lazarus, saying, “Lord, the one you love very much is very sick.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "4", "text": "They hoped that Jesus would come, but when Jesus heard the message, he said, “His being sick will not end in his dying. Instead, it will result in people realizing how great God is, and that I, God's son, may be honored {that people may honor me, God's son}, because of what I will do.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "5", "text": "Jesus loved Martha and her younger sister Mary and Lazarus."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "6", "text": "But when Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was for two more days."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "7", "text": "But Jesus wanted to see Lazarus. So he said to us disciples, “Let's go back to Judea.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "8", "text": "We said, “Teacher, just a short while ago the Jewish leaders[SYN] wanted to kill you by throwing stones at you. So ◄ we think that you should not go back there again!/ are you sure that you want to go back there again?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "9", "text": "To show us that nothing bad could happen to him until the time that God had chosen[MET], Jesus replied, “There are [RHQ] twelve hours in the daytime, which is enough time to do what God wants us to do. People who walk in the daytime will not stumble over things they cannot see, because they see things by the light from the sun."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "10", "text": "It is when people walk in the nighttime that they stumble over things, because they have no light.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "11", "text": "After he said that, he told us, “Our friend Lazarus has gone to sleep. But I will go there so that I can wake him up.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "12", "text": "So we said to him, “Lord, if he is sleeping, he will get well. So you do not need to risk your life by going there.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "13", "text": "Jesus was speaking figuratively about Lazarus' death, but we thought that he was talking about really being asleep."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "14", "text": "So then he told us plainly, “Lazarus is dead."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "15", "text": "But for your sake I am glad that I was not there when he died, because I want you to believe more firmly that I◄ am the Messiah/came from God►. So now, instead of staying here, let's go to him.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "16", "text": "Then Thomas, who was {whom they} called ❛The Twin❜, said to the rest of us disciples, “Let's all go, so that we may die with him when his enemies kill him.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "17", "text": "When we arrived close to Bethany, someone told Jesus that Lazarus had died and had been buried and his body had been in the tomb for four days."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "18", "text": "Bethany is less than ◄two miles/three kilometers► from Jerusalem."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "19", "text": "Many Jews had come from Jerusalem to console Martha and Mary over the death of their younger brother."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "20", "text": "When Martha heard someone say that Jesus was coming, she went along the road to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "21", "text": "When Martha got to where Jesus was, she said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died because you would have healed him"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "22", "text": "But I know that even now God will do for you whatever you ask concerning my brother.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "23", "text": "Jesus said to her, “Your brother will become alive again!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "24", "text": "Martha said to him, “I know that he will become alive again when all people become alive again on the Judgment day.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "25", "text": "Jesus said to her, “I am the one who enables people to become alive again and who causes people to live eternally. Those who believe in me, even if they die, they will live again."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "26", "text": "Furthermore, all those who believe in me while they are alive, their souls will not die forever. Do you believe that?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "27", "text": "She said to him, “Yes, Lord! I believe that you are the Messiah, ◄the Son of God/the man who is also God►. You are the one God promised to send into the world!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "28", "text": "After she said that, she returned to the house and took her younger sister, Mary, aside and said to her, “The Teacher is close to our village, and he wants to talk to you.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "29", "text": "When Mary heard that, she got up quickly and went to him."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "30", "text": "Jesus had not yet entered the village; he was still at the place where Martha met him."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "31", "text": "The Jews who were in the house with Mary, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go outside. So they followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb where they had buried Lazarus, in order to cry there."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "32", "text": "When Mary got to where Jesus was and saw him, she prostrated herself at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my younger brother would not have died!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "33", "text": "When Jesus saw her crying, and saw that the Jews who had come with her were also crying, he was very angry that Satan had caused Lazarus to die(OR, very troubled) and disturbed in his spirit."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "34", "text": "He said, “Where have you buried ◄him/his body►?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "35", "text": "Jesus began to cry."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "36", "text": "Then some of the Jews said, “Look how much he loved Lazarus!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "37", "text": "But some others said, “He enabled a blind man to see. So ◄he should have been able to heal this man so that he did not die!/why did he not heal this man so that he did not die?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "38", "text": "Within himself Jesus was again very angry about Lazarus dying(OR, very troubled). He came to the tomb. It was a cave. The entrance had been covered with a large stone."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "39", "text": "Jesus said, “Take away the stone!” Martha, who, as I mentioned before, was an older sister of the man who had died, said, “Lord, his body has been in the tomb for four days, so now there will be a bad smell!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "40", "text": "Jesus said to her, “I told [RHQ] you that if you believed in◄ me/what I can do►, you would see how great God is! Have you forgotten that?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "41", "text": "So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up toward heaven and said, “My Father, I thank you that you heard me when I prayed about this earlier."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "42", "text": "I know that you always hear me when I pray. But instead of just praying silently, I said that for the sake of the people who are standing here. I want them to believe that you sent me.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "43", "text": "After he said that, he shouted, “Lazarus, come out!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "44", "text": "The man who had been dead came out! The strips of cloth were still wrapped around his hands and feet, and a cloth was still around his face, but he came out Jesus said to them, “Take off the cloths so that he can walk easily!” So they did that."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "45", "text": "As a result, many of the Jews who had come to see Mary and who had seen what Jesus did, believed that he ◄ was the Messiah/had come from God►."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "46", "text": "But some of the others went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "47", "text": "So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered all the members of the Jewish Council together. They started saying to each other, “What are we going to do about Jesus? He is performing many miracles!"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "48", "text": "If we allow him to keep doing this, everyone will believe ◄in him/that he is the Messiah►, and they will make him their king. Then the Roman army will come and destroy our Temple and our whole nation of Israel!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "49", "text": "One of the Jewish Council members was Caiaphas. He was the Jewish high priest that year. Hinting that they should get rid of Jesus, he said to them, “You talk as though you do not know anything [HYP]!"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "50", "text": "You do not realize that it would be much better for us if one man died for the sake of the people rather than that the Romans kill all the people of our Jewish nation.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "51", "text": "He said that, not because he thought of it himself. Instead, since he was the high priest that year, he was prophesying that Jesus would die for the whole Jewish nation."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "52", "text": "But he was also prophesying that Jesus would die, not just for the Jews, but for all the people living in other lands who would belong to God, in order that he would unite all of them into one group."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "53", "text": "So from that day the Jewish leaders started to make plans how they could kill Jesus."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "54", "text": "Because of that, Jesus no longer traveled around publicly among the Jewish people. Instead, he left Jerusalem, along with us disciples, and went to a village called Ephraim, in an area near the desolate region. We stayed there for a while."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "55", "text": "When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover celebration, many Jews went up to Jerusalem from other places in the country. They went there to perform the rituals to make themselves acceptable to God before the Passover celebration started."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 11, "verse": "56-57", "text": "The Jewish chief priests and Pharisees issued an order that if anyone found out where Jesus was, that person should report it to them, in order that they could seize him. So the people thought that Jesus would probably not dare to come to the celebration. But they kept looking for him, and as they were standing in the Temple courtyard they were saying to each other, “What do you think? He will not come to the celebration, will he?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "1", "text": "Six days before the Passover celebration started, Jesus arrived in Bethany village, along with us. That was where Lazarus lived. He was the man Jesus previously caused to be alive again after he died."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "2", "text": "There they gave a dinner to honor Jesus. Martha served the meal. Her younger brother, Lazarus, was among the people who were eating with Jesus."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "3", "text": "Then Mary took a bottle of expensive perfume called nard and poured it on Jesus' feet to honor him. Then she wiped his feet with her hair. The whole house was filled with the beautiful smell of the perfume."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "4", "text": "But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, (OR, Judas, the man from Kerioth village) objected. He was the one who later enabled Jesus' enemies to seize him."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "5", "text": "He said, “◄We should have sold this perfume and given the money to poor people!/Why did we not sell this perfume and give the money for it to the poor people?► [RHQ] We could have gotten three hundred days' wages for it!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "6", "text": "He said that, not because he cared about the poor people, but instead, because he was a thief. He was the one who kept the bag of funds that people gave to help Jesus and us his disciples, and he often stole some of the money that was {that people} put into it."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "7", "text": "Then Jesus said, “Do not bother her! She bought this perfume in order to save it until the day when they will bury me after I die."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "8", "text": "There will always be poor people among you, so you can help them whenever you want to. But I will not be with you much longer, so it is good that she showed right now how much she appreciates me.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "9", "text": "A large crowd of Jews heard people say that Jesus was there in Bethany. So they came, not only to see Jesus but also to see Lazarus, the man whom he had caused to become alive again after he died."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "10", "text": "So the chief priests decided to kill Lazarus also,"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "11", "text": "because many of the Jews were deserting them and going to Jesus and believing in him because of Jesus causing Lazarus to be alive again."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "12", "text": "The next day the huge crowd of people that had come to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration heard people say that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "13", "text": "So they cut branches from some palm trees and took the branches out of the city to wave them when they met him. Some of them were shouting things like, “Hooray!” “May the Lord God bless the one who is coming with his authority [MTY]!” Some other people were shouting, “ May God bless the King of Israel!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "14", "text": "When Jesus came near to Jerusalem, he got a young donkey and sat on it as he rode into the city. By doing this, he fulfilled what had been written {what a prophet had written} in Scripture,"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "15", "text": "You people of Jerusalem, do not be afraid! Look! Your king is coming! He is riding on a donkey's colt!"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "16", "text": "At first we disciples did not understand those things. But after Jesus had returned to heaven, we realized that those things had been written {that a prophet had written those things} about him, and that by doing those things for him the people had fulfilled what the prophet prophesied."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "17", "text": "The crowd that was with him continued to tell other people that he called Lazarus to come out of the tomb, and that Lazarus had then become alive again."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "18", "text": "Because of that, many people, because they heard others say that he had performed this miracle, went to meet him."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "19", "text": "So the Pharisees said to each other, “It is obvious that we are making no progress in trying to stop him! It looks like[HYP] everyone [MTY] is becoming his disciple!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "20", "text": "Among those who went up to Jerusalem to worship God during the Passover celebration were some Greeks."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "21", "text": "They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida town in Galilee province. They wanted him to do something for them. They said, “Sir, we would like to talk with Jesus.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "22", "text": "So after Philip went and told that to Andrew, they both went and told Jesus."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "23", "text": "Then, to show them that he must die in order to give eternal life to non-Jews like those Greeks, Jesus replied to them, “It is time for God to honor me, the one who came from heaven. That will happen when I die."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "24", "text": "Listen to this carefully: My life is like a seed[MET]. If someone does not plant a kernel of grain in the ground, it does not change. It remains only one seed. But if it changes after it is planted in the ground, it will grow and produce many seeds."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "25", "text": "Anyone who strongly wants to keep on living here on earth will surely lose his life forever. But anyone who is willing to die [HYP] for my sake will surely gain eternal life."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "26", "text": "If any of these Greeks or anyone else wants to serve me, they must become my disciples. Then, after they die, they will be where I am, in heaven. My Father will honor all those who serve me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "27", "text": "Now I am deeply disturbed. ◄I do not know what to say./What shall I say?► [RHQ] Should I say, ‘ My Father, save me from this time when I will suffer and die!’ ? No, I should not say that, because the reason I came ◄ into this world/from heaven► was that I would suffer[MTY] now."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "28", "text": "My Father, show how great you are!” Then God spoke [EUP] from heaven, saying, “I have already shown how great I am, and I will do it again!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "29", "text": "The crowd that was there heard it but they did not understand the words. Some said it was thunder. Others said an angel had spoken to him."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "30", "text": "Jesus replied to them, “The voice that you heard speaking was God's voice, but it was not for my benefit. It was for your benefit!"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "31", "text": "Now is the time for God to judge the people in[MTY] the world. Now is the time when I will destroy the power of Satan, the one who rules this world."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "32", "text": "But as for me, when I am lifted {when men lift me} up from the ground on a cross, I will make a way for gathering everyone to myself.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "33", "text": "He said this to show us the way in which he was going to die."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "34", "text": "Someone in the crowd answered him, “We understand from the Scriptures that the Messiah will live forever. So why do you say that the one who came from heaven, who is the Messiah, will be lifted up {that men will lift up the one who came from heaven, who is the Messiah,} on a cross? What kind of man who came from heaven are you talking about? (OR, That's not the kind of Messiah we are expecting!)”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "35", "text": "Then Jesus said to them, “ My message is like[MET] a light for you. I will be with you for only a little while longer. Live and act as you should while I am still with you, because suddenly you will have no more opportunity to hear my message! You do not want to be like[MET] someone who cannot see where he is going anymore when it suddenly becomes dark!"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "36", "text": "Believe in my message [MET] while you still have an opportunity to do it, in order that you may become people who have accepted my truth [MET]!” After Jesus said those things, he left them and hid from them."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "37", "text": "Although he had done many miracles while people were watching, most of them refused to believe that he is◄ the Messiah/from God►."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "38", "text": "Their stubbornness and refusal to believe was similar to the stubbornness of the people that the prophet Isaiah wrote about long ago. Lord, ◄hardly anyone has believed our message!/who has believed our message?► [RHQ] Most people refused to accept it, even though you showed them your power!"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "39", "text": "That was the reason why they were unable to believe. It was like Isaiah wrote somewhere else that God said:"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "40", "text": "They have refused to understand; they acted as though they were blind people! They were insensible in their inner beings! As a result, they have not perceived my truth They have not understood it in their inner beings! They have not turned from their sinful lives, and because of that I cannot help them!"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "41", "text": "Isaiah wrote that because it was as though he saw ahead of time how great Jesus would be, and he prophesied those things about him."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "42", "text": "Although most of the Jewish leaders[SYN] did not believe that Jesus is ◄ the Messiah/from God►, some of them believed in him. But they would not tell anyone that they believed in him, because they were afraid that if they said that, the Pharisees would not let them worship in the synagogues."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "43", "text": "They wanted people to praise them more than they wanted God to praise them."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "44", "text": "Another day, when Jesus was teaching the people, he shouted, “Those who believe in me, they are not believing in me alone. Instead, it is as though they also believe in the one who sent me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "45", "text": "When they see me and what I am doing, it is as though they are seeing the one who sent me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "46", "text": "I have come into the world to show people God's truth, as a light shows people what is around them. I have come in order that people who believe in me will not remain ignorant of God's truth[MET], as those who are in the darkness are ignorant of what is around them."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "47", "text": "As for those who hear my message but do not obey its commands, I am not the one who judges them. The main reason that I came ◄ into the world/from heaven► was not to judge the people of[MTY] the world. Instead, I came to save them from being punished for their sins."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "48", "text": "There is something that will judge those who reject me and do not accept my message. On the judgment day God will condemn them because they rejected the message that I have told them."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "49", "text": "I have not said things from my own authority. Instead, my Father, the one who sent me, instructed me what to say and how I should say it."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 12, "verse": "50", "text": "I know that paying attention to what he has instructed us leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is exactly (OR, only) what my Father has told me to say.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "1", "text": "When it was the evening before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that it was time for him to leave this world and to return to his Father in heaven. He loved us who were his disciples. He knew we would continue to live here in this world, so now he showed us how completely he loved us."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "2", "text": "We were eating the Passover meal. ◄The devil/Satan► had already suggested to Judas ◄Iscariot/the man from Kerioth village►, the son of Simon, that he should ◄betray Jesus/enable Jesus' enemies to seize him►."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "3", "text": "But Jesus knew that his Father had given to him complete authority to control the situation. He knew that he had come from God and would soon return to God."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "4", "text": "But before he left us, he wanted to show us how we should love each other. So he got up from where he was eating. He took off his outer cloak and wrapped a long towel around his waist, as a slave would do."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "5", "text": "Then he poured some water in a basin. He began to wash our feet, and then dry them with the towel that he had wrapped around himself."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "6", "text": "When he came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, it is not right for you [RHQ] to humble yourself by washing my feet!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "7", "text": "Jesus replied to him, “Now you do not understand the meaning of what I am doing, but you will understand later.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "8", "text": "Peter said, “I will never, ever, allow you to wash my feet!” Jesus replied to him, “If I do not wash you, you cannot continue ◄to be my disciple/to belong to me►.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "9", "text": "So Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, in that case, do not wash only my feet. Wash my hands and my head, too!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "10", "text": "Then, to show him that after God had cleansed people from being guilty for sin, they needed only for God to forgive their daily sins[MET], Jesus said to him, “Those who have recently bathed need only to have their feet washed, because they get dirty very quickly on the dusty roads. The rest of their bodies are clean. Similarly, I have made you disciples free/clean from the guilt of your sins, although not all of you are free from guilt.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "11", "text": "He knew which one of us was going to betray him. That is the reason he said, “Not all of you are free from guilt.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "12", "text": "After he finished washing our feet, he put his cloak back on. Then he sat down and said to us, “Do you understand what I have done for you?"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "13", "text": "You show that you respect me by calling me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord’. You are right to say that, because I am your teacher and your Lord."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "14", "text": "But if I, who am your teacher and your Lord, have washed your feet, you ought to serve each other by doing things like washing each other's feet."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "15", "text": "I have made myself an example for you in order that you should humbly serve each other as I have done for you."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "16", "text": "Listen to this carefully: A servant is not greater than his master. A messenger is not greater than the one who has sent him. So, since you are not greater than I am, you should not be proud and unwilling to serve each other."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "17", "text": "Since you now know these things, God will be pleased with you if you do them.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "18", "text": "“I am not saying that God will bless all of you. I knew what all of you were like when I chose you. But I also chose the one who will betray me, in order that what is written in Scripture might be fulfilled {to fulfill what someone/the psalmist wrote in Scripture}, ‘The one who is acting like he is my friend by eating with me has become my enemy [IDM].’"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "19", "text": "I am telling you about someone betraying me before it happens, in order that when it happens, you may continue to believe that I am ◄ the Messiah/who I say I am►."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "20", "text": "Listen to this carefully: Those who accept any one of you whom I am sending out, God will consider that they are accepting me. And those who accept me, God will consider that they are accepting my Father, who sent me.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "21", "text": "After Jesus said this, he was very troubled within himself. He solemnly declared, “Listen to this carefully: One of you is going to enable my enemies to seize me.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "22", "text": "We looked at each other. We had no way to know whom he was talking about."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "23", "text": "I, the man other people call❛the one Jesus loved❜, was sitting very close to Jesus."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "24", "text": "Simon Peter motioned to me to indicate that I should ask Jesus whom he was talking about."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "25", "text": "So I leaned close to Jesus and asked him, “Lord, who is it?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "26", "text": "Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread after I dip it in the sauce in the dish.” Then, to show us that he knew who would enable his enemies to seize him, after he dipped the bread in the sauce, he gave it to Judas ◄Iscariot/the man from Kerioth village►."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "27", "text": "As soon as Judas ate the bread, Satan took control of him. Then Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "28", "text": "But none of the rest of us who were sitting there knew why Jesus said that to him."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "29", "text": "Since Judas took care of the money people gave us to help us, some thought Jesus was telling him to go and buy some things we needed for the Passover celebration. Some thought he was telling him to give some money to poor people."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "30", "text": "As soon as Judas had eaten the bread, he left. It was dark outside, and it was dark [MET] in his soul, too."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "31", "text": "After Judas left, Jesus said, “Now it will be shown { my Father will show} how wonderful I, the one who came from heaven, am. And by what I do it will be seen {people will see} how great God is."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "32", "text": "Since by what I do people will see how awesome God is, God himself will show people how awesome I am. And he will do that very soon."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "33", "text": "You whom I love as though you were my children, I will continue with you only a short time longer. Then you will look for me, but I will not be here. Just like I told the Jewish leaders[SYN], I am telling you now, that where I am going, you cannot come yet."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "34", "text": "Now I am giving you a new commandment: You must love each other. You must love each other in the way that I have loved you."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "35", "text": "If you keep loving each other, everyone who is aware of that[HYP] will know that you are my disciples.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "36", "text": "Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “The place where I am going, you cannot come with me now, but you will come there later.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "37", "text": "Peter said, “Lord, why can I not come with you now? I am ready to die for you!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 13, "verse": "38", "text": "Jesus answered, “ You say[RHQ] that you are ready to die for me. But the truth is that before the rooster crows early tomorrow morning, you will say three times that you do not know me!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "1", "text": "Jesus continued by saying to us, “Stop being anxious/worried. Keep on trusting in God (OR, You are trusting in God); also keep trusting in me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "2", "text": "Where my Father is in heaven there is plenty of room! If that were not true, I would have told you. I am about to go there to prepare a place for you."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "3", "text": "And because I will go there and prepare a place for you, I will return and take you there to be with me. I will do that so that you may also be where I am."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "4", "text": "You know the road to the place where I am going.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "5", "text": "Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. So how can we know the road?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "6", "text": "Jesus said to him, “I am the road [MET] to where my Father is. I am the one who reveals[MET] the truth about God and the one who gives eternal life to people. I am the only one who can enable people to come to my Father. There is no other way."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "7", "text": "If you really knew who I was, you would have known my Father also. From now on, you know him, and it is as though you have seen him.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "8", "text": "Philip said to him, “Lord, show us your Father and that will be enough for us!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "9", "text": "Jesus said to him, “Philip, I have been with you for a long time. So ◄surely you should know who I really am!/why have you not come to know who I really am?► [RHQ] Those who have seen me, it is as though they have seen my Father. So ◄why do you say ‘Show us your Father’?/you should not say ‘Show us your Father’!► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "10", "text": "Do you not [RHQ] believe that I have a close relationship with my Father, and that my Father has a close relationship with me? The messages that I tell you do not come from me. They come from my Father, who has a close relationship with me. He is enabling me to teach these things, and to perform the miracles that he wants me to do."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "11", "text": "Believe that I have a close relationship with my Father and that my Father has a close relationship with me. If you do not believe that just because of what I say, believe it because of the miracles themselves that I have done."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "12", "text": "Listen to this carefully: You who trust in me will do the kinds of miracles that I have done. Because of what I will do for you(OR, Because I will send God's Spirit to you) after I go to my Father, you will be able to do miracles that will be greater than the ones I have done."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "13", "text": "And whatever you, using my authority, ask me to do, I will do it, in order that I can show you how great my Father is."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "14", "text": "Anything that you ask my Father to do, anything that you ask with my authority[MTY], I will do.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "15", "text": "“If you love me, you will do what I have commanded you."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "16", "text": "Then I myself will request my Father, and he will send you someone else who will ◄encourage/be like a legal counsel for► you."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "17", "text": "I am talking about the Spirit, who will teach you God's truth. He will be with you forever. Those who are opposed to God [MTY] cannot receive him, because they cannot understand what he does, and they cannot know who he is. But you know who he is, because he is with you and he will be inside you."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "18", "text": "When I leave you, I will not let you be alone/helpless [MET]. When I send the Spirit, it will be like I am coming back to you (OR, When I rise from the dead, I will come back to you.)"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "19", "text": "Soon those who do not belong to God [MTY] will not see me anymore. But when the Spirit comes to you, it will be as though you will be seeing me again (OR, But after I become alive again, you will see me again.) Because I will be alive again, you also will have eternal life."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "20", "text": "At that time you will know that I have a close relationship with my Father, and you will have a close relationship with me, and I will have a close relationship with you."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "21", "text": "Those who have accepted my commands and obey them are the people who love me. My Father will love those who love me. I also will love them, and I will fully reveal to them what I am like.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "22", "text": "Then Judas spoke to him. He was not Judas Iscariot, but instead a disciple whose other name was Thaddeus. He said, “Lord, what has happened so that you can fully reveal to us what you are like, and not reveal that to those who do not belong to God [MTY]?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "23", "text": "Jesus replied to him, “Those who love me will obey what I have told them. My Father will also love them. It is those people whom my Father and I will be able to come to and ◄live with/have a personal relationship with►."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "24", "text": "But those who do not love me will not obey what I have told them. So I cannot reveal to them what I am really like. These words that I am telling you have not come just from me. They came from my Father, the one who sent me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "25", "text": "I have told you all these things while I am still with you."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "26", "text": "But my Father will send the Holy Spirit. He is the one who will ◄encourage/be like a legal counsel for► you. He will come with my authority [MTY]. He will teach you all of God's truth that you need to know. He will also cause you to remember all the things that I have told you."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "27", "text": "As I leave you, I am causing you to have inner peace. This inner peace comes from me. I am not causing you to have something that those who do not belong to God [MTY] can give you. So stop being anxious/worried, and do not be afraid."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "28", "text": "You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, but later I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going back to my Father, because my Father is greater than I am, and there he will honor me and will send the Spirit to you."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "29", "text": "I have told you these things now before they happen, so that when they happen you will believe that what I said is true."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "30", "text": "I will not be able to talk to you much longer, because what happens to me will be as though Satan, the ruler of this world, is coming to attack me. But he has no control over what happens to me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 14, "verse": "31", "text": "Instead, the people who do not belong to God [MTY] must learn from what happens to me that I love my Father, and I am doing the things that he has commanded me to do. Now, let's get up and leave here.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 15, "verse": "1", "text": "Jesus talked to us as we were walking along. Speaking figuratively of the need for us to live in a way that God wants us to, he said, “I am like [MET] a genuine vine, not like those Jewish leaders who do not teach the truth. My father is like [MET] a gardener who works to take care of a vineyard."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 15, "verse": "2", "text": "Just like a gardener cuts off the branches that bear no grapes [MET], God gets rid of those who do not please him even though they say that they belong to him. Those branches that bear fruit, the gardener trims so that they may bear more grapes. Similarly, my Father disciplines/corrects those who live as he wants them to live."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 15, "verse": "3", "text": "You are already like the branches that a gardener trims because you have believed the message that I have told you."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 15, "verse": "4", "text": "Remain having a close relationship with me. If you do that, I will remain having a close relationship with you. A branch of a vine cannot bear fruit if it is cut off and left by itself. To bear fruit, it must remain attached to the vine. Similarly, you cannot live the way that God wants you to if you do not remain united to me [MET]."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 15, "verse": "5", "text": "I am like[MET] a vine. You are like[MET] the branches. All those who have a close relationship with me and with whom I have a close relationship will do much that pleases God, like[MET] a vine that bears much fruit. Remember that you can do nothing [HYP] that truly pleases God without my help."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 15, "verse": "6", "text": "A gardener cuts off and throws away useless branches. Then, after they dry up, he picks them up and throws them into a fire and burns them [SIM]. Similarly, everyone who does not remain having a close relationship with me, God will get rid of."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 15, "verse": "7", "text": "If you remain having a close relationship with me and you keep living in accordance with my message, you can ask God to do anything for you, and he will do it."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 15, "verse": "8", "text": "The way my Father is honored is by your {The way you honor my Father is by} doing much that pleases him [MET], and by doing that you will show that you are my disciples."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 15, "verse": "9", "text": "I have loved you just as my Father has loved me. Now keep living in a way that is appropriate for those whom I love."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 15, "verse": "10", "text": "If you obey what I have commanded you, you will be acting in a way that is appropriate for those whom I love, just like I have obeyed what my Father has commanded me and I act in a way that is appropriate for someone whom he loves."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 15, "verse": "11", "text": "I have told you these things so that you may be joyful as I am joyful, and that you may be completely joyful."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 15, "verse": "12", "text": "What I am commanding you is this: Love each other just like I have loved you."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 15, "verse": "13", "text": "The best way that people can show that they love someone is to die for that person. There is no way that you can love someone in a greater way than that."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 15, "verse": "14", "text": "You show that you are my friends if you keep doing what I have commanded you."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 15, "verse": "15", "text": "I will no longer call you my servants, because servants do not know why their masters want them to do things. Instead, I have said that you are my friends, because I, acting like a friend, have revealed to you everything that my Father told me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 15, "verse": "16", "text": "You did not decide to become my disciples. Instead, I chose you, so that you would do many things that please him [MET]. The results of what you do will last forever. I also chose you so that my Father will do for you whatever you, using my authority, ask him to do [MTY]."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 15, "verse": "17", "text": "I repeat what I have commanded you: Love each other.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 15, "verse": "18", "text": "“The people who are opposed to God will hate you. When that happens, remember that they hated me first."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 15, "verse": "19", "text": "If you belonged to those who are opposed to God [MTY], they would love you like they love those who belong to them. But you do not belong to those who are opposed to God [MTY]. Instead, I chose you so that you would separate yourselves from [MTY] them. That is why those who are opposed to God [MTY] hate you."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 15, "verse": "20", "text": "Remember these words that I told you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ That means that you, who are like my servants, cannot expect people to treat you better than they treat me. So, since they have ◄persecuted me/caused me to suffer►, they will ◄persecute you/cause you to suffer► also. If they had paid attention to the things I taught them, they would pay attention to what you teach them."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 15, "verse": "21", "text": "They will treat you like that because you belong to me [MTY], and because they do not know the one who sent me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 15, "verse": "22", "text": "If I had not come and spoken God's message to them, they would not be guilty of rejecting me and my message. But now I have come and told them God's message, so they will have no excuse when God judges them for their sin."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 15, "verse": "23", "text": "All those who hate me, it is as though they hate my Father as well."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 15, "verse": "24", "text": "If I had not done among them the miracles that no one else ever did, they would not be guilty of the sin of rejecting me. But now, although they have seen those miracles, they have hated both me and my Father."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 15, "verse": "25", "text": "But this has happened in order that these words that have been written in their Scriptures might be fulfilled {to fulfill this that◄someone/the Psalmist► wrote in their Scriptures}: ‘They hated me for no reason.’"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 15, "verse": "26", "text": "Later I will send to you from my Father the one who will ◄encourage/be like a legal counsel for► you. He is the Spirit who will teach you God's truth. He will come from my Father. He will tell people about me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 15, "verse": "27", "text": "But you disciples must also tell people about me, because you have been with me from the time when I started my ministry[MTY].”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "1", "text": "Jesus continued by saying to us, “I have told you these things in order that you will not stop trusting in me when people◄ cause you to suffer/persecute you►."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "2", "text": "They will not allow you to worship in ◄synagogues/ their meeting places►. In fact, there will be a time when anyone who kills you will think that he is serving God by doing that."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "3", "text": "They will do such things because they have never known who I really am, nor who my Father is."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "4", "text": "I have told you these things in order that when they start◄ to cause you to suffer/to persecute you► [MTY], you will remember that I warned you. I did not tell you these things when you first started to accompany me[MTY] because I was with you, and they were causing trouble for me, not for you.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "5", "text": "“Now I am about to return to the one who sent me. But I am disappointed that none of you is asking me, ‘Where are you going?’"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "6", "text": "Instead, because I have told you these things, you are very sad."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "7", "text": "But the truth is that it is good for you that I am going away, because if I do not go away, the Holy Spirit, who will ◄encourage/be like a legal counsel for► you will not come to you. But when I go, I will send him to you."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "8", "text": "When he comes, he will prove that those who do not belong to God [MTY] are wrong about what is sinful and about who is really righteous and about whom God will judge and condemn for their sin."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "9", "text": "He will tell people that their greatest sin is that they do not believe in me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "10", "text": "He will tell people that because I am going back to my Father, and you will no longer see me, you will know that I am the one who was truly righteous."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "11", "text": "He will tell people that the fact that God has already determined that he will punish Satan, the one who rules this world, shows that some day God will also punish those who do not belong to him."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "12", "text": "I have many more things that I would like to tell you, but you are not able to accept them now."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "13", "text": "But God's Spirit is the one who will teach you God's truth. When he comes, he will guide you so that you understand all spiritual truth. He will not speak from his own authority. Instead, it is the things that he hears my Father say that he will tell you. He will also tell you about things that will happen later."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "14", "text": "He will honor me by revealing my truth to you."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "15", "text": "Everything that my Father has is mine. That is why I said that the Spirit is able to reveal my truth to you.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "16", "text": "“After a short time I will leave you, and you will not see me. Then a short time after that you will see me again.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "17", "text": "So some of us said to each other, “What does he mean by saying ‘After a short time you will not see me,’ and ‘A short time after that you will see me again’? And what does he mean by‘Because I am going back to my Father’?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "18", "text": "We kept asking each other, “What does he mean by saying ‘After a little while’? We do not understand what he is saying.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "19", "text": "Jesus realized that we wanted to ask him about that. So he said to us, “You are asking [RHQ] each other what I meant when I said, ‘After a short time you will not see me, and then a short time after that you will see me again.’"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "20", "text": "Listen to this carefully: After I◄ leave you/die►, those who oppose God [MTY] will be happy, but you will be sad. But later you will stop being sad and you will become joyful."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "21", "text": "A woman who is about to bear a child feels pain, because that is what happens[MTY] at that time. But after her baby is born, she forgets that pain, because she is very joyful that her child has been born."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "22", "text": "It will be the same with you. I will soon die and you will be sad. But after that, I will see you again. Then you will be joyful, and no one will be able to stop you from being joyful."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "23", "text": "When that happens, you will not ask me any questions about anything. Listen to this carefully: After that happens, my Father will do for you anything you ask, because of his relationship with me [MTY]."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "24", "text": "Up to the present time, using my authority you have not asked God to do anything for you [MTY]. Now keep asking him for things that you need. If you do that, you will receive them, and then you will be completely joyful."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "25", "text": "Although I have been speaking these things using figurative language, there will soon be a time when I will no longer use that kind of language. Instead, I will tell you plainly ◄about my Father/what my Father wants►."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "26", "text": "At that time, you will ask him for things◄because you belong to me/with my authority► [MTY]. I will not need to ask my Father to do what you ask."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "27", "text": "My Father himself loves you because you have loved me and because you have believed that I came from God my Father, so he wants you to ask him (OR, so he does not need anyone to persuade him to help you)"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "28", "text": "I came from my Father into this world. Very soon I will be leaving this world and going back to my Father.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "29", "text": "Then we, his disciples, said, “Now you are speaking plainly, without using figurative language."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "30", "text": "Now we understand that you know everything. You do not need anyone to ask you questions about anything, because you know what we want to ask before we ask you. That also leads us to believe that you came from God.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "31", "text": "Jesus replied, “Now you [RHQ] say that you believe that I came from God."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "32", "text": "But listen! There will soon be a time, and that time is already here, when you will all run away! Each of you will run away to your own home. You will leave me, and I will be alone. But I will not really be alone at that time, because my Father is always with me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 16, "verse": "33", "text": "I have told you these things in order that you may have inner peace because of your relationship with me. In this world you will have trouble. But be courageous! I have defeated those who are opposed to me [MTY], and you can defeat them, too!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 17, "verse": "1", "text": "After Jesus said those things, he looked up toward heaven. Then he prayed, “ My Father, it is now the time [MTY] for me to suffer and die. Honor me as I do that, in order that I may honor you."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 17, "verse": "2", "text": "You gave me authority over all people, in order that I might enable all those whom you chose to come to me to live eternally."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 17, "verse": "3", "text": "The way for people to live eternally is for them to know that you are the only true God, and to know that I, Jesus, am the Messiah, the one you have sent."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 17, "verse": "4", "text": "I have honored you here on this earth by completing all the work that you gave me to do."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 17, "verse": "5", "text": "My Father, now honor me when I am with you again, by causing me to have the greatness I had when I was with you before the world began.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 17, "verse": "6", "text": "“I have revealed what you are like to the people whom you brought to me from among those who do not belong to you [MTY]. Those who came to me belonged to you, and you brought them to me. Now they have obeyed your message."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 17, "verse": "7", "text": "Now they know that everything you have given me, your message and your work, comes from you."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 17, "verse": "8", "text": "I gave them the message that you gave me, and they have accepted it. They now know for certain that I came from you. They now believe that you sent me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 17, "verse": "9", "text": "I am praying for them. I am not praying for those who do not belong to you[MTY]. Instead, I am praying for those whom you have brought to me, because they belong to you."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 17, "verse": "10", "text": "All the disciples that I have belong to you, and all those who belong to you also belong to me. They have shown how great I am."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 17, "verse": "11", "text": "I will not be staying in the world any longer. I will be coming back to you. They, however, will be here in the world among those who are opposed to you. My Holy Father, protect them from spiritual harm by your power [MTY], the power that you gave me, in order that they may be united as we are united."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 17, "verse": "12", "text": "While I have been with them, I have completely protected them by the power [MTY] that you gave me. As a result, only one of them will be eternally separated from you. He is the one who was doomed to be eternally separated from you. That has happened to fulfill what a prophet wrote in the Scriptures would happen."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 17, "verse": "13", "text": "Father, now I am about to return to you. I have said these things while I am still here in the world in order that my disciples may fully experience being joyful, as I have been joyful."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 17, "verse": "14", "text": "I have given them your message. As a result, those who are opposed to you [MTY] have hated them, because my disciples do not belong to those who oppose you [MTY], just like I do not belong to those who oppose you [MTY]."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 17, "verse": "15", "text": "I am asking you, not that you take them out of this world, but instead that you protect them from Satan, the evil one."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 17, "verse": "16", "text": "They do not belong to those who are opposed to you [MTY], just like I also do not belong to them."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 17, "verse": "17", "text": "Set my disciples apart so that they may ◄completely belong to/serve► you, by enabling them to live in accordance with what is true. Your message is true."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 17, "verse": "18", "text": "Just like you sent me here into this world, now I surely will be sending them to other places in [MTY] the world."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 17, "verse": "19", "text": "I dedicate myself to completely belong to you, in order that they also may truly be dedicated {dedicate themselves} completely to you.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 17, "verse": "20", "text": "“I am praying not only for these eleven disciples. I am praying also for those who will believe in me as a result of hearing their message."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 17, "verse": "21", "text": "My Father, I want all of them to be united, just like I am united with you because of my relationship with you and as you are united with me because of your relationship with me. I also want them to be united with us. I want that to happen so that those who do not know you [MTY] may know that you sent me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 17, "verse": "22", "text": "I have honored my disciples just like you honored me, in order that they may be united, as we are united."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 17, "verse": "23", "text": "I want them to be united just like they are united with me and as you are united with me. May they be completely united, in order that those who do not belong to you [MTY] may know that you sent me and that you have loved them just like you have loved me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 17, "verse": "24", "text": "My Father, I want the disciples you have brought to me to some day be with me in heaven, where I will be. I want them to see my greatness. I want them to see the greatness you gave me because you loved me. You gave me that greatness before you created the world."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 17, "verse": "25", "text": "My righteous Father, although the people who do not belong to you [MTY] do not know what you are like, I know what you are like, and my disciples know that you sent me."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 17, "verse": "26", "text": "I have revealed to them what you are like, and I will continue to reveal to them what you are like. I will do that in order that they may love others just like you love me, and in order that I may be in them by my Spirit.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "1", "text": "After Jesus finished praying, he went across the Kidron Brook, along with us disciples, to a grove of olive trees."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "2", "text": "Judas, who was about to enable Jesus' enemies to seize him, knew that he would probably be there. He knew that because Jesus often gathered there with us."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "3", "text": "So Judas came to that grove. He was leading a troop of Roman soldiers and some Temple guards who had been sent by the Pharisees and chief priests. They were carrying torches and lamps and weapons."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "4", "text": "Jesus knew everything that was about to happen to him. So as they approached, he stepped forward and asked them, “Who are you looking for?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "5", "text": "They replied to him, “Jesus, the man from Nazareth.” He replied, “That is who I am.” Judas, the one who was enabling his enemies to seize him, was with them."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "6", "text": "When Jesus told them, “That is who I am,” they lurched backward and fell down on the ground because of his power."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "7", "text": "He asked them again, “Who are you looking for?” They said, “Jesus, the man from Nazareth.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "8", "text": "Jesus replied, “I told you that I am Jesus. So since I am the one you are looking for, allow these disciples of mine to go.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "9", "text": "This happened in order that when they did what he asked them to do, the words would be fulfilled that he had prayed, “I will never lose any of those whom God has brought to me.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "10", "text": "Simon Peter had a long dagger. So he drew it and tried to kill the high priest's servant, but he only cut off the man's right ear. The servant's name was Malchus."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "11", "text": "Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath! ◄I must endure what my Father wants me to suffer./Do you not think that I must endure what my Father wants me to suffer?► [MET, RHQ]”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "12", "text": "Then the troop of soldiers, along with their commander and the Jewish Temple guards, seized Jesus. They tied his hands behind his back."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "13", "text": "Then they took him first to Annas, who was previously the high priest. He was the father-in-law of Caiaphas. Caiaphas was the high priest that year."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "14", "text": "He was the one who previously advised the Jewish Council that it would be better if one man died for the sake of the people than for all the people of the Jewish nation to die."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "15", "text": "Simon Peter and I were following Jesus. Because the high priest knew me, his doorkeeper permitted me to enter the courtyard."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "16", "text": "But Peter had to wait outside near the doorway. However, since I knew the high priest, I went back to the doorway and spoke to the girl who was guarding the entrance. Then she allowed Peter to come in."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "17", "text": "The servant girl who was guarding the doorway said to Peter, “Surely you are not another disciple of that man they have arrested, are you?” He said, “I am not.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "18", "text": "It was cold, so the high priest's slaves and Temple guards made a charcoal fire and were standing around it to keep warm. Peter was also standing near it, warming himself."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "19", "text": "While Peter was doing that, the high priest asked Jesus about his disciples and about what he was teaching people."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "20", "text": "Jesus replied, “I have always spoken where many people [MTY, HYP] could hear me. I have taught them in ◄the synagogues/their meeting places► and in the Temple courtyard, in places where many [HYP] Jews come together. I have spoken nothing secretly."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "21", "text": "So◄why are you asking me questions like this illegally?/you should not be asking me questions like this illegally!► [RHQ] Ask the people who heard what I taught! They certainly know what I said!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "22", "text": "After Jesus said that, one of the Temple guards standing near him slapped him on his face. He said, “◄That is not the way you should answer the high priest!/Is that the way you should answer the high priest?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "23", "text": "Jesus replied to him, “If I said something that was contrary to your laws, you could tell me that what I said that was wrong. But because I said only what was right, ◄you should not be striking me!/why are you striking me?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "24", "text": "Then after Jesus' hands were tied {after they tied Jesus hands} again, Annas sent him to Caiaphas, the high priest."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "25", "text": "As Simon Peter was standing warming himself at the fire, someone else said to him, “You are not one of that man's disciples, are you?” He denied that he was, and said, “I am not.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "26", "text": "Later one of the high priest's servants, a man who was a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off before, said to him, “I saw you with that man in the grove of olive trees, did I not?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "27", "text": "Peter again denied it. Immediately a rooster crowed, as Jesus had said would happen."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "28", "text": "Then the Jewish leaders[SYN] led Jesus from the home of Caiaphas to the headquarters of Pilate, the Roman governor. It was before dawn. Pilate was a non-Jew, and they thought that if they entered his headquarters, they would become unacceptable to God {God would reject them}, and as a result they would not be able to eat the food during the Passover celebration. Because of that, they did not want to enter Pilate's headquarters."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "29", "text": "So Pilate came out to talk to them. He said, “What law do you say that this man has disobeyed?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "30", "text": "They knew that Jesus had not disobeyed any Roman law, so they did not want to answer him. Instead, they said, “If this man were not a criminal, we would not have brought him to you!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "31", "text": "Then Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your own laws!” Then the Jewish leaders[SYN] said, “ No! We want him executed, but we want you Romans to execute him, because we Jews have no right to execute anyone!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "32", "text": "The Romans executed people by nailing them to a cross. So, as a result of what the Jewish leaders said, it was fulfilled { the Romans would fulfill} what Jesus had said previously about the way he was going to die."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "33", "text": "Pilate then went back inside his headquarters. He summoned Jesus. Because the Jewish leaders had said that Jesus claimed to be a king, Pilate said to Jesus scornfully, “Are you the king of the Jews?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "34", "text": "Jesus replied, “Are you asking that because you yourself want to know if I claim to be a king, or because ◄someone else/Caiaphas► said that I claim to be their king?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "35", "text": "Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, so◄ I cannot understand these matters!/how can I understand these matters?► [RHQ] It was your fellow Jews and your chief priests who brought you to me! What have you done to make them want to execute you?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "36", "text": "Jesus replied, “It is not people in [MTY] this world who are making me king. If it was people in this world who were making me a king, my disciples would have fought in order that the Jewish leaders[SYN] would be prevented {to prevent the Jewish leaders[SYN]} from seizing me. But it is not someone here in this world who is making me a king.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "37", "text": "Then Pilate said to him, “So are you saying that you are a king?” Jesus replied, “ Yes, what you have said about my being a king is correct. I was born to become a king, and I came into this world to tell people the truth about God. Everyone who believes the truth pays attention to what I say.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "38", "text": "Pilate said to him, “ How can anyone know what the truth is?” After he said that, he went outside and talked to the Jewish leaders[SYN] again. He said to them, “I do not find that he has done anything at all for which I should punish him."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "39", "text": "But you Jews customarily, every year during the Passover celebration, ask me to release for you someone who is in prison. So would you like for me to release for you the man who you Jews say is your king?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 18, "verse": "40", "text": "They shouted again, “No, do not release this man! Instead, release Barrabas!” But Barrabas was in prison because he was a revolutionist!"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "1", "text": "Then Pilate took Jesus inside and had soldiers◄scourge Jesus/hit Jesus with a whip that had pieces of metal or bone fastened to it►."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "2", "text": "The soldiers also took some branches with thorns and wove them to make something like a crown. Then they put it on his head. They also put a purple robe on him. They did these things to ridicule him by pretending that he was a king."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "3", "text": "Then they kept coming to him and saying, “Hooray for the King of the Jews [IRO]!” and slapping him on his face."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "4", "text": "Once more Pilate came outside and said to the crowd, “Look! I am bringing him out to you so that you may know that I do not find that he has done anything for which we should punish him anymore.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "5", "text": "When Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Look at this wretched man!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "6", "text": "When the chief priests and Temple guards saw him, they shouted, “Command your soldiers to kill him by nailing him to a cross! Crucify him!” Pilate, knowing that they could not legally do it themselves, said to them, “You yourselves take him and nail him to a cross! As for me, I do not find that he has done anything for which we should punish him.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "7", "text": "The Jewish leaders[SYN] replied, “ Our ancestor Moses gave us the law that says we must kill anyone who claims to be God. This man claims that he is ◄the Son of/the man who is also► God, so you must have him killed{ command your soldiers to kill him}.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "8", "text": "When Pilate heard that, he was more afraid of what would happen to himself if he commanded the soldiers to kill Jesus."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "9", "text": "So he took Jesus back inside the headquarters. He said to Jesus, “Where do you really come from?” But Jesus did not answer him."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "10", "text": "So Pilate said to him, “Are you refusing to answer me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you, and I also have authority to have you crucified {command my soldiers to crucify you}?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "11", "text": "Jesus replied, “The only authority you have is what has been given to you by God [MTY] {what God [MTY] has given you}. The high priest put me into your hands. He has done to me what he wanted to do, and you do not really want to do it. So he is guilty of committing a greater sin than you are.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "12", "text": "Because of that, Pilate kept trying to release Jesus. But the Jewish leaders[SYN], threatening to report to the Emperor that Pilate was not going to punish a man who claimed he was a king, continued to shout, “Anyone who claims that he is a king is opposing the Emperor! So if you release this man, we will make sure that the Emperor learns about it, and then he will not consider you as his friend!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "13", "text": "When Pilate heard that, he brought Jesus out again. He sat down at the place where he made decisions about punishing people. The place was called {People called it} The Stone Pavement. In the Aramaic language its name was Gabbatha."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "14", "text": "It was almost noontime, on the day that they prepared things for the Passover celebration(OR, the day before the Sabbath during the Passover celebration). Pilate said to the Jewish leaders[SYN], ridiculing them, “Look at your king!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "15", "text": "They shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Have him crucified {Command your soldiers to nail him to a cross}!” Pilate said to them, “ He is your king! Do you really want me to tell my soldiers to nail him to a cross?” The chief priests replied, “The Emperor is our king! We do not have any other king!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "16", "text": "Then at last Pilate agreed to do what they wanted, and he told the soldiers to crucify Jesus. Then the soldiers took Jesus away."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "17", "text": "As they left, he himself was carrying the cross on which they were going to nail him. They went to a place called The Place of a Skull. In the Aramaic language it is called {they call it} Golgotha."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "18", "text": "There, after removing most of his clothes, the soldiers nailed him to the cross. They also nailed two other criminals to crosses. There was one on each side, and Jesus was in the middle."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "19", "text": "Pilate also had them write on a board a notice that stated why they were executing him, and fasten it to the cross. But all they wrote was ❛Jesus from Nazareth, the King of the Jews❜."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "20", "text": "Many Jews were able to read this sign, because the place where Jesus was nailed {where they nailed Jesus} to the cross was very close to Jerusalem, where many people had come for the celebration, and because it was written {they wrote it} in three languages: Hebrew, Latin, and Greek."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "21", "text": "So the Jewish priests went back to Pilate and protested, saying to him, “Change what they have written from ‘The King of the Jews’ to ‘This man said that he is the King of the Jews’!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "22", "text": "Pilate replied, “What I told them to write is what they have written, and I will not change it.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "24", "text": "They divided most of my clothes among themselves. They cast lots for one piece of my clothing."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "25", "text": "Near the cross where they had nailed Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and another Mary, the woman from Magdala village."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "26", "text": "Jesus saw his mother standing there. He also saw me standing nearby. Then he said to his mother, “This man will now be like your son.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "27", "text": "And he said to me, “ Treat this woman as [MET] your mother.” So from that time I took her to my home and took care of her."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "28", "text": "Later, Jesus knew that everything that God sent him to do had now been completed {that he had now completed everything that God sent him to do}, but he knew that something else that was written in the Scriptures had to be fulfilled { that he had to fulfill something else that they had written in the Scriptures}. So he said, “I am thirsty!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "29", "text": "There was a jar of sour wine there. So someone took a stalk of a plant called hyssop and fastened a sponge to it. Then he dipped the sponge into the wine and lifted it up to Jesus' lips."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "30", "text": "When Jesus tasted the sour wine, he shouted, “ I have finished all that I came to do!” Then he bowed his head and ◄died/handed over his spirit to God►."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "31", "text": "That was the day that they prepared everything for their◄ Sabbath/day of rest►. The next day was a special day of rest, because it was the day of rest during the Passover celebration. The Jewish leaders[SYN] did not want the bodies of the three men to remain on the cross during their ◄Sabbath/day of rest► because leaving bodies hanging overnight would be contrary to their Jewish laws. So they went to Pilate and asked him to command that the legs of the three men on the crosses be broken {the soldiers to break the legs of the three men on the crosses}, so that they would die quickly. Then their bodies could be taken down and buried{someone could take down their bodies and bury them}."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "32", "text": "So, after Pilate agreed, the soldiers went and broke the legs of the first man whom they had nailed on a cross near Jesus. Then they broke the legs of the second man."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "33", "text": "But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was dead already. So they did not break his legs."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "34", "text": "Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear to make sure that Jesus was dead. Immediately blood clots and other liquid flowed out, which showed that Jesus was really dead."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "35", "text": "I, John, saw this myself, and what I am writing is true. I know that I am telling the truth, and I am saying this in order that you may believe in(OR, my testimony about) Jesus."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "36", "text": "These things happened in order that these words would be fulfilled {to fulfill these words} that are written in Scripture: “Not one of his bones will be broken {No one will break any of his bones}.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "37", "text": "And they fulfilled another Scripture passage that has these words: ❛They will look on the one whom they have pierced❜."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "38", "text": "Later, Joseph, from Arimathea town, went to Pilate and asked Pilate to allow him to take Jesus' body down from the cross. Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but he did not tell anyone that, because he was afraid of the other Jewish leaders[SYN]. Pilate permitted him to take Jesus' body, so he went, along with others, and took Jesus' body down from the cross."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "39", "text": "Nicodemus was one of them. He was the man who previously went to visit Jesus at night. Nicodemus bought an expensive mixture of myrrh and aloe spices to put on the body. It weighed about ◄75 pounds/35 kilograms►."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "40", "text": "They took the body of Jesus and wrapped strips of linen cloth around it, putting the spices in with the strips of cloth. They did this according to the Jewish customs about burying bodies in tombs."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "41", "text": "Close to the place where Jesus was crucified {where they nailed Jesus to the cross} there was a grove of trees, and at the edge of that grove was a new burial cave. Nobody had ever been put in that cave previously."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 19, "verse": "42", "text": "The Jewish day of rest would start at sunset, and they had to finish burying his body before then. So, since that cave was nearby, they laid Jesus' body there and rolled a huge stone in front of the entrance."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "1", "text": "Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary, the woman from Magdala village, went to the burial cave with some other women. She saw that the stone had been removed {that someone had removed the stone} from the entrance to the cave."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "2", "text": "So she ran to where Simon Peter and I were staying in Jerusalem. She said to us, “They have taken the Lord's body out of the burial cave, and we do not know where they have put it!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "3", "text": "So Peter and I started going to the cave."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "4", "text": "We were both running, but I ran faster than Peter and got there first."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "5", "text": "I stooped down at the entrance and looked inside. I saw the strips of linen cloth lying there where his body had been laid, but I did not go inside."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "6", "text": "Then Simon Peter, who was running behind me, arrived. He went inside the cave. He, too, saw the strips of linen cloth lying there."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "7", "text": "He also saw the cloth that they had wrapped around Jesus' head. It had been folded and put {Someone had folded it and put it} aside, separate from the linen strips."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "8", "text": "Then I also went inside. I saw those things and I believed that Jesus had truly become alive again."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "9", "text": "Before this happened, we did not understand from what the prophets had written in the Scriptures, that he had to become alive again after he died."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "10", "text": "Then we two disciples went back to where we were staying. In the meantime, Mary returned to the cave."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "11", "text": "As she stood outside the cave crying, she stooped down to look inside the cave."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "12", "text": "She saw two angels in very white clothing, sitting at the place where Jesus' body had been laid. One was where his head had been, and the other was where his feet had been."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "13", "text": "They said to her, “Woman, why are you crying?” She said to them, “They have taken away the body of my Lord, and I do not know where they have put it!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "14", "text": "After she said that, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "15", "text": "He said to her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?” Thinking that he was the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have taken his body away, tell me where you have put it. Then I will get it and bury it properly.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "16", "text": "Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned toward him again and recognized him. Then she exclaimed in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” which means ❛Teacher❜."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "17", "text": "Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to me, because I have not yet returned to my Father. Go to my disciples and tell them, ‘I am about to return to my Father and your Father, to the one who is my God and your God’.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "18", "text": "So Mary went to where we disciples were and told us that she had seen the Lord alive again. She also told us what Jesus said that she should tell us."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "19", "text": "On that Sunday evening we disciples gathered together. The doors were locked { We locked the doors} because we were afraid that the Jewish leaders[SYN] might arrest us. Suddenly Jesus appeared miraculously and stood among us! He said to us, “May God give you inner peace!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "20", "text": "After he said that, he showed us the wounds in his hands and his side. We were very happy when we saw the Lord!"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "21", "text": "Jesus said to us again, “May God give you peace! Just like my Father sent me, now I am sending you to proclaim my message.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "22", "text": "After saying that, he breathed on us and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit!"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "23", "text": "If you forgive people for their having sinned, God will already have forgiven them. If you do not forgive them, God has not forgiven them.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "24", "text": "One of us disciples, Thomas, the one whom we called The Twin, was not with us when Jesus appeared to us."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "25", "text": "When the rest of us told him that we had seen the Lord, he said to us, “If I do not see the marks of the nails in his hands and put my fingers in the place where the nails were, and put my hands into the place in his side where the soldier thrust the spear, I will certainly not believe that he was the one you saw!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "26", "text": "A week later we were in the house again. This time Thomas was with us. Although the doors had been locked { we had locked the doors}, Jesus again appeared miraculously and stood among us. He said, “May God give peace to you!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "27", "text": "Then he showed Thomas his hands and said to him, “Put your finger here! Look at the wounds in my hands! Reach out your hand and put it in the wound in my side! Stop doubting [LIT/DOU]! Instead, believe that I am alive again!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "28", "text": "Thomas answered him, “ You are truly my Lord and my God!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "29", "text": "Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed that about me. But God is truly pleased with those who have believed that about me, even though they have not seen me!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "30", "text": "We disciples saw Jesus perform many other miracles, but I have not written about them in this book."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 20, "verse": "31", "text": "But these that I have written about, I have written about them in order that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, ◄the Son of God/the man who is also God►, and in order that you may have eternal life by trusting◄in him/ in what he has done for you► [MTY]."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 21, "verse": "1", "text": "After that, Jesus showed himself to us disciples when we were at Tiberias Lake, which is another name for Galilee Lake. This is what happened:"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 21, "verse": "2", "text": "Simon Peter, Thomas who was called {whom we called} The Twin, Nathaniel from Cana town in Galilee, my older brother and I, and two other disciples were together."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 21, "verse": "3", "text": "Simon Peter said to us, “ I am going to try to catch some fish.” We said, “We will go with you.” So we went down to the lake and got into the boat. But that night we caught nothing."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 21, "verse": "4", "text": "Early the next morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but we did not know that it was Jesus."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 21, "verse": "5", "text": "He called out to us, “My friends, you have not caught any fish, have you?” We answered, “You are correct, we have not caught any.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 21, "verse": "6", "text": "He said to us, “Throw your net out from the right-hand side of the boat! Then you will find some!” We did that, and we caught so many fish in the net that we were unable to pull the net into the boat"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 21, "verse": "7", "text": "But I knew that it was Jesus, so I said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” Peter had taken off his cloak while he was working, but as soon as he heard me say“It is the Lord!” he wrapped his cloak around himself and jumped into the water and swam to shore."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 21, "verse": "8", "text": "The rest of us came to the shore in the boat, pulling the net full of fish. We were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards/meters."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 21, "verse": "9", "text": "When we got to the shore, we saw that there was a fire of burning coals there, with a large fish on the fire, and some buns."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 21, "verse": "10", "text": "Jesus said to us, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 21, "verse": "11", "text": "Simon Peter got in the boat and dragged the net to the shore. It was full of large fish. There were 153 of them! But in spite of there being so many fish, the net was not torn."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 21, "verse": "12", "text": "Jesus said to us, “Come and eat some breakfast!” None of us dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because we knew that it was the Lord."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 21, "verse": "13", "text": "Jesus took the buns and gave them to us. He did the same with the fish."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 21, "verse": "14", "text": "That was the third time that Jesus appeared to us disciples after God caused him to become alive again after he died."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 21, "verse": "15", "text": "When we had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “John's son Simon, do you love me more than these other disciples do?” Peter said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that you are dear to me (OR, that I love you).” Jesus said, “Give to those who belong to me what they need spiritually, like[MET] a shepherd provides food for his lambs.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 21, "verse": "16", "text": "Jesus said to him again, “John's son Simon, do you love me?” He replied, “Yes, Lord, you know that you are dear to me (OR, that I love you).” Jesus said to him, “Take care of those who belong to me, like[MET] a shepherd takes care of his sheep.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 21, "verse": "17", "text": "Jesus said to him a third time, “John's son Simon, am I really dear to you (OR, do you really love me)?” Peter was grieved because Jesus asked him this three times, and because the third time he changed the question. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that you are dear to me (OR, that I love you).” Jesus said, “Give to those who belong to me what they need spiritually, as[MET] a shepherd provides food for his sheep."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 21, "verse": "18", "text": "Now listen to this carefully: When you were young, you put your clothes on by yourself, and you went wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will stretch out your arms, and someone will fasten them with a rope and will lead you to a place where you do not want to go.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 21, "verse": "19", "text": "Jesus said this to indicate how Peter would die ◄ violently/on a cross► in order to honor God. Then Jesus said to him, “Keep being my faithful disciple until you die.”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 21, "verse": "20", "text": "Peter turned around and saw that I was following them. I was the one who leaned close to Jesus during the Passover meal and said, “Lord, who is going to enable your enemies to seize you?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 21, "verse": "21", "text": "When Peter saw me, he asked, “Lord, what is going to happen to him?”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 21, "verse": "22", "text": "Jesus said to him, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, ◄that is not your concern!/what is that to you?► [RHQ] You be my faithful disciple!”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 21, "verse": "23", "text": "Some of the other believers heard a report of what Jesus had said about me, and they thought that Jesus meant that I would not die. But Jesus did not say that I would not die. He said only, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, ◄that is not your concern!/what is that to you?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 21, "verse": "24", "text": "I, John, am the disciple who has seen all these things and I have written them down. We elders of the congregation at Ephesus know that what John has written is true."}
{"book": "JHN", "chapter": 21, "verse": "25", "text": "Jesus did many other things. If they would all be written {If people would write them all} down in detail, I suppose that the whole world would not have enough space [HYP] to contain the books that would be written {that they would write} about what he did."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "1", "text": "Dear Theophilus, In my first book that I wrote for you, I wrote about many of the things that Jesus did and taught"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "2", "text": "until the day on which he was taken { God took him} up to heaven. Before he went to heaven, saying what the Holy Spirit told him, he told the apostles whom he had chosen the things that he wanted them to know."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "3", "text": "After he had suffered and died on the cross, he became alive again. As he appeared to them often during the next forty days, the apostles saw him many times. He proved to them in many ways that he was alive again. He talked with them about how God would rule [MET] the lives of people who accepted him as their king."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "4", "text": "One time while he was with them, he told them, “Do not leave Jerusalem yet. Instead, wait here until my Father sends his Spirit[MTY] to you, as he promised to do. You have heard me speak to you about that."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "5", "text": "John baptized people in water because they said that they wanted to change their lives, but after a few days [LIT] God will put the Holy Spirit within you to truly change your lives.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "6", "text": "One day when the apostles met together with Jesus, they asked him, “Lord, will you(sg) now become the King [MET] over us Israelite people like King David, who ruled long ago?” (OR, “Lord, will you(sg) now defeat the Romans and restore the kingdom to us Israelite people?”)"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "7", "text": "He replied to them, “You do not need to know the time periods and days when that will happen. My Father alone has decided when he will make me king."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "8", "text": "But you do need to know that the Holy Spirit will make you spiritually strong when he comes to live in you. Then you will powerfully tell people about me in Jerusalem and in all the other places in Judea district, in Samaria district, and in places far away all over [IDM] the world.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "9", "text": "After he said that, he was taken { God took him} up to heaven, while they were watching. He went up into a cloud [PRS], which prevented them from seeing him anymore."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "10", "text": "While the apostles were still staring towards the sky as he was going up, suddenly two men who were wearing white clothes stood beside them. They were angels."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "11", "text": "One of them said, “You men from Galilee district, ◄you do not need to stand here any longer looking up at the sky!/why do you still stand here looking up at the sky?► [RHQ] Some day this same Jesus, whom God took from you up to heaven, will come back to earth. He will return in the same manner as you just now saw him when he went up to heaven, but he will not return now.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "12", "text": "Then after the two angels left, the apostles returned to Jerusalem from Olive Tree Hill, which was about ◄a half mile/one kilometer► [MTY] from Jerusalem."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "13", "text": "When they entered the city, they went upstairs to the room in the house where they were staying. Those who were there included Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, another James the son of Alphaeus, Simon who belonged to the group that wanted to expel the Romans, and Judas the son of another man named James."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "14", "text": "All these apostles agreed concerning the things about which they continually were praying together. Others who prayed with them included the women who had accompanied Jesus, Mary who was Jesus' mother, and his younger brothers."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "15", "text": "During those days Peter stood up among his fellow believers. There were at that place a group of about 120 of Jesus' followers. Peter said,"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "16", "text": "“My fellow believers, there are words that King David wrote [MTY] in the Scriptures long ago that needed to be fulfilled {to happen as he said they would}. The Holy Spirit, who knew that Judas would be the one who would fulfill those words, told David what to write."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "17", "text": "Although Judas had been chosen { Jesus had chosen Judas}, along with the rest of us(exc) to serve as an apostle, Judas was the person who led to Jesus the people who seized him.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "18", "text": "The Jewish leaders gave Judas money when he promised to treacherously/wickedly betray Jesus. Later Judas returned that money to them. When Judas hanged himself, his body fell down to the ground. His abdomen burst open, and all his intestines spilled out. So the Jewish leaders bought a field using that money."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "19", "text": "All the people who reside in Jerusalem heard about that, so they called that field in their own Aramaic language, Akeldama, which means ❛Field of Blood❜, because it was where someone bled and died."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "20", "text": "Peter also said, “ I perceive that what happened to Judas is like what the writer of Psalms desired to happen: ‘May his house become deserted, and may there be no one to live in it.’ (OR, ‘ Judge him, Lord, so that neither he nor anyone else may live in his house!)’ And it seems that these other words that David wrote also refer to Judas: ‘Let someone else take over his work as a leader.’”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "21", "text": "“So it is necessary for us apostles to choose a man to replace Judas. He must be one who accompanied [MTY] us all the time when the Lord Jesus was with us."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "22", "text": "That would be from the time when John the Baptizer baptized Jesus until the day when Jesus was taken {when God took Jesus} from us up to heaven. He must be one who saw Jesus alive again after he died.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "23", "text": "So the apostles and other believers suggested the names of two men who qualified. One man was Joseph, who was called {whom people called} Barsabbas (OR, Joseph Barsabbas) who also had the Roman name Justus. The other man was Matthias."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "24-25", "text": "Then they prayed like this: “Lord Jesus, Judas stopped being an apostle. He died and went to the place where he deserved to be[EUP]. So we(exc) need to choose someone to replace Judas in order that he can serve you(sg) by becoming an apostle. You(sg) know what everyone is really like. So please show us which of these two men you have chosen.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "26", "text": "Then they cast lots to choose between the two of them, and the lot fell for Matthias. (OR, Then one of the apostles shook in a container small objects/stones that they had marked to determine which man God had chosen. And the small object/stone that they had marked for Matthias fell out of the container). So Matthias was considered {they considered Matthias} to be an apostle along with the other eleven apostles."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "1", "text": "On the day when the Jews were celebrating Pentecost festival, the believers were all together in one place in Jerusalem."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "2", "text": "Suddenly they heard a noise coming from the sky that sounded like a strong wind. Everyone in the entire house where they were sitting heard the noise."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "3", "text": "Then they saw what looked like flames of fire. These flames separated from one another, and one of them came down on the head of each of the believers."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "4", "text": "Then all of the believers were ◄completely controlled/empowered► by the Holy Spirit {the Holy Spirit ◄completely controlled/empowered► all of the believers}, and he enabled them to begin speaking other languages [MTY] that they had not learned."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "5", "text": "At that time many Jews were staying in Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost festival. They were people who always tried to obey the Jewish laws. They had come from many different [HYP] countries."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "6", "text": "When they heard that loud noise like a wind, a crowd came together to the place where the believers were. The crowd ◄was amazed/did not know what to think►, because each of them was hearing one of the believers speaking in that person's own language."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "7", "text": "They were completely amazed, and they said to each other, “All these men who are speaking have [RHQ] always resided in Galilee district, so they would not know our languages."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "8", "text": "◄ We(inc) do not understand how these men can speak our own native languages!/How can these men speak our own native languages?► [RHQ] But all of us hear them doing that"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "9", "text": "Some of us are from the regions of Parthia and Media and Elam, and others of us reside in the regions of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "10", "text": "There are some from Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt, and the regions in Libya that are near Cyrene city. There are others of us who are here visiting Jerusalem from Rome."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "11", "text": "They include native Jews as well as non-Jews who have accepted what we Jews believe. And others of us are from Crete Island and from the region of Arabia. So how is it that these people are speaking our languages [MTY], telling us about◄the great/the mighty things► that God has done?”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "12", "text": "All those people were amazed, and did not know what to think about what was happening. So they asked one another, “What does this mean?”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "13", "text": "But some of them ◄made fun of/laughed at► those who believed in Jesus. They said, “ These people are talking like this because they have drunk too much new wine!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "14", "text": "So Peter stood up with the other eleven apostles and spoke loudly to the crowd of people, saying, “ My fellow Jews and you others who are staying in Jerusalem, listen to me, all of you, and I will explain to you what is happening!"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "15", "text": "Some of you think that we(exc) are drunk, but we are not drunk. It is only nine o'clock in the morning, and people here never get drunk this early in the day!"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "16", "text": "Instead, what has happened to us is the miraculous thing that the prophet Joel wrote about long ago. Joel wrote: God says,"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "17", "text": "‘During the last/final days before I judge all people, I will give my Spirit abundantly/generously to people [SYN] everywhere. As a result, your sons and daughters will tell people messages from me, the young men among you will see visions from me, and the old men among you will have dreams that I will give them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "18", "text": "During those days I will abundantly/generously give my Spirit even to men and women believers who are my slaves/servants, so they can tell people messages from me."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "19", "text": "I will cause amazing things to happen in the sky, and I will do miracles on the earth that will show that I am powerful. Here on the earth [CHI] I will cause wars with blood, fire and thick/dark smoke everywhere."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "20", "text": "In the sky the sun will appear dark to people and the moon will appear red to them. Those things will happen before the important and splendid/amazing day [MTY] when I, the Lord God, will come to judge everyone."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "21", "text": "Before that time, all those who ask me[MTY] to save them from the guilt of their sins will be saved { I, the Lord, will save all those who ask me[MTY] to save them from the guilt of their sins.}’”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "22", "text": "Peter continued, “ My fellow Israelites, listen to me! When Jesus from Nazareth town lived among you, God proved to you that he had sent him by enabling him to do many amazing miracles. You yourselves know that this is true."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "23", "text": "Even though you knew that, you turned this man Jesus over to his enemies. However, God had already planned for that, and he knew all about it. Then you urged men [SYN] who do not obey God's law to kill Jesus. They did that by nailing him to a cross."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "24", "text": "He suffered terribly when he died, but God caused him to become alive again. God did not let him continue to be dead, because it was not possible for him [PRS] to remain dead.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "25", "text": "“ Long ago King David wrote what the Messiah said, I knew that you, Lord God, would always be near me. You are right beside [MTY] me, so I will not be afraid of those who want to harm me."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "26", "text": "Because of that I [SYN] joyfully praise you, O God. And I am completely confident that you(sg) will◄ cause my body to become alive again/ raise me from the dead►."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "27", "text": "You will not allow my spirit to remain in the place where the dead are. You will not even let my body decay, because I am devoted to you and always obey you."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "28", "text": "You have told me that you will cause my body to become alive again. You will make me very happy because you will be with me forever.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "29", "text": "Peter continued, “My fellow Jews, I can tell you confidently that our royal ancestor, King David, died, and that his body was buried {that people buried his body}. And the place where they buried his body is still here today."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "30", "text": "So we(inc) know that David was not speaking those words about himself. But because he was a prophet, he spoke about the Messiah. David knew that God had strongly promised him that he would cause one of his descendants to become king [MTY] like David was king. (OR, to be the Messiah who would rule God's people like David had ruled them.)"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "31", "text": "David knew beforehand what God would do, so he was able to say that God would cause the Messiah to live again after he died. He said that God would not let the Messiah remain in the place of the dead, nor let his body decay.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "32", "text": "“ After this man Jesus had died, God caused him to become alive again. All of us(exc), his followers, have seen and tell people that Jesus has become alive again."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "33", "text": "God has greatly honored Jesus by causing him to rule right beside him [MTY] in heaven. Jesus has received the Holy Spirit from God his Father, just like God promised. So Jesus has generously/abundantly given us the Holy Spirit, and he has shown that by what you are seeing and hearing."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "34", "text": "We(inc) know that David was not speaking about himself because David did not go up into heaven as Jesus did. Besides that, David himself said this about the Messiah: The Lord God said to my Lord the Messiah, ‘Reign here beside me,"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "35", "text": "while I completely defeat [MTY] your enemies.’”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "36", "text": "Peter concluded, “So I want you and all other Israelites [MTY] to acknowledge that God has caused this Jesus to be both our Lord/Ruler and the Messiah. But God considers that you are the ones who nailed Jesus to a cross.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "37", "text": "When the people heard what Peter said, they felt very guilty [IDM]. So they asked him and the other apostles, “Fellow-countrymen, what should we(exc) do so that God will forgive us?”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "38", "text": "Peter answered them, “Each of you should turn away from your sinful behavior. Then we(exc) will baptize you, if you now believe in Jesus Christ. Then God will give you the Holy Spirit."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "39", "text": "God has promised to do that[MTY] for you and your descendants, and for all others who believe in him, even those who live far away from here. The Lord our God will give his Spirit to everyone whom he invites to become his people!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "40", "text": "Peter spoke much more and spoke strongly/forcefully to them. He pleaded with them, “ Ask God to save you so that he will not punish you when he punishes these evil people who have rejected Jesus!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "41", "text": "So the people who believed Peter's message were baptized. There were about three thousand [SYN] who joined the group of believers that day."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "42", "text": "They continually obeyed what the apostles taught, and they very frequently met together with the other believers. And they continually ate together and celebrated the Lord's Supper, and continually prayed together."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "43", "text": "All the people [SYN] who were in Jerusalem were greatly reverencing God because the apostles were frequently doing many kinds of miraculous things."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "44", "text": "All of those who believed in Jesus were united and regularly met together. They were also sharing everything that they had with one another."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "45", "text": "From time to time some of them sold some of their land and some of the other things that they owned, and they would give some of the money from what they sold to others among them, according to what they needed."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "46", "text": "Every day they continued meeting together in the temple area. And every day they gladly and generously shared their food [SYN] with each other, as they ate together and celebrated the Lord's Supper in their houses."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "47", "text": "As they did so, they were praising God, and all the other people in Jerusalem were thinking favorably about them. As those things were happening, every day the Lord Jesus increased the number of people who were being saved {whom he was saving} from the guilt of their sins."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "1", "text": "One day Peter and John were going to the Temple courtyard. It was three o'clock in the afternoon, which was the time when people prayed there publicly."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "2", "text": "There was a man there who had been lame from the time he was born. He was sitting by the gate called Beautiful Gate, at the entrance to the Temple area. People put him there every day, so that he could ask those who were entering or leaving the temple courtyard to give him some money."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "3", "text": "As Peter and John were about to enter the Temple courtyard, the lame man saw them and asked them several times to give him some money. (OR, The lame man said to them several times, “Please give me some money!”)"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "4", "text": "As Peter and John looked directly at him, Peter said to him, “Look at us!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "5", "text": "So he looked directly at them, expecting to get some money from them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "6", "text": "Then Peter said to him, “I do not have any money [MTY], but what I can do, I will do for you. Jesus Christ, who was from Nazareth town, has authorized [MTY] me to heal you! So get up and walk!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "7", "text": "Then Peter grasped the man's right hand and helped him to stand up. Immediately the man's feet and ankles became strong."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "8", "text": "He jumped up and began to walk! Then he entered the Temple area with them, walking and leaping and praising God!"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "9", "text": "All the people there saw that man walking and praising God."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "10", "text": "They recognized that he was the man who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate in the Temple courtyard and ask people for money! So all the people there were greatly amazed at what had happened to him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "11", "text": "As the man clung to Peter and John, all the people were so surprised that they did not know what to think So they ran to the two apostles at the place in the Temple courtyard that is called {that people call} Solomon's Porch."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "12", "text": "When Peter saw that, he said to the crowd, “Fellow Israelites, ◄you should not be surprised about what has happened to this man!/why are you so surprised about what has happened to this man?► [RHQ] And you should not stare at us, either! You seem to [RHQ] think that the two of us enabled this man to walk because we(exc) ourselves are powerful or because we please God very much!"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "13", "text": "So I will tell you what is really happening. Our ancestors, including Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, worshipped God. And now he has greatly honored Jesus, who always served him. Your leaders brought Jesus to the governor, Pilate, so that his soldiers would kill him. And God considers that in front of Pilate you were the ones who rejected Jesus as your king, after Pilate had decided that he should release Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "14", "text": "Although Jesus always did what was right/just and good, you rejected him. Pilate wanted to release him, but you urgently asked Pilate to release ◄a murderer/someone who had killed people►!"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "15", "text": "God considers that you killed Jesus, the one who gives people eternal life. But God has greatly honored him ◄by causing him to become alive again after he died/by raising him from the dead►. Many of us saw him after that, and now we(exc) are telling you about it."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "16", "text": "It is because we two trusted in what Jesus [MTY, PRS] could do, that he made this man, whom you see and know, strong again. Yes, it is because we(exc) trusted in Jesus that he has completely healed this man for all of you to see.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "17", "text": "“Now, my fellow-countrymen, I know that you and your leaders did that to Jesus because you and they did not know that he was the Messiah."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "18", "text": "However, your putting him to death was what God had predicted that people would do. Long ago he told all the prophets [MTY] to write what people would do to the Messiah. They wrote that the Messiah, whom God would send, would suffer and die."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "19", "text": "So, turn away from your sinful behavior and ask God to help you do what pleases him, in order that he may completely forgive you for your sins."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "20", "text": "If you do that, there will be times when you will know that the Lord God is helping you. And some day he will again send back to earth the Messiah, whom he appointed for you. That person is Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "21", "text": "Jesus must stay in heaven until the time when God will cause all that he has created to become new. Long ago God promised to do that, and he chose holy prophets to tell that to people."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "22", "text": "For example, the prophet Moses said this about the Messiah: ‘The Lord ◄your God/the God whom you worship► will cause someone to become a prophet to tell you God's message. God will send him as he sent me, and he will be from among your own people. You must listen to everything that this prophet tells you and obey him[SYN]."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "23", "text": "Those who do not listen to that prophet and obey him will no longer belong to God's people, and God will get rid of them’.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "24", "text": "Peter continued, “All the prophets have told about what would happen during the time [MTY] in which we(inc) are living. Those prophets include Samuel and all the others who later also spoke about these events before they happened."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "25", "text": "You as well as we(exc) are the people to whom God sent the Messiah, as the prophets said [MTY] that he would. And when God strongly promised to bless our ancestors, he also surely promised to bless you. He said to Abraham concerning the Messiah, ‘ I will bless all people on the earth as a result of what your descendant will do.’”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "26", "text": "Peter concluded, “ So when God sent to the earth◄Jesus, the one who always obeys him/his servant Jesus►, he sent him first to you Israelites to bless you. God will enable you to stop doing what is wicked and to start doing what pleases him.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "1", "text": "Meanwhile, in the temple courtyard, there were some priests, the officer who was in charge of the temple police, and also some[SYN] Sadducee sect members. These men came to Peter and John while the two of them were speaking to the people."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "2", "text": "These men were very angry, because the two apostles were teaching the people about Jesus. What they were telling the people was that because ◄ God caused Jesus to become alive again/God raised Jesus from the dead►, God would cause other people who had died to become alive again."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "3", "text": "So those officials seized Peter and John. Then they put them in jail. They had to wait until the next day to question Peter and John, because it was already evening and it was contrary to their Jewish law to question people at night."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "4", "text": "However, many people who had heard the message from Peter believed in Jesus. (OR, But many people had already believed in Jesus, because they had heard the message from Peter.) So the number of men who believed in Jesus increased to about five thousand."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "5", "text": "The next day the high priest summoned the other chief priests, the teachers of the Jewish laws, and the other members of the Jewish Council, and they gathered together in one place in Jerusalem."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "6", "text": "Annas, the former high priest, Caiaphas who was the new high priest, two other former high priests whose names were John and Alexander, and other men who were related to the high priest were there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "7", "text": "They commanded guards to bring Peter and John into the courtroom [MTY] and have them stand in front of them. Then one of the leaders questioned the two of them, saying, “Who do you two claim gave you the power to heal this man? And who authorized [MTY] you to do this [DOU]?”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "8", "text": "So as the Holy Spirit completely controlled Peter, he said to them, “You fellow Israelites who rule us and all of you other elders, listen"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "9", "text": "Today you are questioning us concerning our performing a good deed for a man who was crippled, and you asked us how he became healed."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "10", "text": "So we(exc) want you and all of our other fellow Israelites to know this: It is because Jesus the Messiah [MTY] from Nazareth healed him that this man is able to stand before you. God considers that it was you who nailed Jesus to a cross, but God caused him to become alive again."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "11", "text": "In the Psalms this was written about the Messiah: He is like[MET] the stone that was rejected by the builders {that the builders rejected}. But that stone became the most important stone in the building that they were building. Jesus is that stone, and you are those builders who threw away the stone that was the most important one."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "12", "text": "So he alone can save us [MTY]. God has sent only one person [MTY] into the world who can save us from the guilt of our sins, and that person is Jesus! ”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "13", "text": "The Jewish leaders realized that Peter and John ◄were not afraid of them/spoke boldly►. They also learned that the two men were ordinary people who had not studied in schools. So the leaders were amazed, and they realized that these men had associated with Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "14", "text": "They also saw the man who had been healed standing there with the two of them, so they were not able to say anything to oppose Peter and John."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "15", "text": "So the Jewish leaders commanded guards to take Peter, John, and the man outside of the room where those leaders were meeting. After they did so, the leaders talked with each other about Peter and John."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "16", "text": "Being frustrated, one after another, they said, “◄There is really nothing that we can do to punish these two men!/How can we(inc) do anything to punish these two men?► [RHQ] Almost everyone [HYP] who is living in Jerusalem knows that they have done an amazing miracle, so we cannot tell people that it did not happen!"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "17", "text": "However, we must not allow other people to hear about this miracle. So we must tell these men that we will punish them if they continue to tell other people about this [MTY] man who they say gave them the power to do it.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "18", "text": "So the Jewish leaders commanded guards to bring the two apostles into that room again. After they did so, they commanded them both that they should never speak about Jesus, and they should not teach anyone about him[MTY] again."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "19", "text": "But Peter and John replied, “Would God think that it is right for us two to obey you and not to obey him? We(exc) will let you decide what you think is proper."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "20", "text": "But as for us, we cannot obey you. We will not stop telling people about the things that we(exc) have seen Jesus do and what we have heard him teach.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "21-22", "text": "Then the Jewish leaders again told Peter and John not to disobey them. But all the people there were praising God about what had happened to the lame man. The leaders knew that only God could have enabled Peter and John to miraculously heal the man, because the man was more than forty years old and he was lame when his mother bore him. They also knew that the people would become angry if they punished the two apostles. So, because they could not decide how to punish Peter and John, they finally let them go."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "23", "text": "After Peter and John had been released, they went to the other believers and reported all that the chief priests and other Jewish elders had said to them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "24", "text": "When they heard that, they all agreed as they prayed to God, and one of them prayed, “O Lord! You(sg) made the sky, the earth and the oceans, and everything in them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "25", "text": "The Holy Spirit caused our ancestor, King David [MTY], who served you, to write these words:"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "27", "text": "Lord, we know that what you(sg) said long ago was true, because King Herod and the governor, Pontius Pilate, and many other people, both non-Jews and Israelites, assembled together here in this city. They planned to kill Jesus, who devotedly served you and whom you appointed [MTY] to be the Messiah."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "28", "text": "Because you(sg) are all-powerful, those people did only what you [SYN] allowed them to do. It was what you decided long ago would happen.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "29", "text": "“So now, Lord, listen to what they are saying about punishing us! Help us who serve you(sg) to very boldly speak messages from you(sg) about Jesus"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "30", "text": "Also, by your power [MTY] miraculously heal sick people and do other amazing miracles [SYN] that show people your power! Ask Jesus, who always serves you, to give us the authority[MTY] to do such miracles! ”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "31", "text": "When the believers had finished praying, the place where they were meeting shook. All of them were ◄completely controlled/empowered► by the Holy Spirit {the Holy Spirit ◄completely controlled/empowered► all of them}, with the result that they began to speak boldly the words that God told them to speak."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "32", "text": "The group of people who had believed in Jesus were completely agreed about what they thought and what they wanted/desired. Not one of them claimed that he alone owned anything. Instead, they shared with one another everything that they had."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "33", "text": "The apostles continued to tell others, very powerfully, that God had ◄caused the Lord Jesus to become alive again/raised the Lord Jesus from the dead►. People knew that God was graciously helping all the believers."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "34", "text": "Some of the believers who owned land or houses would occasionally sell some of their property. Then they would bring the money for what they sold"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "35", "text": "and they would present it to the apostles [MTY]. Then the apostles would give money to any believer who needed it. So no one among the believers was lacking anything."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "36", "text": "For example, there was Joseph. He was a descendant of Levi and he was born on Cyprus Island. The apostles called him Barnabas; in the Jewish language that name means a person who [IDM] always encourages others."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 4, "verse": "37", "text": "He sold one of his fields, and brought the money to the apostles for them to distribute to other believers."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "1", "text": "But there was one of the believers whose name was Ananias, and whose wife's name was Sapphira. He also sold some land."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "2", "text": "He kept for himself some of the money he had received for the land, and his wife knew that he had done that. Then he brought the rest of the money and presented it to the apostles [MTY]."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "3", "text": "Then Peter said, “Ananias, you(sg) let Satan completely control you [MTY] so that you(sg) tried to deceive the Holy Spirit and us(exc) . ◄That was terrible!/Why did you do such a terrible thing?► [RHQ] You have kept for yourself some of the money you(sg) received for selling the land, pretending that you(sg) were giving us all of it."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "4", "text": "Before you(sg) sold that land, you truly owned [RHQ] it. And after you sold it, you could [RHQ] certainly still have used the money any way you wanted to. So why did you(sg) ever think [RHQ] about doing this wicked thing? You were not merely trying to deceive us! No, you tried to deceive God himself! ”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "5", "text": "When Ananias heard that, immediately he fell down dead. So all who were there who heard about Ananias' death became terrified [PRS]."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "6", "text": "Some young men came in, wrapped his body in a sheet, and carried it out and buried it."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "7", "text": "About three hours later, his wife came in, but she did not know what had happened."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "8", "text": "As Peter showed her the money that Ananias had brought, he asked her, “Tell me, is this the amount of money you two received for the land you sold?” She said, “Yes, that's what we(exc) received.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "9", "text": "So Peter said to her, “ You both did a terrible thing! You two agreed [RHQ] to try to determine if you could do that without the Spirit of the Lord God revealing to anyone that you two tried to deceive them! Listen! Do you(sg) hear the footsteps [SYN] of the men who buried your husband? They are right outside this door, and they will carry your corpse out to bury it, too!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "10", "text": "Immediately Sapphira fell down dead at Peter's feet. Then the young men came in. When they saw that she was dead, they carried her body out and buried it beside her husband's body."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "11", "text": "So all the believers in Jerusalem became greatly frightened [PRS] because of what God had done to Ananias and Sapphira. And all the others who heard people tell about those things also became greatly frightened."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "12", "text": "God was enabling the apostles to do many amazing miracles among the people. All the believers were meeting together regularly in the temple courtyard at the place called Solomon's Porch."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "13", "text": "All of the other people who had not yet believed in Jesus were afraid to associate with the believers, because they knew that if they did anything evil, God would punish them, as well as revealing it to the believers. However, those people continued to greatly respect the believers."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "14", "text": "Many more men and women started believing in the Lord Jesus, and they joined the group of believers."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "15", "text": "The apostles were doing amazing miracles, so people were bringing those who were sick into the streets and laying them on stretchers and mats, in order that when Peter came by he would touch them, or at least his shadow might come upon some of them and heal them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "16", "text": "Crowds of people were also coming to the apostles from the towns near Jerusalem. They were bringing their sick relatives/friends and those who were being tormented/troubled by evil spirits {whom evil spirits were tormenting/troubling}, and God healed all of them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "17", "text": "Then the high priest and all who were with him, who were members of the local Sadducee sect in Jerusalem, became very jealous of the apostles, because many people were accepting the apostles' message."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "18", "text": "So they commanded the Temple guards to seize the apostles and put them in the public jail."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "19", "text": "The guards did that, but during the night an angel from the Lord God opened the jail doors and brought the apostles outside! The guards were not aware of what the angel had done."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "20", "text": "Then the angel said to the apostles, “Go to the Temple courtyard, stand there, and tell the people all about how God can give them eternal life!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "21", "text": "So having heard this, about dawn they entered the Temple courtyard and began to teach the people again about Jesus. Meanwhile, the high priest and those who were with him summoned the other Jewish Council members. Altogether they made up the entire Council of Israel. After they all gathered together, they sent guards to the jail to bring in the apostles."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "22", "text": "But when the guards arrived at the jail, they discovered that the apostles were not there. So they returned to the Council, and one of them reported,"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "23", "text": "“We(exc) saw that the jail doors were very securely locked, and the guards were standing at the doors. But when we opened the doors and went in to get those men, none of them was inside the jail!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "24", "text": "When the captain of the temple guards and the chief priests heard that, they became greatly perplexed, wondering what might result from all this."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "25", "text": "Then someone came from the Temple courtyard and excitedly reported to them, “Listen to this! Right now the men whom you put in jail are standing in the Temple courtyard and they are teaching the people about Jesus!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "26", "text": "So the captain of the Temple guards went to the Temple courtyard with the officers, and they brought the apostles back to the Council room. But they did not treat them roughly, because they were afraid that the people would kill them by throwing stones at them if they hurt the apostles."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "27", "text": "After the captain and his officers had brought the apostles to the Council room, they commanded them to stand in front of the Council members, and the high priest questioned them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "28", "text": "He said to them accusingly, “We(exc) strongly commanded you not to teach people about that man [MTY] Jesus But you have disobeyed us, and you have taught people all over Jerusalem about him! Furthermore, you are trying to make it seem that we(exc) are the ones who are guilty [MTY] for that man's death!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "29", "text": "But Peter, speaking for himself and the other apostles, replied, “We(exc) have to obey what God commands us to do, not what you people tell us to do"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "30", "text": "God considers that you are the ones who killed Jesus by nailing him to a cross! But God, whom our ancestors worshipped, ◄caused Jesus to become alive again after he died/raised Jesus from the dead►."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "31", "text": "God has greatly honored Jesus. He has taken him up to heaven! He has authorized him to be the one who will save us and to rule over our lives! God did this so that he might enable us Israelites [MTY] to turn away from our sinful behavior and that he might forgive us for our sins."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "32", "text": "We(exc) tell people about these things that we know happened to Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, whom God has sent to us who obey him, is also confirming that these things are true.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "33", "text": "When the Council members heard those words, they became very angry with the apostles, and they wanted to kill them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "34", "text": "But there was a Council member named Gamaliel. He was a Pharisee, and one who taught people the Jewish laws, and all the Jewish people respected him. He stood up in the Council and told guards to take the apostles out of the room for a short time."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "35", "text": "After the guards had taken the apostles out, he said to the other Council members, “Fellow Israelites, you need to think carefully about what you are planning to do to these men, and I will tell you why."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "36", "text": "Some years ago a man named Theudas rebelled against the Roman government. He told people that he was an important person, and about four hundred men joined him. But he was killed{ soldiers killed him} and all those who had been accompanying him were scattered. So they were not able to do anything that they had planned."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "37", "text": "After that, during the time when they were ◄writing down names of the people/taking the census► in order to tax people, a man named Judas from Galilee province rebelled against the Roman government. He persuaded some people to accompany him. But soldiers killed him, too, and all those who had accompanied him went off in different directions."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "38", "text": "So now I say this to you: Do not harm these men! Release them! I say this because if this is just something that humans have planned, they will not be able to do it. They will fail, like Theudas and Judas did"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "39", "text": "But, if God has commanded them to do it, you will not be able to prevent them from doing it, because you will find out that you are opposing God!” The other members of the Council accepted what Gamaliel said."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "40", "text": "They told the temple guards to bring the apostles and beat/flog them. So the guards brought them into the Council room and beat/flogged them. Then the Council members commanded them not to speak to people about [MTY] Jesus, and they released the apostles."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "41", "text": "So the apostles left the Council. They were rejoicing, because they knew God had honored them by letting people disgrace them because they were followers [MTY] of Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 5, "verse": "42", "text": "And every day the apostles went to the temple area and to various people's houses, and they continued [LIT] teaching people and telling them that Jesus is the Messiah."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "1", "text": "During that time, many more people were becoming believers. Some of them were from other countries and spoke only the Greek language, but most of them had always lived in Israel and spoke the Hebrew language. Those who spoke Greek began to complain about those who spoke Hebrew. They were saying. “When you Hebrew-speaking believers distribute food or money to widows every day, you are not giving fair amounts to the widows who speak Greek!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "2", "text": "So, after the twelve apostles had heard what they were complaining about, they summoned all the other believers in Jerusalem to meet together. Then the apostles said to those other believers, “We(exc) would not be doing right if we stopped preaching and teaching God's message about Jesus in order to distribute food [MTY] and money to the widows!"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "3", "text": "So, fellow believers, carefully choose seven from among you, men whom you know that the Spirit of God controls completely and who are very wise. Then we(exc) will appoint them to do this work,"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "4", "text": "and we(exc) will devote our time to pray and to preach and teach the message about Jesus.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "5", "text": "What the apostles recommended pleased all of the other believers. So they chose Stephen. He was a man who strongly believed in God and whom the Holy Spirit controlled completely. They also chose Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas who was from Antioch city. Nicolas had accepted the Jewish religion before he had believed in Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "6", "text": "They brought these seven men to the apostles. Then after the apostles prayed for those men, they placed their hands on the heads of each one of them to appoint them to do that work."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "7", "text": "So the believers continued to tell many people the message from God. ◄The number of people in Jerusalem who believed in Jesus was increasing greatly./More and more people in Jerusalem were believing in Jesus.► Among them were many Jewish priests who were believing the message about Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "8", "text": "God was enabling Stephen to do many things by God's power. He was doing many amazing miracles among the Jewish people."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "9", "text": "However, some people opposed Stephen. They were Jews from a group that regularly met together in a Jewish meeting place that was{ that people} called the Freedmen's Meeting Place. Those people were from Cyrene and Alexandria cities and also from Cilicia and Asia provinces. They all began to argue with Stephen."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "10", "text": "But they were not able ◄to refute what he said/to prove that what he said was wrong►, because God's Spirit enabled him to speak very wisely."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "11", "text": "Then that group secretly persuaded some men to falsely accuse Stephen. saying, “We(exc) heard him say bad things about Moses and God.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "12", "text": "So, by saying that, they made the other Jewish people angry at Stephen, including the elders and the teachers of the Jewish laws. Then they all seized Stephen and took him to the Jewish Council."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "13", "text": "They also brought in some other men who accused Stephen falsely about several things. They said, “This fellow continually says bad things about this holy Temple and about the laws that Moses received from God."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "14", "text": "Specifically, we(exc) have heard him say that this Jesus from Nazareth town will destroy this Temple and will tell us to obey different customs than Moses taught our ancestors.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 6, "verse": "15", "text": "When all the people who were sitting in the Council room heard that, and as they all stared at Stephen, they saw that his face was shining[SIM] like the face of an angel."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "1", "text": "Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are the things that these people are saying about you(sg) true?”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "2", "text": "Stephen replied, “Fellow Jews and respected leaders, please listen to me! The glorious God whom we(inc) worship appeared to our ancestor Abraham while he was still living in Mesopotamia region, before he moved to Haran town."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "3", "text": "God said to him, ‘Leave this land where you(sg) and your relatives are living, and go into the land to which I will lead you.’"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "4", "text": "So Abraham left that land, which was also called Chaldea, and he arrived in Haran town and lived there. After his father died, God told him to move to this land in which you and I are now living.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "5", "text": "“ At that time God did not give Abraham any land here, not even a small plot of this land that would belong to him. God promised that he would later give this land to him and his descendants, and that it would always belong to them. However, at that time Abraham did not have any children who would◄ inherit it/receive it after he died►.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "6", "text": "“ Later God told Abraham, ‘Your descendants will go and live in a foreign country. They will live there for four hundred years, and during that time their leaders will mistreat your descendants and force them to work as slaves.’"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "7", "text": "But God also said, ‘I will punish the people who make them work as slaves. Then, after that, your descendants will leave that land and they will come and worship me in this land.’”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "8", "text": "“Then God commanded Abraham that every male in his household and all of his male descendants should be circumcised to show that they all belonged to God and that they would obey what he had told Abraham to do. Later Abraham's son, Isaac, was born, and when Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him. Later Isaac's son, Jacob, was born, and Isaac similarly circumcised him. And Jacob similarly circumcised his twelve sons. They are the twelve men from whom we(inc) Jews have all descended.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "9", "text": "“ You know that Jacob's older sons became jealous because their father favored their younger brother Joseph. So they sold him to merchants/traders who took him[MTY] to Egypt. There he became a slave of an official who lived there. But God helped Joseph."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "10", "text": "He protected him whenever people caused him to suffer. He enabled Joseph to be wise; and he caused Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to think well of Joseph. So Pharaoh appointed him to rule over Egypt and to look after all of Pharaoh's property [MTY].”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "11", "text": "“ While Joseph was doing that work, there was a time ◄when there was very little food/of famine► throughout Egypt and also throughout Canaan. People did not have enough food to eat. People were suffering. At that time Jacob and his sons in Canaan also could not find enough food."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "12", "text": "When Jacob heard people report that there was grain/food that people could buy in Egypt, he sent Joseph's older brothers to go there to buy grain. They went and bought grain from Joseph, but they did not recognize him. Then they returned home."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "13", "text": "When Joseph's brothers went to Egypt the second time, they again bought grain from Joseph. But this time he told them who he was. And people told Pharaoh that Joseph's people were Hebrews and that those men who had come from Canaan were his brothers."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "14", "text": "Then after Joseph sent his brothers back home, they told their father Jacob that Joseph wanted him and his entire family to come to Egypt. At that time◄ Jacob's family consisted of seventy-five people/there were seventy-five people in Jacob's family► [SYN]."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "15", "text": "So when Jacob heard that, he and all his family went to live in Egypt.” “ Later on, Jacob died there, and our other ancestors, his sons, also died there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "16", "text": "But the bodies of Jacob and Joseph were brought { they brought the bodies of Jacob and Joseph} back to our land, and Jacob's body was buried {they buried Jacob's body} in the tomb that Abraham had bought, and they buried Joseph's body in Shechem in the ground that Jacob had bought from Hamor's sons.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "17", "text": "“Our ancestors had become very numerous when it was almost time for God to rescue them from Egypt, as he had promised Abraham that he would do."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "18", "text": "Another king had begun to rule in Egypt. He did not know that Joseph, long before that time, had greatly helped the people of Egypt[MTY]."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "19", "text": "That king cruelly tried to get rid of our ancestors. He oppressed them and caused them to suffer greatly. He even commanded them to leave their baby boys outside their homes so that they would die.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "20", "text": "“During that time Moses was born, and he was a very beautiful [LIT] child. So his parents secretly cared for him in their house for three months."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "21", "text": "Then they had to put him outside the house, but Pharaoh's daughter found him and adopted him and cared for him as though he were her own son."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "22", "text": "Moses was taught { The Egyptian teachers taught Moses} many kinds of wise things [HYP] that the people in Egypt knew, and when he grew up, he spoke powerfully and did things powerfully.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "23", "text": "“ One day when Moses was about forty years old, he decided that he would go and see his fellow Israelites. So he went to the place where they worked."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "24", "text": "He saw an Egyptian beating one of the Israelites. So he went over to help [MTY] the Israelite man who was being hurt/beat {whom the Egyptian was hurting/beating}, and he ◄got revenge on/paid back► the Israelite man by killing the Egyptian who was hurting/beating him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "25", "text": "Moses was thinking that his fellow Israelites would understand that God had sent him to free them from being slaves. But they did not understand that."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "26", "text": "The next day, Moses saw two Israelite men fighting each other. He tried to make them stop fighting by saying to them, ‘Men, you two are fellow Israelites! So◄stop hurting each other!/why are you hurting each other?► [RHQ]’"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "27", "text": "But the man who was injuring the other man pushed Moses away and said to him, ‘◄No one appointed you(sg) to rule and judge us(exc) !/Do you(sg) think someone appointed you(sg) to rule and judge us(exc) ?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "28", "text": "Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "29", "text": "When Moses heard that, he thought to himself, ‘Obviously, people know what I have done, and someone will kill me.’ He was afraid, so he fled from Egypt to Midian land. He lived there for some years. He got married, and he and his wife had two sons.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "30", "text": "“ One day forty years later, the Lord God appeared as an angel to Moses. He appeared in a bush that was burning in the desert near Sinai Mountain."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "31", "text": "When Moses saw that, he was greatly surprised, because the bush was not burning up. As he went over to look more closely, he heard the Lord God say to him,"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "32", "text": "‘I am the God whom your ancestors worshipped. I am the God that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob worship.’ Moses was so afraid that he began to shake. He was afraid to look at the bush any longer."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "33", "text": "Then the Lord God said to him, ‘Take your sandals off to show that you(sg) reverence me. Because I am here, the place where you are standing is holy/sacred."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "34", "text": "I have surely seen how the people of Egypt are continually causing my people to suffer. I have heard my people when they groan because those people continually oppress them. So I have come down to rescue them from Egypt. Now get ready, because I am going to send you back to Egypt to do that.’”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "35", "text": "“This Moses is the one who had tried to help our Israelite people, but whom they rejected by saying, ‘No one [RHQ] appointed you to rule and judge us!’ Moses is the one whom God himself sent to rule them and to free them from being slaves. He is the one whom an angel in the bush commanded to do that."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "36", "text": "Moses is the one who led our ancestors out from Egypt. He did many kinds of miracles in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and during the forty years that the Israelite people lived in the desert."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "37", "text": "This Moses is the one who said to the Israelite people, ‘God will appoint a prophet for you from among your own people. He will speak words from God, just like I speak his words to you.’"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "38", "text": "This man Moses was our people's leader when they gathered together in the desert. It is Moses to whom God sent the angel on Mount Sinai to give him our laws, and he was the one who told our other ancestors what the angel had said. He was the one who received from God words that tell us how to live eternally, and Moses passed them on to us.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "39", "text": "“ However, our ancestors did not want to obey Moses. Instead, while he was still on the mountain, they rejected him as their leader and decided that they wanted to return to Egypt."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "40", "text": "So they told his older brother Aaron, ‘Make idols for us who will be our gods to lead us back to Egypt As for that fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt we(exc) do not know what has happened to him!’"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "41", "text": "So, they made an image out of gold that looked like a calf. Then they sacrificed animals and offered other things to honor that idol, and they sang and danced to honor the idol that they themselves had made."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "42", "text": "So God rejected them. He abandoned them to worship the sun, moon and stars in the sky. This agrees with the words that one of the prophets wrote that God said, You Israelite people[MTY], when you repeatedly killed animals and offered them as sacrifices during those forty years that you were in the desert, ◄you most certainly were not offering them to me!/what makes you think that you were offering them to me?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "43", "text": "On the contrary, you carried with you from place to place the tent that contained the idol representing the god Molech that you worshipped. You also carried with you the image of the star called Rephan. Those were idols that you had made, and you worshipped them instead of me. So I will cause you to be taken away { people to take you} from your own country. You will be taken{ They will take you} far from your homes to regions even farther than Babylon country.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "44", "text": "“While our ancestors were in the desert, they worshipped God at the tent that showed that he was there with them. They had made the tent exactly like God had commanded Moses to make it. It was exactly like the model that Moses had seen when he was up on the mountain."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "45", "text": "Later on, other ancestors of ours carried that tent with them when Joshua led them into this land. That was during the time that they took this land for themselves, when God forced the people who previously lived here to leave. So the Israelites were able to possess this land. The tent remained in this land and was still here when King David ruled."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "46", "text": "David pleased God, and he asked God to let him build a house where he and all of our Israelite people could worship God."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "47", "text": "But instead, God let David's son Solomon build a house where people could worship God.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "48", "text": "“However, we(inc) know that God is greater than everything, and he does not live in houses that people [SYN] have made. It is like the prophet Isaiah wrote. He wrote these words that God had spoken:"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "49-50", "text": "Heaven is ◄my throne/the place from which I rule the entire universe►, and the earth is ◄my footstool/ merely like a stool on which I may rest my feet►. I myself [SYN] have made everything both in heaven and on the earth. So you human beings, ◄ you really cannot build a house that would be adequate for me!/do you think you can build a house that would be appropriate for me?► [RHQ] You cannot [RHQ] make a place good enough for me to live in! ”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "51", "text": "“You people are extremely stubborn [MET], not wanting to obey God or listen [MTY] to him! You are exactly like your ancestors! You always resist the Holy Spirit as they did"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "52", "text": "Your ancestors caused [RHQ] every prophet to suffer, including Moses. They even killed those who long ago announced that the Messiah would come, the one who always did what pleased God. And the Messiah has come! He is the one whom you recently turned over to his enemies and insisted that they kill him!"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "53", "text": "You are the people who have received God's laws. Those were laws that God caused angels to give to our ancestors. However, incredibly, you have not obeyed them!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "54", "text": "When the Jewish Council members and others there heard all that Stephen said, they became very angry. They were grinding their teeth together because they were so angry at him!"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "55", "text": "But the Holy Spirit completely controlled Stephen. He looked up into heaven and saw a dazzling light from God, and he saw Jesus standing at God's right side."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "56", "text": "“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open, and I see the one who came from heaven standing at God's right side!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "57", "text": "When the Jewish Council members and others heard that, they shouted loudly. They put their hands over their ears so that they could not hear him, and immediately they all rushed at him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "58", "text": "They dragged him outside the city of Jerusalem and started to throw stones at him. The people who were accusing him took off their outer garments in order to throw stones more easily, and they put their clothes on the ground next to a young man whose name was Saul, so that he could guard them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "59", "text": "While they continued to throw stones at Stephen, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 7, "verse": "60", "text": "Then Stephen fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not punish them (OR, forgive them) [LIT] for this sin!” After he had said that, he died."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "1-2", "text": "Then some men who revered God buried Stephen's body in a tomb, and they mourned greatly and loudly for him. On that same day people started severely persecuting the believers who were living in Jerusalem. So most of the believers fled to other places throughout Judea and Samaria provinces. The apostles were the only believers who remained in Jerusalem."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "3", "text": "While the people were killing Stephen, Saul was there approving of their killing Stephen. So Saul also began trying to destroy the group of believers. He entered houses one by one, he dragged away men and women who believed in Jesus, and then he arranged for them to be put in prison."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "4", "text": "The believers who had left Jerusalem went to different places, where they continued preaching the message about Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "5", "text": "One of those believers whose name was Philip went down from Jerusalem to a city in Samaria province. There he was telling the people that Jesus is[MTY] the Messiah."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "6", "text": "Many people there heard Philip speak and saw the miraculous things that he was doing. So they all ◄paid close attention to/listened carefully to► his words."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "7", "text": "For example, when Philip commanded evil spirits who controlled many people that they should come out of them, they came out, while those spirits screamed. Also, many people who were paralyzed and many others who were lame were healed."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "8", "text": "So many people[MTY] in that city greatly rejoiced."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "9", "text": "There was a man in that city whose name was Simon. He had been practicing sorcery for a long time and he had been amazing the people in Samaria province by doing that. He continually claimed that he was a great/important person."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "10", "text": "All the people there, both ordinary and important people, listened to him. Various ones of them were saying, “This man works in extremely powerful ways because God has caused him to be a great person.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "11", "text": "They continued to listen to him carefully, because for a long time he had astonished them by practicing sorcery."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "12", "text": "But then they believed Philip's message when he preached to them about how God desires to rule [MET] the lives of people who believe in him, and about Jesus being the Messiah [MTY]. Both the men and the women who believed in Jesus were baptized. { Philip was baptizing both the men and the women who had come to believe in Jesus}."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "13", "text": "Simon himself believed Philip's message and, after he was baptized {after Philip baptized him}, he began to constantly accompany Philip. Simon was continually amazed because he often saw Philip doing many kinds of miraculous things."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "14", "text": "When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that many people[PRS] throughout Samaria district had believed the message from God about Jesus, they sent Peter and John there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "15", "text": "When Peter and John arrived in Samaria, they prayed for those new believers in order that the Holy Spirit's power would come to them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "16", "text": "Peter and John realized that the Holy Spirit had not yet begun to empower any of them. They had been baptized { Philip had baptized them} because they had believed in [MTY] the Lord Jesus, but they did not know about the Holy Spirit."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "17", "text": "Then Peter and John placed their hands on the heads of each person, and they received the power of[MTY] the Holy Spirit."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "18", "text": "Simon saw things that convinced him that God had given the Spirit's power to people as a result of the apostles placing their hands on them. So he offered to give money to the apostles,"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "19", "text": "saying, “Enable me also to do what you are doing, so that everyone on whom I place/put my hands may receive the Holy Spirit's power.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "20", "text": "But Peter said to him, “May you(sg) and your money go to hell, because you mistakenly think that you can buy from us what God alone gives to people"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "21", "text": "God has not authorized you to have any part of this ministry of giving the Holy Spirit's power, because he knows that you are not thinking rightly! (OR, because he knows that you are thinking completely wrongly.)"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "22", "text": "So stop thinking wickedly like that, and plead that the Lord, if he is willing, will forgive you for what you wickedly thought/planned to do"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "23", "text": "Turn away from your evil ways, because I perceive that you(sg) are extremely envious of us, and you are a slave of your continual desire to do evil! God will certainly punish you severely! ”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "24", "text": "Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord God that he will not do to me what you just said!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "25", "text": "After Peter and John told people there what they knew personally about the Lord Jesus and declared to them the message about Jesus, they both returned to Jerusalem. Along the way they preached the good message about Jesus to people in many villages in Samaria province."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "26", "text": "One day an angel whom the Lord God had sent commanded Philip, “Get ready and go south along the road that extends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” That was a road in a desert area."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "27", "text": "So Philip got ready and went along that road. Suddenly he met a man from Ethiopia country. He was an important official who took care of all the funds for the queen of Ethiopia. In his language people called their queen Candace. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship God,"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "28", "text": "and he was returning home and was seated riding in his chariot. As he was riding, he was reading out loud from what the prophet Isaiah had written[MTY] long ago."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "29", "text": "God's Spirit told Philip, “Go near to that chariot and keep walking close to the man who is riding in it!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "30", "text": "So Philip ran to the chariot and kept running close to it. Then he heard the official reading what the prophet Isaiah had written. He asked the man, “Do you(sg) understand what you are reading?”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "31", "text": "He answered Philip, “ No! ◄I cannot possibly understand it if there is no one to explain it to me!/How can I understand it if there is no one to explain it to me?► [RHQ]” Then the man said to Philip, “Please come up and sit beside me.” So Philip did that."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "32", "text": "The part of the Scriptures that the official was reading was this: He will be silent when they lead him away to kill him like when people lead a sheep away to kill it. As a young sheep is silent when its wool is being cut off {someone cuts off its wool}, similarly he will not protest [MTY] when people cause him to suffer."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "33", "text": "When he will be humiliated by being accused falsely {people will humiliate him by accusing him falsely}, the rulers◄will not consider him innocent/will consider him guilty►. No one will possibly be able to tell about his descendants, because he will be killed {people will kill him} without him having any descendants on the earth."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "34", "text": "The official asked Philip about these words that he was reading, “Tell me, who was the prophet writing about? Was he writing about himself or about someone else?”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "35", "text": "So Philip began to explain that Scripture passage. He told him the good message about [MTY] Jesus. So the official understood and believed in Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "36-37", "text": "While they were traveling along the road, they came to a place where there was a pond of water near the road. Then the official said to Philip, “Look, there is a pond of water! ◄I would like you to baptize me, because I do not know of anything that would prevent me from being baptized {prevent you from baptizing me.}/Do you know of anything that would prevent me from being baptized {prevent you from baptizing me}?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "38", "text": "So the official told the driver to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the official went down into the pond of water, and Philip baptized him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "39", "text": "When they came up out of the water, suddenly God's Spirit took Philip away. The official never saw Philip again. But although he never saw Philip again, the official continued going along the road, very happy that God had saved him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 8, "verse": "40", "text": "Philip then realized that the Spirit had miraculously taken him to Azotus town. While he traveled around in that region, he continued proclaiming the message about Jesus in all the towns between Azotus and Caesarea. And he was still proclaiming it when he finally arrived in Caesarea city."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "1", "text": "Meanwhile, Saul angrily continued to say, “I will kill those who believe that Jesus is the Lord!” He went to the high priest in Jerusalem"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "2", "text": "and requested him to write letters introducing him to the leaders of[MTY] the Jewish meeting places in Damascus city. The letters asked them to authorize Saul to seize any men or women who followed the way that Jesus had taught, and to take them as prisoners to Jerusalem so that the Jewish leaders could judge and punish them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "3", "text": "Saul took those letters, and while he and those with him traveled toward Damascus. As they were approaching the city, suddenly a brilliant light from heaven shone around Saul."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "4", "text": "Immediately he fell down to the ground. Then he heard the voice of the Lord say to him, “Saul, Saul, ◄stop causing me to suffer!/why are you causing me to suffer?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "5", "text": "Saul asked him, “Lord, who are you?” He replied, “I am Jesus, and you(sg) are causing me to suffer by hurting my followers!"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "6", "text": "Now instead of continuing to do that, stand up and go into the city! Someone there will tell you(sg) what I want you to do.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "7", "text": "The men who were traveling with Saul became so frightened that they could not say anything. They just stood there. They only heard the sound when the Lord spoke, but they did not see anyone."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "8", "text": "Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could not see anything. So the men with him took him by the hand and led him into Damascus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "9", "text": "For the next three days Saul could not see anything, and he did not eat or drink anything."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "10", "text": "In Damascus there was a Jew named Ananias who believed in Jesus. While Ananias was seeing a vision, the Lord Jesus said to him, “Ananias!” He replied, “Lord, I am listening.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "11", "text": "The Lord Jesus told him, “Go to Straight Street to the house that belongs to Judas. Ask someone there if you(sg) can talk to a man named Saul from Tarsus city, because, surprisingly, at this moment he is praying to me."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "12", "text": "Saul has seen a vision in which a man named Ananias entered the house where he was staying and put his hands on him in order that he might see again.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "13", "text": "But Ananias protested, saying, “But Lord, many people have told me about this man! He has done many evil things to the people in Jerusalem who believe in you!"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "14", "text": "And the chief priests have authorized him to come here to Damascus in order to seize all of us who believe in you(sg) [MTY] and take us to Jerusalem!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "15", "text": "But the Lord Jesus told Ananias, “Go to Saul! Do what I say, because I have chosen him to serve me in order that he might speak about me [MTY] both to non-Jewish people and their kings and to the Israeli people."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "16", "text": "I myself will tell him that he must often suffer greatly because of telling people about me [MTY].”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "17", "text": "So Ananias went, and after he found the house where Saul was, he entered it. Then, as soon as he met Saul, he put his hands on him, and he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus himself commanded me to come to you. He is the same one who appeared to you(sg) while you were traveling along the road. He sent me to you in order that you might see again and that you might be completely controlled by the Holy Spirit {that the Holy Spirit might completely control you}.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "18", "text": "Instantly, things like fish scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he was able to see again. Then he stood up and was baptized { Ananias baptized him} immediately."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "19", "text": "After Saul ate some food, he felt strong again. Saul stayed with the other believers in Damascus for several days."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "20", "text": "Right away Saul began to preach to people about Jesus in the Jewish meeting places in Damascus. He told them that Jesus is ◄the Son of/the man who is also► God."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "21", "text": "And all the people who heard him preach were amazed. Various ones of them were saying, “◄ We(inc) can hardly believe that this is the same man who persecuted the believers in Jerusalem!/Is this really the same man who persecuted the believers in Jerusalem?► [RHQ, MTY] And we(inc) know that he has [RHQ] come here to seize us and take us to the chief priests in Jerusalem!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "22", "text": "But God enabled Saul to preach to many people even more convincingly. He was proving from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah. So the Jewish leaders in Damascus could not think of anything ◄to refute what he said/to prove that what he said was not true►."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "23", "text": "Some time later, after Saul had left Damascus and then returned, the Jewish leaders[SYN] there plotted to kill him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "24", "text": "During each day and night those Jews were continually watching the people passing through the city gates, in order that when they saw Saul they might kill him. However, someone told Saul what they planned to do."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "25", "text": "So some of those whom he had helped to believe in Jesus took him one night to the high stone wall that surrounded the city. They used ropes to lower him in a large basket through an opening in the wall. So he escaped from Damascus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "26", "text": "When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he began trying to associate with other believers. However, almost all of them continued to be afraid of him, because they did not believe that he had become a believer."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "27", "text": "But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He explained to the apostles how, while Saul was traveling along the road to Damascus, he had seen the Lord Jesus and how the Lord had spoken to him there. He also told them how Saul had preached boldly about Jesus [MTY] to people in Damascus. The apostles believed Barnabas and told the other believers about that."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "28", "text": "So Saul began to associate with the apostles and other believers throughout Jerusalem, and he spoke boldly to people about [MTY] the Lord Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "29", "text": "Saul was also speaking about Jesus with Jews who spoke Greek, and he was debating with them. But they were continually trying to think◄ of a way to kill him/of how they could kill him►."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "30", "text": "When the other believers heard that those Jews were planning to kill him, some of the believers took Saul down to Caesarea city. There they arranged for him to go by ship to Tarsus, his hometown."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "31", "text": "So the groups of believers throughout the entire regions of Judea, Galilee, and Samaria lived peacefully because no one was persecuting them anymore. The Holy Spirit was strengthening them spiritually and encouraging them. They were continuing to reverence/honor the Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit was enabling many other people to become believers."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "32", "text": "While Peter was traveling throughout those regions, once he went to the coastal plain to visit the believers who lived in Lydda town."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "33", "text": "There he met a man whose name was Aeneas. Aeneas had not been able to get up from his bed for eight years, because he was paralyzed."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "34", "text": "Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you(sg) right now Get up and roll up your mat!” Right away Aeneas stood up."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "35", "text": "Most of the people who lived in Lydda and on Sharon Plain saw Aeneas after the Lord had healed him, so they believed in the Lord Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "36", "text": "In Joppa town there was a believer whose name was Tabitha. Her name in the Greek language was Dorcas. Both of these names mean gazelle/deer/antelope. That woman was continually doing good deeds for others. Specifically, she was helping poor people by giving them things that they needed."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "37", "text": "During the time that Peter was in Lydda, she became sick and died. Some women there washed her body according to the Jewish custom so that the people could bury it. Then they covered her body with cloth and placed it in an upstairs room in her house."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "38", "text": "Lydda was near Joppa, so when the believers heard that Peter was still in Lydda, they sent two men to go to Peter. When they arrived where Peter was, they repeatedly urged/begged him, “Please come immediately with us to Joppa!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "39", "text": "So right away Peter got ready and went with them. When they arrived at the house in Joppa, the two men took Peter to the upstairs room where Dorcas' body was lying. All the widows there crowded around Peter. They were crying and showing him the cloaks and other garments that Dorcas had made for people while she was still alive."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "40", "text": "But Peter sent them all out of the room. Then he got down on his knees and prayed. Then, turning toward Tabitha's body, he said, “Tabitha, stand up!” Immediately she opened her eyes and, when she saw Peter, she sat up."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "41", "text": "He grasped one of her hands and helped her to stand up. After he had summoned the believers and especially the widows among them to come back in, he showed them that Tabitha was alive again."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "42", "text": "Soon people everywhere in Joppa knew about that miracle, and as a result many people believed in the Lord Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 9, "verse": "43", "text": "Peter stayed in Joppa many days with a man named Simon who made leather from animal skins."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "1", "text": "There was a man who lived in Caesarea city whose name was Cornelius. He was an officer who commanded 100 men in a large group of Roman soldiers from Italy."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "2", "text": "He always tried to do what would please God; he and his entire household [MTY] were non-Jews who habitually worshipped God. He sometimes gave money to help poor Jewish people, and he prayed to God regularly."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "3", "text": "One day at about three o'clock in the afternoon Cornelius saw a vision. He clearly saw an angel whom God had sent. The angel came into his room and said to him, “Cornelius!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "4", "text": "Cornelius stared at the angel and became terrified. Then he asked fearfully, “Sir, what do you(sg) want?” The angel answered him, “You(sg) have pleased God because you have been praying regularly to him and you often give money to help poor people. Those things have been like a sacrifice to God."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "5", "text": "So now command some men to go to Joppa city and tell them to bring back a man named Simon whose other name is Peter."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "6", "text": "He is staying with a man, also named Simon, who makes leather. His house is near the ocean.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "7", "text": "When the angel who spoke to Cornelius had gone, Cornelius summoned two of his household servants and a soldier who served him, one who also worshipped God."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "8", "text": "He explained to them everything that the angel had said. Then he told them to go to Joppa to ask Peter to come to Caesarea."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "9", "text": "About noon the next day those three men were traveling along the road and were coming near Joppa. As they were approaching Joppa, Peter went up on the flat housetop to pray."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "10", "text": "He became hungry and wanted something to eat. While someone was preparing the food, Peter saw this vision:"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "11", "text": "◄He saw heaven open/He saw an opening in the sky► and something like a large sheet was being lowered to the ground. It was tied at its four corners with ropes."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "12", "text": "Inside the sheet were all kinds of creatures. These included animals and birds that the Mosaic laws forbade Jews to eat. Some had four feet, others crawled on the ground, and others were wild birds."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "13", "text": "Then he heard God [SYN] say to him, “Peter, stand up, kill and cook some of these and eat their meat!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "14", "text": "But Peter replied, “Lord, surely you(sg) do not really want me to do that! I have never eaten any meat that our Jewish law says is unacceptable to God or something that we(exc) must not eat!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "15", "text": "Then Peter heard[MTY] God talk to him a second time. He said, “ I am God, so if I have made something acceptable to eat, do not say that it is not acceptable to eat!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "16", "text": "This happened three times, so Peter knew that he had to think carefully about what it might mean. Immediately after God had said that the third time, ◄ the sheet with the animals and birds was the pulled back into heaven/ someone pulled the sheet with the animals and birds up into the sky again►."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "17", "text": "While Peter was trying to understand what that vision meant, the men who had been sent by Cornelius {whom Cornelius had sent} arrived in Joppa. They asked people how to get to Simon's house. So they found his house and were standing outside the gate."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "18", "text": "They called and were asking if a man named Simon, whose other name was Peter, was staying there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "19", "text": "While Peter was still trying to understand what the vision meant, God's Spirit said to him, “Three men are here who want to see you."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "20", "text": "So get up and go downstairs and go with them! Do not think that you(sg) should not go with them because of their being non-Jews, because I have sent them here!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "21", "text": "So Peter went down to the men and said to them, “ Greetings! I am the man you are looking for. Why have you come?”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "22", "text": "One of them replied, “Cornelius, who is a Roman army officer, sent us here. He is a righteous man who worships God, and all of the Jewish people [HYP] who know about him say that he is a very good man. An angel ◄who was sent from God/whom God sent► said to him, ‘Tell some men to go to Joppa to see Simon Peter and bring him here, so that you(sg) can hear what he has to say.’”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "23", "text": "So Peter said that he would go with them, and then he invited them into the house and told them that they could stay there that night. The next day Peter got ready and went with the men. Several of the believers from Joppa went with him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "24", "text": "The day after that, they arrived in Caesarea city. Cornelius was waiting for them. He had also invited his relatives and close friends to come to his house, so they were there, too."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "25", "text": "When Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and bowed low in front of him to worship him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "26", "text": "But Peter grasped Cornelius by the hand and lifted him to his feet. He said, “Stand up! Do not reverence/worship me I myself am only human, like you!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "27", "text": "While he was talking to Cornelius, Peter and the others entered a large room inside the house. Peter saw that many people had gathered together there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "28", "text": "Then Peter said to them, “You all know that any of us Jews think we are disobeying our Jewish laws if we(exc) associate with a non-Jewish person or if we even visit him. However, God has shown me in a vision that I should not say about anyone that God will not accept him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "29", "text": "So when you sent some men to ask me to come here, I came right away. I did not say that I could not go with non-Jewish people. So, please tell me, why have you asked me to come here?”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "30", "text": "Cornelius replied, “About this time four days ago I was praying to God in my house, as I regularly do at three o'clock in the afternoon. Suddenly a man whose clothes shone brightly stood in front of me,"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "31", "text": "and said, ‘Cornelius, when you(sg) have prayed, you have been heard by God {God has heard when you(sg) have prayed to him}. He has also noticed that you have often given money to help poor people, and he is pleased with that."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "32", "text": "So now, send messengers to go to Joppa city, in order to ask Simon whose other name is Peter to come here. He is staying near the ocean in a house that belongs to another man named Simon, who makes leather. When Simon Peter comes, he will tell you a message from God.’"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "33", "text": "So I immediately sent some men who asked you(sg) to come here, and I certainly thank you for coming. Now we(exc) all are gathered here, knowing that God is with us, in order to hear all the things that the Lord God has commanded you to say. So please speak to us.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "34", "text": "So Peter began to speak [MTY] to them. He said, “ Now I understand that it is true that God does not favor only certain groups of people."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "35", "text": "Instead, from every group of people he accepts everyone who honors him and who does what pleases him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "36", "text": "You know the message that God sent to us Israelites. He proclaimed to us the good news that he would cause people to have peace with him because of what Jesus Christ has done. This Jesus is Lord not only over us Israelites. He is also the Lord who rules over all people."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "37", "text": "You know what he did throughout the land of Judea, beginning in Galilee. He began to do those things after John had been proclaiming to people that they should turn away from their sinful behavior before he baptized them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "38", "text": "You know that God gave [MTY] his Holy Spirit to Jesus, the Man from Nazareth town, and gave him the power to do miracles. You also know how Jesus went to many places, always doing good deeds and healing people. Specifically, he was continually healing all the people whom the devil was causing to suffer. Jesus was able to do those things because God was always helping him.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "39", "text": "“We apostles tell people about all the things that we saw Jesus do in Jerusalem and in the rest of Israel. The leaders in Jerusalem had him killed by being nailed to a cross."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "40", "text": "However, God caused him to become alive again on the third day after he had died. God also enabled some of us(exc) to see him so that we would know that he was alive again."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "41", "text": "God did not let all the Jewish people see him. Instead, he had chosen us apostles beforehand to see Jesus after he became alive again and to tell others about him. We apostles are the people who ate meals with him ◄after he had become alive again/after he had risen from the dead►."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "42", "text": "God commanded us to preach to the people and tell them that Jesus is the one whom he has appointed to judge everyone some day. He will judge all those who will still be living and all those who will have died by that time."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "43", "text": "All of the prophets who wrote about the Messiah long ago told people about him. They wrote that if people believe in the Messiah [MTY], God would forgive them for their sins, because of what the Messiah would do for them.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "44", "text": "While Peter was still speaking those words, suddenly the Holy Spirit ◄came down on/began to control► all those non-Jewish people who were listening to the message."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "45", "text": "The Jewish believers who had come with Peter from Joppa were amazed that God had generously given the Holy Spirit to the non-Jewish people, too."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "46", "text": "The Jewish believers knew that God had done that because they were hearing those people speaking languages [MTY] that they had not learned and telling how great God is."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "47", "text": "Then Peter said to the other Jewish believers who were there, “ God has given them the Holy Spirit just like he gave him to us Jewish believers, so ◄surely all of you would agree that we(exc) should baptize these people!/would any of you forbid that these people should be baptized?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 10, "verse": "48", "text": "Then Peter told those non-Jewish people that they should be baptized to show that they had believed[MTY] in the Lord Jesus Christ. So they baptized all of them. After they were baptized, they requested that Peter stay with them several days. So Peter and the other Jewish believers did that."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "1", "text": "The apostles and other believers who lived in various towns in Judea province heard people say that some non-Jewish people had believed the message from God about Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "2", "text": "So when Peter and the six other believers returned from Caesarea to Jerusalem, some Jewish believers criticized Peter, because they thought that Jews should not associate with non-Jews[MTY]."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "3", "text": "They said to him, “Not only was it wrong for you(sg) to visit non-Jewish people, you even ate with them!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "4", "text": "So Peter began to explain exactly what had happened concerning Cornelius."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "5", "text": "He said, “I was praying by myself in Joppa town and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw that something like a large sheet was being lowered from heaven. It was tied with ropes at its four corners, and it came down to where I was."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "6", "text": "As I was looking intently into it, I saw some tame animals but also animals that our laws forbid us to eat, including wild animals, snakes, and wild birds."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "7", "text": "Then I heard God [MTY] commanding me, ‘Peter, get up, kill some of these, and cook and eat their meat!’"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "8", "text": "But I replied, ‘Lord, you(sg) surely do not really want me to do that, because I have never eaten [MTY] meat from any animal that our laws say that we(exc) must not eat [SYN]!’"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "9", "text": "God spoke from heaven to me a second time, ‘ I am God, so if I have made something acceptable to eat, do not say that it is not acceptable to eat!’"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "10", "text": "Then after that happened three times, the sheet with all those animals and birds was pulled up into heaven again.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "11", "text": "“At that exact moment, three men who had been {whom Cornelius had} sent from Caesarea arrived at the house where I was staying."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "12", "text": "God's Spirit told me that I should be willing to go with them even though they were not Jews. These six Jewish believers from Joppa went with me to Caesarea, and then we(exc) went into that non-Jewish man's house."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "13", "text": "He told us that he had seen an angel standing in his house. The angel told him, ‘Tell some men to go to Joppa and bring back Simon whose other name is Peter."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "14", "text": "He will tell you(sg) how you and everyone [MTY] else in your house will be saved {how God will save you and everyone [MTY] else in your house}.’"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "15", "text": "After I started to speak, the Holy Spirit suddenly came down on them, just like he had first [MTY] come on us during the Pentecost festival."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "16", "text": "Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John caused people to be baptized in water, but God will cause the Holy Spirit to enter you and change your lives.’"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "17", "text": "God gave those non-Jews the same Holy Spirit that he had given to us(inc) after we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. So, ◄ I could not possibly tell God that he did wrong when he gave them the Holy Spirit! /how could I tell God that he did wrong when he gave them the Holy Spirit?► [RHQ] He was showing that he had received them! ”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "18", "text": "After those Jewish believers heard what Peter said, they stopped criticizing him. Instead, they praised God, saying, “Then it is clear to us that God has also accepted the non-Jews so that they will have eternal life, if they turn from their sinful behavior and believe in Jesus.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "19", "text": "After people had killed Stephen, many of the believers left Jerusalem and went to other places because people were causing them to suffer there in Jerusalem. Some of them went to Phoenicia region, some went to Cyprus Island, and others went to Antioch city in Syria province. In those places they were continually telling people the message about Jesus, but they told only other Jewish people."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "20", "text": "Some of the believers were men from Cyprus Island and Cyrene city in north Africa. They went to Antioch city, and although they told other Jews about the Lord Jesus, they also told non-Jewish people there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "21", "text": "The Lord God[MTY] was powerfully enabling those believers to preach effectively. As a result, very many non-Jewish people believed their message and trusted in the Lord Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "22", "text": "The group of believers in Jerusalem heard [MTY] people say that many people in Antioch were believing in Jesus. So the leaders of the congregation in Jerusalem asked Barnabas to go to Antioch."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "23", "text": "When he got there, he realized that God had acted kindly toward the believers. So he was very happy, and he continually encouraged all of the believers to continue to trust completely in the Lord Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "24", "text": "Barnabas was a good man whom the Holy Spirit completely controlled, one who trusted God completely. Because of what Barnabas did, many people there believed in the Lord Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "25", "text": "Then Barnabas went to Tarsus city in Cilicia province to try to find Saul."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "26", "text": "After he found him, Barnabas brought him back to Antioch to help teach the believers. So during a whole year Barnabas and Saul met regularly with the congregation there and taught many of them about Jesus. It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians { that people first called the believers Christians}."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "27", "text": "During the time that Barnabas and Saul were at Antioch, some believers who were prophets arrived there from Jerusalem."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "28", "text": "One of them, whose name was Agabus, stood up in order to speak. God's Spirit enabled him to prophesy ◄that there would soon be a famine in many countries/that people in many countries [HYP] would soon suffer because they would not have enough food to eat►. (That famine happened when Claudius was the Roman Emperor.)"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "29", "text": "When the believers there heard what Agabus said, they decided that they would send money to help the believers who lived in Judea province. Each of them decided to give as much money as he was able to give."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 11, "verse": "30", "text": "They sent the money with Barnabas and Saul to the leaders of the congregation in Jerusalem."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "1", "text": "It was about this time that King Herod Agrippa sent soldiers[MTY] who seized and put in prison some of the leaders of the congregation in Jerusalem. He did that because he wanted to make the believers suffer."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "2", "text": "He commanded a soldier to cut off the head of the apostle James, the older brother of the apostle John."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "3", "text": "When Herod realized that he had pleased the leaders of the Jewish people by doing that, he commanded soldiers to arrest Peter in order to kill him, too. This happened during the festival when the Jewish people ate bread that did not have yeast."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "4", "text": "After they seized Peter, they put him in prison. They arranged for four groups of soldiers to guard Peter. Each group had four soldiers. Every three hours a different group began to guard him while the others rested. Herod wanted to bring Peter out of prison and judge him in front of the Jewish people after the Passover Festival was finished. He then planned to command soldiers to execute Peter."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "5", "text": "So for several days Peter was kept {they kept Peter} in prison. But the other believers in the congregation at Jerusalem were praying earnestly to God that he would help Peter."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "6", "text": "The night before Herod planned to bring Peter out from prison to have him executed publicly, Peter was sleeping in the prison between two soldiers, with two chains binding his arms to the arms of the soldiers. Two other soldiers were guarding the prison doors."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "7", "text": "Suddenly an angel from the Lord God stood beside Peter, and a bright light shone in his cell. The angel poked Peter in the side and woke him up and said, “Get up quickly!” While Peter was getting up, the chains fell off from his wrists. However, the soldiers were not aware of what was happening."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "8", "text": "Then the angel said to Peter, “Put on your clothes and sandals!” So Peter did. Then the angel said to him, “Fasten your belt/girdle around you(sg) and put on your sandals!” So Peter did that. Then the angel told him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "9", "text": "So, after Peter put on his cloak and sandals, he followed the angel out of the prison cell, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening. He thought that he was seeing a vision."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "10", "text": "Peter and the angel walked by the soldiers who were guarding the two doors, but the soldiers did not see them. Then they came to the iron gate that led out into the city. The gate opened by itself, and Peter and the angel walked out of the prison. After they had walked a ways along one street, the angel suddenly disappeared."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "11", "text": "Then Peter finally realized that what had happened to him was not a vision, but it had really happened. So he said to himself, “Now I really know that the Lord God sent an angel to help me. He rescued me from what Herod planned to do [MTY] to me and also from all the things that the Jewish leaders[SYN] expected that Herod would do to me.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "12", "text": "When Peter realized that God had rescued him, he went to Mary's house. She was the mother of John whose other name was Mark. Many believers had assembled there, and they were praying that God would help Peter somehow."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "13", "text": "When Peter knocked at the outer entrance, a servant girl named Rhoda came to find out who was outside the door."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "14", "text": "When Peter answered her, she recognized his voice, but she was so happy and excited that she did not open the door! Instead, she ran back into the house. She excitedly announced to the other believers that Peter was standing outside the door."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "15", "text": "But one of them said to her, “You(sg) are crazy!” But she continued saying that it was really true. Then they repeatedly said, “ No, it cannot be Peter. It is probably the angel who was guarding him who has come(OR, It is the angel who has guarded/protected him, and he has come to tell us that Peter has died.)”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "16", "text": "But Peter continued knocking on the door. So when someone finally opened the door, they saw that it was Peter, and they were completely amazed!"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "17", "text": "Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet. Then he told them exactly how the Lord God had led him out of the prison. He also said, “Tell James, the leader of our congregation, and our other fellow believers what has happened.” Then Peter left and went away to another town."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "18", "text": "The next morning the soldiers who had been guarding Peter became terribly distressed, because they did not know what had happened to him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "19", "text": "Then Herod heard about it. So he commanded soldiers to search for Peter, but they did not find him. Then he questioned the soldiers who had been guarding Peter, and asked them, “ How did Peter get away when you were there guarding him? ” But they could not explain it. So he commanded them to be led away to be executed{ other soldiers to lead them away to execute them}. Afterwards, Herod went from Judea province down to Caesarea city, where he stayed for some time."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "20", "text": "King Herod had been furiously angry with the people who lived in Tyre and Sidon cities. Then one day some men who represented them came unitedly to Caesarea in order to meet with Herod. They persuaded Blastus, who was one of Herod's important officials, to tell Herod that the people in their cities wanted to make peace with him. They wanted to be able to trade with the people that Herod ruled, because they needed to buy food from those regions. Herod had commanded the people in the areas he ruled to stop selling food to the people in those cities."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "21", "text": "On the day that Herod had planned to meet with them, he put on ◄very expensive clothes that showed that he was king/his royal robes►. Then he sat on his ◄throne/chair from which he ruled people►, and formally addressed all the people who had gathered there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "22", "text": "Those who were listening to him shouted repeatedly, “ This man who is speaking is a god, not a man!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "23", "text": "So, because Herod let the people praise him instead of praising God, immediately an angel from the Lord God caused Herod to become seriously ill. Many worms ate his intestines, and soon he died very painfully."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "24", "text": "The believers continued telling God's message to people in many places, and ◄ the number of people who believed in Jesus was continually increasing/there were continually more and more people who were believing in Jesus►."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 12, "verse": "25", "text": "When Barnabas and Saul finished delivering the money to help the Jewish believers in Judea, they left Jerusalem and returned to Antioch city, in Syria province. They took John, whose other name was Mark, with them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "1", "text": "Among the people in the congregation at Antioch in Syria province there were ◄prophets/those who spoke messages from God► and those who taught people about Jesus. They were Barnabas; Simeon, who was also called Niger/Blackman; Lucius, from Cyrene city; Manaen, who had grown up with King Herod Antipas; and Saul."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "2", "text": "While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said to them, “Appoint Barnabas and Saul to serve me and to go and do the work that I have chosen them to do!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "3", "text": "So they continued ◄to fast/to abstain from eating food► and pray. Then having put their hands on Barnabas and Saul and praying that God would help them, they sent them off to do what the Holy Spirit had commanded."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "4", "text": "Barnabas and Saul, guided by the Holy Spirit, went down from Antioch to Seleucia port. From there they went by ship to Salamis port on Cyprus Island."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "5", "text": "While they were in Salamis, they went to the Jewish meeting places. There they proclaimed the message from God about Jesus. John Mark went with them and was helping them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "6", "text": "The three of them went across the entire island to Paphos city. There they met a magician whose name was Bar-Jesus. He was a Jew who falsely claimed◄to be a prophet/to speak messages from God►."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "7", "text": "He often accompanied the governor of the island, Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. The governor sent someone to ask Barnabas and Saul to come to him, because he wanted to hear God's message. So Barnabas and Saul came and told him about Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "8", "text": "However, the magician, whose name was Elymas in the Greek language, was opposing them. He repeatedly tried to persuade the governor not to believe in Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "9", "text": "Then Saul, who now called himself Paul, empowered by the Holy Spirit, looked intently at the magician and said,"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "10", "text": "“You(sg) are serving the devil and you oppose everything that is good! You are always lying to people and doing other evil things to them. ◄You must stop saying that the truth about the Lord God is a lot of lies! /When will you stop changing what is true about the Lord God and saying what is not true about him?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "11", "text": "Right now the Lord God[MTY] is going to punish you! You will become blind and not even be able to see light for some time.” At once he became blind, as though he was in a dark mist, and he groped about, searching for someone to hold him by the hand and lead him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "12", "text": "When the governor saw what had happened to Elymas, he believed in the Lord Jesus. He was amazed by what Paul and Barnabas were teaching about the Lord Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "13", "text": "After that, Paul and the two men with him went by ship from Paphos to Perga port in Pamphylia province. At Perga John Mark left them and returned to his home in Jerusalem."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "14", "text": "Then Paul and Barnabas traveled by land from Perga and arrived in Antioch city near Pisidia district in Galatia province. ◄On the Sabbath/On the Jewish rest day► they entered the synagogue/the Jewish meeting place and sat down."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "15", "text": "Someone read aloud from what Moses had written. Then someone read from what the other prophets had written[MTY]. Then the leaders of the Jewish meeting place gave someone this note to take to Paul and Barnabas: “Fellow Jews, if one of you wants to speak to the people here to encourage them, please speak to us(exc) now.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "16", "text": "So Paul stood up and motioned with his right hand so that the people would listen to him. Then he said, “Fellow Israelis and you non-Jewish people who also worship God, please listen to me"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "17", "text": "God, whom we(inc) Israelites worship, chose our ancestors to be his people, and he caused them to become very numerous while they were foreigners living in Egypt. Then after many years, God helped them [MTY] powerfully and led them out of there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "18", "text": "Even though they repeatedly disobeyed him, he cared for them for about forty years while they were in the desert."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "19", "text": "He enabled the Israelites to conquer seven tribal groups who were then living in Canaan region, and he gave their land to us Israelites for us to possess."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "20", "text": "Our ancestors began to possess Canaan about 450 years after their ancestors had arrived in Egypt.” “After that, God appointed leaders to rule the Israelite people. Those leaders continued to rule our people until the time when the prophet Samuel ruled them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "21", "text": "Then, while Samuel was still their leader, the people demanded that he appoint a king to rule them. So God appointed Saul, the son of Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin, to be their king. He ruled them for forty years."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "22", "text": "After God had rejected Saul from being king, he appointed David to be their king. God said about him, ‘I have observed that David, son of Jesse, is exactly the kind of man that I desire [IDM]. He will do everything that I want him to do.’”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "23", "text": "“From among David's descendants, God brought one of them, Jesus, to us Israelite people to save us, just like he had told David and our other ancestors that he would do."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "24", "text": "Before Jesus began his work, John the Baptizer preached to all of our Israelite people who came to him. He told them that they should turn away from their sinful behavior and ask God to forgive them. Then he would baptize them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "25", "text": "When John was about to finish the work that God gave him to do, he frequently said to the people, ‘Do you think [RHQ] that I am the Messiah whom God promised to send? No, I am not. But listen! The Messiah will soon come. He is so much greater than I am that I am not even important enough to be his slave [MET].’”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "26", "text": "“Fellow Israelis, you who are descendants of Abraham, and you non-Jewish people who also worship God, please listen! It is to all of us that God has sent the message about how he saves people."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "27", "text": "The people who were living in Jerusalem and their rulers did not realize that this man Jesus was the one whom God had sent to save them. Although messages from [MTY] the prophets have been read aloud{someone has read aloud messages from [MTY] the prophets} every ◄Sabbath/Jewish day of rest►, they did not understand what the prophets wrote about the Messiah. So the Jewish leaders condemned Jesus to die, which was just like the prophets predicted."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "28", "text": "Many people accused Jesus of doing wicked things, but they could not prove that he had done anything for which he deserved to die. They insistently asked Pilate the governor to command that Jesus be executed {to command soldiers to execute Jesus}. So Pilate did what they asked him to do."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "29", "text": "They did to Jesus all the things that the prophets long ago had written that people would do to him. They killed Jesus by nailing him to a cross. Then his body was taken { some people took his body} down from the cross and placed it in a tomb."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "30", "text": "However, God ◄raised him from the dead/caused him to live again after he had died►"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "31", "text": "and for many days he repeatedly appeared to his followers who had come along with him from Galilee province to Jerusalem. Those who saw him are telling the Jewish people about him now.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "32", "text": "“ Right now we two are proclaiming to you this good message. We want to tell you that God has fulfilled what he promised to our Jewish ancestors!"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "33", "text": "He has now done that for us(inc) who are their descendants, and also for you who are not Jews, by causing Jesus to live again. That is just like what David wrote in the second Psalm that God said when he was sending his Son, You(sg) are my Son; Today I have shown everyone that I really am your Father."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "34", "text": "God has ◄raised the Messiah from the dead/caused the Messiah to live again after he had died► and will never let him die again. Concerning that, God said to our Jewish ancestors, ‘I will surely help you, as I promised David that I would do.’"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "35", "text": "So in writing another Psalm, David said this to God about the Messiah: ‘Because I am devoted to you and always obey you, when I die you(sg) will not let my body decay.’"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "36", "text": "While David was living, he did what God wanted him to do. And when he died [EUP], his body was buried, as his ancestors' bodies had been buried, and his body decayed. So he could not have been speaking about himself in this Psalm."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "37", "text": "Instead, he was speaking about Jesus. Jesus also died, but God ◄raised him from the dead/caused him to live again►, and therefore his body did not decay.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "38-39", "text": "“Therefore, my fellow Israelis and other friends, it is important for you to know that we(exc) are declaring to you that God can forgive you for your sins as a result of what Jesus has done. Because of what Jesus has done, God considers that everyone who believes in Jesus is no longer guilty (OR, the record has been erased { God has erased the record}) concerning everything that they have done that displeased God. But when God does that for you, it is not as a result of your obeying the laws that Moses wrote."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "40", "text": "Therefore be careful that God does not judge you [MTY], as one of the prophets said [MTY] that God would do!"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "41", "text": "The prophet wrote that God said: You who ridicule me, you will certainly be astonished when you see what I am doing, and then you will be destroyed. You will be astonished because I will do something terrible to you while you are living. You would not believe that I would do that even though someone told you!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "42", "text": "After Paul finished speaking, while he and Barnabas were leaving the Jewish meeting place, many of the people there repeatedly requested that on the next ◄Sabbath/Jewish day of rest► the two of them should speak to them again about those things that Paul had just told them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "43", "text": "After they began to leave the meeting, many of them went along with Paul and Barnabas. They consisted of Jews and also of non-Jews who had accepted the things that the Jews believe. Paul and Barnabas continued talking to them, and were urging them to continue believing the message that God kindly forgives people's sins because of what Jesus did."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "44", "text": "On the next Jewish rest day, most of the people in Antioch came to the Jewish meeting place to hear Paul and Barnabas speak about the Lord Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "45", "text": "But the leaders of[SYN] the Jews became extremely jealous, because they saw that large crowds of non-Jewish people were coming to hear Paul and Barnabas. So they began to contradict the things that Paul was saying and also to insult him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "46", "text": "Then, speaking very boldly, Paul and Barnabas said to those Jewish leaders, “ We two had to speak the message from God about Jesus to you Jews first before we proclaim it to non-Jews, because God commanded us to do that. But you are rejecting God's message. By doing that, you have shown that you are not worthy ◄to have eternal life/to live eternally with God►. Therefore, we are leaving you, and now we will go to the non-Jewish people to tell them the message from God."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "47", "text": "We are doing that also because the Lord God has commanded us to do it. He said to us, ‘I have appointed you to reveal things about me to non-Jewish people [MET] that will be like a light to them. I have appointed you to tell people everywhere [MTY] in the world about the one who came to save them.’”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "48", "text": "While the non-Jewish people were listening to those words, they began to rejoice, and they repeatedly said that the message about the Lord Jesus was wonderful. And all of the non-Jewish people whom God had chosen ◄to have eternal life/to live eternally with God► believed the message about the Lord Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "49", "text": "At that time, many of the believers traveled around throughout that region. As they did that, they were proclaiming the message about the Lord Jesus[MTY]."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "50", "text": "However, some leaders of[SYN] the Jews incited the most important men in the city and some important/influential women who had accepted what the Jews believe to oppose Paul and Barnabas. So those non-Jewish people incited other people also to persecute Paul and Barnabas. As a result they expelled the two men from their region."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "51", "text": "So, as the two apostles were leaving, they shook the dust from their feet to show those Jewish leaders that God had rejected them and would punish them. They left Antioch city and went to Iconium city."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 13, "verse": "52", "text": "Meanwhile the believers in Antioch continued to rejoice greatly, and they continued to be completely controlled by the Holy Spirit."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "1", "text": "At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish meeting place and spoke very convincingly about the Lord Jesus. As a result, many Jews and also non-Jews believed in Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "2", "text": "But some of the Jews refused to believe that message, and told the non-Jews not to believe it. They told the non-Jewish people that the message about Jesus was not true. As a result, some of the non-Jews became angry towards the believers there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "3", "text": "So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there speaking boldly for the Lord, and the Lord Jesus enabled them to do many miracles. In this way he showed people that the message about how the Lord saves us in a way that we do not deserve is true."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "4", "text": "The people who lived in Iconium city strongly disagreed with each other concerning the message about Jesus. Some of them agreed with the Jews [SYN] who did not believe that message. Others agreed with Paul and Barnabas."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "5", "text": "Then the non-Jewish people and the Jewish leaders[SYN] who opposed those two talked among themselves about how they could mistreat them. Some of the important men in that city agreed to help them. Together, they decided that they would kill Paul and Barnabas by throwing stones at them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "6", "text": "But Paul and Barnabas heard about that, so they quickly went away to Lycaonia district. They went to Lystra and Derbe towns in that district and to the area surrounding those towns."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "7", "text": "While they were in that area, they continually told people the message about the Lord Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "8", "text": "Once while Paul was preaching to people in Lystra, a man was sitting there who was crippled in his legs. When his mother bore him he had crippled legs, so he was never able to walk."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "9", "text": "He listened as Paul was speaking about the Lord Jesus. Paul looked directly at him and could see in the man's face that he believed that the Lord Jesus could make him well."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "10", "text": "So Paul called out to him, “Stand up!” When the man heard that, he immediately jumped up and began to walk normally."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "11", "text": "When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they thought that Paul and Barnabas◄ were/must be► the gods that they worshipped. So they shouted excitedly in their own Lycaonia language, “ Look! These people are the gods that we(inc) worship! They have made themselves look like people and have come down from the sky/heaven to help us!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "12", "text": "They began to say that Barnabas was probably the chief god, whose name was Zeus. And they began to say that Paul was Hermes, the messenger/spokesman for the other gods. They mistakenly thought that because Paul was the one who had been speaking."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "13", "text": "Just outside the gates of the city there was a temple where the people worshipped Zeus. The priest who was there heard what Paul and Barnabas had done, so he came to the city gate, where many people had already gathered. He brought two bulls with wreaths of flowers around their necks. The priest and the other people wanted to kill the bulls as part of a ceremony to worship Paul and Barnabas."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "14", "text": "But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard about that, and understood that the people thought that they were gods and wanted to sacrifice the bulls to worship them, they were very distressed, so they tore their own clothes. They rushed among the people, shouting,"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "15", "text": "“Men, ◄you must not kill those bulls to worship us(dl)! /why are you doing this?► [RHQ] We are not gods! We are just human beings like you! We have come to tell you some good news! We have come to tell you about the God who is all-powerful. He wants you to stop worshipping other gods, because they cannot help you. This true God made the heaven/sky and the earth and the oceans and everything in it."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "16", "text": "In the past, all of you non-Jewish people worshipped whatever gods that you wanted to. God let you worship them, because you did not know him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "17", "text": "But he has shown us [LIT] that he acts kindly toward us(inc) . He is the one who causes it to rain and causes crops to grow. He is the one who gives you plenty of food, and makes you very happy.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "18", "text": "The people heard what Paul said, but they still thought that they should sacrifice those bulls to worship Paul and Barnabas. But finally, the people decided not to do it."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "19", "text": "However, after that, some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and persuaded many of the people of Lystra that the message Paul had been telling them was not true. The people who believed what those Jews said became angry with Paul. They let the Jews throw stones at him until he fell down, unconscious. They all thought that he was dead, so they dragged him outside the city and left him lying there. But some of the believers in Lystra had followed them outside the city."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "20", "text": "They came and stood around Paul, where he was lying on the ground. And Paul became conscious! He stood up and went back into the city with the believers. The next day, Paul and Barnabas left Lystra town and traveled to Derbe town."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "21", "text": "They stayed there several days and they kept telling the people the good message about Jesus. Many people became believers. After that, Paul and Barnabas started on their way back. They went again to Lystra. Then they went from there to Iconium, and then they went to Antioch in Pisidia province."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "22", "text": "In each town, they helped the believers [SYN] to become strong spiritually, and they urged them to keep on trusting in the Lord Jesus. They told the believers, “It is necessary that we endure people often persecuting us(inc) before we enter the place where God will rule over us forever.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "23", "text": "Paul and Barnabas appointed leaders for each congregation. And before Paul and Barnabas left each town, they gathered the believers together and spent some time praying and ◄fasting/not eating any food►. Then Paul and Barnabas entrusted the leaders and other believers to the Lord Jesus, in whom they had believed, in order that he would care for them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "24", "text": "After Paul and Barnabas had traveled through Pisidia district, they went south to Pamphylia district."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "25", "text": "In that district, they arrived at Perga town and preached God's message about the Lord Jesus to the people there. Then they went down to the seacoast at Attalia town."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "26", "text": "There they got on a ship and went back to Antioch city in Syria province. That was the place where Paul and Barnabas had been appointed {where believers had sent Paul and Barnabas} to go to other places and preach. Antioch was the place where the believers had asked God to kindly help Paul and Barnabas in the work that they had now completed."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "27", "text": "When they arrived in Antioch, they called the believers together. Then Paul and Barnabas told them all that God had helped them to do. Specifically, they told them how God had enabled [IDM] many non-Jewish people to believe in Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 14, "verse": "28", "text": "Then Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch with the other believers for several months."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "1", "text": "Then some Jewish believers went down from Judea province to Antioch. They started teaching the non-Jewish believers there, and said, “ You◄ must be circumcised/must have God's mark put on you► to indicate you belong to God, as Moses commanded in the laws that he received from God. If you do not do that, you will not be saved { God will not save you}.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "2", "text": "Paul and Barnabas strongly disagreed with those Jews and started arguing with them. So the believers at Antioch appointed Paul and Barnabas and some of the other believers to go to Jerusalem, in order that they would/could discuss this matter with the apostles and other spiritual leaders."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "3", "text": "After Paul, Barnabas, and the others were given things for their trip by the congregation at Antioch{After the congregation at Antioch gave Paul, Barnabas, and the others things for their trip}, they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria provinces. When they stopped at different places in those provinces, they reported to the believers that many non-Jews in Antioch had become believers. As a result, all the believers in those places rejoiced greatly."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "4", "text": "And when Paul, Barnabas, and the others arrived in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the apostles, the other elders, and the other members of the congregation there{the apostles, the other elders, and the other members of the congregation there welcomed them}. Then Paul and Barnabas reported the things that God had enabled them to do among non-Jewish people."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "5", "text": "But some of the Jewish believers who belonged to the Pharisee sect stood up among the other believers and said to them, “The non-Jews who have believed in Jesus must be circumcised, and they must be told to obey the laws that God gave to Moses.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "6", "text": "Then the apostles and the other elders met together in order to talk about this matter."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "7", "text": "After they had discussed it for a long time, Peter stood up and spoke to them. He said, “Fellow believers, you all know that a long time ago God chose me from among you other apostles, in order that the non-Jewish people might also hear me [SYN] tell them the good message about the Lord Jesus, so that they could hear it and believe in him. So Paul and Barnabas are not the first ones to tell non-Jews about Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "8", "text": "God knows and judges people according to what they think, not according to who their ancestors were. By sending the Holy Spirit to the non-Jews, just like he had also done for us(inc) Jews, he showed me and others that he had accepted them also to be his people."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "9", "text": "God saved us Jews and those non-Jews similarly, making them clean spiritually simply as a result of their believing in the Lord Jesus. That was exactly how he has forgiven us."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "10", "text": "You are wanting to force the non-Jewish believers to obey our Jewish rituals and laws—laws that God has shown that he does not require them to obey [MET]. Your doing that is like putting a heavy burden on their necks! So then, ◄stop making God angry by doing that!/why are you making God angry by doing that?► [RHQ] Our ancestors and we(inc) Jews have never been able to bear the burden of obeying those laws!"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "11", "text": "But we(inc) know that it is not because we(inc) try to obey those laws that God saves us(inc) Jews. On the contrary, we(inc) know that it is because of what the Lord Jesus did for us(inc) that we did not deserve that we(inc) are saved {that God saves us} from the guilt of our sins. God saves us Jews exactly like he saves those non-Jews who believe in the Lord Jesus.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "12", "text": "All the people there became silent after Peter had spoken. Then they all listened to Barnabas and Paul, as the two of them told about the many great miracles that God had enabled them to do among the non-Jewish people, miracles that showed that God had accepted the non-Jews."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "13", "text": "When Barnabas and Paul had finished speaking, James, the leader of the group of believers there in Jerusalem, spoke to all of them. He said, “Fellow believers, listen to me."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "14", "text": "Simon Peter has told you how God previously blessed the non-Jews. God did that by choosing from among them a people who would belong to him [MTY]."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "15", "text": "These words that God spoke, words that were written by one of the prophets {that one of the prophets wrote} long ago, agree with that,"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "19", "text": "James continued by saying, “Therefore I have decided that we(inc) should stop bothering the non-Jewish people who are turning away from their sins and turning to God. That is, we should stop demanding that they obey all our laws and rituals."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "20", "text": "Instead, we should write a letter to them requiring only four things: They should not eat meat/food that people have offered to idols, they should not have sex with someone to whom they are not married, they should not eat meat from animals that have been killed by being strangled { people have strangled}, and they should not eat the blood of animals."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "21", "text": "In many cities, for a very long time people have been proclaiming the laws that Moses wrote[MTY], laws prohibiting those things. And every ◄Sabbath/Jewish day of rest► those laws are read {someone reads those laws} in the Jewish meeting places. So if the non-Jews want to know more about those laws, they can find out in our meeting houses.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "22", "text": "The apostles and the other elders, along with all the other members of the congregation, accepted what James had said. Then they decided that they should choose men from among themselves and that they should send them, along with Paul and Barnabas, to Antioch, to let the believers there know what the leaders at Jerusalem had decided. So they chose Judas, who was also called Barsabbas, and Silas, who were leaders among the believers at Jerusalem."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "23", "text": "Then they wrote the following letter that they asked Judas and Silas to take to the believers at Antioch: “ We(exc) apostles and other leaders who are your fellow believers send our greetings to you as we write this to you non-Jewish believers who live in Antioch and other places in Syria and Cilicia provinces."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "24", "text": "People have told us that some men from among us went to you, although we had not told them to do that. They troubled/distressed you [SYN] by telling you things that confused your thinking."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "25", "text": "So while we(exc) met together here, we decided to choose some men and ask them to go to you, along with Barnabas and Paul, whom we(exc) love very much."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "26", "text": "Those two have put their lives in danger because of their serving our Lord [MTY] Jesus Christ."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "27", "text": "We(exc) have also chosen Judas and Silas to go to you. They will tell you the same things that we are writing."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "28", "text": "The Holy Spirit and also we decided that you should not be required {that we should not require you} to obey a lot of burdensome Jewish laws. Instead, we only require you to obey the following instructions,"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "29", "text": "You should not eat food that people have sacrificed to idols. You should not eat blood from animals, and you should not eat meat from animals that people have killed by strangling them. Also, you should not have sex with someone to whom you are not married. Those things especially offend Jewish believers. So if you avoid doing them, you will be doing what is right. That is all/Goodbye.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "30", "text": "The four men whom they had chosen went from Jerusalem to Antioch city. When all the believers there had assembled together, Judas and Silas gave the letter to them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "31", "text": "When the believers there read the letter, they rejoiced, because its message encouraged them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "32", "text": "Just like Paul and Barnabas were◄ prophets/men who spoke messages from God►, Judas and Silas were also prophets. They spoke for a long time and encouraged the believers there, and helped them to trust more strongly in the Lord Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "33-34", "text": "After Judas and Silas had stayed in Antioch for some time and were ready to return to Jerusalem, the believers there wished them well, and the believers prayed that God would protect them as they traveled. So the two men started to go back to the leaders in Jerusalem who had asked them to go to Antioch."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "35", "text": "However, Paul and Barnabas continued to stay in Antioch. While they were there, they, along with many others, were teaching people and preaching to them the message about the Lord Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "36", "text": "After some time Paul said to Barnabas, “Let's go back and visit the fellow believers in every city where we previously proclaimed the message about the Lord Jesus. In that way, we will know how well they are continuing to believe in the Lord Jesus.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "37", "text": "Barnabas agreed with Paul, and said that he wanted to take John, whose other name was Mark, along with them again."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "38", "text": "However, Paul told Barnabas that he thought that it would not be good to take Mark with them, because Mark had deserted them when they were previously in Pamphylia region, and had not continued to work with them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "39", "text": "Paul and Barnabas strongly disagreed with each other about that, so they separated. Barnabas took Mark along with him and they got on a ship and went to Cyprus Island."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "40", "text": "Paul chose Silas, who had returned to Antioch, to work with him. The believers there asked the Lord God to graciously help Paul and Silas. Then the two of them departed from Antioch."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 15, "verse": "41", "text": "Paul continued traveling with Silas through Syria and Cilicia provinces. In those places he was helping the congregations to trust strongly in the Lord Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "1", "text": "Paul and Silas went to Derbe city and visited the believers there. Next they went to Lystra city. A believer whose name was Timothy lived there. His mother was a Jewish believer, but his father was a Greek."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "2", "text": "The believers in Lystra and Iconium said good things about Timothy,"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "3", "text": "and Paul wanted to take Timothy with him when he went to other places, so he circumcised Timothy. He did that so that the Jews who lived in those places would accept Timothy, because they knew that his non-Jewish father had not allowed him to be circumcised{ anyone to circumcise his son}."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "4", "text": "So Timothy went with Paul and Silas and they traveled to many other towns. In each town they told the believers the rules that had been decided by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem {that the apostles and elders in Jerusalem had decided} that non-Jewish believers should obey."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "5", "text": "God was helping the believers in those towns to trust more strongly in the Lord Jesus, and every day more people became believers."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "6", "text": "Paul and his companions wanted/planned to enter Asia province and preach the message about Jesus there, but they were prevented by the Holy Spirit {the Holy Spirit prevented them} from going there. So they traveled through Phrygia and Galatia provinces."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "7", "text": "They arrived at the border of Mysia province and they wanted to go north into Bithynia province. But again the Spirit of Jesus showed them that they should not go there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "8", "text": "So they went through Mysia province and arrived at Troas, a port city. I, Luke, joined them there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "9", "text": "That night God gave Paul a vision in which he saw a man who was a native of Macedonia province. He was standing some distance away, and he was earnestly calling to Paul, “ Please come over here to Macedonia and help us!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "10", "text": "The next morning we(exc) immediately got ready to go to Macedonia, because we believed that God had called us to go and preach the good message to the people there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "11", "text": "So we(exc) got on a ship in Troas and sailed across the sea to Samothrace Island. We spent the night there, and the next day we sailed again across the sea and arrived at Neapolis port/town."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "12", "text": "Then we left Neapolis and went by land to Philippi. It was a very important city in Macedonia province, where many Roman citizens lived. We stayed in Philippi several days."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "13", "text": "On the first ◄Sabbath/Jewish day of rest► after we(exc) arrived, we went outside the city gate down to the river. We had heard someone say that Jewish people gathered to pray there. When we arrived there, we saw some women who had gathered to pray. So we sat down and began to tell them the message about Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "14", "text": "A woman whose name was Lydia was one of those who were listening to Paul. She was a non-Jewish woman, from Thyatira city, who bought and sold expensive purple cloth. She had accepted what the Jews believe about God. The Lord God caused her to pay attention to the message that Paul preached, and she believed it. The members of her household also heard the good message and believed in Jesus[MTY]."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "15", "text": "After Paul and Silas baptized Lydia and the others who lived in her house [MTY] {After Lydia and the others who lived in her house were baptized}, she invited us to go and stay in her home. She said, “You(pl) know that I now believe in the Lord Jesus, so please come and stay in my house.” She persuaded us to do that, so we(exc) stayed there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "16", "text": "Another day, while we(exc) were going to the place where people regularly gathered to pray, we met a young woman who was a slave. An evil spirit was enabling her to be a ventriloquist and to tell people what would happen to them. People paid a lot of money to the men who were her owners, in return for her telling them things that she said would happen to them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "17", "text": "This young woman followed Paul and the rest of us. She continually shouted, “These men serve the God who is the greatest of all gods They are telling you how ◄ God can save you so that he will not punish you/to be saved►”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "18", "text": "She continued to do that for many days. Finally Paul became irritated. So he turned toward the young woman and rebuked the evil spirit that was in her. He said, “By the authority [MTY] of Jesus Christ, I command you(sg) to come out of this young woman!” Right away the evil spirit left her."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "19", "text": "And then her owners realized that she could no longer earn money for them because she could no longer predict what would happen to people, so they were angry. They grabbed Paul and Silas and forcefully took them to the public square, to the place where the government authorities and a lot of other people were gathered."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "20", "text": "The owners of the young woman brought them to the city officials and told them, “These men are Jews, and they are greatly troubling the people in[MTY] our city."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "21", "text": "They are teaching that we(inc) should follow customs that our laws do not allow us Romans to consider to be correct or to obey!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "22", "text": "Many of the crowd joined those who were accusing Paul and Silas, and started beating them. Then the Roman authorities commanded soldiers to tear the shirts off Paul and Silas and to beat them with rods/sticks."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "23", "text": "So the soldiers beat Paul and Silas vigorously with rods. After that, they took them and shoved them into the prison. They told the jailer that he should lock them up securely."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "24", "text": "Because the officials had commanded him to do that, the jailer shoved Paul and Silas into the cell that was farthest inside. There, he made them sit down on the floor/ground and stretch out their legs. Then he fastened their ankles in grooves between two large wooden beams, so that Paul and Silas could not move their legs."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "25", "text": "About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying aloud and praising God by singing hymns. The other prisoners were listening attentively to them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "26", "text": "Suddenly there was a very strong earthquake. It shook the entire jail [SYN] and its foundation [SYN]. The earthquake caused all the doors of the jail to open suddenly, and caused all the chains that fastened the prisoners to fall off."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "27", "text": "The jailer woke up and saw that the doors of the jail were open. He thought that the prisoners had escaped. So he pulled out his sword in order to kill himself, because he knew that the officials would kill him if the prisoners escaped."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "28", "text": "Paul saw the jailer and shouted to him, “Do not harm yourself! We(exc) prisoners are all here!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "29", "text": "The jailer shouted to someone to bring torches/lanterns, and after they brought them, he rushed into the jail and knelt down in front of Paul and Silas. He was very much afraid, so much so that he was trembling/shaking."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "30", "text": "Then he brought Paul and Silas out of the jail and asked: “Sirs, what do I need to do to be saved from being punished for my sins?”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "31", "text": "They answered, “Trust in what the Lord Jesus has done for you, and you will be saved { God will save you}, and the others who live in [MTY] your house will also be saved if they believe in Jesus.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "32-34", "text": "Then the jailer took Paul and Silas into his house, washed their wounds, and gave them a meal. He woke up all the people in his house and Paul and Silas told all of them the message about the Lord Jesus. They all believed in him. Immediately after that, the jailer and all his family were baptized{ Paul and Silas baptized the jailer and all his family}. They were very happy, because now they all believed in God."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "35", "text": "The next morning, the Roman officials commanded some police officers to go to the jail to say to the jailer, “ Our bosses say, ‘Let those two prisoners go now!’”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "36", "text": "After the officers went and told that to the jailer, he went and told Paul, “The Roman authorities have sent a message(sg) saying that I should release you(sg) and Silas from prison. So you two can leave the jail now. Now you can go peacefully!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "37", "text": "But Paul said to the police officers, “The authorities commanded men to beat us in front of a crowd before those authorities had learned if we(exc) had done anything wrong! Then they ordered men to shove us into jail! But that was not legal, because we(exc) are Roman citizens! And now they want [RHQ] to send us away secretly! We will not accept that! Those Roman officials must come themselves and tell us that they are sorry, and take us out of jail.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "38", "text": "So the police officers went and told the city authorities what Paul had said. When those authorities heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were afraid that someone would report to more important officials what they had done, and as a result they would be punished{ those officials would punish them}."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "39", "text": "So the city authorities came to Paul and Silas and told them that they were sorry for what they had done to them. The authorities brought them out of the jail, and repeatedly asked them to leave the city soon."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 16, "verse": "40", "text": "After Paul and Silas left the jail, they went to Lydia's house. There they met with her and the other believers. They encouraged the believers to continue trusting in the Lord Jesus, and then the two apostles left Philippi."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "1", "text": "Paul and Silas traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia towns and arrived at Thessalonica city. There was a Jewish meeting place there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "2", "text": "◄On the Sabbath/On the Jewish rest day► Paul went into the meeting house, as he usually did. For three weeks he went there on each Jewish day of rest. Referring to the Scriptures about the Messiah, he spoke to the people who were there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "3", "text": "He explained and showed that the prophets wrote that the Messiah needed to die and ◄to become alive again/to be raised from the dead afterwards►. He told them: “This man Jesus, whom I am telling you about, is our Messiah. He died and became alive again, just like the prophets predicted.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "4", "text": "Some of the Jews there were persuaded by {believed} what Paul had said and began to associate with Paul and Silas. There were also many non-Jewish people there who worshipped God and many important women who also believed the message about Jesus, and they began to associate with Paul and Silas."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "5", "text": "But some leaders of the Jews there in Thessalonica became jealous because many people believed what Paul taught. So they went to the public square and persuaded some lazy men who were loitering there to follow them. In this way, the leaders of the Jews gathered a crowd and incited them to become noisy and start a riot against Paul and Silas. Those Jews and others ran to the house of a man named Jason. He was the man who had invited Paul and Silas to stay at his house. They wanted to bring Paul and Silas outside to where the crowd of people was waiting."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "6", "text": "They discovered that Paul and Silas were not there, but they found Jason and grabbed him. They dragged him and some of the other believers to where the city officials/authorities and many other people were gathered. The men who had brought Jason shouted, “Those two men have caused trouble [IDM] everywhere [HYP] they have gone. Now they have come to our city,"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "7", "text": "and this fellow Jason invited them to stay at his house. All the people of this sect oppose what our Emperor has decreed. They say that another person, whose name is Jesus, is the real king!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "8", "text": "When the crowd of people that had gathered and the city authorities heard that, they became very angry and excited."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "9", "text": "They wanted to put the believers in jail. But instead, the officials made Jason and the other believers pay a fine and told them that they would give the money back to them if Paul and Silas did not cause any more trouble. Then the authorities let Jason and those other believers go."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "10", "text": "So that same night, the believers sent Paul and Silas out of Thessalonica to Berea town. When Paul and Silas arrived there, they went to the Jewish meeting place, on a day when people had gathered there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "11", "text": "The Jews in Thessalonica had not been very willing to listen to God's message, but the Jews who lived in Berea were very willing to listen, so they listened very eagerly to the message about Jesus. Every day they read the Scriptures for themselves to find out if what Paul said about the Messiah was true."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "12", "text": "As a result, many of the Jewish people believed in Jesus, and also some of the important non-Jewish women and many non-Jewish men believed in him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "13", "text": "But then the Jews in Thessalonica heard people tell them that Paul was in Berea and that he was preaching the message from God about Jesus. So they went to Berea and told people there that what Paul was teaching was not true. Thus, they caused many of those people to get angry at Paul."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "14", "text": "So several of the believers in Berea took Paul to the coast to go to another province. But Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "15", "text": "When Paul and the other men arrived at the coast, they got on a ship and went to Athens city. Then Paul said to the men who had come with him, “Tell Silas and Timothy to come to me here in Athens as soon as they can.” Then those men left Athens and returned to Berea."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "16", "text": "In Athens, Paul waited for Silas and Timothy to arrive. In the meantime, he walked around in the city. He became very distressed/disturbed because he saw that throughout [HYP] the city there were many idols."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "17", "text": "So he went to the Jewish meeting place and talked about Jesus with the Jews, and also with the Greeks who had accepted what the Jews believe. He also went to the public square/center every day and talked to the people whom he met there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "18", "text": "Paul met some teachers who liked to talk about what people should believe. People called some of them Epicureans and they called others Stoics. They told Paul what they believed, and they asked him what he believed. Then some of them said to one another, “This ignorant person is just talking nonsense [RHQ]!” Others said, “ We(exc) think that he is teaching people about ◄foreign gods/ new gods that we(exc) have not heard about►.” They said that because Paul was telling them that Jesus had died and had become alive again afterwards. They had not heard that message before."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "19", "text": "So they took him to the place where the city council met. When they arrived there, they said to Paul, “ Please tell us, what is this new message that you(sg) are teaching people?"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "20", "text": "You are teaching some things that startle us(exc) , so we want to know what they mean.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "21", "text": "They said that, because the people of Athens and also the people from other regions who lived there continually talked about what was new to them, or they listened to others tell what was new."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "22", "text": "Then Paul stood up before the men of the city council and said, “Citizens of Athens, I see that you ◄are very religious/think that it is very important to worship many gods►."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "23", "text": "I say that because, while I was walking along and observing the objects that represent different gods that you worship, I even saw an altar that had these words that someone had carved on it: THIS HONORS THE GOD THAT WE(exc) DO NOT KNOW. So now I will tell you about that God whom you worship but you do not know."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "24", "text": "He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Because he rules over all beings in heaven and on earth, he does not dwell in shrines that people have made."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "25", "text": "He does not need to have anything made for him by people [MTY] {to have people [MTY] make [MTY] anything for him}, because everything that exists belongs to him. He is the one who causes ◄us(inc) /all people► to live and breathe, and he gives us all the things that we(inc) need."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "26", "text": "In the beginning, God created one couple, and from them God produced all ◄the ethnic groups/the nations► that now live everywhere on the earth. He also decided where each ethnic group of people should live and how long they should live there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "27", "text": "He wanted people to realize that they need him. Then maybe they would seek him and find him. God wants us to seek him, although he is really close [LIT] to each one of us."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "28", "text": "As someone has said, ‘ It is only because he enables us that we(inc) live and move and do what we do.’ And, as some of your own poets have said, ‘We(inc) are God's children.’"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "29", "text": "Therefore, because we are God's children and can communicate like God does, we(inc) should not think that he is anything like an image that people have made of gold or silver or stone which cannot communicate. Those images are designed and skillfully made {People design and make those images}, but they are not alive."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "30", "text": "During the times when people did not know what God wanted them to do, he did not immediately punish them for what they did. But now God commands all people everywhere to turn away from their evil behavior."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "31", "text": "He tells us that on a certain day that he has chosen he is going to judge all of us(inc) people in[MTY] the world. He has appointed a certain man to judge us, and that man will judge each of us fairly/justly. God has shown to all people that he has appointed that man to judge everyone, because God ◄caused him to become alive again after he had died/raised him from the dead►.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "32", "text": "When the men of the council heard Paul say that ◄ a man had become alive again after he had died/ someone had been raised from the dead►, some of them laughed scornfully. But others said, “We(exc) would like you(sg) to tell us more about this, some other time.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "33", "text": "After they said that, Paul departed from the council meeting."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 17, "verse": "34", "text": "However, some of the people there went along with Paul and became believers. Among those who believed in Jesus was a member of the council whose name was Dionysius. Also, an important woman whose name was Damaris and some other people who had heard Paul's message also believed in Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "1", "text": "After that, Paul left Athens city and went to Corinth city."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "2", "text": "There he met a Jew whose name was Aquila, who grew up in Pontus province. Aquila and his wife Priscilla had recently come from Rome, in Italy. They had previously left Rome because Claudius, the Roman Emperor, had ordered that all the Jews must leave Rome. Paul went to see Aquila and Priscilla."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "3", "text": "Those two made tents to earn◄ money/a living►. Paul also made tents, so he stayed with them and they all worked together."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "4", "text": "Every Sabbath, Paul went to the Jewish meeting place, where he spoke forcefully to both Jews and non-Jews. He repeatedly tried to persuade them that Jesus is the Messiah."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "5", "text": "Then Silas and Timothy arrived there from Macedonia province. After they arrived, Paul did not make tents anymore. He used all his time preaching the message about Jesus in the Jewish meeting place. He continued to tell the Jews that the Messiah they knew about was Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "6", "text": "But the Jews began to oppose Paul and to say evil things about him. So he shook the dust from his clothes to show them that they were displeasing God. Then he said to them, “If God punishes you, it will be your [SYN] own fault [MTY], not mine! From now on I will go and preach to non-Jewish people!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "7", "text": "So Paul left the worship house and went into a house that was next to it, and preached there. Titius Justus, the owner of the house, was a non-Jewish man who had accepted what the Jews believe."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "8", "text": "After that, the ruler of the Jewish meeting place, whose name was Crispus, and all of his family [MTY] believed in the Lord Jesus. Many other people in Corinth who listened to Paul also believed in Jesus. Then they were baptized. But there were people who still opposed Paul and his preaching."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "9", "text": "One night Paul had a vision in which the Lord Jesus said to him, “Do not be afraid of those who oppose you. Instead, you should continue speaking to people about me. Do not stop,"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "10", "text": "because I will help you and no one will be able to harm you(sg) here. Keep telling them about me, because there are many people in this city who will believe in me.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "11", "text": "So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching the people the message from God about Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "12", "text": "When Gallio was the Roman governor of Achaia province, the Jewish leaders[SYN] there got together and seized Paul. They took him before the governor and accused him,"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "13", "text": "saying, “This man is teaching people a false religion, leading them to worship God in ways that are contrary to our Jewish laws.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "14", "text": "When Paul was about to speak [MTY] to defend himself, Gallio said to the Jews, “If this man had acted deceitfully or disobeyed any of our Roman laws, I would listen patiently to what you Jews want to tell me."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "15", "text": "However, you are merely arguing about words and names and your own Jewish laws, so you yourselves need to resolve this. I refuse to judge these things!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "16", "text": "After Gallio had said that, he commanded some soldiers/guards that they expel those Jewish leaders from the courtroom."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "17", "text": "Then the mob grabbed the leader of the Jewish meeting place, Sosthenes. They beat him, right there in front of the courthouse. But Gallio did nothing about it."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "18", "text": "Paul stayed on with the believers in Corinth for ◄many days/some time►. Then he left the believers there, and went with Priscilla and her husband Aquila. They went down to Cenchrea, a port city. There Paul had his head shaved { someone shave his head} in order to partially complete a vow that he had taken. Then they got on a ship and sailed for Syria province."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "19", "text": "They arrived at Ephesus city, and Priscilla and Aquila stayed there. Before Paul left Ephesus, he entered the Jewish meeting place and lectured to the Jews."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "20", "text": "They asked him to stay longer, but he refused."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "21", "text": "But, as he left, he told them, “I will come back, if God wills/desires me to do that.” Then, because he wanted to be in Jerusalem to finish completing that vow, he got on a ship that sailed from Ephesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "22", "text": "When the ship arrived at Caesarea, a port city, Paul got off. He went up to Jerusalem and greeted the believers there. Then he went back down to Antioch city in Syria province."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "23", "text": "Paul spent some time with the believers there. Then he left Antioch and traveled to several towns that he had visited previously in Galatia and Phrygia provinces. He taught all of the believers more of the message from God about Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "24", "text": "While Paul was traveling in Galatia and Phrygia, a Jewish man whose name was Apollos came to Ephesus. He was a native of Alexandria city. He spoke eloquently and he knew the Scriptures thoroughly."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "25", "text": "Other believers had taught him some things about how the Lord Jesus desires that people should conduct themselves, and he taught those things very enthusiastically to people. He had heard some of the things that Jesus did and said, and he taught those facts accurately to people. However, he was teaching incompletely about Jesus, because he knew only what John the Baptizer had taught people whom he baptized."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "26", "text": "Apollos went to the Jewish meeting place, and he told the people there very confidently the things that he had learned. When Priscilla and Aquila heard what he taught, they invited him to their home. There they explained more accurately to him the way that God gives people eternal life."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "27", "text": "When Apollos decided that he would like to go to Achaia province, the believers in Ephesus told him that it would be good for him to do that. So they wrote a letter to the believers in Achaia saying that they should welcome Apollos. So Apollos got on a ship and went to Corinth. After he arrived, he greatly helped those whom God had kindly enabled to believe in Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 18, "verse": "28", "text": "Apollos was vigorously arguing publicly with the leaders of the Jews while many other people listened. By quoting from the Scriptures, he proved to them that Jesus was the Messiah."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "1", "text": "While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul left the places in Phrygia and Galatia provinces where he had been visiting, and traveled through Asia province back to Ephesus. He met some people who said that they were believers."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "2", "text": "He asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed God's message?” They answered, “No, we(exc) did not. We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "3", "text": "So Paul asked, “So when you were baptized, what were you showing?” They replied, “ We were showing that we(exc) believed what John the Baptizer taught.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "4", "text": "Paul said, “John baptized people who turned away from their sinful behavior. He also told the people to believe in the one who would come after he had come, and that was Jesus.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "5", "text": "So, when those men heard that, they were baptized to affirm that they believed[MTY] in the Lord Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "6", "text": "After that, Paul placed his hands on their heads one by one, and the power of the Holy Spirit came upon each of them. The Holy Spirit enabled them to speak in various languages [MTY] that they had not learned, and they also spoke messages that the Holy Spirit revealed to them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "7", "text": "There were about twelve men whom Paul baptized and who received the power of the Holy Spirit."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "8", "text": "For three months after that, Paul entered the Jewish meeting place in Ephesus on each Sabbath/Jewish day of rest, and he spoke boldly. He convincingly taught the people about how God wanted to rule [MET] their lives."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "9", "text": "A few of the people in the meeting house believed the message about Jesus. But some of the people would not believe that message and did not want to continue to hear it. While many people were listening, they said many bad things about the way for people to receive eternal life about which Paul was preaching. So Paul left them and took the believers with him to meet in another place. He taught every day in a lecture hall that a man whose name was Tyrannus lectured in/owned."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "10", "text": "For two years Paul continued to teach people in that building. In this way, most of [HYP] the Jews and non-Jews who lived in Asia province heard the message about the Lord Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "11", "text": "Also, God gave Paul the power [MTY] to do amazing miracles."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "12", "text": "If those who were sick could not come to Paul, handkerchiefs or aprons that Paul had touched would be taken and placed on the sick people { others would take and place on the sick people handkerchiefs or aprons that Paul had touched}. As a result, those sick people would people become well, and evil spirits that troubled people would leave."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "13", "text": "There were also some Jews who traveled around to various places, and they commanded the evil spirits in those places to depart from them. Certain ones of those Jews once tried to command the evil spirits to come out of people by saying “I command you by the authority [MTY] of the Lord Jesus, the man about whom Paul preaches, to come out!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "14", "text": "There were seven men who were doing that. They were sons of a man named Sceva, a Jew, who called himself a chief priest."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "15", "text": "But one day as they were doing that, the evil spirit refused to come out of that person. Instead, he said to them, “I know Jesus, and I know that he has authorized Paul to expel demons. ◄But no one has authorized you to do anything to me! /who authorized you to do anything to me?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "16", "text": "After saying that, suddenly the man who was controlled by the evil spirit jumped on the seven Jewish men, one after another, knocked all of them down, and beat each of them severely. He tore off their clothes and wounded them, causing them to bleed. So, greatly frightened, they all ran out of the house."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "17", "text": "All the people who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and non-Jews, heard what had happened. So they were afraid [MTY]. They honored the Lord Jesus [MTY] because they realized that he was very powerful."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "18", "text": "At that time, while other believers were listening, many believers confessed the evil things that they had been doing."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "19", "text": "Several of those who had previously practiced sorcery gathered up their scrolls that told how to work magic and burned them in a public place. When people added up how much those scrolls had cost, they realized that altogether the amount was fifty thousand valuable silver coins."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "20", "text": "As a result, many more people heard [MTY] the message about the Lord Jesus, and the message powerfully changed their lives."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "21", "text": "After those things had happened, Paul decided that he wanted to go to Jerusalem, but he decided that first he would visit the believers in Macedonia and Achaia provinces again. Paul said, “After I have been to Jerusalem, I must also go to Rome.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "22", "text": "He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, ahead to Macedonia. But Paul stayed a little longer in Ephesus city, in Asia province."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "23", "text": "Soon after that, some of the people there tried to make a lot of [LIT] trouble for the people who believed the way God revealed for us(inc) to receive eternal life."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "24", "text": "There was a man there whose name was Demetrius who made little images out of silver. They were models of the temple of a goddess whose name was Artemis. Demetrius and the other men who made those little images earned a lot of [LIT] money from selling those images."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "25", "text": "Demetrius called a meeting of his workmen and also of others who made the little silver images. He said to them, “Men, you know that we(inc) earn a lot of money doing our kind of work."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "26", "text": "Also, you know that this fellow Paul has persuaded many people who live in Ephesus to no longer buy the images that we make. Now even the people from many other towns in our province no longer want to buy what we make. This fellow tells people that the gods that we have made and worship are not gods and that we should not worship them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "27", "text": "If people continue to listen to him, soon they will ruin our business. Besides, they will no longer think that they should come to the temple of Artemis to worship her. People all over our Asia province and everywhere [HYP] else worship our great goddess Artemis. Soon people may no longer consider that Artemis is great!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "28", "text": "All the men there were very angry at Paul when they heard what Demetrius said. They began to shout, “The goddess Artemis of us Ephesians is very great!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "29", "text": "Many of the other people in the city heard the shouting and went and joined the crowd. They also became angry at Paul and began shouting. Several of the people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, two men from Macedonia who had been traveling with Paul. Then the whole crowd of people ran, dragging those men along with them, to the city stadium."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "30", "text": "Paul also wanted to go to the stadium and speak to the people, but the other believers would not let him go there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "31", "text": "Also, some government officials of that province who were friends of Paul heard what was happening. So they sent someone to tell him urgently not to go into the stadium."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "32", "text": "The crowd of people in the stadium continued shouting. Some shouted one thing, and some shouted something else. But most of them did not even know what the meeting was about!"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "33", "text": "One of the Jews there was named Alexander. Some of the Jews pushed him to the front of the stadium, so that he could speak to the crowd of people. So Alexander motioned with his hands to the crowd, wanting them to be quiet. He wanted to tell them that the Jews were not responsible for the riot."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "34", "text": "But many of the non-Jewish people knew that Alexander was a Jew. They also knew that the Jews did not worship the goddess Artemis. So the non-Jews there unitedly and repeatedly shouted for about two hours, “Great is the goddess Artemis whom we(inc) Ephesians worship!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "35", "text": "Then the city secretary made the crowd stop shouting, and he said to them, “My fellow-citizens, everyone in the world knows [RHQ] that we(inc) people who live in Ephesus city guard the temple where we worship the great goddess Artemis. Also, everyone knows that we(inc) watch over the sacred image of our goddess that fell down from heaven!"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "36", "text": "Of course everyone knows that, and no one can say that these things are not true. So you should be quiet now. Do not suddenly do anything ◄foolish/that will cause us trouble►."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "37", "text": "You should not have brought these two men here, because they have not done anything evil. They have not gone into our temples and taken things from there. And they have not spoken evil of our goddess."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "38", "text": "Therefore, if Demetrius and his fellow-workmen want to accuse anyone about anything bad, they should do it in the right way. There are courts that you can go to when you want to accuse someone, and there are judges there who have been appointed by the government{ whom the government has appointed}. You can accuse anyone there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "39", "text": "But if you want to ask about something else, you should ask for other officials to resolve it when those officials legally assemble."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "40", "text": "And this is certainly not a legal meeting! Resolve this legally because, if we(inc) do not, I am afraid that the governor will hear about all this noise that you have made and will say that we(inc) were trying to rebel against the government. If he would ask me what you were all shouting about, I would not be able to give him an answer.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 19, "verse": "41", "text": "That is what the city secretary said to the crowd. Then he told them all to go home. So they left."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "1", "text": "After the people at Ephesus had stopped rioting, Paul summoned the believers. He encouraged them to continue to trust in the Lord Jesus. Soon after that, he told them “Goodbye” and left to go to Macedonia province."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "2", "text": "After he arrived there, he visited each town where there were believers and encouraged them. Then he arrived in Greece province, which is also called Achaia."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "3", "text": "He stayed there for three months. Then he planned to return to Syria by ship, but he heard that some of the Jews [SYN] in that area were planning to kill him as he traveled. So he decided instead to go by land, and he traveled again through Macedonia."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "4", "text": "The men who were going to travel with him to Jerusalem were Sopater, who was a son of Pyrrhus, who grew up in Berea town; Aristarchus and Secundus, who were from Thessalonica city; Gaius, who was from Derbe town; Timothy, who was from Galatia province; and Tychicus and Trophimus who were from Asia province."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "5", "text": "Those seven men went ahead of Paul and me, Luke, by ship from Macedonia, so they got to Troas before we did and waited for the two of us there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "6", "text": "But we two(exc) traveled by land as far as Philippi city. After the Jewish festival when they eat unleavened bread, we got on a ship that was going from the port near Philippi to Troas city. After five days we(exc) arrived at Troas and we met the other men who had traveled there ahead of us. Then we all stayed in Troas for seven days."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "7", "text": "◄On Sunday evening/On the evening of the first day of the week►, we(exc) and the other believers there gathered together to celebrate the Lord's Supper and to eat other food[SYN]. Paul spoke to the believers. He continued teaching them until midnight, because he was planning to leave Troas the next day."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "8", "text": "Many oil lamps were burning in the upstairs room in which we(exc) had gathered, so the fumes caused some people to become sleepy."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "9", "text": "A young man whose name was Eutychus was there. He was seated on the sill of an open window on the third story of the house. As Paul continued talking for a long time, Eutychus became sleepier and sleepier. Finally, he was sound/really asleep. He fell out of the window from the third story down to the ground. Some of the believers went down immediately and picked him up. But he was dead."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "10", "text": "Paul also went down. He lay down and stretched out on top of the young man and put his arms around him. Then he said to the people who were standing around, “Do not worry, he is alive again now! ”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "11", "text": "Then Paul, along with the others, went upstairs again and they ate the Lord's Supper and other food [SYN]. Afterwards, Paul conversed with the believers until dawn. Then he left."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "12", "text": "The other people took the young man home, and were greatly encouraged because he was alive again."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "13", "text": "We then went to the ship. Paul did not get on the ship with us in Troas, because he preferred to go more quickly overland to Assos town. The rest of us got on the ship and sailed for Assos."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "14", "text": "We(exc) met Paul in Assos. He got on the ship with us, and we sailed to Mitylene town."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "15", "text": "The day after we reached Mitylene, we sailed from there and arrived at a place near Kios Island. The day after that, we sailed to Samos Island. The next day we left Samos and sailed to Miletus town."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "16", "text": "Miletus was just south of Ephesus city. Paul had earlier decided that he would not get on a ship that would stop at Ephesus, because he did not want to spend several days in Asia province. If possible, he wanted to arrive in Jerusalem by the time of the Pentecost festival, and the time of that festival was near."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "17", "text": "When the ship arrived at Miletus, Paul sent a messenger to Ephesus to ask the elders of the congregation to come to talk with him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "18", "text": "When the elders arrived, Paul said to them, “You personally know how I conducted myself among you the entire time that I was with you, from the first day when I arrived here in Asia province until the day I left."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "19", "text": "You know how I was serving the Lord Jesus very humbly and how I sometimes wept about people. You also know how I suffered because the Jews [SYN] who were not believers often tried to harm me."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "20", "text": "You also know that, as I preached God's message to you, I never left out anything that would help you. You know that I taught you God's message when many people were present, and I also went to your homes and taught it there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "21", "text": "I preached both to Jews and to non-Jews, telling them all that they must turn away from their sinful behavior. I also told them they should believe in our Lord Jesus.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "22", "text": "“And now note this: I am going to Jerusalem, because God's Spirit has clearly shown me that I must go there. I do not know what will happen to me while I am there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "23", "text": "But I do know that in each city where I have stopped, the Holy Spirit has ◄told me/ caused the believers to tell me► that in Jerusalem people will put me in prison [PRS] and will cause me to suffer [PRS]."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "24", "text": "But I do not care even if people kill me, if first I am able to finish the work [MET] that the Lord Jesus has told me to do. He appointed me to tell people the good message that God saves us by doing for us what we do not deserve."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "25", "text": "I have preached to you the message about how God desires to rule people's lives. But now I know that today is the last time that you fellow believers will see me [SYN]."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "26", "text": "So I want you all to understand that if anyone who has heard me preach dies without trusting in Jesus, it is not my fault [MTY],"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "27", "text": "because I told you [LIT] everything [HYP] that God has planned for us(inc) ."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "28", "text": "You leaders must continue to believe and obey God's message. You must also help all the other believers [MET] for whom the Holy Spirit has caused you to be responsible [MTY]. Watch over [MET] yourselves and the other believers as a shepherd watches over his sheep. God bought them with the blood that flowed from his Son's body on the cross."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "29", "text": "I know very well that after I leave, people who teach[MET] false doctrines will come among you and will do great harm to the believers. They will be like fierce wolves that kill the sheep."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "30", "text": "Even in your own group of believers there will be some who will deceive other believers by teaching them messages that are false. They will teach those messages so that some people will believe them and will become their followers."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "31", "text": "So watch out that none of you stops believing the true message about our Lord Jesus Remember that day and night for about three years I repeatedly taught you that message, and warned you with tears in my eyes not to believe any other message.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "32", "text": "“ Now as I leave you I ask God to protect you and to keep you believing the message that he saves us(inc) by doing for us what we do not deserve. If you continue believing the message that I told you, you will become spiritually mature, and God will give you the blessings that he has promised to give to all of those who belong to him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "33", "text": "As for myself, I have not desired anyone's money [MTY] or fine clothing."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "34", "text": "You yourselves know that I have worked with my hands[MTY] to earn the money that my companions and I needed."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "35", "text": "In everything that I did, I showed you that we(inc) should work hard in order to have enough money to give some to those who are needy. We(inc) should remember that our Lord Jesus himself said, ‘You are happy when people give you what you need, but God will be happy with you when you give other people what they need.’”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "36", "text": "When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of the elders and prayed."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "37", "text": "They all cried a lot, and they hugged Paul and kissed him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 20, "verse": "38", "text": "They were especially sad because he had said that they would never see him [SYN] again. Then they all went with him to the ship."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "1", "text": "After we said goodbye to the elders from Ephesus, we got on the ship and traveled on the water to Cos Island, where the ship stopped for the night. The next day we went in the ship from Cos to Rhodes Island, where the ship stopped again. The day after that we went to Patara town, where the ship stopped. This was on Patara Island."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "2", "text": "At Patara we left that ship, and someone told us that there was a ship that would be going to Phoenicia region. So we got on that ship, and it left."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "3", "text": "We traveled over the sea until we could see Cyprus Island. We passed to the south of the island and continued sailing until we arrived at Phoenicia region, in Syria province. We arrived at Tyre city. The ship was going to stay there several days, because its workers had to unload the cargo."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "4", "text": "Someone told us where the believers in Tyre lived, so we(exc) went and stayed with them for seven days. Because God's Spirit revealed to them ◄ that people would cause Paul to suffer/Paul would suffer► in Jerusalem, they told Paul that he should not go there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "5", "text": "But when it was time for the ship to leave again, we prepared to continue going to Jerusalem. When we left Tyre, all the men and their wives and children went with us to the edge of the sea. We all knelt down there on the sand/shore and prayed."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "6", "text": "After we all said goodbye, Paul and we his companions got on the ship, and the other believers returned to their own homes."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "7", "text": "After we(exc) left Tyre, we continued on that ship to Ptolemais city. There were believers there, and we greeted them and stayed with them that night."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "8", "text": "The next day we left Ptolemais and sailed to Caesarea city, where we stayed in the home of Philip, who spent his days telling others how to become disciples of Jesus. He was one of the seven men whom the believers in Jerusalem had chosen to care for the widows."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "9", "text": "He had four daughters who were not married. Each of them frequently spoke messages that the Holy Spirit had revealed to them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "10", "text": "After we(exc) had been in Philip's house for several days, a believer whose name was Agabus came down from Judea district and arrived in Caesarea. He frequently spoke messages that the Holy Spirit had told him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "11", "text": "Coming over to where we were, he took off Paul's belt. Then he tied his own feet and hands with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘The Jewish leaders[SYN] in Jerusalem will tie up the hands and feet of the owner of this belt, like this, and they will put him in the hands of non-Jewish people as a prisoner.’”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "12", "text": "When the rest of us heard that, we and other believers there repeatedly pled with Paul, “Please do not go up to Jerusalem!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "13", "text": "But Paul replied, “◄Please stop crying and trying to discourage me [IDM] from going! /Why are you crying and trying to discourage me [IDM] from going?► [RHQ] I am willing to be put { for people to put me} in prison and also to be killed { for them to kill me} in Jerusalem because I serve[MTY] the Lord Jesus.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "14", "text": "When we(exc) realized that he was determined to go to Jerusalem, we did not try any longer to persuade him not to go. We said, “May ◄the Lord God do what he wants/the Lord's will be done►!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "15", "text": "After those days in Caesarea, we(exc) prepared our things and left to go by land up to Jerusalem."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "16", "text": "Some of the believers from Caesarea also went with us. They took us to stay in the house of a man whose name was Mnason. He was from Cyprus Island, and he had believed in Jesus when people were first beginning to hear the message about him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "17", "text": "When we arrived in Jerusalem, a group of the believers greeted us happily."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "18", "text": "The next day Paul and the rest of us went to speak with James, who was the leader of the congregation there. All of the other leaders/elders of the congregation in Jerusalem were also there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "19", "text": "Paul greeted them, and then he reported all of the things that God had enabled him to do among the non-Jewish people."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "20", "text": "When they heard that, James and the other elders said, “Praise the Lord!” Then one of them said to Paul, “Brother/Friend, you(sg) know that there are very many thousands of us(inc) Jewish people here who have believed in the Lord Jesus. Also, you know that we(inc) all continue very carefully to obey the laws that Moses gave us."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "21", "text": "But our fellow Jewish believers have been told {have heard people say} that when you are among non-Jews, you tell the Jewish believers who live there that they should stop obeying the laws[MTY] ◄ of Moses/ that Moses received from God►. People say that you tell those Jewish believers not to circumcise their sons and not to practice our other customs. We(exc) do not believe that this is true."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "22", "text": "But our fellow Jewish believers will certainly hear that you have arrived, and they will be angry with you. So you need to do something [RHQ] to show them that what they heard about you is not true."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "23", "text": "So you should do what we suggest to you. There are four men among us who have strongly promised to God about something."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "24", "text": "Go with these men to the Temple and ritually purify yourself along with them. Then, when it is time for them to offer the sacrifices for that ritual, pay for what they offer as sacrifices. After that, they can shave their heads to show that they have done what they promised to do. And when people see you in the courts of the Temple with those men, they will know that what they have been told {what people have told them} about you is not true. Instead, all of them will know that you obey all our Jewish laws and rituals."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "25", "text": "As for the non-Jewish believers, we elders here in Jerusalem have talked about which of our laws they should obey, and we(exc) wrote them a letter, telling them what we decided. We wrote that they should not eat meat that people have offered as a sacrifice to any idol, that they should not eat blood from animals and that they should not eat meat from animals that people have killed by strangling them. We also told them that they should not have sex with someone to whom they are not married.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "26", "text": "So Paul agreed to do what they asked, and the next day he took the four men, and together they ritually purified themselves. After that, Paul went to the Temple courts and told the priest what day they would finish purifying themselves ritually and when they would offer the animals as sacrifices for each of them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "27-29", "text": "When the seven days for purifying themselves were nearly finished, Paul returned to the Temple courtyard. Some Jews from Asia province saw him there, and they were very angry at him. On another day they had seen Paul walking around in Jerusalem with Trophimus, who was a non-Jew. Their laws did not permit non-Jews to be in the Temple, and they thought that Paul had brought Trophimus into the Temple courtyard that day. So they called out to many other Jews who were in the Temple courtyard to help them seize [MTY] Paul. They shouted, “Fellow Israelites, come and help us to punish this man! This is the one who is constantly teaching people wherever he goes that they should despise the Jewish people. He teaches people that they should no longer obey the laws of Moses nor respect this holy Temple. He has even brought non-Jews here into the court of our Temple, causing God to consider it no longer holy!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "30", "text": "People throughout [MTY] the city heard that there was trouble at the Temple courtyard, and they came running there. They grabbed Paul and dragged him outside of the Temple area. The gates to the Temple courtyard were shut{ The Temple guards shut the doors to the Temple courts} immediately, so that the people would not riot inside the Temple area."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "31", "text": "While they were trying to kill Paul, someone ran to the fort near the Temple and told the Roman commander that many [HYP] people [MTY] in Jerusalem were rioting at the Temple."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "32", "text": "The commander quickly took some officers and a large group of soldiers and ran to the Temple area where the crowd was. When the crowd of people who were yelling and beating Paul saw the commander and the soldiers coming, they stopped beating him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "33", "text": "The commander came to where Paul was and seized him. He commanded soldiers to fasten a chain to each of Paul's arms. Then he asked the people in the crowd, “Who is this man, and what has he done?”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "34", "text": "Some of the many people there were shouting one thing, and some were shouting something else. Because they continued shouting so loudly, the commander could not understand what they were shouting. So he commanded that Paul be taken { the soldiers to take Paul} into the barracks so that he could question him there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "35", "text": "The soldiers led Paul to the steps of the barracks, but many people continued to follow them, trying to kill Paul. So the commander told the soldiers to carry Paul up the steps into the barracks."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "36", "text": "The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Kill him! Kill him!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "37", "text": "As Paul was about to be taken { the soldiers were about to take Paul} into the barracks, he said in Greek to the commander, “May I speak to you?” The commander said, “◄I am surprised that you can speak the Greek language!/Can you(sg) speak the Greek language?►” [RHQ]"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "38", "text": "“◄I thought that you(sg) were that fellow/Are you not that fellow► from Egypt [RHQ] who wanted to rebel against the government not long ago, and who took four thousand violent terrorists with him out into the desert, so that we could not catch him?”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "39", "text": "Paul answered, “ No, I am not! I am a Jew. I was born in Tarsus, which is an important [LIT] city in Cilicia province. I request that you(sg) let me speak to the people.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 21, "verse": "40", "text": "Then the commander permitted Paul to speak. So Paul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand for the crowd to be quiet. And after the people in the crowd became quiet, Paul spoke to them in their own Hebrew language [MTY]."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "1", "text": "Paul said, “ Jewish elders and my other fellow Jews, listen to me now while I reply to those who are accusing me!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "2", "text": "When the crowd of people heard Paul speaking to them in their own Hebrew language, they became even more quiet and really listened. Then Paul said to them,"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "3", "text": "“I am a Jew, as are all of you. I was born in Tarsus city, in Cilicia province, but I grew up here in Jerusalem. When I was young, for many years I studied the laws that Moses gave to our ancestors. I was taught by the famous teacher Gamaliel [MTY] { The famous teacher Gamaliel taught [MTY] me}. I have carefully obeyed those laws, because I have wanted to obey God. I am sure that many of you also carefully obey those laws."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "4", "text": "That is why I previously persecuted those who believe the message that people call the Way that Jesus taught. I continually looked for ways to kill them. Whenever I found men or women who believed that message, I commanded that they should be seized and thrown { people to seize them and throw them} into jail."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "5", "text": "The high priest knows this, and so do the other respected men who belong to our Jewish Council. They gave me letters to take to their fellow Jews in Damascus city. By means of those letters, they authorized me to go to there and find people who believed in Jesus. They had written in the letters that I was to bring those people as prisoners to Jerusalem, so that they would be punished here { the leaders here could punish them}. So I went on my way to Damascus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "6", "text": "About noon, I and my companions were getting near Damascus. Suddenly a bright light from the sky flashed all around me."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "7", "text": "The light was so bright that I fell to the ground. Then I heard the voice of someone speaking to me from up in the sky. The one who was speaking to me said, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you(sg) do things to harm me?’"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "8", "text": "I answered, ‘Who are you, Sir?’ He replied, ‘I am Jesus from Nazareth. I am the one whom you(sg) are harming by doing things to harm my followers.’"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "9", "text": "The men who were traveling with me saw the very bright light, and they heard a voice, but they did not understand what the voice said to me."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "10", "text": "Then I asked, ‘Lord, what do you want me to do?’ The Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus! A man there will tell you(sg) all that I have planned for you to do.’"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "11", "text": "After that, I could not see, because the very bright light had caused me to become blind. So my companions took me by the hand and led me until we(exc) arrived in Damascus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "12", "text": "A couple of days later, a man whose name was Ananias came to see me. He was a man who greatly respected God and carefully obeyed our Jewish laws. All the Jews living in Damascus said good things about him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "13", "text": "He came and stood beside me and said to me, ‘ My friend Saul, see again!’ Instantly I could see! I saw him standing there beside me."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "14", "text": "Then he said: ‘The God whom we(inc) worship and whom our ancestors worshipped has chosen you and will show you what he wants you to do. He has allowed you to see the righteous one, the Messiah, and you have heard him speaking to you."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "15", "text": "He wants you to tell people everywhere what you have seen and heard from him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "16", "text": "So now ◄do not delay!/why delay?► [RHQ] Stand up, let me baptize you, and by praying to the Lord Jesus ask God to forgive you(sg) for your sins!’”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "17", "text": "“Later, I returned to Jerusalem. One day I went to the Temple courtyard. While I was praying there, I saw a vision in which"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "18", "text": "I saw the Lord speaking to me. He said to me, ‘ Do not stay here! Leave Jerusalem immediately, because the people here will not ◄believe/listen to► what you(sg) tell them about me!’"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "19", "text": "But I protested and said to him, ‘Lord, they know that I went to many of our meeting houses looking for people who believe in you. I was putting in jail those whom I found who believed in you, and I was even beating them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "20", "text": "They remember that when Stephen was killed [MTY] {when people killed [MTY] Stephen} because he told people about you, I stood there watching it all and approving what they were doing. I even guarded the outer garments that those who were murdering him had thrown aside So if I stay here, the fact that I have changed how I think about you will surely impress those leaders of our people.’"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "21", "text": "But the Lord said to me, ‘No, do not stay here Leave Jerusalem, because I am going to send you(sg) far away from here to non-Jewish people!’”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "22", "text": "The people listened quietly to what Paul was saying until he mentioned the Lord sending him to non-Jewish people. Then they began shouting angrily, “Kill him! He does not deserve to live any longer!” They said that because they could not believe that God would save anyone except Jews."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "23", "text": "While they continued shouting, “Kill him!” they took off their cloaks and threw dust into the air, which showed how angry they were."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "24", "text": "So the commander commanded that Paul be taken { soldiers to take Paul} into the barracks. He told the soldiers that they should strike Paul with a whip that had pieces of bone/metal on the end of it, in order to make him tell what he had done that made the Jews shout so angrily. So the soldiers took Paul into the barracks."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "25", "text": "Then they stretched his arms out and tied them so that they could whip him on his back. But Paul said to the officer who was standing nearby watching, “ You(sg) should think carefully about this! You will certainly be [RHQ] acting unlawfully if you whip me, a Roman citizen whom no one has put on trial and condemned!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "26", "text": "When the officer heard that, he went to the commander and reported it to him. He said to the commander, “This man is a Roman citizen◄Surely you would not command us to whip him!/Do you really want us to whip him?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "27", "text": "The commander was surprised when he heard that. He himself went into the barracks and said to Paul, “Tell me, are you(sg) really a Roman citizen?” Paul answered, “Yes, I am.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "28", "text": "Then the commander said, “ I am also a Roman citizen. I paid a lot of money to become a Roman citizen.” Paul said, “But I was born a Roman citizen, so I did not need to pay anything.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "29", "text": "The soldiers were about to whip Paul and to ask him questions about what he had done. But when they heard what Paul said, they left him immediately. The commander also became afraid, because he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had illegally commanded soldiers to tie up Paul's hands."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 22, "verse": "30", "text": "The commander still wanted to know exactly why the Jews were accusing Paul. So the next day he told the soldiers to take the chains off Paul. He also summoned the chief priests and the other Jewish Council members. Then he took Paul to where the Council was meeting and commanded him to stand before them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "1", "text": "Paul looked straight at the Jewish council members and said: “My fellow Jews, all my life I have lived respecting our God, and I do not know of anything that I have done that I knew was wrong/evil.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "2", "text": "When Ananias the high priest heard what Paul said, he commanded the men who were standing near Paul to hit him on the mouth."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "3", "text": "Then Paul said to Ananias, “God will punish you(sg) for that, you hypocrite [MET]! You sit there and judge me, using the laws that God gave Moses. But you yourself disobey those laws, because you commanded me to be struck { these men to strike me} without having proved that I have done anything that is wrong! ”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "4", "text": "The men who were standing near Paul rebuked him. They said, “Are not you(sg) afraid to insult God's servant, our high priest?”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "5", "text": "Paul replied, “My fellow Jews, I am sorry that I said that. I did not know that the man who told one of you to hit me is the high priest. If I had known that, I would not have insulted our high priest, because I know that it is written { that Moses wrote} in our Jewish law, ‘Do not speak evil of any of your rulers!’”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "6", "text": "Paul realized that some of the Council members were Sadducees and others were Pharisees. So, in order to cause the Pharisees and Sadducees to argue among themselves instead of accusing him, he called out loudly in the Council hall, “My fellow Jews, I am a Pharisee, like my father was. I have been put { You have put me} on trial here because I confidently expect that some day God will ◄cause people who have died to become alive again/raise people from the dead►.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "7", "text": "When he said that, the Pharisees and Sadducees started to argue with one another about whether people who have died will become alive again or not."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "8", "text": "The Sadducees believe that after people die, they will not become alive again. They also believe that there are no angels and no other kinds of spirits. But the Pharisees believe that all people who have died will one day become alive again. They also believe that there are angels and other kinds of spirits."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "9", "text": "So they ◄were divided/did not agree with each other►, and they began shouting at one another as they argued. Some of the teachers of the laws that God gave Moses who were Pharisees stood up. One of them said, “We(exc) think that this man has done nothing wrong.” Another said, “Maybe an angel or some other spirit really spoke to him and what he says is true.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "10", "text": "Then the Pharisees and Sadducees argued even more loudly with one another. As a result, the commander ◄was afraid/thought► that they would tear Paul to pieces. So he commanded soldiers to go down from the barracks and forcefully take Paul away from the Council members and bring him up into the barracks. So the soldiers did that."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "11", "text": "That night, in a vision Paul saw the Lord Jesus come and stand near him. The Lord said to him, “Be courageous! You(sg) have told people here in Jerusalem about me, and you must tell people in Rome about me, too.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "12", "text": "The next morning some of the Jews [MTY] who hated Paul met secretly and talked about how they could kill him. They promised themselves that they would not eat or drink anything until they had killed him. They asked God to curse them if they did not do what they promised."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "13", "text": "There were more than forty men who planned to do that."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "14", "text": "They went to the chief priests and Jewish elders and told them, “God has heard us promise/vow that we(exc) will not eat or drink anything until we(exc) have killed Paul."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "15", "text": "So we request that you go to the commander and ask him, on behalf of the whole Jewish Council, to bring Paul down to us from the barracks. Tell the commander that you want to question Paul some more. But we(exc) will be waiting to kill Paul while he is on the way here.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "16", "text": "But the son of Paul's sister heard what they were planning to do, so he went into the barracks and told Paul."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "17", "text": "When Paul heard that, he called one of the officers and said to him, “ Please take this young man to the commander, because he needs to tell him something important.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "18", "text": "So the officer took Paul's nephew to the commander. The officer said to the commander, “That prisoner, Paul, called me and said, ‘Please take this young man to the commander, because he needs to tell him something important.’”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "19", "text": "The commander took the young man by the hand, led him off by himself, and asked him, “What do you(sg) need to tell me?”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "20", "text": "He said, “ There are some[SYN] Jews who have planned to ask you(sg) to bring Paul before their Council tomorrow. They will say that they want to ask him some more questions. But that is not true."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "21", "text": "Do not do what they ask you(sg) to do, because there are more than forty Jewish men who will be hiding and waiting to attack Paul when he passes by on the way to the Council. They even promised/vowed to God that they will not eat or drink anything until they have killed Paul. They are ready to do it, and right now they are waiting for you(sg) to agree to do what they are asking you to do.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "22", "text": "The commander said to Paul's young nephew, “Do not tell anyone that you(sg) have told me about their plan.” Then he sent the young man away."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "23", "text": "Then the commander called two of his officers and told them, “Get a group of two hundred soldiers ready to travel. Take along seventy soldiers riding horses, and two hundred other soldiers carrying spears. All of you must be ready to leave at nine o'clock tonight, to go down to Caesarea city."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "24", "text": "And take along horses for Paul and those accompanying him to ride, and safely escort him to the palace of Governor Felix.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "25", "text": "Then the commander wrote a letter to send to the governor. This is what he wrote:"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "26", "text": "“ I am Claudius Lysias writing to you. You, Felix, are our governor whom we(exc) respect, and I sincerely send you my greetings."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "27", "text": "I have sent you(sg) this man, Paul, because certain Jews seized him and were about to kill him. But I heard someone tell me that he is a Roman citizen, so I and my soldiers went and rescued him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "28", "text": "I wanted to know what those Jews were saying that he had done wrong, so I took him to their Jewish Council."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "29", "text": "I listened while they asked this man questions and he answered them. The things they accused him about were entirely concerned with their Jewish laws. But Paul has not disobeyed any of our Roman laws. So our officials should not execute him or even put him in prison [MTY]."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "30", "text": "Someone told me that some [SYN] Jews were secretly planning to kill this man, so I immediately sent him to you, so that you(sg) may give him a fair trial there. I have also commanded the Jews who have accused him to go there to Caesarea and tell you(sg) what they are accusing him about.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "31", "text": "So the soldiers did what the commander commanded them, taking this letter with them. They got Paul and took him with them during the night down to Antipatris city."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "32", "text": "The next day, the foot soldiers returned to the barracks in Jerusalem and the soldiers who rode horses went on with Paul."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "33", "text": "When the men escorting Paul arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor, and they delivered Paul to the governor. Then the horsemen returned to Jerusalem."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "34", "text": "The governor read the letter and then he said to Paul, “What province are you(sg) from?” Paul answered, “I am from Cilicia province.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 23, "verse": "35", "text": "Then the governor said, “When the people who have accused you(sg) arrive, I will listen to what each of you says and then I will judge your case.” Then he commanded that Paul be guarded { soldiers to guard Paul} in the palace that King Herod the Great had built."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "1", "text": "Five days later Ananias the high priest, having heard that Paul was now in Caesarea, went down there from Jerusalem, along with some other Jewish elders and a lawyer whose name was Tertullus. There they formally told the governor what Paul had done that they considered wrong."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "2", "text": "The governor commanded Paul to be brought { a soldier to bring Paul} in. When Paul arrived, Tertullus began to accuse him. He said to the governor, “Honorable Governor Felix, during the many years that you(sg) have ruled us, we(exc) have lived well/peacefully. By planning wisely, you have improved many things in this province."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "3", "text": "Therefore, sir, we(exc) always gratefully acknowledge everything that you have done for all of us, wherever you have done those things."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "4", "text": "But, so that I will not take up too much of your time, I earnestly request that you kindly listen to me very briefly."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "5", "text": "We(exc) have observed that this man, wherever he goes, causes trouble. Specifically, he causes all the Jews everywhere [HYP] to riot. Also, he leads the entire group whom people call‘the followers of the Nazarene’, a false sect."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "6", "text": "He even tried to do things in the Temple in Jerusalem that would ◄defile it/make it unholy►. So we(exc) seized him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "7", "text": "But Lysias, the commander at the Roman fort, came with his soldiers and forcefully took him away from us [SYN]."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "8", "text": "Lysias also commanded Paul's accusers to come here and accuse Paul before you. If you question him yourself, you will be able to learn that all these things about which we are accusing him are true.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "9", "text": "When the Jewish leaders who were listening heard that, they told the governor that what Tertullus had said was true."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "10", "text": "Then the governor motioned with his hand to Paul that he should speak. So Paul replied. He said, “ Governor Felix, I know that you(sg) have judged this Jewish province for many years. Therefore I gladly defend myself, confident that you will listen to me and will judge me fairly."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "11", "text": "You(sg) can easily ascertain that ◄it has not been more than twelve days since/only twelve days ago► I went up went up to Jerusalem to worship God. That is not enough time to cause a lot of trouble."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "12", "text": "No one can claim legitimately that they saw me arguing with anyone at the Temple courts because I did not do that. No one can claim legitimately that they saw me causing people to riot in any Jewish meeting place, or causing trouble anywhere else in Jerusalem city, because I did not do that."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "13", "text": "So they cannot prove to you the things about which they are now accusing me."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "14", "text": "But I admit to you(sg) that this is true: I do worship the God that our ancestors worshipped. It is true that I follow the way that Jesus taught us. The Jewish leaders call that a false religion/teaching. I also believe everything that was written by Moses{that Moses wrote} in the laws that God gave him and everything that was written by the other prophets {that the other prophets wrote} in their books[MTY]."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "15", "text": "I confidently expect, just like some of these men also expect, that some day God will cause everyone who has died to become alive again. He will ◄cause to become alive again/raise from the dead► both those who were righteous and those who were wicked."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "16", "text": "Because I am confidently waiting for that day, I always try to do what pleases God and what other people think is right."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "17", "text": "After I had been in other places for several years, I returned to Jerusalem. I went there to deliver some money to my fellow Jews who are poor, and to offer sacrifices to God."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "18", "text": "Some Jews saw me in the temple courts after I had completed the ritual by which a person is made {that makes a person} pure. There was no crowd with me, and I was not causing people to riot."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "19", "text": "But it was some other Jews who had come from Asia province who really caused people to riot. They should be here in front of you(sg) to accuse me, if they thought that I did something wrong."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "20", "text": "But if they do not want to do that(OR, But because they are not here), these Jewish men who are here should tell you(sg) what they think I did that was wrong, when I defended myself before their Council."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "21", "text": "They might say that one thing that I shouted as I stood before them was wrong. What I said was, ‘You are judging me today because I believe that God will ◄cause all people who have died to become alive again/raise all people from the dead►.’”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "22", "text": "Felix already knew quite a lot about what people called❛the way of Jesus❜ . But he did not let Paul or his accusers continue to speak. Instead, he said to them, “ Later, when Commander Lysias comes down here, I will decide these matters that concern you all.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "23", "text": "Then he told the officer who was guarding Paul to take Paul back to the prison and make sure that Paul was guarded all the time. But he said that Paul was not to be chained {that the officer was not to fasten chains on him}, and if his friends came to visit him, the officer should allow them to help Paul in any way that they wished."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "24", "text": "Several days later Felix and his wife Drusilla, who was a Jew, came back to Caesarea after having been away for a few days. Felix commanded Paul to be brought in { a soldier to bring Paul in}. Then Felix listened to what Paul said to him. Paul spoke about what Christians believe about the Messiah Jesus."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "25", "text": "Paul explained to them about what God requires people to do in order to please him. He also explained about God requiring people to control how they act. Paul also told him that there will be a time when God will judge people. Felix became alarmed after hearing those things. So he said to Paul, “That is all I want to hear now. When there is a time that is convenient I will ask you(sg) to come to me again.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "26", "text": "Felix said that because he hoped that Paul would give him some money for allowing Paul to get out of prison. So he repeatedly sent for Paul to come, and Paul repeatedly went and talked with him. But he did not give Felix any money, and Felix did not command his soldiers to release Paul from prison."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 24, "verse": "27", "text": "Felix let Paul remain in prison, because he wanted to please the Jewish leaders and he knew that they did not want him to release Paul. But when two years had passed, Porcius Festus became governor in place of Felix."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "1", "text": "Festus, who was now the governor of the province, arrived in Caesarea, and three days later he went up to Jerusalem."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "2", "text": "In Jerusalem, the chief priests and other Jewish leaders formally told Festus about the things that they said that Paul had done that were wrong."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "3", "text": "They urgently asked Festus to do something for them. They asked him to command soldiers to bring Paul to Jerusalem, so that Festus could put him on trial there. But they were planning that some of them would hide near the road and wait for Paul and kill him when he was traveling to Jerusalem."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "4", "text": "But Festus replied, “Paul is in Caesarea, and is being guarded { soldiers are guarding him} there. I myself will go down to Caesarea in a few days."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "5", "text": "Choose some of your leaders to go there with me. While they are there, they can accuse Paul of the wrong things that you say that he has done.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "6", "text": "After Festus had been in Jerusalem eight or ten days, he went back down to Caesarea. Several of the Jewish leaders also went there. The next day Festus commanded that Paul be brought {someone to bring Paul} to him in the assembly hall so that he could judge him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "7", "text": "After Paul was brought to the assembly hall, the Jewish leaders from Jerusalem gathered around him to accuse him. They told Festus that Paul had committed many crimes. But they could not prove that Paul had done the things about which they accused him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "8", "text": "Then Paul spoke to defend himself. He said, “I have done nothing wrong against the laws of us(exc) Jews, and I have not disobeyed the rules concerning our Temple. I have also done nothing wrong against your government [MTY].”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "9", "text": "But Festus wanted to please the Jewish leaders, so he asked Paul, “Are you(sg) willing to go up to Jerusalem so that I can listen as these men accuse you there?”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "10", "text": "But Paul did not want to do that. So he said to Festus, “ No, I am not willing to go to Jerusalem! I am now standing before you, and you(sg) are the judge whom the Roman Emperor [MTY] has authorized. This is the place where I should be judged {where you should judge me}. I have not wronged the Jewish people at all, as you know very well."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "11", "text": "If I had done something bad for which I should be executed { concerning which the law said that they should execute me}, I would not plead with them that they not kill me. But none of these things about which they accuse me is true, so no one can legally surrender me to these Jews. So I formally request that the emperor [MTY] should judge me at Rome.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "12", "text": "Then after Festus conferred with the men who regularly advised him, he replied to Paul, “You(sg) have formally requested that I should send you to the emperor in Rome. So I will arrange for you to go there in order that he can judge you.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "13", "text": "After several days, King Herod Agrippa arrived at Caesarea, along with his younger sister Bernice. They had come to formally welcome Festus as the new Governor of the province."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "14", "text": "King Agrippa and Bernice stayed many days in Caesarea. While they were there, Festus told Agrippa about Paul. He said to the king, “There is a man here whom Felix kept in prison while he was governor. He left him there when his time as governor ended."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "15", "text": "When I went to Jerusalem, the chief priests and the other Jewish elders told me that this man had done many things against their laws. They asked me to condemn him to be executed{judge him so that people could kill him}."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "16", "text": "But I told them that when someone has been accused of a crime, we Romans do not immediately ◄condemn that person/declare that person to be guilty►. First, we command him to stand before the people who are accusing him and to say whether or not he has done those things. After that, the judge will decide what to do with him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "17", "text": "So those Jews came here to Caesarea when I came. I did not delay. The day after we(exc) arrived, after I sat down at the place where I make decisions, I commanded that Paul be brought { soldiers to bring Paul} into the courtroom."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "18", "text": "The Jewish leaders did accuse him, but the things about which they accused him were not any of the evil crimes about which I thought they would accuse him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "19", "text": "Instead, what they argued about with him were some teachings that some Jews believe and others do not believe. They argued about a man whose name was Jesus who had died, but the man they were accusing, whose name is Paul, kept saying, ‘Jesus is alive again.’"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "20", "text": "I did not know what questions to ask them, and I did not know how to judge concerning their dispute. So I asked Paul, ‘Are you(sg) willing to go back to Jerusalem and have the dispute between you and these Jews judged there {and let me judge there the dispute between you and these Jews}?’"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "21", "text": "But Paul answered, ‘ No. I am not willing to go to Jerusalem! I want you(sg) to request that the emperor in Rome judge my affair, and I will wait here as a prisoner until then.’ So I have commanded that Paul be guarded { soldiers to guard Paul} here until I can send him to the emperor [MTY] in Rome.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "22", "text": "Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I myself would like to hear what that man says.” Festus answered, “ I will arrange for you(sg) to hear him tomorrow.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "23", "text": "The next day Agrippa and Bernice came very ceremoniously to the assembly hall. Some Roman commanders and prominent men in Caesarea came with them. Then, Festus told an officer to bring Paul. So after the officer went to the prison and brought him,"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "24", "text": "Festus said, “King Agrippa, and all the rest of you who are here, you see this man. Many [HYP] Jews in Jerusalem and also those here in Caesarea appealed to me, screaming that we(exc) should not let him live any longer."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "25", "text": "But when I asked them to tell me what he had done, and they told me, I found out that he had not done anything for which he should be executed { anyone should execute him}. However, he has asked that our emperor should judge his case, so I have decided to send him to Rome."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "26", "text": "But I do not know what specifically I should write to the emperor concerning him. That is why I have brought him here. I want you all to hear him speak, and I especially want you(sg) , King Agrippa, to hear him. Then, after we(inc) have questioned him, I may know what I should write to the emperor about him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 25, "verse": "27", "text": "It seems to me that it would be unreasonable to send a prisoner to the emperor in Rome without my specifying the things about which people are accusing him.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "1", "text": "Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You(sg) are permitted now to speak to defend yourself.” Paul stretched out his hand ◄ dramatically/to salute the king► and began to defend himself. He said,"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "2", "text": "“King Agrippa, I consider that I am fortunate that today, while you(sg) listen, I can defend myself from all the things about which the Jewish leaders[SYN] are accusing me."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "3", "text": "I am really fortunate, because you(sg) know all about the customs of us Jews and the questions that we(exc) argue about. So I ask you, please listen patiently to what I say.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "4", "text": "“Many [HYP] of my fellow Jews know about how I have conducted my life, from the time I was a child. They know how I lived in the area where I was born and also later in Jerusalem."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "5", "text": "They have known for many years, and they could tell you, if they wanted to, that since I was very young I obeyed the customs of our religion very carefully, just like the other Pharisees do."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "6", "text": "Today I am being put on trial { they are putting me on trial} because I am confidently expecting that God will do what he promised our(exc) ancestors."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "7", "text": "Our twelve tribes are also confidently waiting for God to do for us what he promised, as they respectfully worship him, day and night. Respected king, I confidently expect that God will do what he promised, and they also believe that! But that is the reason that these Jewish leaders [SYN] are accusing me!"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "8", "text": "You people believe that God can cause those who have died to become alive again, so ◄why do you refuse to believe that he raised Jesus from the dead?/you should not refuse to believe that he raised Jesus from the dead! ► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "9", "text": "“ Formerly I, too, was sure that I should do everything that I could to oppose Jesus [MTY], the man from Nazareth town."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "10", "text": "So that is what I did when I lived in Jerusalem. I put many of the believers in jail, as the chief priests there had authorized me to do. When the Jewish leaders wanted those Christians killed {someone to kill those Christians}. I voted for that."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "11", "text": "Many times I punished the believers whom I found in Jewish meeting places. By punishing them, I tried to force them to speak evil about Jesus. I was so angry with the followers of Jesus that I even traveled to other cities to find them and do things to harm them.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "12", "text": "“ One day, I was on my way to Damascus city to do that. The chief priests in Jerusalem had authorized and sent me to seize the believers there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "13", "text": "My respected king, while I was going along the road, at about noon I saw a bright light in the sky. It was even brighter than the sun! It shone all around me, and also around the men who were traveling with me."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "14", "text": "We(exc) all fell to the ground. Then I heard the voice of someone speaking to me in my own Hebrew language [MTY]. He said ‘Saul, Saul, ◄stop causing me to suffer!/why are you causing me to suffer?► [RHQ] You(sg) are hurting yourself by trying to hurt me[MET], like an ox kicking against its owner's goad.’"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "15", "text": "Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The Lord said to me, ‘I am Jesus. You(sg) are harming me by harming my followers."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "16", "text": "But instead of continuing to do that, stand up now! I have appeared to you(sg) to tell you that I have chosen you to serve me. You must tell people about what I am showing you as you are seeing me now, and about what I will show you when I will later appear to you."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "17", "text": "I will protect you from those who will try to harm you, both your own people and also those who are not Jewish. I am sending you to them"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "18", "text": "to help them to realize [MTY] what is true and to stop believing what is false [MET]. I am sending you to them so that they may let God control them and not let Satan control them anymore. Then God will forgive their sins and will accept them as his people because they believe in me.’ That is what Jesus said to me.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "19", "text": "“So, King Agrippa, I fully obeyed [LIT] what the Lord Jesus told me to do when he spoke to me from heaven."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "20", "text": "First, I preached to the Jews in Damascus. Then I preached to the Jews in Jerusalem and throughout the rest of Judea province. After that, I also preached to non-Jews. I preached that they must turn away from their sinful behavior and turn their lives over to God. I told them that they must do things that would show that they had truly stopped their sinful behavior.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "21", "text": "“It is because I preached this message that some[SYN] Jews seized me when I was in the Temple courtyard and tried to kill me."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "22", "text": "However, God has been helping me from that time, and he is still helping me today. So I stand here and I tell all of you people, those who are important and those who are not, who Jesus is. Everything that I say about him is what Moses and the other prophets wrote about long ago, things that they said would happen."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "23", "text": "They wrote that people would cause the Messiah to suffer and die. They also wrote that he would be the first person to become alive again, to proclaim the message that would be like light, that he would save both his own Jewish people and non-Jewish people.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "24", "text": "Before Paul could say anything further to defend himself, Festus shouted: “Paul, you are crazy! You have studied too much, and it has made you insane!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "25", "text": "But Paul answered, “Your Excellency, Festus, I am not raving insanely On the contrary, what I am saying is true and sensible!"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "26", "text": "King Agrippa knows the things that I have been talking about, and I can speak confidently to him about them. I am sure that he knows [LIT] these things, because people everywhere [IDM] have heard [LIT] about what happened to Jesus.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "27", "text": "Then Paul asked, “King Agrippa, do you believe what the prophets wrote? I know that you(sg) believe it.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "28", "text": "Then Agrippa answered Paul, “◄ I hope that you(sg) do not think that by the few things that you have just now said you can persuade me to become a Christian!/You do not think, do you, that by the few things that you have just now said you can persuade me to become a Christian?►” [RHQ]"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "29", "text": "Paul replied, “Whether it takes a short time or a long time, it does not matter. I pray to God that you and also all of the others who are listening to me today will also believe in Jesus like I do, but I do not want you to become prisoners [MTY] like I am.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "30", "text": "Then the king, the governor, Bernice, and all the others got up"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "31", "text": "and left the room. While they were talking to one another they said to each other, “There is no reason why ◄the authorities/we► should execute this man, or that he should even be kept in prison [MTY].”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 26, "verse": "32", "text": "Agrippa said to Festus, “If this man had not asked that the Emperor judge him, he could have been released { we(inc) could have released him}.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "1", "text": "When the Governor and those who advised him decided that it was time for us(exc) to get on a ship and go to Italy, they put Paul and some other prisoners into the hands/care of an army captain whose name was Julius. He was the one who would guard us on the journey. Julius was an officer in charge of a group of a hundred soldiers that people called❛the Emperor Augustus Group❜."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "2", "text": "So we got on a ship that had come from Adramyttium city in Asia province. The ship was going to return there, stopping at cities along the coast of Asia province. Aristarchus, a fellow believer who was from Thessalonica city in Macedonia province, went with us."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "3", "text": "The day after the ship sailed, we arrived at Sidon city. Julius kindly told Paul that he could go and see his friends who lived there, so that they could give him whatever he might need. So Paul visited the believers there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "4", "text": "Then the ship left Sidon, but the winds were blowing against us(exc) , so the ship went along the north side of Cyprus Island, the side that is sheltered from the wind."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "5", "text": "After that, we crossed over the sea close to the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia provinces. The ship arrived at Myra city, which is in Lycia province. We got off the ship there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "6", "text": "In Myra, people told Julius that a ship was there that had come from Alexandria city and would soon sail to Italy. So he arranged for us to get on that ship, and we left."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "7", "text": "We sailed slowly for several days and finally arrived close to the coast of Asia province, near Cnidus town. After that, the wind was very strong and did not allow the ship to move straight ahead westward. So instead, we sailed southward along the side of Crete Island that is sheltered from the wind, and we passed near Cape Salmone."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "8", "text": "The wind was still strong, and it prevented the ship from moving ahead fast. So we moved slowly along the coast of Crete, and we arrived at a harbor that was called Fair Havens, near Lasea town."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "9", "text": "Much time had passed, so it would have been dangerous if we(exc) had traveled farther by ship because after that time of the year[MTY] the sea often became very stormy. So Paul said to the men on the ship,"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "10", "text": "“Men, I perceive that if we(inc) travel by ship now, it will be disastrous for us. A storm may destroy the ship and the cargo, and possibly we will drown.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "11", "text": "But the officer did not listen to what Paul said. Instead, he decided to do what the pilot of the ship and the owner of the ship advised."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "12", "text": "The harbor where the ship had stopped was not a good place to remain during the winter when the weather frequently becomes stormy. So most of the people on the ship decided that we(exc) should leave there, because they hoped that we could stay at Phoenix port during the winter, if we could possibly arrive there. That harbor was open to the sea in two directions, but the strong winds did not blow there."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "13", "text": "Then a gentle wind began to blow from the south, and the crew members thought that they could travel as they had decided to do. So they lifted the anchor up out of the sea, and the ship sailed westward along the southern shore of Crete Island."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "14", "text": "But after a while, a wind that was very strong blew across the island from the north side and hit the ship. That wind was called{ People called that wind} “the Northeast Wind.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "15", "text": "It blew strongly against the front of the ship. The result was that we could not keep going in the direction in which we had been going. So the sailors let the wind move the ship in the direction that the wind was blowing."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "16", "text": "The ship then passed a small island named Cauda. We passed along the side of the island that sheltered the ship from the wind. Then while the ship was moving along, the sailors lifted the lifeboat up out of the water and tied it on the deck. But the strong wind made it difficult even to do that."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "17-18", "text": "After the sailors hoisted/lifted the lifeboat onto the ship, they tied ropes around the ship's hull to strengthen the ship. The sailors were afraid that, because the wind was pushing the ship, it might run onto the sandbanks off the coast of Libya to the south and get stuck there. So they lowered the largest sail so that the ship would move slower. Even so, the wind continued to move the ship along. The wind and the waves continued to toss the ship about roughly, so on the next day the sailors began to throw overboard the things that the ship was carrying."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "19", "text": "On the third day after the stormy wind had begun to blow, the sailors/we [MTY] threw overboard most of the sails, ropes, and poles, in order to make the ship lighter."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "20", "text": "The wind continued to blow very strongly, and the sky was full of dark clouds day and night. We could not see the sun or the stars for many days, so we could not determine where we were. And the wind continued to blow violently. So we(exc) finally thought that we would drown in the sea."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "21", "text": "None of us on the ship had eaten for many days. Then one day, Paul stood up in front of us and said, “ Friends, you should have listened to me when I said that we(inc) should not sail from Crete. Then we would have been safe, and the ship and its cargo would be in good condition [LIT]."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "22", "text": "But now, I urge you, do not be afraid, because none of us will die. The storm will destroy the ship but not us."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "23", "text": "I know this, because last night God, the one to whom I belong and whom I serve, sent an angel who came and stood by me."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "24", "text": "The angel said to me, ‘Paul, do not be afraid! You(sg) must go to Rome and stand before the Emperor there so that he can judge you. I want you to know that God has granted to you that all those who are traveling by ship with you will also survive.’"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "25", "text": "So cheer up, my friends, because I believe that God will make this happen, exactly as the angel told me."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "26", "text": "However, the ship will crash on some island, and we(inc) will go ashore there.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "27", "text": "On the fourteenth night after the storm had begun, the ship was still being blown {the wind was still blowing the ship} across the Adriatic sea. About midnight, the sailors sensed that the ship was getting close to land."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "28", "text": "So they lowered a rope to measure how deep the water was. When they pulled the rope up again, they measured it and saw that the water was ◄120 ft./37 meters► deep. They went a little farther and lowered the rope again. That time, they saw that the water was only about ◄90 ft./28 meters► deep."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "29", "text": "They were afraid that the ship might go onto some rocks, so they threw out four anchors from the ship's stern/back and continued to wish/pray that it would soon be dawn so that they could see where the ship was going."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "30", "text": "Some of the sailors were planning to escape from the ship, so they lowered the lifeboat into the sea. In order that no one would know what they planned to do, they pretended that they wanted to lower some anchors from the ship's front/bow."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "31", "text": "But Paul said to the army officer and soldiers, “If the sailors do not stay in the ship, you have no hope of being saved.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "32", "text": "So the soldiers cut the ropes and let the lifeboat fall into the water."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "33", "text": "Just before dawn, Paul urged everyone on the ship to eat some food. He said, “For the past fourteen days you have been waiting and watching and not eating anything."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "34", "text": "So, now I urge you to eat some food. We(inc) need to do that in order to stay alive. I tell you to do that because I know that none of you will drown [IDM].”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "35", "text": "After Paul had said that, while everyone was watching, he took some bread and thanked God for it. Then he broke the bread and began to eat some of it."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "36", "text": "The rest of us became encouraged, so we(exc) all ate some food."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "37", "text": "Altogether there were 276 of us [SYN] on the ship."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "38", "text": "When everyone had eaten as much as they wanted, they threw the grain that the ship was carrying into the sea, and this made the ship lighter."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "39", "text": "At dawn, we(exc) could see land, but the sailors did not recognize the place. However, they could see that there was a bay and a wide area of sand at the water's edge. They planned that, if it was possible, they would steer the ship onto the beach."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "40", "text": "So some of the sailors cut the anchor ropes and let the anchors fall into the sea. At the same time, other sailors untied the ropes that fastened the rudders, so that they could steer the ship again. Then the sailors raised the sail at the front/bow of the ship so that the wind would blow the ship forward, and the ship headed towards the shore."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "41", "text": "But the ship hit a sandbank. The front of the ship stuck there and could not move, and big waves beat against the back of the ship and it began to break apart."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "42", "text": "The soldiers said to one another, “Let's kill all the prisoners on the ship, so that they will not be able to swim away and escape.” They planned to do that because they were sure that officials would order them to be executed if they let the prisoners escape."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "43", "text": "But Julius, the army captain, wanted to save Paul, so he stopped the soldiers from doing what they planned to do. Instead, he commanded first that everyone who could swim should jump into the water and swim to land."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 27, "verse": "44", "text": "Then he told the others to hold onto planks or pieces from the ship and go towards shore. We(exc) did what he said, and in that way all of us arrived safely on land."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "1", "text": "After we(exc) had arrived safely on the shore, we learned that it was an island called Malta."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "2", "text": "The people who lived there received us kindly. They lit a fire and invited us to come and warm ourselves, because it was raining and it was cold."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "3", "text": "Paul gathered some sticks and put them on the fire. But among those sticks was a snake that had come out from the fire to escape from the heat, and it fastened itself on Paul's hand."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "4", "text": "The islanders knew that the snake was poisonous, so when they saw it hanging from Paul's hand, they said to each other, “Probably this man has murdered someone. Although he has escaped from being drowned, the god◄ who pays people back/who punishes people► for their [MTY] sins will to cause him to die.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "5", "text": "But Paul simply shook the snake off into the fire, and nothing happened to him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "6", "text": "The people were expecting that Paul's body would soon swell up or that he would suddenly fall down and die. But after they had waited a long time, they saw that the snake had not harmed him at all. So then the people changed what they were thinking and said to one another, “This man is not a murderer! Probably he is a god!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "7", "text": "Near where the people had made the fire, there were some fields that belonged to a man whose name was Publius. He was the chief official on the island. He invited us to come and stay in his home. He took care of us for three days."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "8", "text": "At that time Publius' father had fever and dysentery, and he was lying in bed. So Paul visited him and prayed for him. Then Paul placed his hands on him and healed him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "9", "text": "After Paul had done that, the other people on the island who were sick came to him and he healed them, too."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "10", "text": "They brought us gifts and showed in other ways that they greatly respected us. When we were ready to leave three months later, they brought us food and other things that we would need on the ship."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "11", "text": "After we had stayed there three months, we got on a ship that was going to Italy and sailed away. The ship had been in a harbor on the island during the months when there are many storms. It had come from Alexandria city. On the front of the ship there were carved images of the twin gods whose names were Castor and Pollux."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "12", "text": "We sailed from the island and arrived at Syracuse city on Sicily island and stayed there three days."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "13", "text": "Then we traveled on by ship and arrived at Rhegium port in Italy. The next day, the wind was blowing from behind us, so we sailed along fast. The day after that, we reached Puteoli town, where we left the ship."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "14", "text": "In Puteoli we met some believers who invited us to stay with them for a week. After visiting them, we left there and started to travel by land to Rome."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "15", "text": "A group of believers who lived in Rome had heard that we(exc) were coming. So they came out from Rome to meet us. Some of them met us at the town called❛The Market on Appian Road❜, and others met us at the town called❛The Three Inns❜. When Paul saw those believers, he thanked God and was encouraged."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "16", "text": "After we(exc) arrived in Rome, Paul was permitted { a Roman official who was responsible for guarding Paul permitted Paul} to live in a house by himself. But there was always a soldier there to guard him."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "17", "text": "After Paul had been there three days, he sent a message to the Jewish leaders to come and talk with him. So they came, and Paul said to them, “My fellow Jews, although I have not opposed our people nor spoken against the customs of our ancestors, our leaders in Jerusalem seized[MTY] me. But before they could kill me, a Roman commander rescued me and later sent me to Caesarea for Roman authorities/officials to put me on trial."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "18", "text": "The Roman authorities/officials questioned me and wanted to release me, because I had not done any bad thing for which I should be executed {they should kill me}."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "19", "text": "But when the Jewish leaders[SYN] there opposed what the Roman authorities wanted to do, I had to formally request that the Emperor judge me here in Rome. But my reason for doing that was not that I wanted to accuse our leaders about anything."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "20", "text": "So I have requested you to come here so that I can tell you why I am a prisoner. It is because I believe in [MTY] our Messiah, the one God long ago promised to send to us(inc) Jews.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "21", "text": "Then the Jewish leaders said, “We(exc) have not received any letters from our fellow Jews in Judea about you. Also, none of our fellow Jews who have arrived here from Judea has said anything bad about you."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "22", "text": "But we(exc) want to hear what you(sg) think about this Christian sect/group, because we know that in many places [HYP] bad things are being said {people are saying bad things} about it.”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "23", "text": "So they talked with Paul and decided that they would come back on another day to hear him. When that day arrived, those Jews came back to the place where Paul was staying, and they brought more Jews with them. Paul talked to them from morning until evening. He talked to them about how God wants to rule people's lives[MET]. He tried to convince them that Jesus is the Messiah by reminding them what Moses and the other prophets had written [MTY]."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "24", "text": "Some of those Jews believed that what was said by Paul{what Paul said} about Jesus was true, but others did not believe that it was true."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "25", "text": "So they began to argue with one another. Paul realized that some of them did not want to listen to him, so when they were about to leave, he said, “The Holy Spirit said something to your/our(incl) ancestors. He spoke these words to Isaiah the prophet, and what he said is also true about you,"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "26", "text": "Go to your fellow Israelites and tell them, ‘You repeatedly listen to the message of God, but you never understand what God is saying. You repeatedly look at and see the things that God is doing, but you never understand what they mean."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "27", "text": "God also said to the prophet, These people do not understand, because they have become stubborn. They have ears, but they do not understand what they hear, and they have closed their eyes because they do not want to see. If they wanted to obey what I say to them, they might understand with their hearts what they see me doing and what they hear me saying. Then they might turn from their sinful behavior and I would save them.’"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "28-29", "text": "That is what God said to the prophet Isaiah about our ancestors. But you Jews today do not want to believe God's message. Therefore, I am telling you that God has sent to the non-Jews this message about how he saves people, and they will listen and accept it!”"}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "30", "text": "For two whole years Paul stayed there in a house that he rented. Many people came to see him, and he received them all gladly and talked with them."}
{"book": "ACT", "chapter": 28, "verse": "31", "text": "He preached and taught people about how God could rule their lives[MET] and taught them about the Lord Jesus Christ. He did that without being afraid, and no one tried to stop him."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "1", "text": "I, Paul, who serve Christ Jesus, am writing this letter. God chose me to be an apostle, and I was appointed by him {he appointed me} in order that I should proclaim◄the good message/the gospel► that comes from him."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "2", "text": "Long before Jesus came to earth, God promised that he would reveal this good message by means of what his prophets wrote in the sacred Scriptures."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "3", "text": "This good message is about the one whom we know as his Son. As to his Son's physical/human nature, he was born a descendant of King David."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "4", "text": "As to his divine nature, it was shown { God showed} powerfully that he is ◄God's own Son/God who became human►. God showed this by his Holy Spirit causing him to become alive again after he died. He is Jesus Christ our Lord."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "5", "text": "He is the one who appointed me, who did not deserve it, to be an apostle. He did that in order that many among the non-Jews would honor him and would obey him as a result of their believing my message about him."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "6", "text": "You believers who are living in Rome city are included among those whom God has chosen to belong to Jesus Christ."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "7", "text": "I am writing this letter to all of you whom God loves and whom he has chosen to become his people. I pray that God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord will continue to act kindly toward you and will continue to cause you to have inner peace."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "8", "text": "As I begin this letter, I thank my God for all you believers in Rome. It is because of what Jesus Christ has done for us that I am able to do that. I thank him because your trusting in Jesus Christ is something that people all over the Roman Empire[HYP] are talking about."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "9", "text": "God, whom I devotedly serve as I proclaim to people the good message concerning his Son, knows that I tell the truth when I say that I always mention you whenever [DOU] I pray to God[HYP]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "10", "text": "I especially ask God that if he desires me to visit you, somehow at last I shall be able to do so."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "11", "text": "I pray this because I long to visit you to help you spiritually in order that you will become stronger spiritually."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "12", "text": "I long to visit you in order that you and I might encourage each other by means of our sharing with each other how each of us trusts in Jesus."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "13", "text": "My fellow believers, many times I planned to visit you. I certainly want you to know [LIT] that. But I have not been able to come to you because I have been hindered { things have always prevented me} until the present time. I have wanted to come in order that I might help you to mature spiritually [IDM], as I have helped people to mature spiritually in many other non-Jewish groups [HYP]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "14", "text": "I feel obliged to proclaim the good message to all non-Jewish people, specifically to people who know the Greek language and culture and to those who do not know it, to people who are educated and to those who are uneducated."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "15", "text": "As a result, what I have eagerly desired is that I might proclaim this good message to you who are living in Rome also."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "16", "text": "That leads me to say that I very confidently proclaim [LIT] the good message about what Christ has done, because this good message is the powerful means that God uses to save from the guilt of their sins all people who trust in what Christ has done for them. Specifically, God first saves the Jews who believe the good message, and then he saves non-Jews."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "17", "text": "By means of this good message God reveals how he erases the record of people's sins (OR, declares people no longer guilty for having sinned); and his doing this is entirely because [IDM] they trust in Christ. This is confirmed by what a prophet long ago wrote that God said, “Those ◄whose record of sin I have erased/whom I have declared no longer guilty for sin► because they trust in me will live forever.”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "18", "text": "From where God rules in heaven he is making it clear to all non-Jewish people who show no respect for God and who do wicked things, that he is angry with them and that they deserve to be punished{ that he would punish them} [MTY]. By means of their behaving wickedly, they keep other people from believing what they know to be true about God."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "19", "text": "Everyone can clearly know what God is like, because God himself has revealed to everyone what he is like."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "20", "text": "People cannot see what God is like. But ever since he created the world, by means of what he created he has clearly revealed what he is like. He has made clear to everyone that he has always been able to do very powerful deeds. Therefore, we should recognize that he is God, completely different from all that he created. So no one has a basis for saying, “We never knew about God.”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "21", "text": "Although the non-Jews knew what God is like, they did not honor him as God, nor did they thank him for what he had done. But instead, they began to think foolish things about him, and they became unable to understand [MET] what he wanted them to know."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "22", "text": "Although they claimed that they were wise, they became foolish,"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "23", "text": "and they refused to admit that God is glorious and will never die. Instead, they made and worshipped idols that resembled people who will some day die, and then they made other idols that resembled birds and four-footed animals, and finally they made idols that resembled reptiles."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "24", "text": "So God allowed the non-Jews do immoral sexual things that they [SYN] strongly desired, things that their desires were compelling them to do. As a result, they began to dishonor each other's bodies by their sexual actions."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "25", "text": "Also, they chose to worship false gods instead ◄of admitting/of choosing to believe► what is true about God. They worshipped and served things that God created instead of worshipping and serving God, the one who created everything. They did this even though he deserves that those he created would forever praise him. Amen!/May it be so!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "26", "text": "So, God allowed the non-Jews to do shameful sexual things that they strongly desired. As a result, many women did not have natural sexual relations with their husbands[EUP]. Instead, they were doing sexual actions with other women [EUP]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "27", "text": "Similarly, many men stopped having/did not have natural sexual relations with women [EUP]. Instead, they strongly desired to have sexual relations with other men. They committed homosexual acts with other men, acts that were shameful. As a result, God has punished them by sicknesses in their bodies, which is what they deserve because they thought wrongly that God would not punish them for doing that."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "28", "text": "Furthermore, because they decided that it was not worthwhile to know God, he allowed their own worthless thoughts to completely control them. As a result, they began doing evil things that God says that people should not do."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "29", "text": "They strongly desire to do all kinds of unrighteous deeds. They strongly desire to do all kinds of evil things to others. They strongly desire to possess things that belong to others. They strongly desire to harm others in various ways. Many non-Jews are constantly envying other people. Many constantly desire to murder people. Many constantly desire to cause strife between people. Many constantly desire to deceive others. Many constantly desire to speak hatefully about others(OR, to speak harmful things about others, things that are not true). Many gossip about others."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "30", "text": "Many slander others. Many act especially hatefully toward God. Many speak or act in an insulting way toward others. Many treat others contemptuously. Many boast about themselves to others. Many invent new ways to do evil deeds. Many non-Jewish children disobey their parents."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "31", "text": "Many non-Jews act in other morally foolish ways. Many do not do what they promised others that they would do. Many do not even love their own family members. And many do not act mercifully toward other people."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "32", "text": "Although they know that God has declared that those who do such things deserve to be killed, they not only habitually do these kinds of evil things, but they also approve of others who habitually do them."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 2, "verse": "1", "text": "God will severely punish non-Jewish people who habitually do evil deeds, because he has clearly revealed that he is angry with them. So, when God judges people, he will not excuse any one of you Jews to whom I am writing. You(sg) say that God should punish non-Jews for doing evil deeds. But when any one of you says that, it is yourself whom you are saying that God should punish, because you(sg) do some of the same evil deeds that the non-Jews do."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 2, "verse": "2", "text": "We know very well that God will judge and punish fairly non-Jewish people who do such evil deeds."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 2, "verse": "3", "text": "So, you who say God should punish others for doing evil deeds yet you do evil deeds yourself, ◄you should certainly not think that you yourself will be able to escape from being punished by God!/do you think that you yourself will be able to escape from being punished by God?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 2, "verse": "4", "text": "And you should not say, “God is acting very tolerantly and patiently toward me, so I do not need to turn away from my sin[DOU].” ◄You should realize that God is acting in a kind manner toward you in order to encourage you(sg) to turn away from your sinful behavior!/Do you not realize that God is acting in a kind manner toward you in order to encourage you(sg) to turn away from your sinful behavior?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 2, "verse": "5", "text": "But instead, by your stubbornly refusing to turn away from your sinful behavior [DOU], you are causing [MET] God to punish you even more severely. He will do that at the time when he shows that he is angry and judges people fairly."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 2, "verse": "6", "text": "God will recompense everyone according to what they deserve for what they have done."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 2, "verse": "7", "text": "Specifically, some people, by persevering in doing good deeds, strive to be highly honored by God[DOU] and to receive a life that will not end. God will reward them by enabling them to live forever."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 2, "verse": "8", "text": "But some people act in a selfish way and refuse to believe that what God says is true, and they do the things that God says are wrong. God will punish them very severely [DOU, MTY]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 2, "verse": "9", "text": "He will cause everyone who habitually does evil deeds to suffer greatly, with the result that they will become severely distressed [DOU]. This certainly will happen to the Jews who refuse to accept God's message, because God gave them the privilege to be his special people, but it will also happen to the non-Jews."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 2, "verse": "10", "text": "But God will greatly reward spiritually [MET, DOU] every person who habitually does good deeds. He will certainly do this for the Jews because God chose them as his special people, but he will also do it for the non-Jews."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 2, "verse": "11", "text": "God will do this fairly, because people's status does not influence him."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 2, "verse": "12", "text": "Although non-Jews do not have the laws that God gave to Moses, all non-Jews who sin will be eternally separated from God. He will not consider whether or not they knew the laws that he gave to Moses. And all the Jews who have sinned in spite of knowing the laws that God gave to Moses will also be punished{ God will also punish them}. They will be punished for disobeying God's laws."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 2, "verse": "13", "text": "It is right for them to be punished{ God to punish them} because it is not those who merely know God's laws whom he considers to be righteous. On the contrary, it is only those who continually have obeyed all◄of God's laws/of the laws that God gave to Moses► ◄whom God will consider righteous/whose record of sins God will erase►."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 2, "verse": "14", "text": "Whenever the non-Jews, who do not have the laws God gave to Moses, naturally obey those laws, they prove that they have a law within their own minds, even though they do not have the laws God gave to Moses."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 2, "verse": "15", "text": "They show that they know in their own minds what God commands in his laws [MET], as each person in his very own conscience either accuses or excuses/defends his behavior."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 2, "verse": "16", "text": "God will punish them at the time when he will judge people according to what they have thought and done. He will judge them even for the things that they have done secretly. He will judge people by authorizing Christ Jesus to judge them. This is what I tell people when I preach the good message to them."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 2, "verse": "17", "text": "Now I have something to say to any one of you Jews to whom I am writing: You(sg) boast about yourself saying, “I am a Jew.” You(sg) trust that God will save you because you possess the laws that he gave to Moses. You boast that you belong to God."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 2, "verse": "18", "text": "You know what God desires. Because you have been taught { people have taught you} God's laws, you are able to know which things are right and to choose to do them."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 2, "verse": "19", "text": "You are certain that you are able to show God's truth to non-Jews, as guides show the road to those who are blind [MET]. You are certain that by what you say you can show God's way to the non-Jews who do not understand it, as a light shows the way to those who walk in the darkness [MET, DOU]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 2, "verse": "20", "text": "You are certain that you can instruct/correct non-Jews, whom you consider foolish because of their not understanding God's message. Because you have in God's laws a written expression of true knowledge [HEN], you are certain that you can teach people who, being like children, do not know God's truth[MET]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 2, "verse": "21", "text": "Since you claim that you have all these advantages because you are a Jew, ◄it is disgusting that you who teach other people that they should obey the laws God gave Moses do not obey the laws that you yourself teach!/why is it that you who teach other people that they should obey the laws God gave Moses do not obey the laws that you yourself teach?► [RHQ] You who preach that people should not steal things, ◄it is disgusting that you yourself steal things!/why do you yourself steal things?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 2, "verse": "22", "text": "You who command people not to have sexual relations with someone to whom they are not married, ◄it is disgusting that it you commit adultery yourself!/why do you commit adultery yourself?► [RHQ] You who detest idols, ◄it is disgusting that you rob temples where people worship idols!/why do you rob temples where people worship idols?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 2, "verse": "23", "text": "You who boast saying, “ I have God's laws,” ◄it is disgusting that you disobey those same laws!/why do you disobey those same laws?► [RHQ] As a result you are insulting God!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 2, "verse": "24", "text": "You must not be like our ancestors, about whom were written these words in the Scriptures: “The non-Jews speak evil about God because of the evil actions of many of you Jews.” They non-Jews say God must be a hypocrite if he condones the behavior of people like you."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 2, "verse": "25", "text": "Any one of you who is circumcised to show that he belong to God can benefit from that if he obeys the laws God gave to Moses. But if you(sg), a circumcised person, disobey God's laws, God will consider that you who are circumcised are no better in God's sight than someone who is not circumcised."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 2, "verse": "26", "text": "◄This means that God will certainly consider that even non-Jews who are not circumcised can become his people if they obey the things that he commanded in his laws./So will not God consider that even non-Jews who are not circumcised can ◄become his people/become acceptable to him► if they obey the things that he commanded in his laws?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 2, "verse": "27", "text": "If any one of you disobeys God's laws, even though you(sg) have the Scriptures and even though someone has circumcised you {you are circumcised} God will punish you. And those people who are not circumcised, but who obey God's laws, will declare that God is right when he says that he will punish you."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 2, "verse": "28", "text": "It is not those who perform rituals to show they are God's people who are true Jews, and it is not being circumcised in their bodies that causes God to accept them[MTY]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 2, "verse": "29", "text": "On the contrary, we whom God has changed inwardly are true Jews [MTY]. And God has accepted us because we have allowed God's Spirit to change our hearts, not because we perform rituals. Even if other people will not praise us, God will praise us."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "1", "text": "Someone may object to this, saying, “ If being circumcised does not cause God to accept us Jews, ◄there is no advantage in being a Jew over being a non-Jew./is there any advantage in being a Jew over being a non-Jew?► [RHQ] Being circumcised does not benefit us Jews at all!”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "2", "text": "I would reply that being Jews benefits us in many ways [HYP]. First of all, it benefits us because it was to our ancestors that God's words, words that contain his promises, were given {that God gave his words, words that contain his promises}."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "3", "text": "Many Jews did not obey God as they promised that they would. So someone might ask, “Does their not being faithful mean that God will not bless us Jews as he promised that he would?”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "4", "text": "I would reply, “No, it certainly does not mean that! God always does what he has promised, even though people do not. All those who accuse God of not keeping his promises to us Jews are very mistaken.” What King David wrote about God's justly saying that he would punish him for his sins is also true of those who accuse God of not keeping his promises. What he said to God was, “So everyone must acknowledge that what you(sg) have said about them(OR, their sin) is true, and you will always win the case when you are accused {when people accuse you}.”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "5", "text": "So if we Jews' being wicked [PRS] shows that it is right that God does not bless us, what shall we say/conclude? Shall we conclude that it is not right for God to be angry and punish us Jews[MTY]? I should not be saying these things, but I am speaking as ordinary humans speak."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "6", "text": "We should certainly not conclude that God should not judge us, because if God did not judge us Jews, ◄it would not possibly be right for him to judge anyone in the world [MTY]!/how could he judge anyone in the world?► [MTY, RHQ]"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "7", "text": "But someone might object and say to me, “The fact that God truly keeps his promises becomes very clear/evident because of my not doing what God has commanded. But the result is that people praise God! So ◄God should no longer say that I should be punished {that he should punish me} on account of my having sinned!/why should God still say that I should be punished {that he should punish me} on account of my having sinned?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "8", "text": "If what you, Paul, say is true, then ◄we might as well/it is all right for us to► do evil things in order that good things like that will result! For example, then people will praise God! ” Some people speak evil about me by their falsely saying that I say such things. God will fairly/justly punish people who say such things about me!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "9", "text": "If someone would ask, “ Shall we conclude that God will treat us Jews more favorably and will treat the non-Jews less favorably[RHQ]?” I would reply that we can certainly not conclude that! I have already shown you that all people, the Jews and also the non-Jews, have sinned and so they deserve to be punished{ that God will punish them} [PRS]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "10", "text": "The following words that are written {prophets have written} in the Scriptures support this, No person is righteous. There is not even one righteous person!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "11", "text": "There is no one who understands how to live properly(OR, about God). There is no one who seeks/desires to know God!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "12", "text": "Absolutely everyone has turned away [MET] from God. God considers them depraved (OR, Everyone has become useless to God). There is no one who acts righteously; no, there is not even one!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "13", "text": "What people say [MTY] is foul/bad, like the smell that comes from a grave that has been {that people have} opened [MET]. By what people say[MTY], they deceive people. By what they say[MTY] they injure people, just like the poison of snakes injures people[MET]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "14", "text": "They are continually ◄cursing/asking God to do harmful things to► others and saying ◄cruel/harsh/hateful► things [MTY]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "15", "text": "They ◄go quickly/are eager► to murder people [MTY]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "16", "text": "Wherever they go they ruin everything and make people miserable [MTY]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "17", "text": "They have not/never known how to live peacefully with other people."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "18", "text": "They absolutely refuse to fear/reverence God [SYN]!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "19", "text": "Furthermore, we know that it is to Jewish people, who are required to obey God's laws, that Moses wrote those laws [PRS]. We can infer from this that there are no Jews or non-Jews[SYN] who are able to say anything in reply to God's saying that he will punish them for having sinned. God has declared everyone in the world [MTY] guilty!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "20", "text": "It is not because people have done the things that God's laws require that God will ◄erase the record of their sins/declare them no longer guilty for sin►, because no one has done those things completely. In fact, the result of our knowing God's laws is that we know clearly that we have sinned (OR, are sinful)."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "21", "text": "But God's ◄erasing the record of our sins/declaring us no longer guilty► does not depend on our obeying the laws that he gave Moses. It has now been { God has now} revealed to us how he erases the record of our sins by a different way. It was written about by Moses{ Moses wrote about it} in the laws [PRS] God gave him, and it was also written about by the prophets {the prophets also wrote about it}."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "22", "text": "God erases the record of our sins because we trust in what Jesus Christ has done for us. God does this for every person who trusts in Christ, because he considers that there is no difference between Jews and non-Jews."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "23", "text": "All people have done evil, and all people have failed to accomplish the glorious goals that God set for them."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "24", "text": "Our record of sins has been erased {God erased the record of our sins} by his acting kindly to forgive our sins, without our doing anything to earn it. Christ Jesus accomplished this by dying for us."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "25", "text": "God showed that Christ was the one who would atone for (OR, forgive) our sins with the blood that flowed from his body when he died. God redeems/forgives us because of our trusting in Christ's having died for us. God wanted to show that he acts justly. He wanted to do that because, before Christ came, God did not punish everyone who sinned. So it seemed as though he was not being just. But he was overlooking their sins during that time,"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "26", "text": "because he is patient. God arranged for Christ to die for us. By doing that, he now shows that he is just, and he shows that he is justly able to erase the record of sins for everyone who trusts/believes in Jesus."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "27", "text": "It is not at all [RHQ] because of our obeying the laws of Moses that God erases the record of our sins. So, ◄there is no way that we can boast that God does that because of our obeying those laws./how can we boast about God erasing the record of our sins because of our obeying those laws?► [RHQ] Instead, it is because of our believing/trusting in Christ that God erases the record of our sins."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "28", "text": "We cannot boast about that, because we conclude that the record of our sins is erased {God erases the record of our sins} because of our trusting in Christ. God does not erase the record of our sins because of our obeying the laws that he gave to Moses, because it is impossible for us to completely obey them."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "29", "text": "◄You who are Jews certainly should not think that is you are the only ones whom God will accept!/Do you Jews think it is you alone whom God will accept?► [RHQ] ◄You certainly should realize that he will accept non-Jews, too./Do you not realize that he will accept non-Jews, too?► [RHQ] Of course, he will accept non-Jews also,"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "30", "text": "because, as you firmly believe, there is only one God, who will erase the record of Jews' [MTY] sins if they trust in what Christ has done, and who will similarly erase the record of non-Jews' [MTY] sins if they trust in Christ."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 3, "verse": "31", "text": "So, if someone should ask concerning the laws that God gave Moses, “By saying that God erases the record of our sins because of our trusting in Christ, does that mean that those laws now are useless?”, I would reply, “Certainly not. Instead, we truly fulfill the laws that God gave Moses.”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 4, "verse": "1", "text": "Abraham is the revered ancestor of us Jews. So ◄think about what we can conclude from what happened to Abraham about how God can erase the record of our sins./what can we conclude from what happened to Abraham about how God can erase the record of our sins?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 4, "verse": "2", "text": "If it was because of Abraham's doing good things that the record of his sins was erased {that God erased the record of his sins}, Abraham could then have been able to boast about that to people, but he would not have had any basis to boast to God about it."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 4, "verse": "3", "text": "Remember that in the Scriptures it is written {someone wrote} [PRS] that Abraham believed what God promised[RHQ], and as a result the record of his sins was erased { God erased the record of his sins}."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 4, "verse": "4", "text": "If we receive wages for work that we do, those wages are not considered to be a gift. Instead, they are considered to be what we have earned. Similarly, if God erases the record of our sins because we did things to earn God's favor, we would not consider that God's erasing the record of our sin was a gift. Instead, we would consider it as what we had earned."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 4, "verse": "5", "text": "But suppose that we do not do things to gain God's acceptance. Suppose that we instead trust in God, who erases the record of sins of wicked people. Then the erasing of the record of our sins because of our trusting in Christ is considered to be a gift to us, not something that we earned."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 4, "verse": "6", "text": "Similarly, it is as David wrote in the Psalms about people being happy whose record of sins God has erased even though they have not done things to earn it. David wrote:"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 4, "verse": "7", "text": "God is pleased with people whose sins have been {whose sins he has} forgiven, and whose sins he has decided to forget [DOU]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 4, "verse": "8", "text": "God causes to be happy the people whose sins he no longer keeps a record of."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 4, "verse": "9", "text": "As for our being happy because God has erased the record of our sins, ◄it is not something that only we Jews can experience./is it [MTY] something that only we Jews can experience?► [RHQ] No, it is also something that non-Jews can experience[MTY]. What is written in the Scriptures, that it was because Abraham trusted in God that the record of his sins was erased { God erased the record of his sins}, also shows that this is true."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 4, "verse": "10", "text": "◄ Think about when God erased the record of Abraham's sins./When did God erase the record of Abraham's sins?► [RHQ] ◄Consider whether it happened after someone circumcised Abraham to mark him as one who belonged to God, or before someone circumcised him./ Did it happen after Abraham was circumcised to be marked as one who belonged to God, or before he was circumcised?► [RHQ] It happened before he was circumcised, not after he was circumcised."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 4, "verse": "11", "text": "Many years later, God commanded that Abraham be circumcised. Abraham's accepting that ritual simply showed that he knew that God had accepted him. He knew that God had erased the record of his sins because he trusted in God while he was still, in effect, a non-Jew because he had not been circumcised. So we can understand that Abraham became ◄a spiritual ancestor/like an ancestor► to all of us whose record of sins has been erased {whose sins God has erased the record of} because we believe in God's promise, even though some of us are not circumcised."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 4, "verse": "12", "text": "Likewise, Abraham is the spiritual ancestor of all us Jews who are not merely circumcised but who, more importantly, believe in God's promise as our ancestor Abraham did, even before he was circumcised."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 4, "verse": "13", "text": "God promised Abraham and his descendants that they would receive the blessings that he promised to give to the people in the world. But when he promised that, it was not because Abraham obeyed the laws that God later gave to Moses. Instead, it was because Abraham believed that God would do what he promised that he would do. As a result, God erased the record of his sins."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 4, "verse": "14-15", "text": "If we think that it is those who obey God's laws who will receive what he has promised, it is useless for us to think that he will erase the record of our sins just because we trust in him. And it is pointless for us to think that he will give us what he promised just because we trust in him. Remember that it is stated in God's law [PRS] that he will punish people who do not perfectly obey them, and remember that wherever [MTY] laws exist, people disobey them [LIT]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 4, "verse": "16", "text": "So it is because we trust in God that we will receive the things that he has promised. It is not because we perfectly obey God's laws. He wants◄to erase the record of our sins/to declare us no longer guilty► without our earning it. As a result, what God now promises, he guarantees to give to all people who are Abraham's spiritual descendants. He promises to do that not only for us Jewish believers, who have God's laws and trust in him as Abraham did, but also for those non-Jews who do not have God's laws but who trust in him as Abraham did. Abraham is the spiritual ancestor of all of us believers."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 4, "verse": "17", "text": "What is written {What Moses wrote} in the Scriptures about what God promised Abraham shows that this is true. God said to him, “It is in order that you(sg) may be the ancestor of many ethnic groups that I have appointed you.” God guaranteed that he would give Abraham many descendants. Abraham confidently believed that God would do that,"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 4, "verse": "18", "text": "even though there was no physical reason for him to hope that he would have descendants, because he and his wife were too old to bear children. But God is the one who causes dead people to live again, and who talks about things that do not yet exist as already existing. God said to Abraham, “You will have so many descendants that they will be as impossible to count as the stars.” And Abraham believed that, and he believed that he would become the ancestor of many ethnic groups."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 4, "verse": "19", "text": "He did not doubt that God would do what he promised, even though he knew that his body was already as incapable of begetting children as if he were dead [MET] because he was about a hundred years old. And even though he realized that Sarah had never been able to become pregnant [IDM],"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 4, "verse": "20", "text": "he did not doubt at all that God would do what he had promised. Instead, he trusted in God more/very strongly, and he thanked God for what God was going to do."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 4, "verse": "21", "text": "He was also convinced {very sure} that the thing that God promised, God was able to do."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 4, "verse": "22", "text": "And that is the reason that the record of his sins was erased { God erased the record of his sins}."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 4, "verse": "23", "text": "The words in the Scriptures, “The record of his sins was erased { God erased the record of his sins},” are not only about Abraham."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 4, "verse": "24", "text": "They were also written { They also wrote that} for us whose record of sins would be erased { God would erase}. They were written { They wrote it} for us who believe God, the one who caused our Lord Jesus to become alive again after he died."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 4, "verse": "25", "text": "Jesus allowed men to execute [MTY] him so that God could forgive our evil deeds. And God caused Jesus to live again because God wanted to show that because of the death of Jesus he was able to erase the record of our sins."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 5, "verse": "1", "text": "Because we trusted in Christ, the record of our sins has been erased { God has erased the record of our sins}. So we now have a peaceful relationship with God because of our trust in what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 5, "verse": "2", "text": "Because of what Christ has done, God has also enabled us to begin experiencing his continually acting toward us in ways that we do not deserve. Also, we rejoice because we are confidently expecting that God will gladly show us how great he is."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 5, "verse": "3", "text": "We rejoice even when we suffer as a result of our trusting in Christ, because we know that when we are suffering, the result is that we learn to endure things patiently."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 5, "verse": "4", "text": "And we know that when we endure things patiently, the result is that God approves of us. And when we know that God approves of us, the result is that we confidently expect that he will do great things for us."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 5, "verse": "5", "text": "And we are very confident [PRS] concerning the things that we wait expectantly for, because God loves us very much. His Holy Spirit, who has been {whom he has} given to us, causes us to understand how much God loves us."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 5, "verse": "6", "text": "When we were unable to save ourselves, it was Christ who, at the time that God chose, died on behalf of us ungodly people."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 5, "verse": "7", "text": "Rarely would anyone die on behalf of another person, even if that person were righteous, although for a good person perhaps someone might be courageous enough to die on behalf of such a person."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 5, "verse": "8", "text": "Nevertheless, as for God, the way he showed us that he loves us is that Christ died on our behalf while we were still rebelling against God."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 5, "verse": "9", "text": "The record of our sins has been erased { God has erased the record of our sins} because of what Christ accomplished when his blood [MTY] flowed when he died. So it is even more certain that we will be saved by Christ {that Christ will save us} from God's punishing us eternally[MTY]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 5, "verse": "10", "text": "Even when we were acting hostilely towards God, he enabled us to have a peaceful relationship with him as a result of his Son dying for us. So it is even more certain that we will be saved {Christ will be able to save us} from God's punishing us[MTY] because he is alive again and because God has enabled us to have a peaceful relationship with himself."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 5, "verse": "11", "text": "And that's not all! Now we also rejoice about the things that God has done for us because of our Lord Jesus Christ dying for us and enabling us to have a peaceful relationship with God."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 5, "verse": "12", "text": "What you can learn from what I have written so far is as follows: All people are sinful [PRS], and that is the result of Adam, the first man whom God created, sinning long ago. Adam died [PRS] because he sinned. So, all people who have lived since then die, because it is as though all people sinned when Adam sinned."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 5, "verse": "13", "text": "People in[MTY] the world sinned before God gave his laws to Moses. But people are not considered by God{ God does not consider people} to be guilty for their sins if there is no law stating that what they did was sinful."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 5, "verse": "14", "text": "But we know that from the time when Adam lived until the time when Moses lived, all people sinned, and they died as a consequence[PRS, MET]. Even people who sinned differently from the way Adam sinned, died. Adam's sin affected all people, just like what Christ did, the one who came later, can affect all people."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 5, "verse": "15", "text": "But the results of God's erasing the record of our sins as a gift to us are not like the results of Adam's sinning. The result of one man, Adam, sinning was that many/all people have died. But it is certain, however, that many people have abundantly experienced God's acting kindly toward them in a way they did not deserve. It is also certain that they have experienced God's erasing the record of their sins as the result of one man, Jesus Christ, acting kindly toward them/towards them in a way they did not deserve."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 5, "verse": "16", "text": "And there is another way in which God's freely erasing the record of our sins is not like the results of Adam's sinning. One person, Adam, sinned. As a result, God declared that all people deserve to be punished. Many people sinned. But what God did was that he erased the record of their sins without their earning it."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 5, "verse": "17", "text": "All people die [MET, PRS] because of what one man, Adam, did. But now many of us experience that God has abundantly acted towards us in ways we did not deserve, and we experience that he has erased the record of our sins without our earning it. It is also very certain that we will rule with Christ(OR, share the glory of Christ's being king), in heaven. This will happen because of what one man, Jesus Christ, did for us."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 5, "verse": "18", "text": "So, because one man, Adam, disobeyed God's law, that resulted in all people deserving to be punished {that God punish them}. Similarly, because one man, Jesus, acted righteously by obeying God when he died, the result was that God is able to erase the record of all people's sins and enable them to live eternally."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 5, "verse": "19", "text": "It was because one person, Adam, disobeyed God that many/all people became sinners. Similarly, it is because one person, Jesus, obeyed God when he died that the record of many people's sins will be erased {that he will erase the record of many people's sins}."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 5, "verse": "20", "text": "God gave[PRS] his laws to Moses[PRS] in order that people might realize how greatly they had sinned; but as people sinned more, God continued to act even more kindly toward them, in a way that they did not deserve."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 5, "verse": "21", "text": "He did that in order that just like people everywhere inevitably sin, which results in their dying [MET, PRS], people everywhere might inevitably experience God's acting kindly towards them in a way they do not deserve [MET, PRS] by erasing the record of their sins. The result is that people can live eternally because of what Jesus Christ our Lord did for them."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 6, "verse": "1", "text": "Someone might [RHQ] say in reply to what I have written that since God acted kindly toward us in a way we did not deserve because we sinned, ◄perhaps we should continue to sin in order that he may continue to act even more kindly toward us and keep on forgiving us./should we continue to sin in order that he may continue to act even more kindly toward us and keep on forgiving us?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 6, "verse": "2", "text": "I would reply, No, certainly not! We ought to consider that our sinful desires [MET] cannot make us do what they want us to do, just like we cannot make a corpse do what we want it to do. So ◄it is not right that we continue to sin!/how can we continue to sin?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 6, "verse": "3", "text": "When we were baptized { asked someone to baptize us} in order to show that we have a relationship with (OR, are united to) Jesus Christ, our being baptized was to declare that it was as though we died with Christ. ◄ I want you to remember that!/Do you not know that?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 6, "verse": "4", "text": "So, when we were baptized {someone baptized us}, it was as though we were buried with Christ. We were baptized in order to indicate that we would not let our sinful desires make us do what they want us to do, just like people cannot make a corpse do what they want it to do [MET]. We were baptized to signify that we would continually conduct our lives in a new way, just like Christ was caused to live again in a new way by the great power of God his Father."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 6, "verse": "5", "text": "Because of our close relationship with Christ, we have separated ourselves from the former way in which we conducted our lives, just like he was separated from his physical life when he died [MET]. But God will also certainly enable us to live in a new way, just like he enabled Christ to live again."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 6, "verse": "6", "text": "We must keep remembering that when Christ died on the cross [MET], it was as though our sinful nature died with him. It has lost its power to make us do what it wants us to do [MET]. That happened in order that we would not do the sinful things that our bodies[MET], which desire to sin, want us to do, and in order that we would no longer have to sin [MET], as slaves have to do what their masters want."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 6, "verse": "7", "text": "We are, as it were, freed{ free} from sinful desires[MET] controlling us, just like those who have died are free from anything controlling them."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 6, "verse": "8", "text": "Since it is as though we died with Christ, we believe that we will continue to live with him."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 6, "verse": "9", "text": "We know that since God enabled Christ to live again after he died, Christ will never die again. Nothing will ever be able to make him die again [PRS]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 6, "verse": "10", "text": "When he died, he died once for people who had sinned, and he will never die again; but in regard to his living again now, he lives in order to serve/honor God."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 6, "verse": "11", "text": "Similarly, you must consider that it is as though you have become unable to do what your sinful desires[MET] want, as a corpse is not able to do what anyone wants it to do. You must also consider that because of your relationship to Christ Jesus you are living in a new way in order to serve/honor God."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 6, "verse": "12", "text": "So, do not let the desire to sin [PRS] control your bodies [MET] with the result that you do the sinful things that you desire to do. Remember that your bodies will surely die, but your spirits will never die."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 6, "verse": "13", "text": "Do not let any of your body parts do wicked things, as you did[MET] when you were spiritually dead. Instead, present yourselves to God as people who are alive spiritually. Present all your body parts to God, to allow him to use them to do righteous things."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 6, "verse": "14", "text": "Do not let a desire to sin control you [PRS]. The laws that God gave Moses did not enable you to stop sinning. But now God controls you and kindly helps you not to sin."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 6, "verse": "15", "text": "I suppose that certain people might think about what I have just said and they might say [RHQ], “ You say that the laws God gave Moses did not enable us to stop sinning, but that God is now treating us kindly in ways we do not deserve. ◄ That seems to mean that God permits us to continue sinning./ Does that mean that God permits us to continue sinning?► [RHQ]” My reply to that is no, we should certainly not continue sinning"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 6, "verse": "16", "text": "Slaves have to obey what their masters command[MET] them to do. ◄I want you to remember this./Do you not know this?► [RHQ] Similarly, if you present yourselves to someone in order to obey him, you will be the slaves [MET] of the person you obey. Similarly, if you have yielded yourselves to do the sinful things you desire, you are slaves of your sinful desires [PRS], and you will be eternally separated from God. If you have yielded yourselves to obey God, you are slaves of God and you need to live righteously."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 6, "verse": "17", "text": "You were once slaves to your sinful desires. But you began to sincerely obey the new teaching [MET] that you were taught {that people taught you}. I thank God for that."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 6, "verse": "18", "text": "I also thank God that you have been freed { that he has freed you} from being controlled by a desire to sin and that you have become as though you were slaves [MET] to living righteously [MET]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 6, "verse": "19", "text": "I am illustrating what I say by talking about slavery because your human nature prevents you from understanding spiritual truth easily. In the past you willingly did the immoral and unlawful things that your minds compelled your bodies to do [MET], just like slaves do what their masters compel them to do. As a result, you did even more unlawful things. Now, you need to willingly allow your minds to compel your bodies to act righteously [MET], in order that you will behave in a holy/pure way."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 6, "verse": "20", "text": "When you were like slaves because your sinful desires compelled you to do sinful things [MET], you were not concerned about behaving righteously [MET]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 6, "verse": "21", "text": "Nevertheless, doing those things resulted in your being separated from God, so ◄you did not benefit at all from doing the sinful things that you are now ashamed of./what did you gain from doing the things that you are now ashamed of?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 6, "verse": "22", "text": "But you have been freed { God has freed you} from letting the desire to sin control you. You have become as though you were[MET] the slaves of God. So now the result is that God has caused you to completely belong to him and, as a result, you will live eternally."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 6, "verse": "23", "text": "What people receive for sinning is that they are eternally separated from God. That is like wages that people receive[MET]. But what God gives us is a gift. What he gives us is that we live eternally because of our relationship with(OR, because we are united to) Christ Jesus our Lord."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 7, "verse": "1", "text": "My fellow believers, you know about laws. So ◄you certainly know (OR, I want you to remember) that people have to obey laws [PRS] only while they are alive./do you not know that people have to obey laws [PRS] only while they are alive?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 7, "verse": "2", "text": "For example, a woman is required by the law {the law requires a woman} to obey and be faithful to her husband as long as he is alive. But if her husband dies, she is freed from having to{ no longer has to} obey the law about remaining married to her husband."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 7, "verse": "3", "text": "Therefore, a woman will be called {people will call a woman} an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she no longer has to obey that law. Then she will not be an adulteress if she marries another man."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 7, "verse": "4", "text": "Likewise, my fellow believers, just like people are free from having to obey any law after they die[MET], you and I have been freed { God has freed you and me} from having to obey all the Jewish rituals and laws [MET]. That is because it is as though we died with Christ when he was crucified. Now you and I belong to someone else [MET], like a woman who marries again after her husband dies belongs to another man. Specifically, you and I belong to Christ, who has been raised from the dead {whom God has caused to live again after he died}, in order that we may live righteously [IDM] to honor God."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 7, "verse": "5", "text": "When our self-directed nature controlled us, desires that led us to sin were acting in our bodies. Those desires were increased because of our knowing God's laws [PRS]. As a result we did evil things[IDM] that caused us to be separated from God."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 7, "verse": "6", "text": "But now we are freed {free} from having to obey all the Jewish rituals— it is as though we have died. The result is that now we are not controlled by those rituals {those rituals do not control us now}. So we serve God, not by having to obey those rituals, which is the old way, but in the new way, as God's Spirit helps us to serve him."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 7, "verse": "7", "text": "Someone might object, saying, “◄The laws that God gave Moses must be evil if our sinful desires are increased because of our knowing those laws. [MTY]/Are not the laws that God gave Moses evil if they stir up our sinful desires?►” [MTY, RHQ] I would reply that they certainly are not evil, even though our sinful desires are increased. What I would reply is that I, for example, realized that what I was doing was sinful only because of what is written{ Moses wrote} in those laws. For example, I realized that coveting is sinful only because he wrote in those laws [PRS], “You must not covet.”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 7, "verse": "8", "text": "And because of what that commandment stated, my sinful desire to have things that belong to others[PRS] caused me to covet in many ways. Our desire to sin is not stimulated [MET] when there is no law that prohibits our doing sinful things."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 7, "verse": "9", "text": "Formerly, when I did not know what God's laws required, I used to live without worrying about what I was doing. But when I became aware that God commanded, “You must not covet,” I suddenly realized [PRS] that I was sinning,"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 7, "verse": "10", "text": "and I realized that I was separated from God. The laws that I thought would enable me to live eternally as a result of my obeying them caused me to realize that I was separated from God!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 7, "verse": "11", "text": "My desire to sin found a way [PRS] to deceive me by making me think wrongly that I could keep on sinning and at the same time obey those laws enough so that I would live eternally, and thus it caused me to be separated from God [PRS]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 7, "verse": "12", "text": "So we conclude that the laws that God gave to Moses are holy. What God commanded about not coveting, along with all the other things that he commanded, is also holy, and it is just and good."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 7, "verse": "13", "text": "So, if someone were to object saying, “ The laws that God gave Moses, which are good, ◄resulted in my being separated from God!/did they result in my being separated from God?► [RHQ]” I would reply, “Certainly they did not do that! ” But instead, those laws, which are good, stimulated my desire to sin. I knew that the result was that I was separated from God. And also, because I learned what God had commanded, I knew that what I was doing was truly sinful."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 7, "verse": "14", "text": "We know that the laws that God gave Moses came from God's Spirit. But as for me, I am influenced by my self-directed nature. It is as though I have been forced to become a slave of my desire to sin [MET]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 7, "verse": "15", "text": "The things that I do, I often[HYP] do not understand. That is, sometimes[HYP] it is the good things that I want to do that I do not do. And sometimes[HYP] it is the evil things that I detest that I do."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 7, "verse": "16", "text": "Since I do the evil things that I do not want to do, I agree that the laws of God are good."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 7, "verse": "17", "text": "So, it is not that I do evil things because I wish to do them. Instead, I do sinful things because the desire to sin causes me to do them. The desire to sin ◄in within/permeates► me [PRS]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 7, "verse": "18", "text": "I know that my self-directed nature will not let me[PRS] do anything that is good. I know this because I want to do what is good, but I do not do what is good."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 7, "verse": "19", "text": "I do not do the good things that I want to do. Instead, it is evil things that I do not want to do that I do."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 7, "verse": "20", "text": "Because I do evil things that I do not want to do, it is not that I do evil things because I want to. Instead, I do them because my self-directed nature, which permeates me [PRS], causes me to do them."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 7, "verse": "21", "text": "I find, then, that what always happens is that when I want to do what is good, there is an evil desire present within me that [PRS] prevents me from doing good."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 7, "verse": "22", "text": "With my new inner nature I like the laws of God very much."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 7, "verse": "23", "text": "Nevertheless, I sense that there is a different force that is in ◄my body/me► [PRS, SYN]. It is opposed to what with my mind I desire to do[MET], and it puts me inescapably under the control of [MET] the sinful desires that I have [SYN]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 7, "verse": "24", "text": "◄ When I consider this, I feel that I am a very wretched person. I want someone to set me free from the control of what my body desires, in order that I might not be separated from God./Will someone set me free from the control of what my body desires, in order that I might not be separated from God?► [RHQ] I also think that what I have experienced is the same as what all believers experience."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 7, "verse": "25", "text": "I thank God that it is by Jesus Christ our Lord that we can be free from the control of what our bodies desire. So, with our minds, you and I on the one hand want to obey God's laws. But also, you and I often let our sinful desires control us because of our self-directed nature."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "1", "text": "Because God has erased the record of our sins because we trust in what Christ has done for us, now God will not condemn and punish those/us who have a relationship with (OR, are united to) Christ Jesus."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "2", "text": "God's Spirit causes us to live in a new way[PRS] as a result of what Christ Jesus did for us. And he has set up a way by which he frees each of us from continually being forced to sin (OR, to obey our self-directed natures) and from being separated from God."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "3", "text": "What we could not do by trying to obey the laws of God[PRS], because our self-directed nature was too weak to obey them, God did. He sent his own Son into the world in order that his Son might atone for our sin. His Son came having a body (OR, human nature) that was like the body(OR, the human nature) of us people who sin. By sending his Son in this way, he condemned and punished his Son, who never sinned, instead of punishing us, who sinned [MTY]. He did that by making his Son's body a sacrifice(OR, by causing his Son's body to suffer/die) for all our sin."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "4", "text": "So we can now fulfill all that God required in his laws. We do this, not by our acting the way our sinful human nature desires, but instead by living as God's Spirit desires us to live."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "5", "text": "People who live according to what their self-directed nature desires think about and are concerned about what their self-directed nature desires. But people who live according to what God's Spirit desires think about and are concerned about what God's Spirit desires."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "6", "text": "Those people who [PRS] think about and are concerned about what their self-directed nature desires will not live eternally (OR, will be separated from God). But those people who think about and are concerned about what God's Spirit desires will live eternally and have inner peace."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "7", "text": "Let me explain this. To the extent that people [PRS] think about and are concerned about what their self-directed nature desires, they are acting contrary to God. They do not obey the laws of God. In fact, they are not even able to obey his laws."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "8", "text": "The people who let their self-directed nature control them cannot do what pleases God."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "9", "text": "But we do not have to let our self-directed nature control us. Instead, we can let God's Spirit control us, because he lives within us. If people do not have living in them the Spirit who comes from Christ, they do not belong to Christ."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "10", "text": "But since Christ is living in you/us by his Spirit, although your/our bodies are certain to die because you/we sin, your/our spirits are alive because God has erased the record of your/our sins."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "11", "text": "God caused Jesus to live again after he died. And because his Spirit lives in you/us, God will also make your/our bodies, which now are sure to die, live again after you/we die. God, who caused Christ to live again after he died, will make you/us live again by causing his Spirit, who lives within you/us, to do it."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "12", "text": "Therefore, my fellow believers, we must live as the Spirit directs us. What we do not have to do is to live as our self-directed nature guides us."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "13", "text": "If you live the way your self-directed nature directs, you will surely not live eternally(OR, will surely be eternally separated from God). But if by the power of God's Spirit you quit doing the sinful things that your bodies desire[MET], you will live eternally."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "14", "text": "We who are guided by the Spirit of God {allow the Spirit of God to guide us} are God's children."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "15", "text": "You have showed that this is true, because you received from God a Spirit that is not one that makes you fear God again. You are not like slaves who fear their masters[MET]. On the contrary, we have received a Spirit by whose work in our hearts God has adopted us. The Spirit now enables us to cry out to God, “ You(sg) are my Father [DOU]!”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "16", "text": "The Spirit himself confirms what our spirits say, that we are God's children."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "17", "text": "Because we are God's children, we also will some day receive/inherit eternal blessings/privileges. We will receive/inherit them from God, and we will also receive/inherit them just like Christ has inherited them. But we must suffer for doing good as Christ did, in order to receive splendor as he did."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "18", "text": "I consider that what we suffer during the present time is not worth paying attention to, because the future splendor/glory that will be revealed {that God will reveal} to us is so great."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "19", "text": "The things that God has created are very eagerly waiting for the time[PRS, DOU] when God will reveal who his true children are."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "20", "text": "God caused the things that he created to be unable to achieve what he had purposed. That was not because they wanted to be unable to do that. On the contrary, God made them that way because he wanted them to keep confidently expecting"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "21", "text": "that the things that he created will be freed {that he will free the things that he created} from their sure decay [MET]. He will free them in order that he can give them the same glory that belongs to his children."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "22", "text": "We know that until now it is as though all things that God created have been groaning together, and they long for that glory, just like a mother having the pains before bearing a child groans and longs for her baby's birth[MET]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "23", "text": "Not only do those things groan, but we ourselves also groan inwardly. We who have God's Spirit, who is like a partial gift [MET] we have received as we wait for the future glory, groan inwardly. We groan while we wait eagerly for the time when we will receive our full rights as God's adopted children. That will include his freeing our bodies from the things that hinder us on earth. He will do this by giving us new bodies."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "24", "text": "Ever since we were saved {since God saved us}, we have continued to confidently expect that future glory. If we had what we waited for, we would not need to wait for it any longer, because those who have something, ◄certainly do not continue to wait for it!/will they continue to wait for it?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "25", "text": "But because we keep waiting expectantly to receive what we do not yet have, we wait for it eagerly and patiently/perseveringly."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "26", "text": "Similarly, in addition to our continuing to wait for what God will give us, God's Spirit helps us when our spirits feel weak. We do not know what is proper/necessary for us to pray. But God's Spirit knows, and he prays for us when we groan (OR, he groans) in a way that cannot be expressed in words (OR, prays with us, groaning in a way that cannot be expressed in words)."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "27", "text": "God, who examines our inner feelings, understands what his Spirit desires/intends. What God understands is that his Spirit prays for us who belong to God exactly as God wants him to pray."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "28", "text": "And we know that to those/us who love God, he works out all things that happen to them/us in a way that produces good spiritual benefits for us. He does this for those/us whom he has chosen, because that was (OR, was according to) what he planned to do."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "29", "text": "God knew previously that we would believe in him (OR, would be saved). We are those who God also decided previously would have a character like his Son's character. The result of that is that Christ is like a firstborn/highest-ranking son, and those/we who are God's children[MET] are like[MET] many younger brothers of Jesus."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "30", "text": "And us who God decided previously that we would be like his Son he also summoned. And for us whom he summoned, he also erased the record of our sins. And for us whose record of sins he has erased, he also will surely give future splendor."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "31", "text": "So ◄I will tell you what we must conclude from all these things that God does for us./what shall we conclude from all these things that God does for us?► [RHQ] Because God is acting on our behalf, ◄no one can win against us!/can anyone prevail against us? (OR, it does not matter if anyone opposes us)!► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "32", "text": "God did not spare even his very own Son. Instead, he turned him over to others to cruelly kill him in order that all we who believe in him may benefit from his dying for us. Therefore, because God did that, ◄he will also certainly give us freely everything that we need to live for him, in addition to giving us Christ./will he not also certainly give us freely everything that we need to live for him, in addition to giving us Christ?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "33", "text": "It is God himself who erases the record of our sins. So ◄no one who accuses us before God will win against us(OR, it does not matter if anyone tries to accuse us) whom God has chosen./is it possible that anyone who accuses us before God will win against us (OR, does it matter if anyone tries to accuse us) whom God has chosen?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "34", "text": "It is Christ Jesus himself who pleads with God for us, so ◄no one can condemn us (OR, say that we are still guilty for our sin)./can anyone condemn us (OR, say that we are still guilty for our sin)?► [RHQ] Christ died for us, but he was also raised { God also raised him} from the dead, and he is now at the place of honor ruling with God [MTY]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "35", "text": "◄Absolutely no one and nothing can cause Christ to stop loving us!/Can anyone or anything cause Christ to stop loving us?► [RHQ] That could not [RHQ] happen because someone afflicted us [DOU], or because someone did things to harm us, or because we did not have anything to eat, or because we did not have enough clothes, or because we lived in a dangerous situation, or because someone killed us with a sword [MTY] (OR, murdered us)."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "36", "text": "Such things may happen to us, just like it is written { as David wrote} that David said to God, “Because we are your(sg) people, other people repeatedly attempt to kill us. They consider that we are only people to be killed, like a butcher considers that sheep are only animals to be slaughtered [MET].”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "37", "text": "But even though all these bad things may happen to us, we win completely/triumphantly over these things because Christ, who loves us, helps us."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "38", "text": "I am completely convinced {absolutely certain} that neither being dead (OR, being killed), nor what happens to us while we live, nor angels, nor demons, nor present events, nor future events, nor powerful beings/forces,"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 8, "verse": "39", "text": "nor powerful beings above the horizon or below the horizon[MTY], nor anything else that God has created can cause God to stop loving us. God showed us that he loves us by sending Jesus Christ our Lord to die for us."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "1", "text": "Now I would like to discuss the fact that most of my fellow Israelites have rejected Christ. Because of my relationship with Christ, I say completely truthfully what I will now tell you. I am not lying [DOU]! My conscience confirms what I say because the Holy Spirit controls it."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "2", "text": "I tell you that I grieve very greatly and deeply [DOU] about my fellow Israelites."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "3", "text": "I personally would be willing to let God curse me and, as a result, be separated from Christ if that would help my fellow Israelites, my natural kinsmen, to believe in Christ."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "4", "text": "We Jews are Israelites, God's chosen descendants of Jacob. God has always considered us as his children [MET]. It was to our ancestors that he used to appear gloriously while they were in the desert. It was with them that God made covenants several times. It was to them that God gave the laws at Mount Sinai. They were the ones to whom God showed how they should worship him. They were the ones to whom God promised many things, especially that the Messiah would come from their race."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "5", "text": "It was our ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whom God chose to found our nation. And, most importantly, it was from us Israelites that the Messiah received his human nature. Nevertheless, most of my fellow Israelites have rejected Christ, who is the one who controls all things! He is God, the one who is worthy that we praise him forever! This is true! (OR, Amen!)"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "6", "text": "God promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that their descendants would all inherit his blessings. But although most of my fellow Israelites have rejected Christ, that does not prove that God has failed to do the things that he promised, because it is not all who are descended from Jacob and who call themselves the people of Israel whom God considers to be truly his people."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "7", "text": "And it is also not all of Abraham's natural descendants that God considers to be his people. Instead, God considers only some of them to be Abraham's children. This agrees with what God told Abraham: “It is Isaac, not any of your(sg) other sons, whom I will consider to be the true father of your descendants.”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "8", "text": "That means that it is not all the natural-born descendants of Abraham whom God considers as his children. Instead, it is those who were born as a result of believing what God promised whom he considers to be his children."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "9", "text": "You know that what God promised to Abraham was this: “About this time next year Sarah your wife will bear a son as a result of my enabling[MTY] her.” So Abraham knew that it was not through Ishmael, the son that he already had, that God would fulfill what he had promised him(OR, that his true descendants would come)."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "10", "text": "And not only then did God show that he did not determine who would be his true children according to who their ancestors were. He showed it again when Rebecca conceived twins by our ancestor Isaac."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "11-12", "text": "Before the twins, Jacob and Esau, were born, when neither one had yet done anything good or bad, God said to Rebecca about the twins she was to bear, “The older one shall later serve the younger one, contrary to normal custom.” God said this in order that we might clearly understand that what he purposed for people was according to what he himself determined. That is, people's eternal destiny does not depend on what they do. Instead, their destiny depends on God, the one who chooses them."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "13", "text": "And this teaching is◄ supported/shown to be true► by what is written in the Scriptures{what a prophet recorded} that God said: “I favored Jacob, the younger son. I did not favor [HYP] Esau, the older son.”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "14", "text": "Someone might say, “◄Is God unjust by choosing the ones he wants to choose?/I think that God is unjust by choosing the ones he wants to choose! ►” [RHQ] I would reply, “ He is certainly not unjust! ”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "15", "text": "God told Moses, “I will pity and help anyone whom I choose [DOU]!”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "16", "text": "So God chooses people, not because they want God to choose them or because they try hard to do things so that he will accept them. Instead he chooses people because he himself has mercy on undeserving ones."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "17", "text": "Moses recorded [PRS] that God had told Pharaoh, “This is why I gave you(sg) authority [MTY]: It was in order that I might show by how I oppose you how exceedingly powerful I am, and in order that people everywhere [HYP] would hear about me [MTY].”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "18", "text": "So we conclude that God kindly helps the ones he wants to act kindly towards. But he makes stubborn the ones such as Pharaoh that he wants to make stubborn."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "19", "text": "One of you may object to this by saying to me, “ Because God determines ahead of time everything that people do, that also implies that he wants us to do everything that we do. ◄No one has resisted what God has willed!/Who has resisted what God has willed?► [RHQ] Therefore, ◄it would not be right that God would still condemn a person for having sinned!/why does God still condemn a person for having sinned?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "20", "text": "I would reply that since you(sg) are just a human being, ◄you do not have any right at all to criticize God!/ who are you to say that what God does is wrong?► [RHQ] As a potter is the one who creates a clay pot, God is the one who created you. ◄A clay pot [MET] certainly would not have a right to criticize the potter by asking [PRS], “Why did you(sg) make me this way?”/Would a clay pot have a right to criticize the potter by asking [PRS], “Why did you(sg) make me this way?”► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "21", "text": "Instead, ◄the potter certainly has the right to take some clay and from one lump of clay make one pot that people will honor and make another one for ordinary purposes [MET]./does not a potter have the right to take some clay and from one lump of clay make one pot that people will honor and make another pot for ordinary purposes?► [MET, RHQ] Similarly, God has the right to carry out what he purposes for people."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "22", "text": "Although God desires to show that he is angry about sin, and although he desires to make clear that he can powerfully punish people who have sinned, he tolerated very patiently the people [MET] who caused him to be angry and who deserved to be destroyed (OR, who were made to be destroyed)."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "23", "text": "God has been patient in order that he might make clear how very wonderfully he acts toward those[MET] whom he intended to act mercifully towards and whom he prepared ahead of time in order that they might live gloriously in heaven."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "24", "text": "That means us whom he chose—not only us Jews but also non-Jews."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "25", "text": "These words that Hosea wrote [MTY] that God said also ◄show that God has the right/ support God's right► to choose from among both Jews and non-Jews[MTY]: I will declare that many people who were not my people are now my people. I will declare that many people whom I did not love [HYP] before, I love now."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "26", "text": "And another prophet wrote: What will happen is that in the places where God told them before, “You are not my people,” in those same places people will declare truthfully that they are children of God, who is completely powerful."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "27", "text": "Isaiah also exclaimed concerning the Israelites: Even though the Israelites are so many that no one can count them, like sand particles beside the ocean, only the small part of them will be saved { God will save only the small part of them},"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "28", "text": "because the Lord will punish completely and speedily the people who live in that land, as he said that he would do."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "29", "text": "Also, we can understand from what the prophet Isaiah said that God would not save anyone if he did not show mercy, If the Lord, who controls everything in heaven, had not mercifully allowed some of our descendants to survive, we would have become like the people of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, who were [SIM, DOU] completely destroyed."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "30", "text": "◄We must conclude this:/What shall we conclude?► [RHQ] Although non-Jews did not search out a way by which God would erase the record of their sins, they found that way because they trusted in what Christ did for them."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "31", "text": "But although the people of Israel sought a basis by which God would erase the record of their sins, they did not succeed in fulfilling the true purpose of the laws that God gave to Moses."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "32", "text": "The reason [RHQ] that they did not succeed is that they did not trust that God would provide a way to save them. Instead, they were trying to do certain things in order that God would accept them. Because they did not expect the Messiah to die, the Israelites felt disgusted concerning Jesus' death, which is like the stone [MET] on which people stumble."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 9, "verse": "33", "text": "This is what a prophet predicted when he wrote these words that God said about the Messiah: Listen! I am placing in Israel [MTY] one who is like a stone [MET] on which people will stumble. What he does will offend people [DOU]. Nevertheless, those who believe in him will not be disappointed."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 10, "verse": "1", "text": "My fellow believers, what I deeply desire and what I pray to God earnestly for is that he will save my own people, the Jews."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 10, "verse": "2", "text": "I declare truthfully about them that although they ◄zealously seek/very much want to know► God, they do not understand how to seek/know him correctly."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 10, "verse": "3", "text": "They did not ◄submit themselves to/accept► the way that God erases the record of people's sins. They did not want to recognize that way because they wanted him to do it their own way."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 10, "verse": "4", "text": "They wanted God to erase the record of their sins as a result of their obeying his laws. But because of what Christ has done, it is no longer necessary for people to obey the laws God gave Moses in order for the record of their sins to be erased. Now God will erase the record of sins of everyone who trusts in what Christ has done."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 10, "verse": "5", "text": "In regard to the old way, Moses wrote concerning people who obey God's laws, “It is the people who have done perfectly the things that the laws require who will gain eternal life by doing them.”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 10, "verse": "6", "text": "But those whose record of sins God has erased as a result of their believing in Christ can say to anyone[PRS] as Moses said, “You should not critically say inwardly, ‘◄Someone will have to go up and enter heaven!/Who will go up and enter heaven?►’ [RHQ]” That is to say, someone will have to go up and bring Christ down to bring the message of salvation to us!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 10, "verse": "7", "text": "“Or you should not say inwardly, ‘◄Someone will have to go down and enter the place where the spirits of dead persons are!/Who will go down and enter the place where the spirits of dead persons are?►’ [RHQ]” That is to say, someone will have to go down and bring Christ up from there to bring the message of salvation to us. You should not say that because Christ has already come down to save us, and has already risen from the dead!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 10, "verse": "8", "text": "But instead, those who believe in Christ[PRS] can say what [RHQ] Moses also said, “You(sg) can find out about God's message very easily. You can speak [MTY] about it; you can think [MTY] about it.” This is the message that we proclaim, that people must believe in Christ."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 10, "verse": "9", "text": "This message is that if anyone of you confesses/says publicly that Jesus is Lord, and if you(sg) believe inwardly that God raised him ◄from the dead/after he died►, you will be saved { God will save you}."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 10, "verse": "10", "text": "If people believe inwardly that Christ died and that God caused him to become alive again[CHI], the result is that God will erase the record of their sins. And for those who state/declare publicly that Jesus is their Lord, the result is that God will save them."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 10, "verse": "11", "text": "It is written{ Isaiah wrote} in the Scriptures [PRS] about the Messiah, “Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 10, "verse": "12", "text": "God treats the Jews and the non-Jews similarly. Because he is the same Lord for all people who believe in him, he abundantly blesses all who ask him to help/save them."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 10, "verse": "13", "text": "This is just like what the prophet Joel wrote: “All those who ask the Lord God to save them will be saved {The Lord God will save all those who ask him to save them}.”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 10, "verse": "14", "text": "In regard to the people of Israel rejecting the gospel, some people might object by saying, (OR, This raises another problem about the Jews:) “◄They certainly cannot ask Christ to help/save them if they have not first believed in him!/How can they ask Christ to help/save them if they have not first believed in him?► [RHQ] And ◄they certainly cannot believe in him if they have not heard about him!/how can they believe in him if they have not heard about him?► [RHQ] And ◄they certainly cannot hear about him if someone does not preach to them about him!/how can they hear about him if someone does not preach to them about him?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 10, "verse": "15", "text": "And those who preach to them about Christ, ◄certainly cannot preach if they are not sent by God{if God does not send them} to preach! /how can they preach if they are not sent by God{if God does not send them} to preach?► [RHQ] His sending messengers to them would be just like it is written {like someone wrote} in the Scriptures, ‘The arrival [MTY] of those who preach the good message is wonderful!’”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 10, "verse": "16", "text": "I would reply in this way to people who say such things: God has indeed sent people to preach the message about Christ. But not all the people of Israel have paid attention to the good message! It is like what Isaiah said when he felt very discouraged, “Lord, ◄it seems as if hardly anyone believed what they heard us(exc) preach!/has anyone believed what they heard us(exc) preach?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 10, "verse": "17", "text": "So then, I tell you that people are believing in Christ as a result of hearing the message about him, and people are hearing the message as a result of people preaching about Christ!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 10, "verse": "18", "text": "But if someone were to ask, “Have not the people of Israel heard the message about God? ” I would reply that they certainly have heard! It is like what is written in the Psalms, The people living all over the world [PRS, MTY] have seen the stars, and what they indicate about God's character has reached people living in the most remote places in the world [DOU]!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 10, "verse": "19", "text": "But someone might ask, “ Is it true that the people of[MTY] Israel understood the message about Christ?” I would reply that certainly they understood it, but they rejected it! Remember that Moses was the first one who warned the people of Israel about disobeying God. He told them that God said, You consider that the non-Jewish groups are not nations at all [CHI]. But some of them will believe in me, and I will bless them. Then you will envy them. I will cause you to be angry with those people whom you Jews think do not understand my ways[IRO]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 10, "verse": "20", "text": "Remember also what God said very boldly to Isaiah: The non-Jews who did not ◄try to know/seek► me will surely find me [DOU]! I will surely reveal what I am like to those who did not ask for me!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 10, "verse": "21", "text": "But concerning the people of Israel, Isaiah tells us that God said: I have for a long time held out my arms to the people who disobeyed and rebelled against me, in order to invite them to return to me."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "1", "text": "Because of that, if anyone should ask, “Has God rejected his people the Jews?” I would declare that he certainly has not rejected all of us! You can realize that by remembering that I also belong to the people of Israel. I am a descendant of Abraham, and I belong to the tribe of Benjamin, but God has not rejected me!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "2", "text": "No, God has not rejected his people, whom he chose long ago to be people whom he would bless in a special way. Remember [RHQ] what is written [PRS] in the Scriptures about Elijah when he mistakenly complained to God about the people of Israel, saying:"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "3", "text": "“Lord, they have killed the rest of your(sg) prophets, they have destroyed your altars. I am the only one who believes in you who remains alive, and now they are trying to kill me!”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "4", "text": "God answered him like this: “ You(sg) are not the only one who believes in me! I have protected for myself not just you, but 7,000 other men who have not worshipped the false god Baal. ◄Remember that!/Do you not remember that?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "5", "text": "So, similarly, there is also at this time a small group of us Jews who have become believers. God has chosen us to become believers(OR, his people) only because he acts kindly toward us, in ways that we do not deserve."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "6", "text": "Since it is because he acts kindly toward those whom he chooses, it is not because they have done good things that he has chosen them. If God chose people because they did good deeds, then it would not be because he was acting toward them in a way that they did not deserve."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "7", "text": "Since God chose only some people of Israel, ◄ this is what I conclude:/what shall we conclude?► [RHQ] Most of the people of Israel did not find the way for him to erase the record of their sins, even though some of them were earnestly looking for it. The people of Israel whom God had chosen found it, but the rest of them were { God} made spiritually insensitive/unresponsive."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "8", "text": "Our fellow Jews are just like the ones about whom Isaiah wrote, God ◄caused their senses to be dull/made them unable to think clearly►. Up to this very day, they have eyes but they cannot see spiritually[MET]. They have ears, but they cannot understand spiritually."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "9", "text": "And they remind me of what King David said, when he asked God to cause his enemies' senses to be dull[MET], Make them stupid[MTY], like animals that are caught in snares! May they feel secure because of the things that they enjoy but which will catch them like a trap [DOU, MET], with the result that you will destroy them."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "10", "text": "May their ability to perceive danger be dulled {Dull their ability to perceive spiritually} [MET], with the result that they will not become alarmed[MET] when there is danger. May you cause them to carry heavy loads on their backs continually as slaves do[MTY]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "11", "text": "Perhaps someone will ask, “ When the Jews sinned by not believing in Christ, did it result in their separating themselves from God permanently? ” Then I would reply, No, they have certainly not separated themselves from God permanently! What is happening is that because they sinned, God is saving non-Jews in order to cause the Jews to envy the way he blesses non-Jews and so ask Christ to save them."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "12", "text": "When the Jews sinned (OR, rejected Christ), the result was that God abundantly blessed the other people in[MTY] the world by offering them the opportunity to believe. And when the Jews failed spiritually, the result was that God abundantly blessed the non-Jews. Since that is true, think how wonderful it will be when the complete number of the Jews whom God has chosen will believe in Christ[RHQ]!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "13", "text": "Now it is to you non-Jews that I am saying what follows. I am the one who is the apostle to non-Jews, and I highly esteem this work that God appointed me to do."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "14", "text": "But I also hope that by my labors I will make my fellow Jews ◄jealous/want what you non-Jews have►, with the result that some of them will believe and thus be saved."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "15", "text": "God has rejected most of my fellow Jews because they refused to believe, with the result that he reconciled many other people in the world [MTY] to himself. But he will accept my fellow Jews again when they trust in Christ! And ◄this is what the result will be./do you know what the result will be?► [RHQ] It will be as though God is making them alive again after they have been dead!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "16", "text": "Just like the whole lump of dough will belong to God if people offer to God [MET] the bread baked from the first part of it[MET], so the Jews will belong to God because their ancestors belonged to God. And just like the branches of a tree will be good if the root is good [MET], so the descendants of our great Jewish ancestors who belonged to God will also some day belong to God."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "17", "text": "God has rejected many of the Jews[MET], like branches of a tree are broken off { like people break off dead branches of a tree}. And each of you non-Jews whom God has accepted is like[MET] a branch of a wild/uncultivated olive tree that was { that someone} grafted among the branches (OR, onto one of the branches) that were left on a cultivated olive tree. God has caused you to benefit from how he blessed our(exc) first Jewish ancestors, as branches benefit from the nutritious sap from the root of a cultivated olive tree [MET]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "18", "text": "However, you non-Jews must not despise the Jews whom God rejected[MET], who are like the branches that were broken off from the tree If any of you wants to boast about having received blessings from God, remember this: Branches do not nourish a root. Instead the root nourishes the branches[MET]. Similarly, you are blessed by God because of what you have received from the Jews! It is not what the Jews have received from you that blesses them[MET]!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "19", "text": "If one of you then says, “ God rejected the Jews[MET] like branches [MET] that are broken {that people broke} off a tree and rejected, in order that he might accept us non-Jews, as branches [MET] of a tree are grafted in { as people graft in branches of a tree},”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "20", "text": "I would reply that this is true. However, it is because the Jews did not believe in Christ that they were rejected [MET] {that God rejected [MET] them}. As for you, it is only because you believe in Christ that God has accepted you! So do not any of you become proud, but instead beware of what could happen to you"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "21", "text": "Since God did not spare the unbelieving Jews[MET] who were like a tree's natural branches, he will not spare any of you if you do not keep trusting in him!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "22", "text": "Note then, that God acts kindly, but he also acts severely. He has acted severely toward the Jews who have stopped ◄trusting in/obeying► him. On the other hand, he acts kindly toward each of you non-Jews only if you continue to appreciate his acting kindly toward you. However, you will be rejected { he will reject you} if you do not keep trusting in him."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "23", "text": "And if the Jews believe in Christ[LIT], God also will reunite them to himself as branches are grafted { as people graft branches} into a tree again, because God is able to do that."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "24", "text": "Each of you non-Jews who were previously separated from God has benefited from the ways in which God blessed the Jews[MET]. That is like taking branches that have been cut {that someone has cut} from a wild olive tree that just grew without being planted{ someone planting it} and, contrary to what people usually do, grafting them into a cultivated olive tree. So God will much more readily receive back the Jews because they belonged to him before[MET]! That will be like the original branches that had been cut off being grafted {like grafting the original branches that someone cut off,} back into the olive tree to which they originally belonged."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "25", "text": "My non-Jewish fellow believers, I certainly want you to understand [LIT] this truth that God has now revealed about my fellow Jews who are refusing to believe. You should not proudly think that God now favors you more than the Jews(OR, that you understand God's further plans for the Jews). Many people of Israel will continue to be stubborn until all the non-Jews whom God has chosen have believed in Jesus."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "26", "text": "And then all [HYP] the people of Israel will be saved { God will save all [HYP] the people of Israel}. Then these words that are written {that a prophet wrote} in the Scriptures will◄ become true/be fulfilled►: The one who sets his people free will originate from the place where God dwells (OR, from the Jews) [MTY]. Then he will remove the guilt of the Israelite people (OR, descendants of Jacob) [MTY]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "27", "text": "And as God says, The contract that I will make with them is that I will forgive their sins."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "28", "text": "With regard to the Jews rejecting the good message about Christ, God treats them as enemies, which has benefited you non-Jews. But in regard to their being the people whom God chose, God still loves them because of what he promised their ancestors."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "29", "text": "He still loves them, because he never changed his mind about the privileges/blessings he gave to them and about his choosing them to be his people."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "30", "text": "You non-Jews once disobeyed God, but now he has acted mercifully towards you because the Jews disobeyed him."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "31", "text": "Similarly, now they have disobeyed God. The result is that by the very same way in which he acted mercifully towards you, he will act mercifully towards them again."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "32", "text": "God has declared and proved that all people, both Jews and non-Jews[MET], disobey ◄ him/his laws►. He has declared that because he wants to act mercifully towards us all."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "33", "text": "I marvel how vast and great are the wise things that God has done and what he has always known [DOU]! We are completely unable to understand the things that he has decided and the ways in which he acts toward us[DOU]!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "34", "text": "I remember the Scriptures that say, ◄No one has known what the Lord thinks./Who has known what the Lord thinks?► [RHQ] ◄Absolutely no one has given him advice about what he should do! /Who has advised him about what he should do?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "35", "text": "And, ◄No one has given anything to God that he did not previously receive from God! /Has anyone given anything to God that he did not previously receive from God?► [RHQ] So God ◄is not obligated to/does not have to► pay back anything to anyone!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 11, "verse": "36", "text": "God is the one who created all things. He is also the one who sustains all things. The reason that he created them was that everything he created might praise him. May all people honor him forever! ◄May it be so!/Amen!►"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 12, "verse": "1", "text": "My fellow believers, since God has acted mercifully toward you in so many ways, I appeal to all of you that you present yourselves [SYN] to him by making yourselves like holy sacrifices [MET]. Make yourselves sacrifices that he is pleased with, sacrifices that are living/alive, not ones that are dead/killed. Since God has done so much for you/us, this is the only appropriate way to serve him."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 12, "verse": "2", "text": "Do not let anything non-Christian determine how you should act. Instead, let God change your way of life by making your way of thinking new, in order that you may know what he wants you to do. That is, you will know what is good, and you will know what pleases God, and you will know how to be all that he wants you to be."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 12, "verse": "3", "text": "Because God has kindly appointed me to be his apostle, which I did not deserve, I say this to every one of you: Do not let what you think about yourselves exceed what is right for you to think! Instead, think about yourselves in a sensible way that corresponds to the abilities that God has given you because you trust in Christ."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 12, "verse": "4", "text": "Although a person has one body, it consists of many parts. All of the parts are needed for the body, but they do not all function the same way."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 12, "verse": "5", "text": "Similarly we, although we are many, are united into one group because of our relationship with Christ, and we belong to one another. So no one should act as though he needed by God more than the others!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 12, "verse": "6", "text": "Instead, since each one of us can do various things that differ according to the abilities that God has given to us, we should do them diligently and cheerfully! Those whom God has enabled to speak messages from him should speak what corresponds to what they believe God told them."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 12, "verse": "7", "text": "Those whom God has enabled to serve others should do that. Those whom God has enabled to teach his truth should do that."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 12, "verse": "8", "text": "Those whom God has enabled to encourage/exhort his people should do that. Those who share their goods/money with others should do it sincerely/generously. Those who govern ◄ the congregation/others► should do it wholeheartedly. Those who help the needy should do it cheerfully."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 12, "verse": "9", "text": "The way you must love people is to love them sincerely! Hate what is evil! Continue to eagerly do what God considers to be good!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 12, "verse": "10", "text": "Love one another as members of the same family do; and in regard to honoring one another, you should be ◄the first ones/eager► to do it!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 12, "verse": "11", "text": "Do not be lazy. Instead, be eager to serve God! Be enthusiastic as you serve the Lord!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 12, "verse": "12", "text": "Rejoice because you are confidently awaiting what God will do for you! When you suffer, be patient! Keep praying and never give up!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 12, "verse": "13", "text": "If any of God's people lacks anything, share with them what you have! Readily take care of travelers who need a place to stay"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 12, "verse": "14", "text": "Ask God to be kind to those who ◄persecute you/cause you to suffer► because you believe in Jesus! Ask him to be kind to them; do not ask him to cause bad things to happen to them."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 12, "verse": "15", "text": "If someone is joyful, you should rejoice also! If someone is sad, you should also be sad!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 12, "verse": "16", "text": "Desire for others what you desire for yourselves (OR, Live harmoniously with each other)! Do not do things because you want to be famous! Instead, be content to do tasks that others consider that only unimportant people do (OR, to associate with unimportant people). Do not consider yourselves wise."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 12, "verse": "17", "text": "Do not do evil deeds to anyone who has done evil to you. Act in a way that all people will recognize as good!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 12, "verse": "18", "text": "Live peacefully with other people whenever it is possible, to the extent that you can control the situation."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 12, "verse": "19", "text": "My fellow believers whom I love, do not do evil in return when people do evil to you! Instead, allow God to punish them [MTY], because it is {someone has} written in the Scriptures that the Lord said, “‘It is my responsibility to take revenge; I am the one who will punish people who do evil to you[DOU],’ says the Lord.”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 12, "verse": "20", "text": "Instead of doing evil to those who have done evil to you, do as the Scriptures teach: “If your(sg) enemies are hungry, feed them! If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. By doing that, you(sg) will cause them to feel ashamed and perhaps they will change their attitude toward you[IDM].”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 12, "verse": "21", "text": "Do not let evil deeds that others have done to you overcome you(sg) by making you do evil to them! [PRS] Instead, overcome their evil deeds by doing good deeds to them."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 13, "verse": "1", "text": "Every believer must be subject to civil officials. Remember that God is the only one who gives officials their authority. Furthermore, those officials that exist are ones who have been appointed by God {God has appointed}."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 13, "verse": "2", "text": "So whoever resists the officials is resisting what God has established. Furthermore, those who resist officials will bring on themselves from the officials the punishment that God considers fitting."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 13, "verse": "3", "text": "What rulers do is not to cause people who do good deeds to be afraid. Instead, what they do is to cause people who do evil to be afraid. So, if any of you [RHQ] wants to be unafraid of officials, do what is good! If you(sg) do good, they will commend you instead of punishing you!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 13, "verse": "4", "text": "It is in order to serve God by doing their work that every official exists, in order that they may benefit each of you. If any of you does what is evil, you(sg) will rightfully have reason to be afraid, because the authority that they have to punish people [MTY] is very real [LIT]! The officials exist to serve God. That is, they act as God's agents as they punish those who do evil."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 13, "verse": "5", "text": "So, it is necessary for you(pl) to be subject to officials, not only because they will punish you [MTY] if you disobey them, but also because you know within yourselves that you should be subject to them"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 13, "verse": "6", "text": "It is for this reason that you also pay taxes, because the officials are ones who serve God as they continually do their work."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 13, "verse": "7", "text": "Give to all the officials what you are supposed to give to them! Pay taxes to those who require that you pay taxes. Pay duties on goods to those who require that you pay those duties. Respect those who ought to be respected. Honor those who ought to be honored."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 13, "verse": "8", "text": "Pay all of your debts when you are supposed to pay them. The only thing that is like a debt that you should never stop paying is to love one another. Whoever loves others has fulfilled all that God requires in his laws."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 13, "verse": "9", "text": "There are many things that God commanded in his laws, such as do not commit adultery, do not murder anyone, do not steal, and do not desire anything that belongs to someone else. But the command by which they are all summed up {that includes them all} is this: Each of you must love the people with whom you come in contact, just like you(sg) love yourself."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 13, "verse": "10", "text": "If you love people with whom you come in contact [PRS], you will not do any evil to them [LIT]. So, whoever loves others fulfills all that God's laws require."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 13, "verse": "11", "text": "Do what I have just told you, especially since you know the significance of the time in which we are living. You know that it is time for you to be fully alert and active[MET], like people who have awakened from sleeping [MET], because the time when Christ will finally deliver us from this world's pain/sin and sorrow is near. That time ◄is closer than/was not so close► when we first believed in Christ."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 13, "verse": "12", "text": "Our time to live in this world[MTY] is almost ended[MET], like a night that is nearly ended. The time when Christ will return[MTY] is near. So we must quit doing wicked deeds [MET] such as people do in the darkness, and we must be doing the things that will help us resist Satan/evil[MET], as soldiers who put on their armor in the daytime get ready to resist their enemies."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 13, "verse": "13", "text": "We must behave properly, as though the time when Christ will return[MTY] were already here. We must not participate in drunken carousing [HEN]. We must not commit any kind of sexual immorality [MTY, DOU]. We must not quarrel. We must not be jealous of other people."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 13, "verse": "14", "text": "On the contrary, you/we should be like the Lord Jesus Christ so that others will see what he is like, just as people put on special clothes so that others will see what group they belong to[MET]. You/We should stop thinking about doing the things that your/our self-directed nature desires."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 14, "verse": "1", "text": "Accept those who are not sure whether God will permit them to do certain things some people think are wrong. But when you accept them, do not argue with them about what they think/their opinions."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 14, "verse": "2", "text": "Some people believe that they may eat all kinds of food. Others believe that God does not want them to eat certain things, so they believe that they may not eat meat."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 14, "verse": "3", "text": "Anyone who thinks that it is all right to eat all kinds of food must not despise those who think it is not all right to eat all kinds of food. Anyone who thinks it is not all right to eat all kinds of food must not ◄condemn/say that God will punish► those who think that it is all right to eat all kinds of food, because God himself has accepted those people."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 14, "verse": "4", "text": "God is the master of us all, so◄ he is the one who will decide whether those people have done wrong!/who are you to decide whether they have done wrong?► [RHQ] Therefore, you have no right [RHQ] to condemn those who eat everything, because they are also God's servants! And just like it is the servants' own master who accepts or condemns [MTY] his servants, it is God who accepts or condemns us. And believers will be accepted by the Lord { the Lord will accept believers} regardless of whether they eat meat or not, because he is able to keep them trusting in him."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 14, "verse": "5", "text": "Some people regard certain days as holy and think that the other days are not holy. Other people regard all days as equally suitable for worshipping God. Each person should be ◄fully convinced/sure► about such matters, thinking and deciding for himself and not for others."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 14, "verse": "6", "text": "As for those who believe that they should worship on a certain day of the week, it is to honor the Lord that they worship on that day. And as for those who think that it is all right to eat all kinds of food, it is to honor the Lord that they eat those foods, as is clear from their thanking God for the food that they eat. As for those who abstain from eating certain kinds of food, it is to honor the Lord that they do not eat those foods, and they also thank God for the food that they do eat. So doing either of those things is not wrong in itself."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 14, "verse": "7", "text": "None of us should live merely to please ourselves, and none of us should choose when or how we will die, merely to please ourselves."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 14, "verse": "8", "text": "While we live, it is the Lord whom we belong to and should be trying to please, and not just ourselves. And when we die, it is the Lord whom we should be trying to please. So, while we live and also when we die, we should be trying to please the Lord to whom we belong, not just ourselves,"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 14, "verse": "9", "text": "because the very purpose for which Christ died and became alive again is that he might be Lord whom all people should try to please, both of those who have already died and of those who are still living."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 14, "verse": "10", "text": "◄It is disgraceful that you who practice certain religious regulations say that God will punish your fellow believers who do not practice those regulations!/Why do you who practice certain religious regulations say God will punish your fellow believers who do not practice such regulations?► [RHQ] I say this because the time will come when all of us will stand before God in order that he will say whether or not he approves [MTY] of what we have done. So you who do not practice such regulations, ◄should not despise your fellow believers who practice them!/why do you despise your fellow believers who practice them?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 14, "verse": "11", "text": "We know this because it is written { a prophet/Isaiah wrote} what God has said: Everyone will bow down before me! That is as certain as the fact that I live [IDM]! Everyone [SYN] will acknowledge that because I am God, I have the right to judge and punish people."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 14, "verse": "12", "text": "So it is clear that it is God who will decide whether or not he approves of what each of us has done."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 14, "verse": "13", "text": "Since it is God who will judge everyone, we must stop saying that God should punish some of our fellow believers! Instead, you/we should decide that you/we will not do anything that would be an example that might cause fellow believers to stop trusting in God [DOU]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 14, "verse": "14", "text": "I am absolutely certain [DOU] because of my close relationship with(OR, my belonging to) the Lord Jesus that there is nothing that by itself is wrong to eat. But if people think it is wrong to eat something, then to them it is wrong to eat it. So you should not encourage them to eat it."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 14, "verse": "15", "text": "If you eat food [MET] that anyone for whom Christ died thinks that it is wrong to eat, that person might be encouraged{ you might be encouraging that person} to do something that he believes is wrong. As a result, you might cause that fellow believer to stop trusting in God. He would thus be ruined spiritually just because you have stopped behaving as one who loves others should behave!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 14, "verse": "16", "text": "Similarly, do not do something that you think is good if, as a result, your fellow believer would sin and then others would speak evil of you who say that you are Christians."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 14, "verse": "17", "text": "Letting God rule our lives [MET] does not mean that we must obey regulations about eating or drinking something! Instead, it means we must live righteously, act peacefully towards others, and be joyful by the power of the Holy Spirit."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 14, "verse": "18", "text": "Those who serve Christ by acting in such ways please God, and others will also respect them."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 14, "verse": "19", "text": "So we should always eagerly try to live in a way that will cause peace among fellow Christians, and we should try to do what will help each other to mature spiritually."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 14, "verse": "20", "text": "Do not destroy what God has done in the life of any believer just because of your eating certain kinds of food [MET] which that person considers wrong to eat! God permits us to eat every kind of food. But if, by your eating certain kinds of food, you encourage another person to sin by doing what he believes is wrong, you are doing wrong."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 14, "verse": "21", "text": "It is good neither to eat meat nor to drink wine, nor to do anything else at any time if it will cause one of your fellow believers to stop trusting in God."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 14, "verse": "22", "text": "Let God tell you what things are right for you to do, but do not try to force others to accept what you believe. God is pleased with those who do what they know is right and as a result do not feel guilty concerning what they have done, because they have done only those things that they believe are right."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 14, "verse": "23", "text": "But some believers are not certain that God will approve of their eating a certain kind of food. So if they eat it, they think that God will punish them. And they truly will be punished { God truly will punish them}, because they have done things that they believe are not right. Those who do anything without being certain that God considers it to be right are sinning."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "1", "text": "Most of us are sure that God will not punish us for doing certain things that the laws and rituals God gave Moses said the Jews should not do. But we should be patient with those who are uncertain about such things, and we should not let them irritate us. We should not simply please ourselves."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "2", "text": "Each of us should do the things that please the fellow believers with whom we come in contact, and things that will benefit them. We should do those things in order to help them mature spiritually."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "3", "text": "We should please our fellow believers, since Christ has set us an example. He did not do things to please himself. On the contrary, he tried to please God even when others insulted him. That was as it is written {as ◄ someone/the Psalmist► wrote} in Scripture that the Messiah said to God: “When people insulted you(sg) , it was as though they were also insulting me.”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "4", "text": "And you need to remember that what was written previously {what God's servants previously wrote} in the Scriptures, was written { they wrote} to teach us in order that we would be patient and be encouraged by reading/believing what they wrote. If we do that, we can confidently expect God to do for us all he has promised."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "5", "text": "God is the one who enables us to be patient and who encourages us. ◄ Ask/Pray to► him that he would enable you all to live harmoniously with each other, doing as Christ Jesus did."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "6", "text": "Then, as you are united in what you think and say [MTY], you will praise God, who is the heavenly father [MET] of our Lord Jesus Christ."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "7", "text": "So I say to all of you believers at Rome, accept each other. If you do that, people will praise God as they see you thus behaving like Christ. Accept each other just like Christ accepted you!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "8", "text": "I want you to remember that Christ helped us Jews [MTY] by what he did, in order to show that God ◄is faithful/does what he says he will do►. That is, his coming as our Messiah fulfilled what God promised to our Jewish ancestors."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "9", "text": "And by acting mercifully to them, he also caused the non-Jews to praise him. What he has done for the non-Jews fulfills what is written in the Scriptures that David said to God: “So I will praise you(sg) when I am among the non-Jews, and I will sing to you [MTY].”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "10", "text": "David also wrote, “Rejoice, you non-Jews, with us who are God's people.”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "11", "text": "And Moses wrote in the Scriptures, “Praise the Lord, all you non-Jews, and may everyone praise him [DOU].”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "12", "text": "And Isaiah wrote in the Scriptures, “There will be a descendant [MET] of King David who will begin to rule the non-Jews. They will confidently expect him to fulfill what he has promised.”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "13", "text": "God is the one who causes you to be confidently expecting him to do what he has promised. I pray/ask that he will cause you to be completely joyful and peaceful as you trust in him. As you do that, the Holy Spirit will enable you to more and more confidently expect to receive what God has promised you."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "14", "text": "My fellow believers, I myself am completely sure about you that you yourselves have acted toward others in a completely good way. You have done that because you have known completely all that God wants you to know[HYP] and because you are able to teach each other."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "15", "text": "However, I have written to you quite frankly in this letter about some things in order to remind you about those things. I have written this because I have been appointed by God {God has appointed me}, which I did not deserve,"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "16", "text": "in order that I would work for Jesus Christ among the non-Jews. God has appointed me to act like a priest as I proclaim his good message in order that he will accept the non-Jews who believe in Christ. They will be like an offering [MET] to God as a result of their being dedicated to him by the Holy Spirit {the Holy Spirit dedicating them to God}."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "17", "text": "It follows that, because of my relationship with(OR, because I belong to) Christ Jesus, I am happy about my work for God."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "18", "text": "I will speak boldly only [LIT] about the work that Christ has enabled me to do. I do that work in order that non-Jews might pay attention to the message about Christ as a result of what I have said and done,"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "19", "text": "specifically, by my performing many powerful miracles [DOU]. I have done those things as a result of God's Spirit powerfully enabling me. As a result of doing those things, while traveling all the way around from Jerusalem to Illyricum province, I have completed my work of proclaiming the message about Christ in those places."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "20", "text": "As I proclaim that message, I am always eagerly trying to proclaim it in places where people have not already heard about Christ. I do that in order that as I work for God I might not be continuing the work for him that someone else already started[MET]. I do not want to be like a man who builds a house on someone else's foundation."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "21", "text": "On the contrary, I teach non-Jews, so that what happens may be like what was written {the prophet Isaiah wrote} in the Scriptures about the Messiah: “Those who did not hear about him previously will perceive his truth. Truly, those who have not heard about him will hear and understand his message[DOU].”"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "22", "text": "Because I have attempted to preach the message about Christ in places where they have not heard about him, I have been hindered {things have hindered me} many times from being able to visit you."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "23", "text": "But now there are no more places in these regions where people have not heard about Christ. Furthermore, for several years I have wanted to visit you."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "24", "text": "So I hope to go/come to see you. I hope to do that as soon as I am on my way to the provinces in Spain. I hope to see you as I journey through your area, and I hope that by whatever you give me[EUP] you will help me on my journey to Spain. But before I go there, I want to enjoy being with you for a little while, although I would like to stay with you longer."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "25", "text": "But I cannot visit you now, because I am about to go to Jerusalem in order to take money [EUP] for God's people there."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "26", "text": "The believers in Macedonia and Achaia provinces[MTY] decided to contribute some money[EUP] for those of God's people in Jerusalem who are poor."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "27", "text": "They themselves decided to do this, but truly they owe something to God's people in Jerusalem. The non-Jewish believers benefited spiritually from Jewish believers as a result of hearing the message about Christ from them, so the non-Jews should also help the Jewish believers in Jerusalem by giving them material things (OR, money) [EUP]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "28", "text": "So when I have finished this task by safely delivering all this money [MET, EUP] that the believers in Macedonia and Achaia have given, I will leave Jerusalem and visit you in Rome while I am on my way to Spain."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "29", "text": "And I know that when I visit you, Christ will abundantly bless us(OR, enable me to bless you)."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "30", "text": "Because we belong to our Lord Jesus Christ and because the Spirit of God causes us to love each other, I urge you all that you help me by fervently/intensely praying to God for me."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "31", "text": "Pray that I will be protected { that God will protect me} so that the Jews in Judea who do not believe the message about Christ will not harm me. Also pray that God's people in Jerusalem will accept the money [EUP] that I take to them."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "32", "text": "Pray these things in order that I may go/come to you if God wants me to go/come, and that I may come joyfully, and that then God will refresh my spirit as a result of my visiting/being with you."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 15, "verse": "33", "text": "I pray that God, who causes us to have inner peace, will be with all of you and will help you. ◄May it be so!/Amen!►"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 16, "verse": "1", "text": "By means of this letter I am introducing and recommending to you our fellow believer Phoebe, who will be taking this letter to you. She is a deacon in the congregation in Cenchrea city."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 16, "verse": "2", "text": "I request that you receive her because of her relationship with the Lord. You should do that because those who are God's people ought to receive their fellow believers. I am also requesting that you help her by giving her[EUP] whatever she needs, because she has helped many people, including me."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 16, "verse": "3", "text": "Tell Priscilla and her husband Aquila that I ◄send greetings to/am thinking fondly of► them. They worked with me for Christ Jesus,"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 16, "verse": "4", "text": "and they were even willing to die [IDM] in order to save my life. It is not only I who thank them for helping me, but the people in all [HYP] the non-Jewish congregations also thank them for saving my life."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 16, "verse": "5", "text": "Also tell the congregation that meets in their house that I ◄send my greetings to/am thinking fondly of► them. Tell my dear friend Epaenetus the same thing. He is the first man in Asia province who believed in Christ."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 16, "verse": "6", "text": "Tell Mary, who has worked hard for Christ in order to help you, that I ◄send my greetings to/am thinking fondly of► her."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 16, "verse": "7", "text": "Tell the same thing to Andronicus and his wife Junia (OR, and his sister Junia) who are my fellow Jews and who were also previously in prison with me. They are well-known/respected (OR, respected by the) apostles, and they became Christians before I did."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 16, "verse": "8", "text": "I also send my greetings to Ampliatus, who is a dear friend because of his relationship with the Lord."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 16, "verse": "9", "text": "I also send my greetings to Urbanus, who works for Christ with us, and to my dear friend Stachys."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 16, "verse": "10", "text": "I also send my greetings to Apelles, whom Christ has approved because Apelles successfully endured trials. Tell the believers who live in the house of Aristobulus that I send my greetings to them."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 16, "verse": "11", "text": "Also tell Herodion, who is my fellow Jew, that I send my greetings to him. Tell the same thing to those who live in the house of Narcissus who belong to the Lord."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 16, "verse": "12", "text": "Tell the same thing to Tryphaena and her sister Tryphosa, who work hard for the Lord. I also send my greetings to Persis. We all love her and she has worked very hard for the Lord."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 16, "verse": "13", "text": "Tell Rufus, who is an outstanding Christian, that I send my greetings to him. Tell the same thing to his mother, who has treated me as though I were her son[MET]."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 16, "verse": "14", "text": "Tell Asyncritus and Phlegon and Hermes and Patrobas and Hermas and the fellow believers who meet with them that I am sending my greetings to them."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 16, "verse": "15", "text": "I also send my greetings to Philologus, to his wife Julia (OR, his sister Julia), to Nereus and his sister, and to Olympas, and to all God's people who meet with them."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 16, "verse": "16", "text": "Greet one another affectionately, but in a pure way, when you gather together. The believers in all the Christian congregations [HYP] in this area ◄send their greetings to/say they are thinking fondly of► you."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 16, "verse": "17", "text": "My fellow believers, I exhort you that you beware of those people who are causing divisions among you and who cause people to turn away from God[MTY] because they teach things that are contrary to the message about Christ that you have learned (OR, that others taught you). Keep away from such people!"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 16, "verse": "18", "text": "They do not serve our Lord Christ! On the contrary, they only want to satisfy their own desires [MTY]! Also, by all the eloquent things that they say [DOU] they deceive the minds of those people who do not realize that their teaching is false."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 16, "verse": "19", "text": "Believers everywhere know that you have paid attention to the good message about Christ, with the result that I rejoice about you. But I also want you to be wise, with the result that you do what is good. I also want you to avoid doing what is evil."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 16, "verse": "20", "text": "If you avoid people who teach what is false, what will soon happen[MET] will be as though God, who causes us to be peaceful, will be crushing Satan under your feet! I pray that our Lord Jesus will continue to act kindly towards you."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 16, "verse": "21", "text": "Timothy, who works with me, and Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, who are my fellow Jews, want you to know that they are◄sending their greetings to/thinking fondly of► you."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 16, "verse": "22", "text": "I, Tertius, one who belongs to the Lord, also want you to know that I am ◄sending my greetings to/thinking fondly of► you. I am writing this letter as Paul tells me what to write for him."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 16, "verse": "23-24", "text": "I, Paul, am staying in the house of Gaius, and the whole congregation here meets in his house. He also wants you to know that he is ◄sending his greetings to/thinking fondly of► you. Erastus, the treasurer of this city, also wants you to know that he is ◄sending his greetings to/thinking fondly of► you. Our fellow believer Quartus also ◄sends his greetings to you./says he is thinking fondly of you.►"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 16, "verse": "25", "text": "As I proclaim the good message about Jesus Christ, I tell about God, the one who is able to strengthen you spiritually. I also proclaim the truth that was not revealed {which God did not reveal} in all previous ages/times"}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 16, "verse": "26", "text": "but which has now been {which he has now} revealed. I, along with others, have proclaimed what the prophets wrote about Christ. We are doing what the eternal God commanded us(exc)/me to do. We want people in all ethnic groups to know Christ so that they can believe in him and obey him."}
{"book": "ROM", "chapter": 16, "verse": "27", "text": "I desire that by Jesus Christ enabling us, we will forever praise the one who alone is God, who alone is truly wise. ◄May it be so!/Amen!►"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "1", "text": "I, Paul, am writing this letter. Sosthenes, our fellow believer, is with me as I write it. God appointed me to be an apostle of Christ Jesus because that is what God desired."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "2", "text": "I am sending this letter to you who belong to the congregations of God in Corinth city. You have been set apart by God{ God has set you apart} for himself because of your close relationship with/you belong to Christ Jesus. God has appointed you to be his people and to live in a morally pure way, just like he has appointed all the people everywhere who belong to him to live in a morally pure way. You and they have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ [MTY]. He is their sovereign Lord as well as the sovereign Lord of all of us(inc) who have trusted in him."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "3", "text": "We(exc) desire that God, who is our heavenly Father, and Jesus Christ, who is our sovereign Lord, will continue to act kindly toward you and cause you to experience inner peace."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "4", "text": "I very often [HYP] thank God concerning you because he has acted toward you kindly, acting in ways that you do not deserve. He has done this because of your ◄having a close relationship with/being united to► Christ Jesus."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "5", "text": "That is, God has very abundantly [HYP] helped you spiritually because of your ◄having a close relationship with/being united to► Christ. Specifically, God has abundantly [HYP] enabled you to speak messages that his Spirit revealed to you, and he has abundantly enabled you to know many things [HYP] that his Spirit revealed to you."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "6", "text": "In that way, he confirmed to you that what we(exc) proclaimed about Christ is true."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "7", "text": "As a result, while you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to return, within your group you truly possess [LIT] every ability that God's Spirit gives to believers."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "8", "text": "God will also cause you to steadfastly trust Christ to the very end of your lives[EUP]. The result will be that God will not consider you guilty of any sin when our Lord Jesus Christ returns to earth [MTY]."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "9", "text": "You can depend on God to do that. He is the one who chose you to become intimately associated with his Son, Jesus Christ, who is our Lord."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "10", "text": "My fellow believers, by the authority of [MTY] our Lord Jesus Christ, I urgently appeal to all of you to agree with one another. What I mean is, stop dividing into groups. Instead, be united [MET] concerning what you understand about spiritual matters and be united in what you decide."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "11", "text": "My fellow believers, I urge this because some members of Chloe's household have told me that you are quarreling among yourselves."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "12", "text": "That is, some of you say, “Paul is the one to whom we are loyal,” and others say, “Peter is the one to whom we are loyal,” and still others say, “Christ is the one to whom we are loyal.”"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "13", "text": "It is ridiculous that[RHQ] you are quarreling and dividing up into groups instead of being loyal to Christ alone. ◄Christ certainly has not divided himself into parts and distributed those parts out to groups of people who oppose each other!/Has Christ divided himself into parts and distributed those parts out to groups of people who oppose each other?► [MET, RHQ] ◄I, Paul, certainly did not die on the cross for you!/Did I, Paul die on the cross for you?► [RHQ] When you were baptized {When someone baptized you}, ◄you certainly did not promise that you were submitting to me!/did you promise that you were submitting to me?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "14", "text": "I thank God that Crispus and Gaius were the only ones from among you whom I baptized."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "15", "text": "As a result, no one there in Corinth except those two can say, “Paul baptized me so that I would become ◄his disciple/submissive to him►.”"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "16", "text": "Now I remember that I also baptized the household of Stephanas, but I do not remember baptizing anyone else there."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "17", "text": "Christ sent me not primarily to baptize people but to preach the good message about him. When I do that, he does not want me to use words that human philosophers consider wise [IRO]. I do not want the message about what he accomplished when he was nailed to the cross [MTY] to lose its power."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "18", "text": "Those who are perishing spiritually because they do not believe that message consider that the message about what Christ accomplished when he was nailed to the cross [MTY] is foolish. But to us who are being saved {whom God is saving} spiritually because we believe that message, it demonstrates that God acts powerfully in order to save us."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "19", "text": "It is like what God said that a prophet wrote long ago, By the things that I will do, I will show that the ideas of those who think[IRO] they are wise are completely useless. I will ignore the ideas that they think are [IRO] so smart."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "20", "text": "So, do you know what God thinks about what [RHQ] people who [IRO] consider themselves to be wise and scholars and philosophers say? He does not pay attention to what they say, because[RHQ] he has shown clearly that what unbelievers think is[IRO] wise is not wise at all, but is really foolish."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "21", "text": "God, acting very wisely, made it impossible for unbelievers to know God by doing what they thought was [IRO] wise. Instead, he was happy to save those who trust in Christ as the result of their hearing the message that was proclaimed to them, a message that others consider to be foolish."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "22", "text": "The Jews want people to prove, by performing miracles, that their message is true. The non-Jews want to hear only messages consisting of talk that they consider to be very wise."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "23", "text": "As for us, we proclaim the message about what Christ accomplished for us when he was nailed { when they nailed him} to the cross. That message offends Jews because they do not think that the Messiah will die, and non-Jews think it is [IRO] a foolish message."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "24", "text": "But to us whom God has chosen to belong to himself, both Jews and non-Jews, that message shows that God acted powerfully and wisely by sending Christ to die for us."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "25", "text": "Unbelievers may think[IRO] that God was acting foolishly by doing that, but the truth is that he was acting more wisely than unbelievers who think that[IRO] they are wise. And unbelievers may think that God was acting weakly by sending his son to die, but he was acting more powerfully than unbelievers who think[IRO] that they act powerfully."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "26", "text": "My fellow believers, remember what kind of people you were when God chose you. Not many of you whom he chose are people whom unbelievers considered to be wise. Very few of you were considered to be important. Very few of you came from families with a high social standing."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "27", "text": "Instead, it was usually those whom unbelievers considered to be foolish whom God chose. He did that in order to shame/discredit those whom unbelievers consider[IRO] wise. It was usually those whom unbelievers considered [IRO] unimportant whom God chose, in order to shame/discredit those whom unbelievers consider important."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "28", "text": "It was usually those who are despised and considered {whom unbelievers despise and consider} worthless whom God chose, in order to make completely ineffective those whom unbelievers consider to be important."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "29", "text": "He did that in order that no one could boast to God about being wise or important."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "30", "text": "It is because of what God has done that you ◄have a close relationship with/belong to► Christ Jesus. God accomplished his wise plan to save us by what Christ did for us. As a result of what Christ did, God erases the record of our sins, sets us apart for himself, and frees us from our being guilty for our sins."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "31", "text": "So, it is the Lord whom we should boast about, not about one spiritual leader being better than another. We should do as ◄ a prophet/Jeremiah► wrote in the Scriptures that we should do: Those who boast should boast only about what the Lord has done."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "1", "text": "My fellow believers, when I came to you, I proclaimed to you the message that God had revealed to me. But I did not proclaim it using eloquent words that would make people think highly of me, nor did I argue in a way that unbelievers would think was very wise."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "2", "text": "I did that because I decided that I would speak only about Jesus Christ. Specifically, I told you what he accomplished for us when he was killed by being nailed { when they killed him by nailing him} to a cross."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "3", "text": "Furthermore, when I was with you, I felt that I was not adequate to do what Christ wanted me to do. I was afraid that I would not be able to do it, and because of that I was trembling very much."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "4", "text": "When I taught you and preached to you, I did not speak words that unbelievers would consider[IRO] wise in order to convince them that my message was true. Instead, God's Spirit showed that it was true by enabling me to powerfully perform miracles."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "5", "text": "I taught and preached that way in order that you might believe my message, not because you heard words that people considered to be[IRO] wise, but because you realized God's power."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "6", "text": "I do teach a message that people who are spiritually mature consider to be wise. But I do not teach a message that unbelievers consider to be wise. I also do not teach a message that unbelieving rulers in the world consider to be wise. What they think about it does not matter, because some day◄they will lose their power/not be ruling anymore►."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "7", "text": "Instead, I teach about what God planned wisely long ago. It is something that people did not know about previously because God did not reveal it previously. But God determined before he created the world that he would greatly benefit us by his wise plan."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "8", "text": "None of those who rule this world knew that wise plan. If they had known it, they would not have nailed our wonderful Lord to the cross."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "9", "text": "But we believers need to remember these words that a prophet wrote in the Scriptures: Things that no one has ever seen, things that no one ever heard, things that no one ever thought could happen, those are the things that God has prepared for those who love him."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "10", "text": "God has caused his Spirit to reveal those things to us(inc) believers. His Spirit can do that because he knows thoroughly the meaning of all things. He even knows the things about God that are very difficult to understand."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "11", "text": "Only a person himself (OR, a person's spirit) knows what he is thinking. Similarly, only God's Spirit knows what God is thinking."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "12", "text": "It was not the ideas that unbelievers teach that we accepted. Instead, it was the Spirit who came from God that we received, in order that we might know the things that God has freely done for us."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "13", "text": "Those are the things that I tell you about. As I do that, I do not tell you things that someone whom others thought was [IRO] wise taught me. Instead, I tell you truths that God's Spirit taught me, and I explain those spiritual truths to people whose thinking is guided by God's Spirit (OR, I teach spiritual truths to spiritual people)."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "14", "text": "Those who are unbelievers reject the truths that God's Spirit teaches us(inc) , because they consider those truths to be foolish. They cannot understand them, because it is God's Spirit who enables us to evaluate those truths correctly, and those people do not have God's Spirit."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "15", "text": "We who have God's Spirit can judge correctly the value of all truths that the Spirit reveals, but unbelievers cannot evaluate us correctly."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "16", "text": "As one of our prophets wrote: No human [RHQ] has known what the Lord is thinking. No human [RHQ] is able to instruct him. But we believers are able to think about things [MTY] in the way that Christ thinks about them,"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "1", "text": "My fellow believers, when I was with you previously, I was not able to teach you as I would teach people who are controlled by the Holy Spirit { whom the Holy Spirit controls}. Instead, I had to teach you as I would teach people whom their self-directed nature controls. I taught very simple concepts to you who had recently believed in Christ, as a parent would speak very simple words to a baby."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "2", "text": "I did not teach you things that were difficult for you to understand, just like a woman does not give her baby solid food that the baby cannot chew and digest. And just like a woman◄ gives her baby milk/breast-feeds her baby►, I taught you simple spiritual concepts, because at that time you were not able to understand difficult things. And you are still not able to understand difficult concepts,"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "3", "text": "because you are still controlled by your self-directed nature. Some of you are jealous and quarreling. ◄That shows that your self-directed nature is controlling you!/Does not that prove your self-directed nature is controlling you?► [RHQ] It shows that you are acting like unbelievers act."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "4", "text": "By some of you saying, “I am loyal to Paul,” and others saying, “I am loyal to Apollos,” ◄you show that you are acting like unbelievers./does not it show that you are acting like unbelievers?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "5", "text": "So what you really ought to think about Apollos and me [RHQ] is that we(dl) are merely men who serve God. As a result of our telling you the message about Christ, you trusted in him. Both of us(dl) are merely doing the work that the Lord appointed us to do."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "6", "text": "I was the first one who preached God's message to you. I was like[MET] someone who plants seeds. Later, Apollos taught you more of God's message. That was like[MET] someone who waters plants after they start to grow. But it is God who enables people to grow spiritually, just like he is the one who causes plants to grow."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "7", "text": "So the person who first preaches God's message to people is not important, and the person who later teaches people more of God's message is not important, just like[MET] it is not the person who plants the seeds or the person who waters the plants who is important. Instead, it is God, who causes plants to grow and who causes people to grow spiritually, who is important."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "8", "text": "The person who first preaches God's message to people and the one who later teaches them more of God's message[MET] both ◄are trying to reach the same goal/have the same purpose►. And God will reward each of them according to how they served him."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "9", "text": "Remember that Apollos and I are both working together for God. You do not belong to us. Just like a field belongs to its owner, not to those who work in it, you belong to God, not to us who work for him. Also, a house belongs to its owner. It does not belong to the man who built it. Similarly, God is the one to whom you belong."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "10", "text": "Just like a skilled person puts a foundation in the ground before he builds a house, as a result of God kindly helping me [MET], I was the first one who declared the message about Christ to you. And, just like others build a house on its foundation, there were others who later taught you more about Christ. But just like each person who builds a house must be careful about what materials he uses to build it [MET], each person who teaches God's truth must be careful about what he teaches."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "11", "text": "Just like people can put in only one foundation for a house[MET], there is only one message that we can give to people. That message is about Jesus Christ."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "12", "text": "Furthermore, people can build a house on its foundation with materials that are valuable and do not burn easily, such as gold, silver, and expensive jewels. Or they could build a house with materials that are not valuable and that burn easily, such as wood, hay, and straw."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "13", "text": "Later it will become clear/evident what kind of material they used to build the house. Similarly, when people teach others God's truth, it will later become clear what kind of things they taught. God will make that clear/evident at the time when he judges us[MTY]."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "14", "text": "When a fire starts burning a house, it becomes clear whether the builders used materials in their work that will burn, or materials that will not burn. Similarly [MET], when God judges us, it will be clear whether we taught others things that were long-lasting and valuable or not. If the materials that are used to build a house are materials that do not burn, the builder will receive a reward [MET]. Similarly, if we have taught others things that are valuable and long-lasting, God will give us a reward."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "15", "text": "If the things that we have taught are not valuable and long-lasting [MET], we will not get a reward. We will be saved { God will save us} from hell, but that is all that we will get. We will be like a man who escapes from a fire without saving any of his possessions."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "16", "text": "◄You need to remember that God is present among you(pl) as he was present in the Temple in Jerusalem./Do you not know that God is present among you(pl) as he was present in the Temple in Jerusalem?► [RHQ] God's Spirit lives within you."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "17", "text": "So, just like God will destroy anyone who tries to destroy his Temple, he will destroy anyone who destroys the unity of a congregation. He will do that because he has set you, his people, apart for himself, just like he set his Temple apart for himself."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "18", "text": "Some among you think that you are wise because unbelievers thought you were wise previously. Stop deceiving yourselves. If you really want to be wise, by accepting what God considers to be wise you should be willing to let unbelievers consider that you are foolish [IRO]."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "19", "text": "You should do that because things that unbelievers consider to be[IRO] wise, God considers to be foolish. We can learn from the Scriptures what God says about that, Those who think that they are [IRO] wise, he messes up their plans by the mistakes they make!"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "20", "text": "And we can learn from these words of Scripture, The Lord considers as useless the thoughts of humans who think that they are[IRO] wise."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "21", "text": "So stop boasting about how good one Christian leader is or how good another Christian leader is All of us(exc) exist as leaders only to help you!"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "22", "text": "Specifically, do not boast about me, or about Apollos, or about Peter! Everything in the world exists to benefit you believers. Whether you live or whether you die, the things that are happening now or the things that will happen in the future, they are all to benefit you."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "23", "text": "You should boast about Christ, not about your leaders, because you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "1", "text": "So, people ought to consider us apostles(OR, Apollos and me) to be merely servants of Christ. God has given to us(exc) the work of telling others the message that God has now revealed to us."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "2", "text": "With respect to doing that, those who are given work are required {give others some work to do require them} to do that work faithfully."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "3", "text": "I am not concerned whether you or the judges in some court decide whether I have done my work faithfully or not. I do not even judge myself about that."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "4", "text": "I do not think that I have done anything wrong, but that does not prove that I have done nothing wrong. The Lord is the one who judges me."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "5", "text": "So stop judging any of us(exc) before the time when God judges everyone[MTY]! Do not judge us before the Lord comes. He is the one who will reveal the sinful things that people have done secretly. He will even reveal what people have thought in their minds. At that time God will praise each person as each one of them deserves."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "6", "text": "My fellow believers, I have told you all these things as illustrations of myself and Apollos. I have done this for your sake, in order that you may learn to live according to the saying, “Do not act contrary to what is {what they have} written in the Scriptures.” If you follow that rule, you will not be proud of one spiritual leader and despise another."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "7", "text": "◄No one has made any of you superior to others!/Why do any of you think that you are superior to others?► [RHQ] All the abilities that you have, ◄you received from God./did you not receive them from God?► [RHQ] So if you received them all from God, ◄you should not boast thinking, “I got these abilities from myself, not from God!”/why do you boast thinking, “I got these abilities from myself, not from God?”► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "8", "text": "It is disgusting that you act as though[IRO] you have already received everything that you need spiritually. You act as though [IRO] you were spiritually rich (OR, you had received all the spiritual gifts you need). You act as though [IRO] you had already begun to rule as kings with Christ. Well, I wish that you really were ruling with him, in order that we apostles might also rule with you!"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "9", "text": "But it seems as though God has put us apostles on display at the end of the line. We(exc) are like men who have been condemned to die, who have been put in the arena where everyone can see the wild animals killing them. And not only people, but even angels all over the world are watching us, as people watch those who are performing a play in a theater."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "10", "text": "Many people consider us to be [IRO] fools because we preach about Christ, but you proudly think [IRO] that you are wise because ◄of your close relationship with/you belong to► Christ. Many people consider us[IRO] to be unimpressive, but you proudly think that you impress others. People respect you, but they do not respect us."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "11", "text": "Up to this present time we have often been hungry. We have often been thirsty. We have ragged clothes. Often we have been beaten {others have beaten us}. We have traveled so much that we have no regular homes to live in."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "12", "text": "We work very hard to earn a living. When we are cursed by people{When people curse us}, we ask God to bless them. When we are persecuted {When people cause us to suffer}, we endure it."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "13", "text": "When we are slandered by people{When people slander us}, we reply kindly to them. Up to this present time unbelievers consider us to be worthless[MET], as though we were garbage and a rubbish heap."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "14", "text": "I am writing this to you, not to make you feel ashamed, but instead to warn you as though you were my dear children."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "15", "text": "I say that because as an apostle of Christ Jesus I was the first one who proclaimed the good message to you. As a result, I was the one who enabled you to receive eternal life. So even if there were thousands of Christians who instruct you [MET], I am the only one who became like a father to you."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "16", "text": "So I urge you to live for Christ the way I do."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "17", "text": "In order to help you do that, I have sent/will be sending Timothy to you. I love him as though he were my son. He serves the Lord faithfully. He will remind you of the way I conduct my life as one who◄has a close relationship with/belongs to► the Lord. The way I conduct my life is the same as how I teach others to live in all the congregations to whom I have spoken."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "18", "text": "Some of you have become proud, thinking that I will not come there to rebuke your congregation about what they are doing."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "19", "text": "But if the Lord wants me to come, I will come to you soon. Then I will not pay any attention to what those proud people say. Instead, I will find out whether they have God's power."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "20", "text": "Remember that God judges whether or not we are letting him rule our lives, not by listening to how we talk, but by seeing whether his power is present◄ among us/in our lives►."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "21", "text": "So which do you prefer? Do you want me to come to you and punish you because you have not changed your ways, or shall I come to you and act lovingly and gently toward you because you have done what I told you to do?"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "1", "text": "Now I want to discuss another matter. It has been {People have} reported to me, and I believe that it is true, that some people among you have been acting in a sexually immoral way, in a way that is so bad that not even ◄pagans/people who do not know about God► act that way. People tell me that a man is living with his stepmother (OR, his father's other wife)."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "2", "text": "You should be sad about what that man is doing! He should have been expelled { You should have expelled him} from your congregation! But you have not done that, so ◄how can you be proud, thinking that you are spiritually mature? /it is disgusting that you are proud, thinking that you are spiritually mature!► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "3", "text": "As for me, I have already decided how you should punish that man. And even though I am away from you, my spirit is with you, and you should do as I would do if I were there with you."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "4", "text": "What I have decided is that when you have gathered together with the authority [MTY] of our Lord Jesus, and my spirit is with you, and the power of our Lord Jesus is with you,"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "5", "text": "you should put that man into Satan's hands. Then Satan can injure/punish his body, in order that he will turn away from his sinful behavior and his spirit will be saved on the day when the Lord returns[MTY]."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "6", "text": "It is not good that, while you are letting that immoral man continue to be in your congregation, you are boasting about being spiritually mature. ◄You know that a small amount of yeast affects all the bread dough [MET] into which it is put{ a woman puts it}./Do you not know that a small amount of yeast affects all the bread dough [MET] into which it is put?► [RHQ] Similarly, one person who continues to sin will have a bad effect on all the congregation."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "7", "text": "So, just like we Jews expel the old yeast from our houses during the Passover celebration in order that we may have a fresh batch of dough without yeast in it [MET], you must expel such evil people from your congregation. Do that so that you can truly be holy people, as I know that you really are. Remember that Christ was sacrificed {sacrificed himself} so that God could spare us from being punished for our sins, just like the Jews sacrificed lambs during the first Passover celebration so that God would spare their firstborn sons from being killed."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "8", "text": "So let us celebrate the fact that God has freed us from punishing us for our sins[MET], just like the Jews in later years celebrated Passover to celebrate God freeing them from being slaves in Egypt. They made sure that there was no old yeast in the dough. They ate bread that had no yeast in it. Similarly, we should make sure that there are no people in our congregations[MET] who act maliciously toward others or act wickedly. Instead, make sure[MET] that those in our congregations are ones who act sincerely and speak truthfully."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "9", "text": "In the previous letter that I wrote to you, I said that you should not associate with sexually immoral people."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "10", "text": "I did not mean that you should not associate with unbelievers who are immoral, or who desire things that belong to others, or who ◄forcefully seize things that belong to others/are swindlers►, or who worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid all people like that."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "11", "text": "But now I am stating clearly that when I wrote, I meant that you should not associate with those who say that they are fellow believers, if they are sexually immoral or if they desire and forcefully seize things that belong to others, or worship idols, or slander others, or become drunk. You should not associate with people like that, and you should not even eat with them!"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "12", "text": "It is certainly not [RHQ] my business to judge people who are not believers and who do not belong to Christian congregations. But it certainly is [RHQ] your business to judge those who are in your congregation."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "13", "text": "God is the one who will judge those who are not believers. Do as the Scriptures command: “Expel the wicked person from your midst!”"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "1", "text": "Now another matter: When any of you believers accuses another believer about some matter, he takes that matter to judges who are not believers, for them to decide the case, instead of asking God's people to decide it. ◄That is disgusting!/Why do you do that?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "2", "text": "◄ I want you to know that we who are God's people will some day judge those who are unbelievers./Do you not know that we who are God's people will some day judge those who are unbelievers?► [RHQ] So, since you will be judging unbelievers, ◄you certainly are capable of judging between believers who disagree on small matters!/are you not you capable of judging between believers who disagree on small matters?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "3", "text": "◄You should keep in mind that we will even judge angels!/Do you not know that we will even judge angels?► [RHQ] So we certainly should be able to judge about matters that relate to how we conduct our lives here on earth!"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "4", "text": "Therefore, when you believers have a dispute, ◄you should certainly not choose as judges to decide your case people whom the congregation cannot respect because those judges are not believers!/ why do you choose as judges to decide your case people whom the congregation cannot respect because those judges are not believers?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "5", "text": "I am saying this to make you ashamed. ◄Surely there is someone among you who is wise enough to judge disputes between believers!/Is there no one among you who is wise enough to judge disputes between believers?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "6", "text": "But instead, some believers among you accuse other believers in a legal court. And what is worse, you let the cases be judged by unbelievers {unbelievers judge the cases}!"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "7", "text": "The fact that you have any lawsuits among you shows that you have completely failed as Christians(OR, allowed Satan to defeat you). ◄You should allow other believers to wrong you without taking them to court! /Why do you not allow other believers to wrong you without taking them to court?► [RHQ] ◄You should not accuse them when they cheat you!/Why do you accuse them when they cheat you?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "8", "text": "But what is happening is that some of you are cheating others and doing wrong to them. That is bad. But you are doing that to fellow believers, and that is worse!"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "9", "text": "◄You should keep in mind that wicked people will not become members of the group over whom God will rule./Do you not know that wicked people will not become members of the group over whom God will rule?► [RHQ] Do not be deceived {Do not deceive yourselves} by thinking wrongly about these matters. People who are sexually immoral, or who worship idols, or who ◄commit adultery/have sex with someone to whom they are not married►, or who happily allow others to commit homosexual acts with them, or who take the initiative in committing homosexual acts,"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "10", "text": "or who are thieves, or who desire and forcefully seize things that belong to others, or who are drunkards, or who slander others, or who are swindlers, will not enter the place where God rules."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "11", "text": "Some of you previously did things like that. But God has freed/cleansed you [MET] from your sinful behavior. He has set you apart for himself. He has erased the record of your sins because you trusted[MTY] in the Lord Jesus Christ and because of what the Spirit of our God has done for you."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "12", "text": "Some of you may say, “God allows us to do anything that he does not forbid.” But I would reply, “ That is true, but not everything that God permits us to do helps us.” Yes, as some of you say, God permits us to do anything that he does not forbid. But as for me, I will not let anything make me its slave; that is, I will not do anything that will gain control over me in such a way that I will not be able to stop doing it."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "13", "text": "Some of you may also say, “Food is just for us to put in the stomach, and the stomach is just for us to put food in. And since God will do away with food and stomachs when he gives us our new bodies, what we do with our bodies sexually does not affect us anymore than eating food does.” But what you have concluded is wrong, because the Lord does not want us to use our bodies to do sexually immoral things. Instead, the Lord wants us to use our bodies in ways that please him. Also, the Lord wants us to do what is good for our bodies."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "14", "text": "God, by his power, caused the Lord Jesus to live again after he died, and he will cause us to live again after we die, which shows that he is very concerned about our bodies."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "15", "text": "◄You should keep in mind that your bodies belong to Christ./Do you not know that your bodies belong to Christ?► [RHQ] So, should I or any other believer[RHQ] take our body, which belongs to Christ, and join it sexually to a prostitute? No, certainly not!"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "16", "text": "When a man has sexual relations [EUP] with a prostitute, it is as though their two bodies become one body. ◄You should never forget that!/Do you not know that?► [RHQ] What Moses wrote about people who join together sexually is, “The two of them will become as though they are one body.”"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "17", "text": "But anyone who is united {who joins himself} to the Lord becomes one with him spiritually."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "18", "text": "Always ◄run away from/avoid► committing sexually immoral acts. Other sins that people commit do not affect their bodies, but those who commit sexually immoral acts sin against their own bodies."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "19", "text": "◄Keep in mind that your bodies are like[MET] temples of the Holy Spirit./Do you not know that your bodies are like[MET] temples of the Holy Spirit?► [RHQ] The Spirit, whom God gave you, lives within you. You do not belong to yourselves. You belong to God,"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "20", "text": "because when his Son died for you it was as though[MET] God paid a price for you. So honor God by how you use your bodies!"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "1", "text": "Now I will reply to the things that you wrote to me about. It is good for people not to get married."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "2", "text": "But because many people are committing sexual immorality, which God detests, every man should have his own wife with whom he can have sexual relations, and every woman should have her own husband with whom she can have sexual relations."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "3", "text": "Every man must continue having sexual relations [EUP] with his wife, and every woman must continue having sexual relations with her husband."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "4", "text": "A man's wife does not have the right over her own body to be the only one to decide about having sexual relations with her husband. Instead, her husband also has a right to decide about that. Similarly, a woman's husband does not have the right over his own body to be the only one to decide about having sexual relations with his wife. Instead, his wife also has a right to decide about that."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "5", "text": "You may refuse to have sexual relations with each other [EUP] only if you both first agree to do that for a short time, in order that you may both have more time to pray. Then after that, begin having sexual relations again [EUP] in order that Satan will not be able to persuade you to have sex with someone else because you are unable to control your sexual desires."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "6", "text": "I am telling you these things to say that God allows you to get married, but he does not say that you must get married."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "7", "text": "I myself wish that all people would stay unmarried/single, as I am. But God has enabled each person to live in different ways. He has enabled some people to live without getting married, and he has enabled other people to get married."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "8", "text": "Now I want to say this to you unmarried people and to you whose spouses have died: It would be good for you to remain unmarried as I am."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "9", "text": "But if you cannot control your sexual desires[EUP], you should get married. It is better to be married so that you can satisfy your sexual desires with your spouse than to constantly have a strong desire [EUP] for sexual relations."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "10", "text": "And now I will give a command for believers who are married. This is not a command from me alone; it also comes from the Lord Jesus. You married women must not ◄separate from/divorce► your husbands!"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "11", "text": "But if any of you do that, you must remain unmarried, or else you should be reconciled with your husband and live with him again. Similarly, men must not ◄separate from/divorce► their wives."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "12", "text": "Now I say this to the rest of you, to those who became believers after they were married. This is what I am saying, not what the Lord has commanded. If someone has a wife who is not a believer, if she is willing to keep living with him, he must not divorce her."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "13", "text": "Similarly, if a woman has a husband who is not a believer, if he is willing to keep living with her, she must not divorce him."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "14", "text": "I say that because God has set apart every woman's unbelieving husband for himself because of his wife being a believer, and God has set apart every man's unbelieving wife for himself because of her husband being a believer. If that were not true, God would consider their children unacceptable. But, the fact is that God does consider them acceptable to him."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "15", "text": "However, if a woman's husband who is not a believer or a man's wife who is not a believer wants to leave, let him or her do so. If that happens, the husband or wife who is a believer should not force the other one to stay. God has chosen us in order that we may live peacefully."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "16", "text": "You women believers should allow your unbelieving spouses to leave you if they want to, because ◄there is no way that you can be sure that God will save your husband if you stay together./how can you be sure that God will save your husband if you stay together?► [RHQ] (OR, perhaps God will save your husband if you stay together.) Similarly, you men who are believers, ◄there is no way that you can be sure that God will save your wives if you stay together/how can you be sure that God will save your wives if you stay together?► [RHQ] (OR, perhaps God will save your wives if you stay together.)"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "17", "text": "However, each person should continue in the status that the Lord gave him, the status that he had when the Lord called him to belong to him. That is the rule that I tell people in all the congregations where I speak."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "18", "text": "If a man had already been circumcised [RHQ] when he became a Christian, he should not try to pretend that he is not circumcised. If a man had not been circumcised [RHQ] before he became a Christian, he should not become circumcised."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "19", "text": "You should not try to change your status that way, because it means nothing to God whether someone is circumcised or not. What is important is that we obey what God has commanded."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "20", "text": "Generally, each person should remain in the status that he had when he became a Christian."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "21", "text": "If one of you was a slave when you(sg) became a Christian [RHQ], do not be concerned about it. However, if you get an opportunity to be free, do what you need to do to become free"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "22", "text": "Do not worry about your previously being a slave, because those who were slaves before they became Christians, the Lord has freed them from Satan's control. Similarly, those who were not slaves before they became Christians, it is as though[MET] they are Christ's slaves because they must do what he tells them to do[MET]."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "23", "text": "Christ paid a price to buy you when he died for you. So do not act as if you are evil people's slaves by doing the evil things that they tell you to do."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "24", "text": "My fellow believers, I repeat that in general each believer, being in fellowship with God, should continue in the status that he had before he became a Christian."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "25", "text": "Now I will answer your question about women who have never married. There is nothing that the Lord has commanded me to write about them, but I am writing this to tell you what I think is best, because the Lord Jesus has mercifully enabled what I say to be reliable."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "26", "text": "There are a lot of distressing events happening now (OR, that will soon happen), so I think that it is better for people to remain in the status that they now have."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "27", "text": "If any of you men are married [RHQ], do not try to divorce your wife. If any of you are unmarried [RHQ], do not seek a wife."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "28", "text": "But if any of you men get married, you have not committed a sin by doing that. Likewise, if an unmarried woman gets married, she has not committed a sin by doing that. However, those who get married will have many troubles, so I am urging you to remain unmarried in order that you may not experience such troubles."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "29", "text": "My fellow believers, this is what I mean: There is not much time left before Christ returns. So, from now on those men who are married should devote themselves to serving the Lord as much as they would if they were not married."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "30", "text": "Those who are sad should devote themselves to serving the Lord as much as they would if they were not sad. Those who are rejoicing should devote themselves to serving the Lord as much as they would if they were not joyful."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "31", "text": "Those who are buying things should devote themselves to serving the Lord as much as they would if they did not possess those things. Because this world as it exists now will soon be gone, those who are actively involved in the affairs of this life should not devote all their time to be involved in those things."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "32", "text": "Another reason why I encourage you to remain unmarried is that I desire that none of you be anxious about the everyday affairs of this life. Unmarried men are able to be primarily concerned about serving the Lord Jesus and trying to please him."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "33", "text": "But married men are often greatly concerned about the affairs of this life. Specifically, they are concerned about pleasing their wives."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "34", "text": "So their thinking is divided. Unmarried women are able to be concerned about serving the Lord. They want to set apart their minds and their bodies for the Lord. But married women are often concerned about the affairs of this life. Specifically, they are concerned about how to please their husbands."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "35", "text": "I am telling you this for your own good. I am not saying it in order to restrict you. Instead, I am saying it in order that you may do what is proper and be able to serve the Lord without being distracted {things distracting you}."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "36", "text": "Some of you men have asked about your unmarried daughters. I suggest that if any man thinks that he may be treating his daughter unfairly by keeping her from marrying, and if it is already past the right time for her to get married, and if he thinks that she ought to be married, he should do what he wants to do. He should let her get married. He will not be sinning by doing that."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "37", "text": "But if a man feels absolutely sure that it is better that his daughter not get married, and if nothing is forcing her to get married, and if he is free to do what he decides to do on the matter, if he decides that his daughter should not get married, he is doing what is right in keeping her from marrying."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "38", "text": "So any man who decides that his daughter should get married is doing what is good, but if he decides that she should not get married, he is doing something even better. (OR, 36 Some of you men have asked about the women to whom you are engaged to marry. If any man thinks that he may be treating that woman unfairly by not marrying her, and if it is already past the right time for her to get married, and if he wants to marry her very much, he should do what he wants to do. He should marry her. He will not be sinning by doing that. 37 But if a man feels absolutely sure that it is better for him not to get married, and if nothing is forcing them to get married, if he is free to make his own decision on the matter, if he decides not to get married, he is doing what is right. 38 So any man who decides that he should get married to the woman he is engaged to is doing what is good, but if he decides that he should not get married, he is doing something even better.)"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "39", "text": "Women must remain married to their husbands while their husbands are still alive. But if a woman's husband dies, she is free to marry any unmarried man whom she wants to marry, but he must belong to the Lord."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "40", "text": "However, I think that she will be happier if she does not marry again. And I believe that the Spirit of God is directing me as I say that."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "1", "text": "Now I will answer what you asked about us believers eating meat that has been sacrificed to idols. We know what some of you say, that God has enabled all of us to know the truth about things such as idols. But often we become proud because we say that we know all those things. But instead of being proud about what we know, we should show that we love our fellow believers by helping them to become spiritually mature."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "2", "text": "Those who think that they thoroughly know something do not yet know it as they should."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "3", "text": "But as for those who love God, they know that they belong to him."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "4", "text": "So I will tell you about eating meat that people have sacrificed to idols. We know that it is true, as you say, that idols are not really alive. We also know that there is only one real God."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "5", "text": "It is true that there are gods whom people think live in the heavens or whom they think live on earth. Truly, there are many beings that people call gods, and whom they call lords."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "6", "text": "But for us believers there is only one real God. He is our heavenly Father who created everything. He is the one whom we worship and serve. Also, for us believers Jesus Christ is the one and only Lord. He is the one whom God caused to create everything. It is because of what he has done that we have spiritual life."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "7", "text": "Nevertheless, some people do not understand that idols are not really alive. In the past, some among you who are believers now were accustomed to believing that idols were really alive. As a result, when they eat such meat now, they still think that it was sacrificed to an idol that is alive. They are not sure that God allows believers to eat meat that has been offered to idols. So, when they eat such meat, they think that they have sinned."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "8", "text": "But God will not think more highly about us if we eat certain foods, or if we do not eat certain foods. That is, we are not more acceptable to God if we do not eat certain foods, nor are we more acceptable to him if we eat those foods."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "9", "text": "However, be sure that you do not do anything that God allows you to do, if by doing that you would encourage any of your fellow believers to do something that they are not sure God allows them to do. As a result, you would be causing them to sin."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "10", "text": "For example, you know that idols are not really alive. Suppose that in a temple where they worship idols you eat food that has been sacrificed to idols. Suppose that someone who is not sure whether God allows us to eat that food sees you eating it. ◄ You would be encouraging him to eat it, too./Wouldn't you be encouraging him to eat it, too?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "11", "text": "As a result, you who know that idols are not really alive, might cause that fellow believer, one for whom Christ died, ◄to be ruined spiritually/to stop believing in Christ►."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "12", "text": "By sinning against your fellow believer by causing him to do something that he thinks God does not allow us to do, it is as though you are sinning against Christ himself!"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "13", "text": "So if I, Paul, think that by eating a certain food I might cause a fellow believer to be ruined spiritually, I will never eat such food again. I do not want to cause any fellow believer ◄to be ruined spiritually/to stop believing in Christ►. And you should◄ do as I do/imitate my example►."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "1", "text": "◄I am certainly free to do all the things that God allows me to do./Do you not think that I am free to do all the things God allows me to do?► [RHQ] ◄I am an apostle./ Do you not know I am an apostle?► [RHQ] ◄You certainly know that I have seen Jesus our Lord./Have not I told you that I have seen Jesus our Lord?► [RHQ] ◄It is a result of my work that you have believed in the Lord Jesus./Isn't it a result of my work that you have believed in the Lord Jesus?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "2", "text": "And even though other people may think that I am not an apostle, you certainly should know that I am an apostle. Remember that your having become Christians [MET] as a result of my telling you about the Lord ◄confirms/shows that it is true► that I am an apostle."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "3", "text": "In order to defend myself, this is what I say to those who criticize me by claiming that I do not act like an apostle."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "4", "text": "As for Barnabas and me, ◄we certainly have the right as apostles to receive from you and other congregations food and drink for our work./do we not have the right to receive from you and other congregations food and drink for our work?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "5", "text": "We have the same right that the other apostles and the Lord Jesus' younger brothers and especially Peter have. They all take along a wife who is a believer when they travel various places in order to tell people about Christ. And they have a right that the people whom they work among will support their wives, too. So ◄Barnabas and I certainly have those same rights./do not Barnabas and I have those same rights?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "6", "text": "◄It would be ridiculous to think that Barnabas and I are the only apostles who must work to earn money to pay our expenses while we are doing God's work!/Do you think that Barnabas and I are the only apostles who must work to earn money to pay our expenses while we are doing God's work?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "7", "text": "◄Soldiers certainly do not pay their own wages./Do soldiers pay their own wages?► [RHQ] ◄Those who plant a vineyard would certainly eat some of the grapes when they become ripe./Do not those who plant a vineyard eat some of the grapes when they become ripe?► [RHQ] ◄Those who care for sheep would certainly drink the milk from those sheep./Do not those who care for sheep drink the milk from those sheep?► [RHQ] Similarly, those who tell others about Christ certainly have a right to receive◄ financial help/food► from the people to whom they preach."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "8", "text": "◄I am saying that, not only because people think that it is right./Am I saying that only because people think that it is right?► [RHQ] No, I am [RHQ] saying it because it is what God said in the laws that he gave to Moses."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "9", "text": "Moses wrote in one of those laws, “While an ox is threshing grain, you must not tie its mouth shut so that it cannot eat the grain.” ◄God was not only concerned about oxen when he gave that law./Was God only concerned about oxen when he gave that law?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "10", "text": "No, he was [RHQ] concerned about us, also! Yes, God caused Moses to write those words because he is concerned about us! Those who plow the ground confidently expect to eat some of the crop that grows. Those who thresh grain confidently expect to eat some of the grain that they thresh. Similarly, we who proclaim the message about Christ have the right to confidently expect to receive financial help for our work."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "11", "text": "And because we have proclaimed God's message to you, ◄we certainly have the right to receive from you the things that we need for our bodies [MET]!/do we not have the right to receive from you the things that we need for our bodies?► [MET, RHQ]"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "12", "text": "Since other people who preached to you had that right, ◄certainly Barnabas and I have the same right./do Barnabas and I not have the same right?► [RHQ] However, neither of us insisted that you give us the things that we have a right to receive from you. Instead, we were willing to endure anything in order that we not hinder anyone from believing the message about Christ."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "13", "text": "◄You should keep in mind that the priests and servants in the Temple eat some of the food that people bring to the Temple./Do you not know that the priests and servants in the Temple eat some of the food that people bring to the Temple?► [RHQ] Specifically, the priests who work at the altar eat some of the food that the people bring to sacrifice on the altar."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "14", "text": "So the Lord has commanded that those who proclaim the good message about him should receive from those who hear that message what they need to live on."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "15", "text": "However, I have not requested that you give me those things that I have a right to receive from you. Furthermore, I am writing this to you, not in order to request you to begin giving me financial help now. I would rather die than to receive help from you. I do not want anyone to prevent me from boasting about my proclaiming God's message to you without receiving financial help from you."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "16", "text": "When I proclaim the message about Christ, I cannot boast about doing it, because Christ has commanded me to do it. I would be very miserable (OR, I am afraid that God would punish me) if I did not proclaim that message."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "17", "text": "If I had decided by myself to proclaim it, God would reward me. But I did not decide by myself to do that. I am simply doing the work that God entrusted to me."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "18", "text": "So ◄perhaps you wonder what my reward is./are you wondering what my reward is?► [RHQ] I will tell you. When I proclaim the good message about Christ, I do not ask people for financial help. It makes me very happy not to ask for help, and being happy is the reward I get. I do not want to use the rights that I have when I proclaim the good message."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "19", "text": "I am not obligated to do what anyone else thinks that I should do. Nevertheless, when I have been with any group of people, I have made myself do what they believed that I should do, just like a slave does what his master wants him to do. I have done that in order that I might convince more people to trust in Christ."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "20", "text": "Specifically, when I was with fellow Jews, I did the things that Jews think that people should do. I did that in order that I might convince some of them to trust in Christ. Although I am now not obligated to obey the Jewish laws and rituals, when I was with those who believe that they are obligated to obey those laws, I did the things that they think that people should do. I did that in order to convince some of them to trust in Christ."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "21", "text": "When I was with ◄non-Jews/those who do not know those laws►, I did the things that non-Jews think that people should do, in order that I might convince some of them to trust in Christ. I do not mean that I disobey God's laws. No, I obey the things that Christ commanded us to do."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "22", "text": "When I was with those who doubt whether God will permit them to do certain things that others◄ disapprove of/think it is not right to do►, I avoided doing those things, in order that I might convince some of them to trust in Christ. In summary, I have done all the things that the people I have been with think that others should do, in order that by every possible means I might convince some of them to trust in Christ."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "23", "text": "I do all these things in order that more people will believe the message about Christ, and in order that I, along with other believers, may receive the good things that God promises to give us."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "24", "text": "When people run in a race, they all run, but only one of them wins the race and as a result gets a prize. ◄You certainly know that./Do you not know that?► [RHQ] So, just like runners exert themselves fully to win a race[MET], you should exert yourselves fully to do the things that God wants you to do, in order that you may receive the reward that God wants to give you."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "25", "text": "All athletes exercise their bodies strenuously in many ways. They do that in order to receive a wreath as a reward to wear on their heads. Those wreaths fade, but we will receive a reward that will last forever [LIT]."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "26", "text": "For that reason, I try hard to please God[MET], like a runner who runs toward the goal [LIT]. I try hard to accomplish what God wants me to accomplish, like a boxer tries hard to hit his opponent, not to miss hitting him."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "27", "text": "I beat my body to make it do what I want it to do[MET], as slaves obey their masters, in order that, after I have proclaimed God's message to others, he will not say that I do not deserve to receive a reward."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "1", "text": "My fellow believers, I want to remind you that all our Jewish ancestors were under the cloud by which God miraculously led them and protected them when they left Egypt with Moses. All those ancestors crossed the Red Sea after God miraculously made the water separate so that they could walk through it."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "2", "text": "God caused all of them to begin to live under the authority of [MTY] Moses when they walked under that cloud and walked through the Red Sea."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "3", "text": "All those ancestors of ours ate the same food that God miraculously provided."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "4", "text": "They all drank water that God miraculously provided. That is, they all drank water that God miraculously made come out of the rock. That rock was a symbol of[MET] Christ, who went with them. So we conclude that God helped all of those people in many ways."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "5", "text": "However, we also conclude that God was angry [LIT] with most of those people because they sinned against him. He caused almost all of them to die, and as a result their bodies were scattered in the desert."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "6", "text": "Those things that happened long ago became examples to teach us the following things: We should not desire to do evil things as those people desired to do."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "7", "text": "We should not worship idols as many of those people did. Remember that Moses wrote, “The people sat down. They ate and drank to honor the golden calf that they had just made. Then they got up to dance immorally.”"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "8", "text": "We should not have sexual relations with someone to whom we are not married, as many of them did. As a result, God punished them by causing twenty-three thousand people to die in only one day."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "9", "text": "We should not try to see how much we can sin without the Lord punishing us. Some of them did that, and as a result they died because poisonous snakes bit them."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "10", "text": "We should not complain about what God does. Some of them did that, and as a result an angel destroyed them. So God will certainly punish us if we sin like they did."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "11", "text": "All those things that happened to our ancestors long ago are examples for us. Moses wrote those things to warn us who are living now. We are the people for whom God has fulfilled the things that he purposed in the previous periods of time."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "12", "text": "So I say this to all those who confidently think that they will always steadfastly continue to believe what God said and will never disobey what he commanded: Be careful that you(sg) do not sin when you are tempted."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "13", "text": "Remember that your desires to sin are the same desires that other people have. But when you are tempted to sin, you can trust God to help you. He will not permit you to be tempted {anything to tempt you} more than you are able to resist. Instead, when you are tempted {things tempt you}, he will also provide a way for you to endure it without sinning."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "14", "text": "So, I say to you people whom I love, avoid worshipping idols just like you would run away from anything that is dangerous."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "15", "text": "It is to people who think that they are wise that I write. So, you, as wise people, judge whether what I am writing is true."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "16", "text": "During the Lord's Supper, after we ask God to bless ◄the wine/the grape juice► in the cup, we give thanks for it and drink it. By doing that, we certainly are [RHQ] sharing in what Christ did for us when his blood flowed from his body when he died. During the Lord's Supper, when we break the bread and eat it, ◄we are certainly sharing in [MTY] what Christ did for us when his body suffered for us on the cross./are we not sharing in [MTY] what Christ did for us when his body suffered for us on the cross? ► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "17", "text": "Because it is one loaf of bread that we break and eat during the Lord's Supper, it symbolizes that we who are many are one group, because we all eat from the one loaf."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "18", "text": "Consider what happens when the Israelite people eat the food that the priests sacrifice on the altar outside the Temple. ◄They participate in what the priests do at[MTY] the altar./Are they not participating in what the priests do at[MTY] the altar?► [RHQ] Similarly, if you eat food that non-believers have offered to an idol in a temple, you are participating in their worship of the idol there."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "19", "text": "By saying that, ◄ I do not mean that offering food to an idol makes it anything more than just ordinary food./do I mean that offering food to an idol makes it anything more than just ordinary food?► [RHQ] I do not mean that an idol is anything more than just an idol."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "20", "text": "No! Instead, I mean that what people sacrifice to idols, they are sacrificing to demons, not to God. So, if you eat food that has been sacrificed to idols, you are participating in worshipping the demons that the idols represent. And I do not want you to participate in worshipping demons!"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "21", "text": "When you drink the grape juice/wine in[MTY] the cup at the Lord's Supper, you cannot participate in the blessings that the Lord Jesus brought to us and at the same time drink the wine in the[MTY] cup that people offer to demons! When you eat at the Lord's table, you cannot participate in the blessings the Lord provided [MTY] when he died for us and at the same time participate in the things that represent demons by eating food that has been sacrificed to idols"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "22", "text": "If you participate in honoring demons in that way, ◄you will certainly make the Lord very angry./will not you make the Lord very angry?► [RHQ] ◄Remember that you are certainly not stronger than he is./Do you think that you are stronger than he is?► [RHQ] Certainly not, so you will not escape his punishing you if you honor demons in that way!"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "23", "text": "Some people say, “ God permits believers to do anything.” But I say that not everything that people do benefits those who do it! Yes, some people say, “God permits believers to do all things.” But not everything that people do helps them to become spiritually mature."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "24", "text": "No one should try to benefit only himself. Instead, each person should try to benefit other people spiritually."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "25", "text": "This is what you should do: Eat any food that is sold {that people sell} in the market. Do not ask questions to find out if that food has been offered{ someone offered that food} to idols, just because you think it would be wrong to eat such food."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "26", "text": "Remember that the Psalmist wrote, “Everything on the earth belongs to the Lord God because he created it! ” So, food that has been offered to idols belongs to the Lord, not to the idols, and you may eat it."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "27", "text": "If a non-believer invites you to a meal, go if you want to, and eat any food that is set {that he sets} before you. Do not ask whether it was offered to idols, just because you think that it would be wrong to eat such food."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "28", "text": "But if someone says to you, “This is food that was sacrificed to an idol,” do not eat it, for the sake of the person who told that to you, and also because someone may think that it is wrong to eat such food."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "29", "text": "I do not mean that you should be concerned about whether it is all right to eat such food. What I mean is that you should be concerned about others who may think that it is wrong to eat such food. Since I know that I ◄am free/have the right► to eat such food without God punishing me, no one should [RHQ] say that what I am doing is wrong just because he himself thinks that it is wrong."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "30", "text": "If I thank God for the food when I eat food that has been offered to an idol, no one should criticize me for eating food for which I have thanked God [RHQ]!"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "31", "text": "So I say to you in conclusion, when you eat food, or drink something, or do anything else, do everything in order that people will praise God."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "32", "text": "Do not do anything that would hinder Jews or Greeks from becoming believers, and do not do things that would encourage members of God's congregations to sin."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "33", "text": "Do as I do. I try to please everyone in every way. I do this by not seeking to benefit myself. Instead, I try to benefit many others, in order that they may be saved {that God may save them} from the guilt of their sins."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "1", "text": "Follow my example, just like I try to follow Christ's example."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "2", "text": "I praise you because you remember all the things that I taught you and because you follow the instructions that I gave you. You have done just like I told you to do."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "3", "text": "Now, I want you to know that the one who has authority over [MTY] every man is Christ, and the ones who have authority over women are men (OR, their husbands), and the one who has authority over Christ is God."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "4", "text": "So if any man wears a covering over his head when he prays or speaks a message God gave him, he disgraces himself [SYN]."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "5", "text": "Also, if any woman does not wear a covering over her head when she prays or speaks a message that God gave her, she disgraces herself (OR, she dishonors her husband). That would be acting like [SIM] women who are ashamed because their heads have been shaved."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "6", "text": "So, if women do not wear coverings over their heads when they pray or speak messages that God gave them, they should let someone shave their heads so that they will be ashamed. But since women are ashamed if someone cuts their hair short or shaves off their hair, they should wear coverings over their heads when they pray or speak messages that God gave them."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "7", "text": "Men should not wear coverings over their heads when they pray or speak messages that God gave them, because they represent what God is like [MET] and they show how great God is. But women show how great men (OR, their husbands) are."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "8", "text": "Remember that God intends that men have authority over women. We know that because God did not make the first man, Adam, from the first woman, Eve. Instead, he made that woman from a bone that he took from the man."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "9", "text": "Also, God did not create the first man to help the woman. Instead, he created the woman to help the man."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "10", "text": "For that reason, women should wear something to cover their heads as a symbol of their being under their husbands' [MTY] authority. They should also cover their heads so that the angels will see that and rejoice."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "11-12", "text": "However, remember that even though God created the first woman from the first man, now it is women who give birth to men. So men cannot be independent of women, nor can women be independent of men. But all things, including men and women, come from God."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "13", "text": "Consider this for yourselves: Is it proper for [RHQ] women to pray to God while they do not have coverings over their heads?"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "14", "text": "◄Everyone senses that it is disgraceful for men to have long hair./Do you not know naturally that it is disgraceful for men to have long hair?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "15", "text": "But it is very delightful if women have long hair, because God gave them long hair to be like a beautiful covering for their heads."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "16", "text": "But whoever wants to argue with me about my saying that women should have a covering over their heads when they pray or speak a message from God should consider the fact that we apostles do not permit any other custom, and the other congregations of God do not have any other custom."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "17", "text": "Concerning the matters about which I will instruct you now, I do not praise you, because whenever you believers meet together, good things do not happen. Instead, bad things happen."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "18", "text": "First of all, people have told me that when you gather together as a group to worship God, you divide into groups that are hostile to each other. To some extent I believe that is true."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "19", "text": "It seems that you must divide into groups that despise each other in order that it might be clear/evident which people among you God approves of!"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "20", "text": "When you gather together, you [IRO] eat the meal that you say is to remember the death of the Lord Jesus for us."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "21", "text": "But what happens when you eat is that each person eats his own meal before he thinks about sharing his food with anyone else. As a result, when the meal is over, some people are still hungry and others are drunk! So it is not a meal that honors the Lord."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "22", "text": "◄ You act as though you do not have your own houses in which you can eat and drink whatever you want to!/Do you not have your own houses in which you can eat and drink whatever you want to?► [RHQ] Do you not realize [RHQ] that by acting selfishly in this way, it is God's people whom you are despising, and it is the poor people in your group whom you are treating as though they were not important? What shall I say to you about that [RHQ]? Do you expect me to praise you about what you do[RHQ]? I certainly will not praise you!"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "23", "text": "The Lord taught me these things that I also taught you: During the night that Jesus was betrayed { Judas enabled the enemies of the Lord Jesus to seize him}, he took some bread."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "24", "text": "After he thanked God for it, he broke it into pieces. Then he gave it to his disciples and said, “This bread represents[MET] (OR, is) my body, that I am about to sacrifice for you. Eat bread in this way again and again to remember my offering myself as a sacrifice for you.”"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "25", "text": "Similarly, after they ate their meal, he took a cup [MTY] of wine. He thanked God for it. Then he gave it to his disciples, saying, “ The wine in[MTY] this cup represents[MET] (OR, is) my blood that will flow from my body◄ to put into effect/to establish► the new agreement that God is making with people. Whenever you drink wine in this way, do it to remember that my blood flowed for you.”"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "26", "text": "Remember that until the Lord Jesus returns to the earth, whenever you eat the bread that represents his body and drink the wine [MTY] that represents his blood, you are telling other people that he died for you."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "27", "text": "So, those who eat that bread and drink that wine [MTY] in a way that is not proper for those who belong to the Lord are guilty of acting in a way that is contrary to what our Lord intended when he offered his body as a sacrifice and his blood flowed when he died."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "28", "text": "Before any believer eats that bread and drinks that wine [MTY], he should think carefully about what he is doing,"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "29", "text": "because if anyone eats the bread that represents Christ's body and drinks the wine that represents his blood without recognizing that all God's people should be united, God will punish him for doing that."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "30", "text": "Many people in your group are weak and sick, and several have died [EUP] because of the way they acted when they ate that bread and drank that wine."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "31", "text": "If we would think carefully about what we are doing, God would not judge and punish us like that."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "32", "text": "But when the Lord judges and punishes us for acting wrongly, he disciplines us to correct us, in order that he will not need to punish us when he punishes the people who do not trust in Christ[MTY]."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "33", "text": "So, my fellow believers, when you gather together to eat food to remember the Lord's dying for you, wait until everyone has arrived so that you can find out who does not have enough food."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "34", "text": "Those who are so hungry that they cannot wait to eat until everyone else has arrived should eat in their own homes first, in order that when you gather together God will not judge and punish them for◄ being inconsiderate of/not being concerned about► others. And when I come to Corinth I will give you instructions about other matters concerning the Lord's Supper."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "1", "text": "Now, my fellow believers, I will answer what you asked about the things God's Spirit enables believers to do. I want you to know clearly [LIT] about these things."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "2", "text": "You know that before you became Christians, various things led you to worship idols, which are unable to tell you any of God's message."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "3", "text": "So the first thing that I will tell you now is that it is not the Spirit of God who would cause anyone to say, “Jesus deserved to die,” and that the Holy Spirit is the only one who can enable anyone to say, “Jesus is truly the Lord.”"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "4", "text": "There are various things that God's Spirit enables us believers to do, but it is that same Spirit who enables all of us to do them."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "5", "text": "There are many different ways to serve the Lord, but it is the same Lord whom we all are serving."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "6", "text": "We believers have the power to do various tasks, but it is the same God who gives all of us the power to do these things."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "7", "text": "God's Spirit gives his power to each believer in order to benefit all the other believers."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "8", "text": "To some, the Spirit gives the ability to speak very wise messages. To others, the same Spirit gives the ability to know things that he reveals to them."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "9", "text": "To others, the same Spirit gives the ability to believe that God will work miracles. To others, the Spirit gives the ability to heal sick people."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "10", "text": "To others, he gives the power to perform miracles. To others, he gives the ability to speak messages that come directly from God. To others, he gives the ability to tell if a message is really from God or not. To others he gives the ability to speak messages in languages [MTY] that they have not learned. To others, he gives the ability to tell the meaning of those messages [MTY]."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "11", "text": "It is the same one Spirit who gives all these abilities. He gives whatever abilities he wants to give, to whatever person he wants to give them."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "12", "text": "Although a person's body has many parts, all the parts form just one body [DOU]. It is like that with those who belong to Christ."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "13", "text": "When we were baptized {When people baptized us}, the one Holy Spirit caused us to become one group of believers. It does not matter whether we are Jews or non-Jews. It does not matter whether we are slaves or not slaves. When we believed in Christ, the one Spirit came to live [MET] within all of us."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "14", "text": "Our bodies do not have only one part. They have many parts with various functions."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "15", "text": "If our foot could talk and say to us, “Because I am not your hand, I am not a part of your body,” it would still be a part of our body."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "16", "text": "If our ear could talk and say, “Because I am not your eye, I am not a part of your body,” it would still be a part of our body."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "17", "text": "If our body were only an eye, ◄we would not be able to hear./how could we hear?► [RHQ] If our body were only an ear, ◄we would not be able to smell anything!/how could we smell anything?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "18", "text": "But the truth is that God has put all the parts of our bodies together exactly as he wanted to put them."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "19", "text": "If our body had only one part, ◄it would not be a body./how would it be a body?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "20", "text": "But the truth is that there are many parts in our body, but it is still only one body."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "21", "text": "That is why if our eye could talk, it should never say to our hand, “I do not need you!” And if our head could talk, it should not say to our feet, “I do not need you!”"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "22", "text": "Instead, the parts of our body that seem to be weaker are the ones that are absolutely necessary."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "23", "text": "And the parts that we do not think highly of are the parts that we clothe carefully. And we protect carefully those parts that we do not show to people."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "24", "text": "The parts that are all right to show people, we do not need to protect. Instead, God, who has put all the parts of our bodies together, causes us to care for in a special way the parts that we think are less important."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "25", "text": "He does that in order that all the parts of our body will work together harmoniously [LIT], and so that all the parts will care for all the other parts equally."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "26", "text": "If one part of our body hurts, it is as though all the parts of our body are hurting. If we pay special attention to one part of our body, it is as though all the parts of our body feel pleasure [MET]."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "27", "text": "Everything I have just said about how the parts of our bodies relate to each other applies to how all of you who belong to Christ should relate to each other. Each of you belongs to him, but you have not all been given the same abilities and work."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "28", "text": "God has placed apostles in our congregations. Apostles are first in rank. Next in rank are those who speak messages which come directly from God. Next in rank are those who teach spiritual truth. Then there are those who have the power to work miracles, those who have the ability to heal sick people, those who have the ability to help others, those who have the ability to govern the affairs of the congregation, and those who have the ability to speak messages in languages [MTY] that they have not learned."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "29", "text": "◄Certainly not all believers are apostles./Are all believers apostles?► [RHQ] ◄They all do not have the ability to speak messages that come directly from God./Do they all have the ability to speak messages that come directly from God?► [RHQ] ◄They do not all have the ability to teach spiritual truth./Do they all have the ability to teach spiritual truth?► [RHQ] ◄They do not all have the power to work miracles./Do they all have the power to work miracles?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "30", "text": "◄They do not all have the ability to heal people./Do they all have the ability to heal people?► [RHQ] ◄They do not all have the ability to speak messages in languages [MTY] they have not learned./Do they all have the ability to speak messages in languages [MTY] that they have not learned?► [RHQ] ◄They do not all have the ability to tell others the meaning of those messages./Do they all have the ability to tell others the meaning of those messages?► [RHQ] Certainly not!"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "31", "text": "But you should eagerly desire to have the abilities that will help other believers the most (OR, the abilities that God considers to be the most important). But now I will tell you the best way to use the abilities that God's Spirit has given you."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 13, "verse": "1", "text": "If we could speak all the various languages [MTY] that people in the world speak and even speak the language that angels speak, if we did not love others, speaking those languages would be as useless as beating a brass gong or clanging cymbals together."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 13, "verse": "2", "text": "If we had the ability to speak messages that come directly from God, and if we could understand the plans that he has not yet revealed to others, and if we could know everything about everything, and if we believed in God so strongly that we could do impossible things like causing mountains to move, if we did not love others, God would consider all that to be worthless."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 13, "verse": "3", "text": "If we would give everything that we own to poor people, and if we would let others kill us in order that we could boast about sacrificing our own bodies, if we did not love others, we would not get any reward from God."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 13, "verse": "4", "text": "Those who [PRS] truly love others act patiently and kindly toward them. Those who [PRS] truly love others are not jealous of them, they do not boast about what they themselves have done, and are not proud."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 13, "verse": "5", "text": "Those who [PRS] truly love others do not act in disgraceful/disrespectful ways towards them. They do not ◄act selfishly/think only of themselves and what they want►. They do not quickly become angry. They do not keep remembering the bad things that others have done to them."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 13, "verse": "6", "text": "Those who [PRS] truly love others do not rejoice when people do evil things, but they do rejoice when people act righteously."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 13, "verse": "7", "text": "Those who truly love others patiently endure the faults of others. They do not quickly assume that others have done something bad. They confidently expect that others will act righteously. They patiently endure all their own troubles."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 13, "verse": "8", "text": "We should never [PRS] let anything stop us from continuing to love others. As for the ability to speak messages that come directly from God, some day that will come to an end. As for the ability to speak languages [MTY] that we have not learned, that will also come to an end some day. And as for the ability to know things that God reveals to us, that will come to an end some day because it will not be necessary anymore."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 13, "verse": "9", "text": "God does not reveal everything to us, and we cannot know everything that he knows."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 13, "verse": "10", "text": "But when everything is perfect after Christ returns, things which are not perfect now, such as the abilities which God's Spirit gives us, will ◄be abolished/come to an end►."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 13, "verse": "11", "text": "When we were children, we talked like children talk, we thought like children think, we reasoned like children reason. But when we grew up, we got rid of our childish ways [MET]. Similarly, you need to get rid of your childish thinking about the abilities that the Spirit has given you."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 13, "verse": "12", "text": "In this life we do not understand everything fully. It is like [MET] looking at something indirectly by seeing it in a mirror. But when we get to heaven[MTY], we will understand everything clearly. It will be like talking to someone face-to-face. Now we know only part of everything that God wants us to know. Then we will know everything completely, just like God knows us completely."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 13, "verse": "13", "text": "So now there are three things that we must continue to do: To trust in God, to confidently expect to receive what he will give us, and to love others. But the greatest of those three things is loving others."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "1", "text": "You must want to love others more than you want anything else. But you should also eagerly desire the abilities that God's Spirit gives to believers. And you should desire most of all to have the ability to speak messages that come directly from God [MTY]."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "2-3", "text": "I say that because those who speak messages that come directly from God are speaking in languages that they and the other believers in the congregation know, and thus they are able to strengthen them spiritually and to encourage and comfort them. But those who speak in languages [MTY] that they have not learned are not speaking to people. Instead, they are only speaking to God. No one understands them. By the power/guidance of God's Spirit (OR, From within their own spirit) they speak things that others do not know."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "4", "text": "Those who speak in languages that they have not learned are receiving a blessing for themselves, but those who speak messages that come directly from God are giving a blessing to all the believers in the congregation because they are speaking in a language that the congregation knows."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "5", "text": "I would like you all to have the ability to speak in languages [MTY] you have not learned. But I would like even more for you to have the ability to speak messages that come directly from God. If people speak messages in a language that they have not learned, if there is no one there who can explain the meaning, that situation is not as helpful to the congregation as speaking messages that come directly from God in the language that the congregation knows."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "6", "text": "My fellow believers, suppose that I came to you and spoke to you in a language that none of you knows and I did not explain the meaning of what I told you. Even if I told you something that God had revealed to me, or told you some message that had come directly from him, or taught you something that you needed to know, ◄that certainly would not help you!/how would that help you?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "7", "text": "It is like lifeless musical instruments, like flutes and harps for example. When they are played, if the notes are not played {if those playing those instruments do not play the notes} clearly, ◄no one will know what tune is being played {what tune they are playing}./how will anyone know what tune is being played {what tune they are playing}?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "8", "text": "If someone playing the trumpet wants to signal that the soldiers should prepare to fight a battle, ◄ the soldiers certainly will not get ready if the call to battle is not played {he does not play the call to battle} clearly./how will the soldiers get ready if the call to battle is not played {he does not play the call to battle} clearly?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "9", "text": "It is the same with you! If you do not speak words that other people can understand, ◄no one will know what you are saying./how will anyone know what you are saying?► [RHQ] It will be as though you are just speaking to the air!"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "10", "text": "There are many different languages in the world, and all of them convey meaning [LIT] to the people who know those languages."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "11", "text": "But if we do not understand the language that others are speaking, it will be as though they are foreigners to us, and we will be foreigners to them."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "12", "text": "So I say this to you: Because you are eager to have the abilities that God's Spirit gives, earnestly desire those abilities that will do the most to help all the believers in the congregation."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "13", "text": "So, those who have the ability to speak in languages [MTY] that they have not learned should pray that God will give them the ability to explain the meaning of what they say."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "14", "text": "If they pray in a language [MTY] that they have not learned, their spirits are praying, but they are not using their minds."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "15", "text": "So I will tell you [RHQ] what we should do. At times we may pray, using only our spirits, in languages we have not learned. And at other times we should pray using our minds, thinking about the words that we are praying. Similarly, at times we may sing using only our spirits, using languages that we have not learned, and at other times we should sing using our minds, thinking about the words that we are singing."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "16", "text": "Suppose that any one of you praises God (OR, thanks God for what he has done), using only your(sg) spirit and not using your mind. Maybe some people will be present who do not know about the abilities that God's Spirit gives to believers. Because they do not know what you are saying, after you thank God, they will not [RHQ] know when to say “Amen!/I agree!”"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "17", "text": "You may be thanking God very well, but you are not helping them."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "18", "text": "I thank God that I speak in languages [MTY] that I have not learned more than any of you do."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "19", "text": "But during a worship service, in order that others will understand what I am saying, I would prefer to speak five words using my mind, in order that I may teach others, rather than to speak ten thousand words in a language [MTY] that is not understood by the congregation."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "20", "text": "My fellow believers, stop being like little children in the way that you think about these abilities that God's Spirit gives. Instead, think about them in a mature way. If you really want to be like little children, do as few wicked things as babies do!"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "21", "text": "When the Jews long ago refused to obey God, he warned them about what would happen when he allowed their enemies to punish them. In the Scriptures it is written { the prophet Isaiah wrote} what the Lord God said about that, They didn't listen to prophets speaking their own language, so I will send people from foreign lands to attack my people. Those foreigners will speak languages that my people do not know [DOU]. In that way, I will warn my people, but they will still not pay attention to what I say."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "22", "text": "If we speak in languages [MTY] that we have not learned, unbelievers who are there will realize that the Spirit of God is truly among us. That will warn them that they need to fear God. But believers do not need such a warning."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "23", "text": "Suppose during the worship service everyone started to speak in languages [MTY] that they have not learned. If unbelievers or people who do not know about the abilities that God's Spirit gives to believers come in and hear that, ◄they will surely think that you are crazy./will they not think that you are crazy?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "24", "text": "But if an unbeliever or someone who does not know about those abilities comes in while all of you believers are one by one speaking messages that come directly from God, everything that you say will show that person that he is a sinner and that God will punish him if he does not turn from his sinful behavior."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "25", "text": "He will realize that God knows the evil things that he has done that other people do not know. Then he will kneel down and worship God and say, “God is truly among you!”"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "26", "text": "So, my fellow believers, I will tell you [RHQ] what I think that you should be doing. When you come together to worship God, some of you may have a hymn to sing. Others may have something to teach the congregation. Others may have something to say that God has revealed to them. Others may give messages in languages that they have not learned. Others will explain the meaning of those messages. Make sure that all of these things that you do will make the congregation become more mature spiritually."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "27", "text": "It is all right if two people, or at the most three people, speak in languages [MTY] that they have not learned. But they must speak one at a time, and someone must explain the meaning of what the others have said."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "28", "text": "If those who want to speak in a language that they have not learned realize that there is no one there who will be able to explain the meaning of what they will say, they should not speak in that language during the meeting. Instead, they should speak to God by themselves, somewhere else."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "29", "text": "During a meeting, two or three people should speak messages that come directly from God, and others who are there should think carefully about what those people have said."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "30", "text": "If someone receives a new message directly from God while someone else is speaking, the one who is speaking should stop speaking and let the other person tell what God has revealed to him."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "31", "text": "You can all, one by one, speak messages that have come directly from God, in order that you can teach others and all be encouraged {encourage everyone}."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "32", "text": "Those who speak messages that come directly from God are in control of their own spirits, so they can wait for their turn to speak."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "33", "text": "Remember that God does not desire that things be done in a disorderly way during your worship services. Instead, he desires that everything be done in an orderly way. Just like it happens in all the other congregations of believers,"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "34", "text": "the women should not be permitted {do not permit the women} to interrupt the meeting by asking questions. They must keep quiet. They must be subject to their husbands. What Moses wrote [PRS] about how God created the first two people suggests that the women should do that."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "35", "text": "If they want to know more about something that a speaker said, they should ask their husbands when they get home, for it is disgraceful for women to interrupt a service by asking such questions."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "36", "text": "If you do not agree with these things that I have been telling you, remember that [RHQ] the message from God did not first come from you people in Corinth. Also, you are not [RHQ] the only ones who have heard it! Many others have heard it and accepted it, so you should act as the believers in other places act."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "37", "text": "Those of you who think that you have the ability to speak messages that come directly from God, or think that you have some other ability that God's Spirit gives, should realize that the things that I have written about in this letter are things that the Lord has commanded."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "38", "text": "But if they are not willing to accept my authority, God will not accept them (OR, they will not be accepted by the congregation)."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "39", "text": "So, my fellow believers, be eager to speak messages that come directly from God, and do not prevent anyone from speaking in a language that he has not learned."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 14, "verse": "40", "text": "But make sure that everything that you do during the worship services is done in a proper and orderly way."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "1", "text": "Now, my fellow believers, I want to remind you about the message about Christ that I preached to you. It is the message that you received and that you have continued to trust firmly."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "2", "text": "If you keep on firmly believing this message that I preached to you, you will be saved { God will save you}. If you do not continue to believe it, your believing in Christ was ◄all for nothing/useless►!"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "3", "text": "The most important part of the message that I received from the Lord Jesus, and that I told you, was this: Christ died to take away the guilt of our sins, as the Scriptures said that he would do."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "4", "text": "His dead body was buried {They buried his body}. On the third day after that, he was raised { God caused him to become alive} again, as the Scriptures said would happen."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "5", "text": "After that, Christ was seen by {appeared to} Peter. Then he appeared to ten of the twelve apostles."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "6", "text": "Later he was seen by {appeared to} more than five hundred of our fellow believers. Most of those are still living, but some of them have died [EUP]."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "7", "text": "Then he was seen by {appeared to} his younger brother James, who became the leader of the congregation in Jerusalem. Then he appeared to all of the apostles."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "8", "text": "Finally, he was seen by {appeared to} me, but I became an apostle in a way that was very unusual [MET]."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "9", "text": "The fact is, I consider that I am the least important of the apostles. I do not deserve to be an apostle, because I ◄persecuted God's groups of believers/caused God's groups of believers to suffer► everywhere I went."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "10", "text": "But it is because God acted kindly toward me in ways that I did not deserve that I became what I am now. And his acting kindly toward me produced a great result [LIT], which is that I worked harder for Christ than all the other apostles. But it was not that I was working with my own ability. Instead, God was helping me in a way I did not deserve."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "11", "text": "So it does not matter whether it was I who was preaching or whether it was the other apostles who were preaching. We all preached the same message, and that message is what you believed."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "12", "text": "So now let me ask you this: Since we have all preached to you that Christ was raised again {that God caused Christ to become alive} after he died, ◄no one among you should be saying that God will not cause believers to become alive again after they die!/why do some of you say that God will not cause believers to become alive again after they die?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "13", "text": "If it is true that God will not cause anyone to become alive again, that situation would mean that Christ was not raised from the dead { he did not cause Christ to become alive again}!"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "14", "text": "And if Christ was not raised from the dead {if God did not cause Christ to become alive again}, then what we preached to you was useless, and your believing in Christ is useless."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "15", "text": "If it is true that no one will be raised from the dead { that God will not cause anyone to become alive again after he dies}, we(exc) have been guilty of lying to you about God, because we told you that God caused Christ to become alive again."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "16", "text": "But if it were really true that no one who has died will raised {that God will not cause anyone who has died to become alive} again, then Christ was not raised { he did not cause Christ to become alive} again either!"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "17", "text": "If it were true that Christ was not raised {that God did not cause Christ to become alive} again after he died, you have believed in Christ for nothing, because God will still punish you for [MTY] your sins."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "18", "text": "And those people who died [EUP] while they were trusting in Christ will go to hell."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "19", "text": "In this life many of us have suffered much for Christ because we confidently expect that he will reward us in heaven. If we have confidently expected this in vain, people should pity us more than they pity anyone else!"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "20", "text": "But the truth is that Christ has been raised from the dead {that God has caused Christ to live again after he had died}, and ◄that guarantees/because of that, it is certain► [MET] that he will also cause those believers who have died [EUP] to become alive again."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "21", "text": "What one man, Adam, did affects us all. We all die. Similarly, what one man— Christ—did affects us(inc) all: God will cause all believers to become alive again."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "22", "text": "Because of what Adam did, all of us who are descended from him die. Similarly, because of what Christ did, all of us who have a close relationship with him will be made { God will make all of us who have a close relationship with Christ} alive after we die."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "23", "text": "But we must all take our turn. God raised Christ first [MET]. And when Christ returns, God will cause those who belong to Christ to become alive again."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "24", "text": "Then, after Christ has destroyed all [DOU] the evil powers that oppose God, the world will end. Then Christ will give to God, his Father, his kingdom to completely rule over it."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "25", "text": "You must realize that Christ must rule over that kingdom until he has completely defeated [MTY] all his enemies."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "26", "text": "The last thing that he will get rid of is death. But he certainly will get rid of death, which is like an enemy to us."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "27", "text": "In the Scriptures the Psalmist wrote that God will cause everything to be under Christ's authority[MTY]. But it is clear that the word ❛everything❜ here does not include God, because God is the one who will cause everything to be under Christ's authority[MTY]."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "28", "text": "After everything is put under the authority of God's Son, then he will put himself completely under the authority of God, the one who gave him that authority. Then God will be completely in control of everything [IDM], everywhere."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "29", "text": "Now think about this: Some among you are being baptized (OR, are baptizing people) on behalf of those who died before someone baptized them(OR, who died before they became believers). If, as some people say, believers will not be raised from the dead{ God will not cause believers to become alive again}, ◄what is the value in those people doing that?/there is no value in those people doing that!► [RHQ] If God will not cause any believers to become alive again, ◄it is senseless to be baptized {baptize anyone} on behalf of someone who has died./why would someone be baptized {baptize anyone} on behalf of someone who has died?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "30", "text": "Furthermore, if God will not cause us believers to become alive again, it is [RHQ] very foolish for me and the other apostles to be constantly putting ourselves in danger because we tell people God's good message"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "31", "text": "My fellow believers, every day I am in danger of being killed {people killing me}! That is as true as it is that I am pleased with you because of your close relationship with Christ Jesus our Lord."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "32", "text": "If God will not cause us believers to become alive again after we die, ◄I will receive no benefit at all from having opposed those who attacked me so strongly in Ephesus city./what will I gain from having opposed those who attacked me so strongly in Ephesus city?► [RHQ] They were fighting me like wild beasts! If we believers will not be raised from the dead{If God will not cause us believers to live again}, we might as well say as people often say: “Tomorrow we are going to die, so we might as well enjoy now everything that we can. We might as well feast and get drunk!”"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "33", "text": "Do not let yourselves be deceived by those who say that God will not cause believers to live again{Do not let people who say that God will not cause believers to live again deceive you}. If you associate with evil people who say such things, they will ◄influence you to do evil things/destroy your good moral way of living►."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "34", "text": "Start thinking correctly again about these matters, as you should, and stop your sinful behavior which has resulted from your wrong thinking. I say that because it seems that some among you do not know God, and as a result they have this wrong thinking. I say that to make you ashamed."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "35", "text": "But some of you are asking, “How will dead people be raised {How will God cause dead people to become alive} again? What kind of bodies will they have?”"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "36", "text": "Anyone who asks such questions is foolish. You know that a seed that is planted in the ground must completely change its form [MET] before it sprouts."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "37", "text": "A seed, such as a wheat seed, is very different from the plant that sprouts from it."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "38", "text": "God gives everything that lives the form that he desires. He gives each seed its own form."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "39", "text": "Similarly, people, animals, birds, and fish all have flesh, but each one has a different kind of flesh."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "40", "text": "Also, there are angelic beings in heaven (OR, stars and planets in the sky), and there are people with bodies on the earth. The angelic beings (OR, stars and planets) are beautiful in one way, and people on earth are beautiful in a different way."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "41", "text": "The sun is bright in one way, and the moon is bright in a different way, and the stars are bright in a different way. And even the various stars are different from each other in how bright they are."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "42", "text": "And it is the same way with our bodies. The bodies that we will have when God causes us to live again after we die will not be the same as the bodies that we have now[MET]. The bodies that we have now will die and decay. The new bodies that we will have will never die."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "43", "text": "We despise the bodies that we have now, before we die. But our new bodies will be glorious. The bodies that we have before we die are weak. But our new bodies will be strong."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "44", "text": "The bodies that we have before we die are natural bodies. But our new bodies will be ones that God's Spirit ◄ controls/gives us►. Just like there are natural bodies, there are bodies that God's Spirit completely controls (OR, makes alive)."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "45", "text": "In the Scriptures it is written {we read} that when the first man, Adam, was created, he became a living human being. Christ later also became a human being. But he is different from Adam, because he became a person who gives us spiritual life."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "46", "text": "But our bodies that God's Spirit ◄will completely control/will give us► are not the first bodies that we have. We have our natural bodies first."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "47", "text": "The first man, Adam, was created { God created the first man, Adam} from the dust of the earth. But Christ, the one who came later, came from heaven."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "48", "text": "Everyone on earth has a body like the first man on the earth had. And in heaven, everyone will have a body like Christ, the man who came from heaven, has."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "49", "text": "And just like God gave us bodies like the first man on earth had, so we believers will have bodies like Christ has, who is now in heaven."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "50", "text": "My fellow believers, I want you to know that we(inc) [SYN] cannot go to heaven, where God rules over everything, with our physical bodies, because our bodies cannot last forever. They will die and decay."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "51", "text": "But I will tell you something that God has not revealed before: Some of us believers will not die [EUP]. However, all of us will be changed { God will change all of us}."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "52", "text": "It will happen suddenly, as fast as someone can blink his eye [MET], when we hear the sound of God's trumpet for the last time. When we hear that trumpet, all the believers who have died will become alive and will have bodies that are changed {that God has changed}, bodies that will never decay."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "53", "text": "And the bodies of us who are alive at that time will also be changed {And God will also change the bodies of us who are alive at that time}. These bodies of ours that die and decay must be transformed into new bodies that will never die; it will be like someone[MET] getting rid of his old clothes and putting on new ones."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "54", "text": "When that happens, what is written {what ◄ a prophet/Isaiah► wrote} in the Scriptures will come true/happen, God will completely get rid of [MET] death. Our dying will no longer have any power to defeat us;"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "55", "text": "Death [APO] will not win a victory over us. Death will not be able to hurt us."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "56", "text": "It is because we sin [MET] that we die, and it is because we have God's laws that we know that we have sinned."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "57", "text": "But because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done, he enables us to be free from having to obey God's laws to be saved and to be free of being afraid to die. We should thank God for that!"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 15, "verse": "58", "text": "So, my fellow believers whom I love, continue to hold strongly to the things that you believe. Do not let anything cause you to doubt them. Always be doing enthusiastically the work that the Lord gives you. And remember that the work that you do for the Lord is never ◄in vain/useless►, as it would be if God will not cause us to live again after we die."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 16, "verse": "1", "text": "Now I will reply to another question that you asked. You asked about the money you are collecting to send to God's people in Jerusalem. Do what I told the congregations in Galatia to do."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 16, "verse": "2", "text": "Every Sunday each of you should set aside at home some funds [EUP] for this purpose, in proportion to how much God has prospered you. Then you should save it up, so that when I arrive there, you will not need to collect any more money. Choose some men whom you approve of, to take this money to Jerusalem."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 16, "verse": "3", "text": "Then, when I arrive, I will write letters stating that you have authorized these men to take the funds there."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 16, "verse": "4", "text": "And if you(OR, I) think that it is appropriate, I will go with them."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 16, "verse": "5", "text": "Now I plan to travel through Macedonia province. I plan to come to see you, but I want to go through Macedonia first."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 16, "verse": "6", "text": "Perhaps I will stay with you for a short while, or I may stay with you for the whole winter, in order that you yourselves can provide some of the things that I will need[EUP] for my next trip."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 16, "verse": "7", "text": "I do not want to see you just for a short time and then continue my trip. I am hoping to stay with you for a while, if the Lord Jesus allows me to do that."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 16, "verse": "8", "text": "But I will stay here in Ephesus city until after the Pentecost festival."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 16, "verse": "9", "text": "I want to do that because God has given me a great opportunity [MET] to proclaim his good message here. As a result of my work here, he is producing great results. I also want to stay here because there are many people here who oppose my work, and I need to oppose them."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 16, "verse": "10", "text": "When Timothy arrives there in Corinth, treat him respectfully [LIT], because he is working for the Lord just as I am."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 16, "verse": "11", "text": "Do not let anyone despise him. And when he leaves there, give him some of the things that he needs for his trip[EUP] here, and also ask God to bless him. I am waiting for him to come, along with the other fellow believers who have been traveling with him."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 16, "verse": "12", "text": "You also asked about our fellow believer, Apollos. I urged him strongly that he should go back to you with the three fellow believers who came here from Corinth. He was not at all willing to go now, but he will go later, when he has an opportunity."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 16, "verse": "13", "text": "Be on guard against anything that would hinder you spiritually. You have believed the true message; continue believing it firmly. Be courageous. Keep strong in your relationship with God."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 16, "verse": "14", "text": "Act in a loving way in everything that you do."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 16, "verse": "15", "text": "You know that Stephanas and his family were the first ones there in Achaia province to believe in Christ[IDM]. They have devoted themselves to helping God's people."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 16, "verse": "16", "text": "My fellow believers, I urge you to submit yourselves to them and to people like them who do God's work and who work hard."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 16, "verse": "17", "text": "I was glad when Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus arrived here from Corinth, because they did things for me that you were not able to do because you were not with me."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 16, "verse": "18", "text": "They comforted and encouraged me [SYN], and I expect that this news from me will do the same for you. You should honor them, and you should also honor others like them."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 16, "verse": "19", "text": "The congregations here in Asia province◄send their greetings to/say that they are thinking fondly of► you. Aquila and his wife Priscilla and the congregation that meets in their house ◄send their warm greetings to/say that they are thinking fondly of► you because both they and you belong to the Lord."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 16, "verse": "20", "text": "All your fellow believers here◄send their greetings to/say that they are thinking of► you. Greet each other affectionately, as fellow believers should."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 16, "verse": "21", "text": "Now I, Paul, having taken the pen from the hand of my secretary, write with my own hand to say that I am thinking fondly of you/to give you my greetings. I do this to show you that this letter really comes from me."}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 16, "verse": "22", "text": "◄I pray that God will/May God► curse/cause bad things to happen to ◄anyone who does not love the Lord Jesus. I pray that our Lord will come soon/May our Lord come soon►!"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 16, "verse": "23", "text": "I pray that our Lord Jesus will/May our Lord Jesus ◄continue to act toward you all kindly/in ways that you do not deserve.►"}
{"book": "1CO", "chapter": 16, "verse": "24", "text": "I love all of you who have a close relationship with Christ Jesus."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "1", "text": "I, Paul, who write this letter to you, became an apostle of Christ Jesus because God chose me for that. Timothy, our fellow believer, is with me. I am sending this letter to you who are God's people in the congregations in Corinth city. I want the believers who live in other places in Achaia province to also read this letter."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "2", "text": "We(exc) desire that you will experience God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ acting kindly toward you and causing you to have inner peace."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "3", "text": "We should praise God, who is the father of our(inc) Lord Jesus Christ. He always pities us and helps us because he is like[MET] a father to us and we are like his children. He always encourages us(inc) ."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "4", "text": "He has encouraged us(exc) whenever we suffered hardships. As a result, we(exc) are able to encourage others whenever they suffer hardships, just as/just like ◄God has encouraged us(exc) ."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "5", "text": "It is true that just like Christ suffered, we who serve him also continually suffer because we belong to him. But also, because we belong to Christ, God greatly strengthens us just as/just like► God strengthened him."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "6", "text": "So, whenever we(exc) experience sufferings, we learn how to encourage you when you experience sufferings. As a result, you will become more and more the kind of people God wants you to be. Whenever God strengthens us(exc) in our sufferings, he does that in order that you may see how he makes us strong when we are suffering. Then, as God encourages you in that way, you will learn to continue patiently trusting him when you suffer as we do."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "7", "text": "As a result, we(exc) strongly expect that because you suffer just as/just like ◄we do, God will encourage you just as/just like► he encourages us."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "8", "text": "Our fellow believers, we(exc) want you to know [LIT] about the trouble that we suffered in Asia province. That trouble was so very great that it was much more than we were able to endure. As a result, we(exc) thought that we would certainly die."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "9", "text": "Indeed, we felt like a person feels when he has heard a judge say, “I condemn you to die/be executed [MET].” But God allowed us to think that we were going to die so that we would not ◄rely on/trust in► our own strength. He wanted us instead to rely only on his strength, because he is the one who has power even to make those who have died live again."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "10", "text": "And even though we(exc) were in terrible danger and were about to die, God rescued us. And he will continue to rescue us whenever we are in trouble. We confidently expect that he will continue to rescue us time after time."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "11", "text": "And we are also relying on you to help us by praying for us(exc) . If many people pray for us, many people will also thank God when he kindly answers those many prayers and delivers us from danger."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "12", "text": "I am happy to say that I have behaved toward all people [MTY] in an honest and sincere way. I am sure within myself that this is true. Especially, I have behaved toward you honestly and sincerely because that is what God wants us to do. As I have done that, my thoughts have not been the thoughts that unbelieving people [MTY] think are wise. Instead, I have behaved toward people only as God wants me to, depending on God to help me in ways that I do not deserve."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "13", "text": "I say that because in all my letters to you I have always written [LIT] clearly in a way that you can easily and completely understand when you read them."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "14", "text": "Previously some of you, but not all of you, have completely understood that I am always honest and sincere with you. But I confidently expect that soon you will all be fully convinced about that. Then when the Lord Jesus [MTY] returns, you will all be able to say that you are pleased with me, just like I will be able to say that I am pleased with you."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "15-16", "text": "It was because I felt sure that all of you were pleased with me that I was planning to visit you on my way from here to Macedonia province. I also planned to visit you again on my way back from there, so that I could spend time with you twice, and be able to help you more, and I was hoping that you would give me things that I needed[EUP] for my journey to Judea province."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "17", "text": "So then, even though I changed my mind later and did not do what I first planned to do, it was not because I did not have an important reason for changing my plans. ◄Surely you do not really think that I decide on what I am going to do like people who do not know God do!/Do you really think that I decide on what I am going to do like people who do not know God do?► [RHQ] I am not like that. I am not a person who says to people, “Yes, certainly I will do that,” and then for no good reason changes his mind and says, “No, I will not do it.”"}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "18", "text": "Just as surely as God always does what he says he will do, it is true that I have never said, “Yes, I will do this” when I really meant“No.”"}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "19", "text": "I follow the example of God's Son, Jesus Christ. When I, along with Silas and Timothy, taught you about Christ, we told you that he was not someone who said that he would do something and then did not do it. Jesus Christ never said to anyone, “Yes, I will do what you desire,” and then did not do it."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "20", "text": "We(inc) know that is true, because everything that God promised to do for his people, he has done completely by sending Christ to save us. That is why we say, “Yes, it is true! God has done everything that he promised to do! ” And we praise him!"}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "21", "text": "Now it is only God himself who causes us(exc) , as well as you, to keep on believing strongly in Christ. God is the one who chose us(inc) to belong to him and to have a close relationship with Christ."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "22", "text": "He also sent his Holy Spirit into our(inc) lives to mark us as belonging to himself [MET]. Also, since he has sent his Spirit to live inside of us(inc) , he wants us to know by this that he guarantees [MET] to give us every other◄ blessing/good thing► that he has promised."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "23", "text": "So now I will tell you why I changed my mind and did not visit you as I intended to do: God himself knows that what I am telling you is true. The reason that I did not return to Corinth was so that I might not have to speak to you severely about the wrong that you had done."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 1, "verse": "24", "text": "It is not that Silas, Timothy and I want to boss you and tell you that you must believe only what we say. Not at all! On the contrary, we(exc) are working as partners with you in order to make you happy. We do not try to force you to believe everything that we believe, because we are sure that you are continuing to trust the Lord Jesus Christ and that you are remaining firmly committed to him."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "1", "text": "Anyway, I definitely decided that I would not come to visit you again now. If I had come, I would have spoken severely to you again, and I would have made you unhappy as I did the last time I visited you."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "2", "text": "And if I make you unhappy, I will have made unhappy the only people who can cheer me up, so ◄there will be none of you to cheer me up!/who would cheer me up?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "3", "text": "So, instead of going to visit you at that time, I wrote a letter and sent it to you. I wrote it the way I did so that you would know what you should do. Then when I come to visit you, you will not make me unhappy when you should be causing me to rejoice. I was quite sure that all of you would do what I told you to do in that letter, and because of that I would be happy and you would be happy, too."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "4", "text": "I wrote to you the way I did because I felt very troubled and distressed about you. I was even crying very much as I wrote. My purpose in writing was not in order to make you feel bad, but, instead, in order that you might know how deeply/much I love you."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "5", "text": "Now I want to write about the man who caused all this anguish. What he did was very wrong, but I know that it has caused you much more sorrow than it has caused me, because what he did has affected all of you to some extent. I say, “to some extent,” because I do not want to say that he has done more harm than he really has done."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "6", "text": "Since he has now stopped sinning in that way, the punishment that nearly all of you decided was right for him has continued long enough."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "7", "text": "So now, instead of punishing him any longer, you need to forgive him and deal kindly with him. If you do not forgive him, he may become so sad that he will begin to think that you will never forgive him(OR, will stop believing in Christ)."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "8", "text": "For those reasons, I beg you to forgive him and accept him into your group again, and thus assure him that you truly love him."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "9", "text": "I feel sure that you will do as I ask, because when I wrote severely to you before, I did it to test you by seeing whether or not you really would do everything that I, as your apostle, asked you to do."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "10", "text": "So since you obeyed what I told you before, I feel sure that now you will obey what I am writing in this letter and forgive the man, as I have done, because I indeed have forgiven him for the wrong thing that he did. Anything he needed me to forgive him for, I have forgiven, and Christ knows that I have forgiven him sincerely. I have done that mainly to help you so that you and I will again have fellowship with each other, and that you will accept him into your group again."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "11", "text": "I want you to forgive him so that Satan will not be able to take advantage of the problems among us and make the situation worse. We know very well [LIT] that he is always planning to cause problems among us."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "12", "text": "I will continue by telling you what I did after I wrote to you from Ephesus city. I went to Troas city in order to tell people the message about Christ. When I arrived there, I found many people who had been prepared by the Lord Jesus[MET] to listen to what I told them about him."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "13", "text": "But because my fellow believer Titus had not arrived with a report from you, I still felt very anxious and concerned about you. So, after spending only a short time at Troas, I said ❛goodbye❜ to the believers who were there and came here to Macedonia province to find Titus."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "14", "text": "However, before I tell you anymore about that, I want to thank God for what he is doing. As a great leader of fighting men causes all his prisoners to take part in his victory parade[MET], God leads us who are his workers to always win out over Satan because of our(exc) close relationship with Christ. God causes people to come to know Jesus Christ as a result of our(exc) teaching his message. That message is like[MET] the smell of perfume."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "15", "text": "When we(exc) tell God's message about Christ, it spreads out among people like the smell of perfume. Those who believe the message that we tell them are saved { Jesus Christ saves them} from the guilt of their sin. But those who reject that message will be separated from God forever."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "16", "text": "To those who are on the way to hell, our message is like[MET] a foul smell because it is about dying and being separated from God forever. But, to those on the way to heaven, the message that we teach is like a pure fragrant smell, because we tell them that they will live forever with God. As we think about that, we think◄no one can have enough ability to do such important work for God! /how can anyone have enough ability to do such important work for God?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 2, "verse": "17", "text": "But perhaps God considers us(exc) sufficient, because we do not work/act like so many others whom you know. They teach God's message in a way that they think people will like, and they think that people will pay them for teaching that way. We(exc) certainly do not do that. On the contrary, as servants of Christ, and knowing that God is watching us(exc) , we teach sincerely the message that God sent us to proclaim."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "1", "text": "As I write these things about myself, I am [RHQ] not doing it to boast about how good I am, as some of you say I do. Some people always carry letters with them that tell how well they work, that other people have written. But I do not [RHQ] need to bring letters like that when I come to you. Nor do I need to ask you to write letters like that for me when I go to other congregations."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "2", "text": "You yourselves are [MET] like a letter that recommends my work for God to everyone. People see how Christ changed your lives when you believed the message that I taught you. Everyone who knows you can see the result of my work for God."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "3", "text": "You are [MET] like a letter that Christ himself has written that says good things about my work for God in your lives. You show people by the way you now conduct your lives that God has changed your lives as a result of my work among you. People did not find out about you by reading a letter that was written to them on paper with pen and ink. Instead, they saw how the Spirit of the all-powerful God has changed your lives. Nor did people find out about you by reading a letter that was carved on stone slabs like the stone slabs that God gave to Moses. Instead, it was the change that God's Spirit made in your lives [MET] that they saw."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "4", "text": "I can very confidently write these things about the work that Silas, Timothy, and I did among you, because God knows that what I write is true. We(exc) are true workers for God because of what Christ has done for us."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "5", "text": "We(exc) , by ourselves, do not have the ability to do this work. None of us apostles can say, “ I have changed the lives of these people.” God is the one who has given us this ability."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "6", "text": "He is the one who enables us(exc) to be his messengers. He has enabled us to tell people the message about the new agreement that he is making with them. This is not a message about obeying all the written laws of his old agreement that he made with the Jewish people. Instead, it is a message about God giving us his Spirit. Previously, God condemned people to be separated from him forever if they did not obey his laws. But by God's new agreement his Spirit enables people to live eternally."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "7", "text": "Moses taught the people that if they did not obey God's laws completely they would be separated from God forever. God wrote his laws on stone slabs. Then he gave them to Moses to teach them to the people. Although God's laws condemned the people to die, when Moses brought those laws down from Sinai Mountain, God caused Moses' face to shine with radiance to show the people that these laws were God's laws. The radiance was so bright that the people of Israel could not keep looking at Moses' face. They had to look away. But although the radiance was bright, it was slowly fading away."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "8", "text": "So, since God showed in such a wonderful way that those laws that condemned them to die were from him, surely when we(exc) teach people about how God's Spirit will change their lives, ◄ God will show in an even more wonderful way that it is his message./will not God show in an even more wonderful way that it is his message?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "9", "text": "The message that Moses taught them was wonderful, but when people heard that message, they realized that they were sinners and that God would punish them. But God's message that we(exc) teach is a much more wonderful message. We teach people that God will ◄erase the record of/declare people no longer guilty for► the sinful things that they have done."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "10", "text": "The truth is that, although the work of teaching the people to obey God's laws was once important, it is not as important now, because the work of teaching people that God will forgive them and enable them to live to please him is far more important."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "11", "text": "Furthermore, the message that Moses taught was not a lasting message, just like the brightness on his face was not lasting and soon faded away. But when God gives his Spirit to people, the wonderful work that God's Spirit does in their lives is much greater because it lasts forever."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "12", "text": "We(exc) know that the message that we teach is a much more wonderful message than the message that Moses taught. So we can preach boldly."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "13", "text": "We do not need to put a veil over our faces when we teach people, as Moses did. Moses put a veil over his face so that the Israelites would not see that the radiance on his face soon faded away. Similarly, the glory of the old agreement has also faded away."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "14", "text": "But the Israelites stubbornly refused to understand that the old agreement would end. Even now, when they read the old agreement, they still do not realize that it has ended. It is as if[MET] that same veil that Moses put on his face is now over their minds, keeping them from understanding God's true message. They will understand that message only when they come to trust in Christ. Then it will be as though God has removed the veil."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "15", "text": "Throughout all these years, even until now, when the Israelites read what Moses write, it is as though a veil is covering their minds."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "16", "text": "But when any of them believes in the Lord Jesus, God removes that veil from them."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "17", "text": "It is by the power of his Spirit that the Lord works in our lives, and the Lord's Spirit has set us free from trying to obey the all the rules and rituals that God gave Moses."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 3, "verse": "18", "text": "It is as though God has removed the veil from our faces [MET]. We realize how awesome Jesus is. As we realize that, we are continually being changed { the Holy Spirit is continually changing us} to become more and more like Jesus, so that people can see, more and more, how awesome Jesus is. It is the Spirit of the Lord who does this."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "1", "text": "So, because God has acted so kindly toward me enabling me to teach this great message to people, I never get so discouraged that I stop teaching it."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "2", "text": "And I have determined that we(exc) will be honest [LIT] in everything that we do. We will not do anything that would cause us to be ashamed if people found out about it. We never try to deceive you with clever arguments, as some other people do. We never try to deceive you by changing God's message, as those same people do. Instead, we always teach people only the truth about Christ, and we teach it clearly. Knowing that God is watching what we do, we teach his message in an honest way, with the result that no one can accuse us(exc) of being deceitful."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "3", "text": "And if, as some of you say, some people are not able to understand the message that we teach about Christ, it is not because we do not teach it clearly. It is because those people do not want to believe it. They are on the road to eternal death."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "4", "text": "Satan, who is the one who rules this world, controls the thoughts of those unbelievers. He prevents them from understanding the message about how wonderful Christ is. They are not able to understand that Jesus is like God in every way."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "5", "text": "That is why, when we(exc) teach people, we do not boast about ourselves, as some people say that we do. Instead, we teach you that Jesus Christ is our Lord. We ourselves are only your servants. We want to honor and obey Jesus."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "6", "text": "When God created the world, he commanded the light to shine where there was nothing but darkness. He is the one who has made his message about Jesus to be like[MET] a light shining into our(inc) minds. God has done that for all of us who believe in Jesus. He has done that so that we will understand that when people saw Christ, they saw how awesome God himself was."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "7", "text": "This work that God has given to us(exc) is [MET] like a very valuable treasure. But we who have that treasure are as weak as fragile[MET] clay pots. God has planned it like that in order that people will know that the power that changes lives is God's power, and not any power of our own."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "8", "text": "We are continually oppressed { People continually oppress us} in many ways, but we have not been prevented { God has not allowed them to prevent us} from teaching the message about Jesus Christ. We often do not know what to do in difficult situations, but we never say, “God has abandoned us.”"}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "9", "text": "We are frequently persecuted { People frequently cause us to suffer}, but God never leaves us alone. Sometimes we are badly wounded { people badly wound us}, but God does not allow us to be killed { them to kill us}."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "10", "text": "Wherever we(exc) go, we continually realize that because people killed Jesus, people may kill us for teaching his message. But we are willing to go on living this way in order that people will know that Jesus is alive and that he is directing us [SYN]."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "11", "text": "So, although we are still alive, we always realize that we may be killed {that people some day may kill us} because we teach about Jesus. God allows us to suffer in order that people will see that Jesus is alive and that he is strengthening our bodies that are some day going to die."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "12", "text": "So I conclude that although we apostles are constantly suffering and may soon die, the result of that is that all of you have now received eternal life."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "13", "text": "We are not discouraged. We are like the person who wrote in the Scriptures, “ God, I trusted in you and so I continue speaking your message.” We(exc) also trust in God, so we continue speaking his message."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "14", "text": "We do this because we(exc) know that although people might kill us, God, who caused the Lord Jesus to live again after he died, will also cause us(exc) to live again after we die. God will do this because we belong to Jesus. And then God will bring us(exc) , together with you, to be with him."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "15", "text": "So I say that all these things that we(exc) suffer are in order to help you. We have suffered all this in order that more and more people, as a result of hearing that God will kindly/freely forgive their sins, will thank him and praise him. Then they will greatly honor him and worship him."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "16", "text": "So, because we know that as a result of our suffering many people will honor God, we(exc) never get so discouraged that we stop teaching his message. Although our bodies are getting weaker, God encourages us every day and strengthens us in our inner beings/hearts."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "17", "text": "I know that all these troubles that happen to us in this life are not significant and will not last forever. When we think of the glorious things that God is preparing for us to enjoy forever in heaven, all our suffering now is not important."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 4, "verse": "18", "text": "That is why we say, “We will not continue thinking about all the suffering that we are experiencing now. Even though we cannot see all the things that God has prepared for us in heaven, those are what we should be thinking about.” That is how we should think, because all these troubles that we(exc) have now will last only a short time. But what we will have in heaven, what we cannot see now, will last forever."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "1", "text": "We know that these bodies we live in here in this world are like[MET] tents. They are like temporary living/dwelling places. So we should not be concerned about what happens to our bodies. We know that if we are killed {if someone kills us}, God will give us permanent living places. Those permanent living places[MET] will not be houses that people have made. They will be new bodies in which we will live forever in heaven."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "2", "text": "While we are here on earth, we suffer. We often groan because we desire to go to heaven where God will give us our new bodies[MET]."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "3", "text": "When God gives us(inc) our new bodies[MET], our spirits will have[LIT, MET] bodies to live in that will last forever."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "4", "text": "It is true that while we are still living in these bodies [MET] that do not last forever, we often groan [DOU] because we desire to be free from them. We are not longing to be without a body. Instead, we groan because we desire to receive our new bodies [MET] in heaven. We long for this to happen so that these bodies that are going to die some day will suddenly be changed into bodies that will live forever."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "5", "text": "It is God himself who has prepared us to receive these new bodies. He is also the one who has guaranteed/assured us(inc) that this will happen. He has guaranteed it by sending his Spirit to live inside us now."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "6", "text": "So, because God's Spirit lives in us, we are always confident that God will give us new bodies. We know that as long as we live in our bodies here on earth, we are not yet living together with the Lord Jesus in heaven."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "7", "text": "While we(exc) live here, we do not have our new bodies, but we are trusting that God will give them to us."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "8", "text": "As I said, we(exc) are confident that he will give us new bodies. We(exc) would much prefer to leave these bodies in which we are now living, and be with the Lord Jesus in our home in heaven."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "9", "text": "Because of all that, we always want to please Jesus in everything that we do. Whether we(exc) are still living here in these bodies or whether we have left them and are living in our home in heaven, we want to please him."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "10", "text": "And we need to try hard to do that because each one of us believers must stand before Christ to be judged by him{ when he will judge his people}. At that time he will reward each one of us according to what we have done while we lived in this world in these bodies. He will reward us according to whether we have done good or whether we have done evil."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "11", "text": "It makes me fearful to think that some day I will stand before the Lord for him to judge me. So I do everything that I can to convince people that they should believe(OR, that I teach sincerely) God's message. God knows very well how I conduct my life and what I teach, and I really believe that you also know it, within yourselves."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "12", "text": "Once again I say, as I write this, I am not just trying to make you think well/highly of me, as some people will probably say that I am. Instead, I am telling you in this letter why you have good reason to tell those who criticize me that you think highly of me. I am telling you this so that you will know what to say to those teachers of false doctrine among you. They are proud of what they have done, instead of making sure that their hearts are right with God and being pleased with that."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "13", "text": "Some of them say that after God has enabled me to see visions, I talk like a crazy person. If that is so, I want you to realize that I talk that way in order to please God. On the other hand, if you think that I speak and act wisely, that is good. I want you to know that I do that in order to help you."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "14", "text": "I speak and act the way I do because the love that Christ has for people influences me in everything that I say and do. When he died, he suffered the punishment for the sins of all people. So, we should all think of ourselves as having died with him, being as unresponsive to sinful desires as[MET] a corpse is."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "15", "text": "When Christ died for the sake of all people, he died in order that we believers who are alive now should not conduct our lives in a way that will just please ourselves. Instead, we should conduct our lives in a way that will please him, because he is the one who died for us and was raised {whom God raised} to life again."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "16", "text": "So, because I realize how much Christ loves all people, I no longer think about people in the way that those who do not believe in Christ think about them. Before I was a believer, I thought about Christ in the way that other non-believers did. But I do not think of him that way anymore."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "17", "text": "The fact is that God makes every one of us who trusts in Christ to be completely different than we were before. Our old way of conducting our lives is gone. We now have a completely new way of conducting our lives."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "18", "text": "This complete change in our lives is all something that God does. It is God who made it possible for us to have a peaceful relationship with him. He was able to do that because of what Christ did for us. Now God has sent me, and those who work with me, to tell people that they can have a peaceful relationship with him."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "19", "text": "That is, he sent us(exc) to tell them that when Christ died, God was making it possible for all the people of[MTY] the world to have a peaceful relationship with him. He no longer keeps a record of the sinful things that we believers have done. The message that God has given to us to tell people is how we can have a peaceful relationship with him."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "20", "text": "So, it is I and my companions who are Christ's representatives in this world. When we tell people the message about Christ, it is God himself who is pleading with them by means of what we say. So, as true representatives of Christ, we plead with you: Believe God's true message about Christ in order that you may be reconciled to {have a peaceful relationship with} him."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 5, "verse": "21", "text": "You must believe that even though Jesus never sinned, God punished him for all the sinful things that people do, just as if Jesus had done those sinful things himself. And because of our close relationship with Christ, God has erased the record of our sins/declared us no longer guilty for our sins."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "1", "text": "Therefore, because I am working together with God himself, I say this to you very strongly: God has already kindly forgiven you because Christ died for you, so do not now say“It does not matter if I live just to please myself.”"}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "2", "text": "For God said long ago in the Scriptures: When it is the right time for me to help you, you will ask me to help you, and I will hear you. Then I will send a Savior to help you. So listen to what I am telling you: God has sent his Savior, so now is the time when God is ready to save people from the guilt of their sins."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "3", "text": "Neither I nor the men working with me do anything that would hinder people from trusting in Christ, and so we cannot be accused {no one can accuse us} of not serving God properly."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "4", "text": "Instead, in everything that we(exc) say and do, we show people that we serve God faithfully. We patiently endure all the things that happen to us. People cause us many troubles and, as a result, we are anxious and often do not know what to do."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "5", "text": "Sometimes we have been beaten and bound{People have beaten us and tied us} with chains in prison. Angry mobs have attacked us, wanting to kill us. We have continued working for God until we had no more strength to work. We have had many sleepless nights, and we have often been without food."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "6", "text": "All that we think about and all that we do is pure in God's sight. Knowing how God wants us to conduct our lives, we do what pleases him. We are patient with those who oppose us. We are kind to all people. We depend on the Holy Spirit to help us. We love people sincerely as God wants us to love them."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "7", "text": "We faithfully teach the true message about Christ, and God gives us his power as we teach it. Like soldiers using weapons [MET] in a battle, we, by living righteously, defend God's message and refute those who attack it."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "8", "text": "We serve God faithfully whether people praise us(exc) or whether they despise us, whether people say bad things about us(exc) or whether they say good things about us. We keep teaching the truth, even though some people say that we are deceiving people."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "9", "text": "Some people know well that we are true servants of God, and yet others, who know us, refuse to believe that. People have often tried to kill us(inc) , yet we are still alive. We have often been beaten, but we have not been killed { People have often beaten us(exc) , but they have not killed us}."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "10", "text": "Although we(exc) are often very sad because people have rejected our message, we are always happy because of all that God has done for us. Even though we(exc) are poor, we make it possible for many people to be spiritually rich. It is true that in this world we(exc) have nothing valuable[HYP], but because we belong to God's family, all that God has belongs to us."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "11", "text": "You fellow believers in Corinth, I have been completely honest with you. I have told you exactly how we(exc) feel about you, that we love you very much [IDM]."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "12", "text": "We are not treating you as though we do not love you, but you are treating us as though you do not love us."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "13", "text": "In return for our loving you, will you not love us[IDM] just as much as we love you? I am writing to you as if you were my own children."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "14", "text": "Do not ◄team up/have a close relationship► with anyone who does not trust in Christ. I say this because we who trust in Christ and do what is right should not [RHQ] want to do things with wicked people. Or to say it in another way, just like light and darkness never join together, so those who belong to Christ and those who belong to Satan should never join together[RHQ]."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "15", "text": "There is no [RHQ] agreement of any kind between Christ and Satan. So, believers have no [RHQ] common interests with unbelievers."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "16", "text": "Just as no one would dare to bring idols into the Temple in Jerusalem, believers should never [RHQ] join with those who worship idols. I say that because [MET] the Holy Spirit lives in us, and so we are like the Temple of the all-powerful God. It is as God himself said in the Scriptures: I will live in my people. I will always be with/helping them. They will say to me, “You are our God,” and I will say to them, “You are my people.”"}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "17", "text": "In another place in the Scriptures we read that the Lord said: Get away from those who do evil; keep yourselves separated from them. Do nothing sinful that would make you unacceptable to me. Then I will welcome you as members of my family."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 6, "verse": "18", "text": "The Lord also said: I will care for you as [MET] a loving father cares for his children, and it will be as though you are my own sons and daughters. I, the all-powerful Lord, am saying this to you."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "1", "text": "My friends, whom I love, because God has promised like this to accept us(inc) as his children, we(inc) must stop doing anything that is sinful. We must not do sinful things with our bodies, and we must not think sinful thoughts. Because we greatly revere God, we must strive to live a completely pure life. By doing that we will become the kind of people that he wants us to be."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "2", "text": "So, as I just wrote, I want you to love me (OR, us [IDM] who are true apostles of Christ). I/we(exc) have never done anything wrong to any of you. I/we have not done anything to harm any one of you spiritually or financially. Nor have I/we tried to get money from you◄for myself/for ourselves►."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "3", "text": "It is true that some people among you have said that I have done such things. Nevertheless, I am not trying to make you all feel ashamed because, as I wrote before, I will continue to love you all very much [IDM], whether I live with you or die with you. I am very confident about you."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "4", "text": "I am very pleased with you. You have greatly encouraged me, so that I am now very happy in spite of all the hardships that I have endured."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "5", "text": "Now I will write more about what I was saying about Titus. When I left Troas and came here to Macedonia province, I still did not get rest for my body. Everywhere we(exc) went, people were constantly causing us trouble. And not only were people constantly causing us trouble, but I was greatly concerned about you all."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "6", "text": "But God, who always encourages his people when they are discouraged, encouraged us by sending Titus back to us."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "7", "text": "I was encouraged by seeing Titus, but when I heard how you had encouraged him, that encouraged me even more. He told me how much you wanted to see me. He told me that you were very sorry that you had made me so unhappy. He also told me that you are very eager for me to continue to serve as your apostle. When Titus told me those things, I was very, very happy."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "8", "text": "Even though what I wrote in my letter ◄distressed you/made you sad►, I am not sorry that I wrote it. For a while I was sorry that I had written it, because I knew that it would distress you. Now Titus has also told me that it did distress you when you read it, but you were distressed only for a short time."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "9", "text": "So now I am happy that I wrote it. I am not happy that you were distressed {that I distressed you}, but I am happy because, when you became distressed, you became sorry for what you had done and you asked God to forgive you. What I mean is that you became sorry in the way that God wanted you to be sorry, so my making you sorry did not harm you at all."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "10", "text": "The fact is that when God causes us to be truly sorry for having sinned and we turn from our sinful behavior, then God saves us and will not punish us for the sinful things that we have done. And no one is ever sorry about that. However, the people who do not trust in God[MTY] may be sorry for the sinful things that they have done. But if they do not turn from their sinful behavior and ask God to forgive them, they will remain separated from him forever."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "11", "text": "But think about what happened when you read my letter. God caused you to be truly sorry for what you had done. You eagerly wanted to do what was right, and you wanted to show God(OR, me) that you had done the right thing. You were angry about what had happened, and you were worried that God would punish you if the situation continued. You also wanted me to visit you to encourage and help you. You wanted me to know that you really do accept me as your apostle, and that you punished the man who had sinned as I told you to do. By doing all of those things, you have shown me that you have done what is right in this matter."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "12", "text": "So, even though I wrote that severe letter to you, I did not write it just so that you would punish the man who had done what was wrong. Also, I did not write it for the benefit of the person whom he had wronged. Instead, I wrote it so that, when you read the letter, God would enable you to realize how much you really do respect my authority."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "13", "text": "So, because you listened to me and did what I asked you to do, ◄I was/we(exc) were all► encouraged. Not only ◄was I/were we► encouraged, but ◄I was/we(exc) were► also very happy to see how happy Titus was when he arrived here. He told me/us that he did not need to worry anymore, because he saw that you all had a good attitude toward me."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "14", "text": "I had told Titus that I was pleased about you. And I did not need to be ashamed for having boasted about you like that, because you did what I knew that you would do. Just like everything that I have taught you and written to you has been the truth, just as the good things that I told Titus about you were also true."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "15", "text": "Now he thinks back happily on how you all were willing to do what I asked you to do. He is also happy about the way you treated him with great respect. When he thinks about those things, it makes him love you even more than he did when he was with you."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 7, "verse": "16", "text": "As for me, I am very happy because now I am certain that I can depend on you to do what you know God wants you to do."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "1", "text": "Now, my fellow believers, I want to tell you the results of God's acting kindly in the lives of the believers in the congregations here in Macedonia province."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "2", "text": "Even though the non-believers here have been severely causing the believers to suffer, the believers are always rejoicing very much. Although they are very poor, they gave very generously to help other believers."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "3", "text": "I know that this is true, because I have seen for myself that they not only gave money[EUP] that they were able to give, they gave so much money that they did not even keep enough to buy what they needed for themselves. Without anyone telling them to share their possessions,"}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "4", "text": "they themselves kept requesting us to let them participate in what other believers are doing in sending a gift of money to[EUP] God's people in Judea province."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "5", "text": "I thought that they would give only a little of their money, but they did much more than that First, they told the Lord Jesus that they wanted to do what pleases him. After that, they told me that they wanted to do whatever I thought was good for them to do, because they were sure that would be what God wanted them to do."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "6", "text": "So, because Titus was the one who helped you to begin gathering the money[EUP, MTY] for your gift, I urged him to also help you to finish collecting the rest of your generous and loving gift."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "7", "text": "You are doing very well in so many other ways. God's Spirit enables you to believe that God will do miracles. His Spirit has given you the ability to tell God's message to others. His Spirit makes you able to know things that he reveals to you. You eagerly want to help people, and you love us(exc) very much. So now, try to do well in getting your generous gift of money[EUP] ready to send to the believers in Judea province."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "8", "text": "I am not commanding you to do this. But because I have seen how believers in other places are eager to help other believers who do not have◄ what they need/enough to live on►, I want you similarly to show that you love others sincerely."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "9", "text": "You already know how much our Lord Jesus did for you that you did not deserve. Everything in heaven belonged to him. But in order to benefit you, he left all of those things behind and became a human being. Here on earth he had very few possessions of his own. But because he became poor like that, he is able to cause you(pl) to become spiritually rich."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "10", "text": "So, as you think of our Lord's example, I will tell you what I think that you should do in this matter of giving money. As you know, last year, because you desired to give money to help God's people in Judea province, you began collecting money[EUP]."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "11", "text": "So now you should finish collecting the money [EUP] that you began to gather. In that way, everyone will know that you are just as ready to finish collecting this gift as you were to begin collecting it. Give what you are able to give."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "12", "text": "Keep in mind that if you really want to give something to help others, whatever any one of you is able to give will be pleasing to God. God does not expect his people to give more than they can afford to give."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "13", "text": "I do not mean that you should give so much to help others that you yourselves do not have what you need. No, what I want is that both you and others will have what you need."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "14", "text": "Right now, when you have ◄more than you need/ plenty► and the believers in Judea do not have ◄enough/all that they need►, with your gift you will enable them to have enough. Maybe some day when you do not have ◄enough/all that you need► and they have more than they need, they will be able to help you. Then everyone will have enough (OR, In that way each will share alike)."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "15", "text": "If that happens, the result will be like it is written{ like someone/Moses wrote} in the Scriptures about the time when God provided manna for his people, If someone gathered a lot of manna, he still did not have more than he needed, because he gave some to someone who did not have enough. And those who gathered only a little manna still had all that they needed [LIT], because others who gathered more than they needed gave some manna to them."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "16", "text": "So now I am sending Titus to visit you again. God has caused him to be just as eager to help you prepare your gift as I am. I thank God for that."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "17", "text": "He is going there, not only because we urged him to go, but because he himself is very eager to visit you again."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "18", "text": "I am sending with Titus another believer whom you know well. All the groups of believers in this area think highly of him because he has faithfully taught the good message about Christ."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "19", "text": "Not only that, but he was appointed by the congregations in this area{the congregations in this area appointed him} to go there with us(exc) . He will go with us when we take the generous gift of money [EUP] to the believers in Jerusalem. We are taking this gift to honor the Lord Jesus and to show them that we all very much want to help them."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "20", "text": "The believers have given money [EUP] generously. So, by sending that fellow believer along with Titus to take the money to Jerusalem, we are trying to make sure that no one will be able to accuse us(exc) of taking some of the money for ourselves."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "21", "text": "I say that because we(exc) want to make sure that the Lord God will see that what we(exc) do is right, and other people will see it, too."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "22", "text": "Furthermore, there is also another believer here whom we are sending to you along with the two men whom I have just mentioned. Many times I have seen his good work for the Lord, and I know that he is eager to serve the Lord. Now, because he knows for sure that you want to give this gift the same as other believers do, he is even more eager than he was before to go with the two other men."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "23", "text": "As for Titus, I have chosen him because he is my partner, and he has worked faithfully with me to help you. As for the other two men, the congregations in this area are sending them as their messengers. These two men honor Christ by everything they do."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 8, "verse": "24", "text": "So then, show them that you truly love others, and in that way help their congregations to understand why we(exc) are always saying such good things about you."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "1", "text": "Now I want to write more about the gift of money[EUP] that you and other believers are preparing to send to the believers in Judea province. I do not really need to continue writing to you about it,"}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "2", "text": "because I already know that you really want to help them. In fact, I have been boasting about you, telling the believers here in Macedonia province that you people in Achaia province have been ready to help, beginning from last year. As a result, because you are very eager to help the believers in Judea province, you have made most of the believers here in Macedonia province also want to give a gift."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "3", "text": "However, I am sending Titus and the other two believers in order that they will be able to help you finish collecting the money. Then when I and others arrive later, the people with me will see for themselves that the things that I have been boasting about you are true [LIT]. I want you to have your gift ready for us(exc) to take to Jerusalem, just like I have been telling them that you were ready."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "4", "text": "When I come, if any of the believers from Macedonia come with me, I do not want them to find that your gift is[MTY, EUP] not ready. If that were to happen, I would be very ashamed, and you yourselves would be even more ashamed."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "5", "text": "So that is why I felt that it was necessary to urge these three believers to go and visit you before I come. In that way, they would be able to help you to finish collecting the generous gift [EUP] that had been promised by you {you had said you would give}. If you do that, not only will the gift be ready by the time that we arrive, but everyone will see that you have given because you really want to give, and not because anyone has forced you to give."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "6", "text": "Do not forget this: “ A farmer who sows only a few seeds will not gather/reap a large harvest, but the one who sows a lot of seeds will gather/reap a large harvest[MET].” Similarly, if you give just a little to help others, God will give you only a few blessings. But if you give willingly and cheerfully to help people, you will receive in return many blessings from God."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "7", "text": "Each of you should decide within yourself how much you(sg) should give, and then give that amount. You(sg) should not be thinking to yourself, “ I really do not want to give this money.” And you(sg) should not give just because someone tells you to give. Instead, you should give willingly and cheerfully, because God loves those who give cheerfully."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "8", "text": "Moreover, God can enable you to give to others cheerfully. If you give that way, God will in return give you many good blessings. He will do that so that at all times you will always have all that you need. Indeed, you will have even more than you need. As a result, you will be able to do many more good things to help others."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "9", "text": "Those who give willingly and cheerfully will be rewarded like the man about whom it is written { about whom◄someone/the Psalmist► wrote} in the Scriptures, He generously helps others, he gives to those who are poor. God will remember the good things that he did, and reward him with good things forever."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "10", "text": "God always gives seeds to farmers to plant, and also gives them food to eat. So, similarly, God will always make it possible for you to have enough money [MET], so that you will be able more and more to generously help those who are needy."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "11", "text": "God will give you many blessings in many different ways as a result of your generously helping others. Furthermore, the generous gift that you are getting ready for us(exc) to take to the believers in Judea province will cause many people to thank God."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "12", "text": "Also remember that when you give money to [EUP] help God's people, you not only give them what they need, but also, because of that, many people will thank God very much for you and for what you have done."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "13", "text": "As a result of your giving money to help others, they will praise God, not only because you have believed the good message about Christ, but also because you have generously given some of your possessions so that they and other believers will all have◄ enough/their needs supplied►."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "14", "text": "Also, when they pray for you, asking God to bless you, they will remember how grateful they are[IDM] that God caused you to give very willingly and cheerfully."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 9, "verse": "15", "text": "Finally, we should all thank God because he gave us the greatest gift of all when he sent his Son to save/rescue us(inc) ◄ from the guilt of our sin/from being punished for our sin►. That is a gift too wonderful for anyone to be able to tell about completely!"}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "1", "text": "Now I myself, Paul, appeal to you in a gentle and humble way, like Christ would. Certain people among you have falsely accused me by saying, “When Paul is with you, he is humble and speaks gently to you, but when he is away from you, in the letters he writes to you he threatens to punish you.” Those people claim that I do not have authority over you as an apostle."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "2", "text": "I strongly plead with you, “ Please do not listen to people who say things like that! ” I strongly plead with you to not listen to them, so that when I am there with you I will not need to speak severely to you in the same severe way as I plan to speak to those people who think that I behave like people who are not believers."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "3", "text": "Remember that although I am human like everyone else in the world, I do not fight against those who oppose me in the way that people who are not believers fight those who oppose them."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "4", "text": "I will tell you what I mean by that: Just like soldiers use various weapons to fight their enemies[MET], I◄ fight against/oppose► those who oppose God's message, but I do it in a different way. I do not use human arguments and clever/sweet talk, like unbelievers do. Instead, I fight against my opponents by the powerful means that God has given me. With that power I destroy their arguments against God's message and against me, just like soldiers destroy[MET] the fortresses of their enemies."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "5", "text": "Specifically, I show that the human arguments that they use to deceive people are completely wrong. When they proudly say things that keep other people from knowing God, I show them that they are completely wrong. I also enable people to change their ways of thinking so that they think about everything as Christ wants them to think."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "6", "text": "I am also ready to discipline everyone among you who has not obeyed the things that Christ taught. I will do this as soon as you who truly want to obey Christ show me that you are going to obey him completely."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "7", "text": "I want you to understand what is happening among you. There are certain people there who are telling you that they know for sure that they are Christ's representatives and that I am not. Those people should realize that I represent Christ as much as they do."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "8", "text": "I say that because the authority that the Lord gave me as his apostle is to help you to become mature believers, not to cause you to stop trusting in Christ. So even if I were to boast a little more than I have already done(OR, proudly talk a little more than I have already talked about the authority the Lord gave me as his apostle), no one would be able to make me ashamed by proving that Jesus has not given me that authority."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "9", "text": "I do not intend to make you afraid of me by the letters that I write to you."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "10", "text": "I say that because some people are saying, “ When Paul writes letters, he says severe things in order to make you obey him, but when he is here with you, people look at him and say he is weak, and he certainly is not a skillful speaker.”"}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "11", "text": "The people who say such things should think carefully about this: The kind of severe person that you think me to be when you read my letters is exactly the kind of person I will be when I come. I will do what I wrote that I would do."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "12", "text": "Those who oppose me tell others how good they are. If they really were superior to me[IRO], I would not be so bold as to say that I was equal to them, or to compare myself with them. But they are not superior to me. They make up their own standards about what God's servants should be like, and then they look at their own conduct and decide whether or not they meet those standards. By doing that, they show that they are foolish."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "13", "text": "But as for me, I will not boast about working among people living in areas outside of the areas that God sent/assigned me to work in. But it is right for me to say that I have worked in the areas that God assigned to me. And since those areas include the one where you live,"}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "14", "text": "when I talk about working among you, I am not boasting about working in an area where God did not give me the right to work. What those who oppose me say about my not having authority as an apostle to you might be true if I had not already come all the way to your area. But that is not true, because I was the one who first brought the message about Christ to you. I came to Corinth before they did."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "15", "text": "Also, my opponents boast about work that others have done as if it were their own work. It is improper for them to do that, but I do not do as they do. I confidently expect that as you trust more and more in the good message that I preach, you will more and more agree that God has given me the right to work as Christ's representative among you."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "16", "text": "Then I will be able to go to places beyond where you are. I will be able to tell the good message about Christ to people in areas where no one has yet gone to tell that message. And I will be able to talk about the work I myself have done in that area, instead of boasting about work that someone else has already done as if it were my work."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "17", "text": "I try to do according to what someone/Jeremiah wrote in the Scriptures, If anyone wants to boast about something, he should boast only about what the Lord God has done."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 10, "verse": "18", "text": "You can realize, then, that it is not those who ◄praise themselves/tell you what great things they have done►, as my opponents do, whom you should accept as apostles. Instead, you should accept as true apostles only those whom the Lord commends."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "1", "text": "But now, because my opponents are saying that Christ sent them to you as his representatives and that he did not send me, please be patient with me, too, while I say a few things that may sound as if[IRO] I am praising myself, like a foolish person would do. You have been◄ putting up with/tolerating► those who teach what is false; now then, ◄put up with/tolerate► me too."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "2", "text": "I really do care about what happens to you, just as God cares about what happens to you. Just like a father wants his daughter to be sexually pure when he presents her to the man she will marry[MET], I want you to belong to Christ alone and to no other. I want to present you to him as people who remain faithful to him only, and who have not believed the deceitful message of those who are teaching what is false."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "3", "text": "However, just like Satan, when he cunningly appeared as a snake, deceived Eve's thinking and caused her to disobey the Lord God, I am concerned that those teachers will cause you to think wrongly so that you will no longer be faithful to Christ alone."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "4", "text": "I say that because some people have come among you who are teaching their own thoughts about Jesus. They are saying about him things that are entirely different from what I taught you. They are urging you to receive a powerful spirit who would come to live inside of you, but it is not the same Spirit that you received from God when you believed in Christ. They preach what they call a good message, and you accept their message, even though it is not the same as the good message about Christ that you heard from me. And you have gladly accepted them and their message!"}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "5", "text": "I consider that [LIT] none of those men, even though they think of themselves as being[IRO] extra-special apostles, are in any way greater than I am."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "6", "text": "I admit that I am not an eloquent speaker, but I do know God's message. I have made that clear to you by everything that I have done among you and by all that I have taught you."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "7", "text": "I refused to accept money from you as pay for teaching you God's message about Christ. ◄It is ridiculous for you to think that what I did was wrong!/Was that wrong?► [RHQ] I know that by teaching you without pay, I made myself seem [IRO] unimportant to you. But I did it to honor you."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "8", "text": "Some people might say that it was as though[IRO] I was robbing other congregations because I accepted money from them in order that I might work among you."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "9", "text": "Furthermore, when I was there with you and had no money to buy the things that I needed, I did not cause any difficulty to any of you◄ by depending on you/by asking you for money/support►, because our(inc) fellow believers who came from here in Macedonia province brought enough money for me to buy everything that I needed. So I have not caused you any difficulty at all by asking you for money, and I never will ask you for money[EUP]."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "10", "text": "And as sure as you know that everything that Christ says is true, you can be sure that what I say to you now is true. Wherever I go there in Achaia province, I do not let you believers pay me for doing God's work among you. And no one will be able to prevent me from boasting about that."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "11", "text": "No one should wrongly [RHQ] think that it is because I do not love you that I do not take pay from you. God knows that you truly/really are very dear to me."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "12", "text": "There are some men there among you who would like to be able to say boastfully that they work among you just as I do. So, in order to make it impossible [IDM] for them to say that, I have refused to accept pay from you, and I will continue doing that."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "13", "text": "Those men are lying when they say that they are apostles. They work deceitfully. Even though they say that they work for God, they are working only for themselves. They try to make people think that Christ sent them as his apostles, but they do not truly represent him."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "14", "text": "I am not surprised that they act like that, because Satan himself causes people to think that he has come as a shining messenger from God."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "15", "text": "So it should not surprise you if these men, who really serve Satan, do good deeds in order to make you think they serve God. Some day God will punish them according to what they deserve because of their evil deeds."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "16", "text": "I say again: I do not want anyone among you to think that my boasting about myself is like foolish people boast. But even if anyone thinks that I am boasting about myself like a foolish person boasts, listen to what I have to say anyway, just like you listen to those false apostles. They really speak foolishly! Listen to me while I also boast a little."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "17", "text": "About the things that I am going to tell you, boasting confidently about myself, surely you know that they are not the kind of things that the Lord Jesus would say. Instead, I will speak as a foolish person would speak."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "18", "text": "Because many among you are boasting about their own work, as unbelievers do, I will also boast about myself and my work[MTY, IRO]."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "19", "text": "I am sure that you, who think that you are so wise, will accept what I say because you gladly accept the false teachers and the foolish things that they say."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "20", "text": "When people treat you as if they were your bosses, you gladly submit to them. You think that it is all right when others force you provide for their needs. You think that it is all right when people take control over you, when they boast about themselves, or when they insult you by slapping you in the face."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "21", "text": "I agree that I was not bold enough to treat you in such ways. So do you think that[IRO] I should feel ashamed because I did not do that? So now, talking like a person who does not have any sense, I will boldly tell you some things about myself, just like those false apostles tell you things about themselves."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "22", "text": "Do they tell you that they are Hebrews and can speak in the Hebrew language? Well, I can say the same thing about myself. Do they tell you that they belong to God's people, the nation of Israel? Well, I can say the same thing about myself. Do they tell you that they are descendants of our great ancestor Abraham? Well, he is my ancestor, too."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "23", "text": "Do they tell you how much work they have done for Christ? Now I am talking like a crazy person talks [EUP]. Well, I work for Christ much more than they do. I have been in prison many more times than they have. Many times I have been beaten { people have beaten me} very severely because I believe in and obey Christ. Many times I almost died because of serving Christ."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "24", "text": "On five occasions Jewish religious leaders beat me 39 times with a whip."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "25", "text": "On three occasions I was beaten { Roman officials beat me} with wooden sticks. On one occasion a large crowd of people threw stones at me to kill me. On three occasions the ship that I was traveling in was wrecked and sank. On one of those occasions I was floating in the water a night and a day before I was rescued."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "26", "text": "As I have often traveled to other places, I have often risked losing my life. For example, sometimes I have been in danger crossing rivers. I have been in danger traveling in places where there were bandits. At times I have been in danger among people of my own nation, the Jews, and at other times I been in danger among those who are not Jews. I have been in danger in cities, and I have been in dangerous situations in barren areas. I have been in dangerous situations when I was traveling in ships. I have been in danger among people who falsely claim to be fellow believers."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "27", "text": "I have worked very hard [DOU] to earn◄ a living/what I need►, and often I did not sleep. At times I was hungry and thirsty, and at times I did not have enough time to eat. Sometimes I was cold because I did not have enough clothes to wear."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "28", "text": "In addition to all that, I am constantly and deeply concerned about all the congregations that I have helped to begin."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "29", "text": "Every time that I hear about fellow believers[RHQ] who are not strong spiritually, I sympathize with them and try to help them. Every time that I learn about a fellow believer[RHQ] who causes another believer to do something wrong, that makes me very angry."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "30", "text": "Because it seems that it is necessary for me to continue boasting about myself, I will boast about things that caused some people to think of me as being weak."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "31", "text": "God, who is the Father of our(inc) Lord Jesus, and who is the one whom we should praise forever, knows that I am not lying about this."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "32", "text": "One time when I was in Damascus city, the governor whom King Aretas had appointed to rule part of his area told his soldiers to guard the gates of the city so that they could seize me if I tried to leave the city."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 11, "verse": "33", "text": "But my friends enabled me to escape by putting me in a large basket and lowering me to the ground by a rope through an opening in the city wall. That was really humiliating!"}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "1", "text": "It seems that it is necessary for me to go on boasting about myself. Although I do not think that my telling you about this will help you to accept me as Christ's representative to you, I will say this anyway. I will tell you about visions that the Lord gave a certain man and about things that he supernaturally revealed to that man. I will tell you this because some of the people among you boast that it was in visions that they received the things that they teach."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "2", "text": "The man that I will tell you about is one who believes in Christ. Fourteen years ago he was taken { Christ took him} up into the highest heaven, the place where God is. I do not know whether he went there in his physical body or whether he was outside of his body at that time and only his spirit went. Only God really knows."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "3-4", "text": "But he was suddenly taken { Christ suddenly took him} up to a place called Paradise, that wonderful place where God lives. I repeat that I do not know whether his body went there or only his spirit. Only God knows that. While he was there, God told him some things that he does not allow human beings to tell others about."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "5", "text": "I will proudly talk about that man. However, I will not be boasting as I say that I am the one who saw and heard those wonderful things. I will talk only about the things that cause others to think of me as a weak human being like everyone else."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "6", "text": "But even if I should choose to boast to you about such wonderful things that happened to me, I would not be speaking like a fool, because I would be telling you the truth. But I will not talk proudly about such things, because I do not want any of you to think highly of me because of the things that have happened to me. Instead, I want you to decide what kind of person I am by the way you see me acting and by what you hear me teach."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "7", "text": "In order that I might not become proud because of those many wonderful things that Christ revealed to me, God permitted Satan to send a messenger to humble me(OR, to make me sick). What he did to me was painful, like[MET] a thorn pricking my body."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "8", "text": "Three times I prayed to the Lord about it, begging him to take this away from me."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "9", "text": "But he said to me, “ No, I will not take this away from you. Instead, I will kindly help you, and that will be all that you need, because it is when you are weak that I can best work powerfully to help you.” So, because of what the Lord said to me, I will very gladly boast about the things that make me seem weak, so that people may realize that it is Christ who gives me power to serve him."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "10", "text": "For that reason, whenever I am weak, or when people insult me, or when I have to endure hardships, or when I am persecuted{ people cause me to suffer} or when I am in situations that distress me, I am content because I am serving Christ. I can say that because at any time when I myself am weak, that is the very time when Christ powerfully helps me."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "11", "text": "It has been foolish for me to talk about myself like this, but it is you who forced me to do it. Truly if the Lord would not help me, I would be worthless, as my opponents say that I am. But none of the men whom you wrongfully think[IRO] are great apostles are greater in any way than I am. So it would have been right/proper for you to say good things about me."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "12", "text": "You should have done that, because when I was with you I repeatedly did the things that showed you that I am truly an apostle, such as performing many [DOU] miracles."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "13", "text": "And I have certainly treated you as well as I treated the other congregations that I helped to start. Or do you think that by not asking you to pay me for my work, I was not treating you as well as I treated the other congregations? ◄It is foolish for you to think that[IRO] it was wrong for me not to ask for pay from you for my work, and therefore I should ask you to forgive me for that!/Do you think that it was wrong for me not to ask for pay from you for my work, and therefore I should ask you to forgive me for that?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "14", "text": "Now listen to me! It is time for me to come to you for a third visit. When I come, I still will not insist that you pay me for my work, because I do not want any of your money[EUP]! What I want is for you [MTY] to love and appreciate me. It is not normally the duty of children to save money to provide for the needs of their parents. Instead, it is the duty of parents to provide for their children [MET]. In the same way, it is not your duty to provide for me. Instead, it is my duty to provide spiritual help for you because you are my spiritual children."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "15", "text": "So, on my part, as a good parent would do, I will be very happy to use everything that I have, and do everything that I possibly can, in order to help you. And because I love you very much, ◄I will be very disappointed if you do not love me a little bit, too./will you not love me a little bit, too?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "16", "text": "You all know that I did not depend on you to provide for my needs. However, there are some who accuse me, saying that[IRO] I was very clever and got money from you by tricking you."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "17", "text": "But did I ever do that? No! I never [RHQ] asked any of the men whom I sent to you to get money from you and bring it to me"}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "18", "text": "Titus went and visited you because I urged him to do so. I also sent the other believer, whom you know, to go with Titus. You know that Titus did not [RHQ] trick you in order to get money from you. And you certainly know that he and I have always [RHQ] acted in exactly the same honest way towards you."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "19", "text": "While you have been reading this letter, if you have been thinking that I have just been saying these things to defend myself against those who accuse me, you are wrong. I have been saying these things honestly, knowing that God is listening to me. I also speak as one who has a close relationship with Christ. Everything that I do and everything that I say is to help you whom I love ◄to grow spiritually/ to become spiritually mature►."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "20", "text": "I have written this way to you because I worry that when I come to visit you, I will see that some of you are not conducting your lives the way that I want you to. If that is so, when I get there you will see that I will have to act in a very severe way toward you, and I am sure that you do not want that. Specifically, I am afraid that some of you may be quarreling, or that you are being jealous of each other, or that you quickly show others that you are very angry with them, or that you are acting selfishly, or that some of you are saying bad things about others, or that you are ◄spreading false rumors/saying false things► about each other, or that you are acting proudly, or that you are doing things in a disorderly manner."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 12, "verse": "21", "text": "I◄ feel anxious/am concerned► about you. I worry that when I visit you again, God, the one whom I serve, will make me feel ashamed of you when I see that you still are not conducting your lives as believers should. Then I will feel very sad about some of you who were sinning previously and have not turned from your sinful behavior. Some of you may still have impure thoughts. Some of you may be having sexual intercourse with those to whom you are not married. And some of you may be doing other shameful things."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 13, "verse": "1", "text": "In the Scriptures it is stated that when one person accuses another of wrongdoing, you must not believe his accusation right away. First, you must listen to at least two or three people who actually saw what happened. So keep in mind that this will be the third time that I will visit you!"}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 13, "verse": "2", "text": "When I visited you the second time, I warned you that I was going to punish all the wrongdoers among you. And now I am warning you again while I am still away from you. When I visit you this third time, I will punish those who were sinning at the time when I visited you before and who are still sinning, and I will punish the others who have been sinning since then, if they have not turned away from their sinful behavior."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 13, "verse": "3", "text": "Because you have demanded that I prove to you that Christ is speaking to you when I speak to you, I will show you that I speak to you as his apostle. Christ does not approve of your sinful behavior. On the contrary, he will powerfully discipline you."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 13, "verse": "4", "text": "It is true that Christ seemed to be weak when he was crucified {when people killed him by nailing him to the cross}. But it is also true that he now lives because God worked powerfully to make him alive again. Similarly, as I serve God, I also am a weak human being as Christ was. But I am also have a close relationship with Christ who is now alive again. And with his authority I will use God's power to discipline you."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 13, "verse": "5", "text": "Each of you should ask yourself: “ Do I believe God's message about Christ? ” Each of you should test yourselves to make sure that you truly do believe in Christ and thus truly belong to him, and that his Spirit lives within you(pl) . When you test yourselves in that way, I am sure that you will [RHQ] say to me, “Yes, of course we belong to Christ.”"}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 13, "verse": "6", "text": "I am also certain that you will know that I belong to Christ, just like you do."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 13, "verse": "7", "text": "But because I do not want to have to punish you, I am praying to God that he will help you not to do anything evil that would cause me to have to punish you. I pray this, not in order that when people who say that I am not your apostle realize that my ministry among you has been very successful, they will have to agree that I do have authority from Christ. Instead, I pray this because I want you to do what is right, even though that might mean that my opponents would think that I do not have authority from Christ, since I would not have an opportunity to show my authority to discipline you."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 13, "verse": "8", "text": "If you do what is right, I will not discipline you, because it would not be right for me to do that if you are conducting your lives the way you should, like God's true message says that you should. What God asks me to do is to help people to know and obey his true message."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 13, "verse": "9", "text": "I am happy whenever you are strongly trusting and obeying Christ, and because of that I do not have to use my authority to discipline you. It does not matter to me if that makes people think that I do not have any authority. Truly, what I am praying for is that God will help you to completely change your conduct."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 13, "verse": "10", "text": "That is why I am writing these things while I am still away from you. What I want is that when I visit you, you will already be conducting your lives as God wants you to, and so I will not have to discipline you severely, as the Lord Jesus Christ gave me the authority to do. The authority that I have from the Lord is to help you to become spiritually mature believers, not to cause you to stop trusting in him."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 13, "verse": "11", "text": "Finally, my fellow believers, I say to you, rejoice. Completely change how you conduct your lives, and do what I have urged you to do. Be united in what you think about the matters about which I have written to you. Live peacefully with each other. If you do those things, God, who enables you to love each other and be peaceful, will bless [MTY] you."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 13, "verse": "12", "text": "Greet each other affectionately as fellow members of God's family should."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 13, "verse": "13", "text": "All God's people here send you greetings."}
{"book": "2CO", "chapter": 13, "verse": "14", "text": "I pray that the Lord Jesus Christ will act kindly toward all of you, in ways that you do not deserve, that God will show all of you how much he loves you, and that the Holy Spirit will cause you to have good fellowship with him and with each other."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "1", "text": "I, Paul, write this letter to you. I remind you that I am an apostle. That is not because a group of people appointed me, nor because a human being sent me to be an apostle. Instead, Jesus Christ and God our heavenly Father, who caused Jesus to become alive again after he died, have appointed and sent me to be an apostle."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "2", "text": "All the fellow believers who are here with me approve of this message that I am writing. I am sending this letter to the congregations that are in Galatia province."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "3", "text": "I pray that God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ will kindly help you and enable you to have inner peace."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "4", "text": "Christ offered himself as a sacrifice in order that he might remove the guilt for our sins. He did that in order that he might enable us to not do the evil things that people who do not know him do. He did this because God, who is our Father, wanted it."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "5", "text": "I pray that people will praise God forever. ◄May it be so!/Amen!►"}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "6", "text": "I am very disappointed [IRO] that so soon after you trusted in Christ you have turned away from God. He chose you in order that you might have what Christ freely/kindly gives. I am also disappointed that so soon you are believing a different message which some say is“good news.”"}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "7", "text": "Their message is not a true message. What is happening is that certain persons are confusing your minds. They are desiring to change the good message ◄that Christ revealed/about Christ► and are creating another message."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "8", "text": "But even if we(exc) apostles or an angel from heaven would tell you a message that is different from the good message that we told you before, I appeal to God that he punish such a person forever."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "9", "text": "As I told you previously, so now I tell you this once more: Someone is telling you what he says is a good message, but it is a message that is different from the good message that I gave you. So I appeal to God that he severely punish that person."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "10", "text": "I said that because [RHQ] I do not desire that people approve me, contrary to what some have said about me. It is God whom I desire to approve me. Specifically, I do not say and do[RHQ] things just to please people. If it were still people whom I was trying to please, then I would not be one who willingly and completely serves Christ."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "11", "text": "My fellow believers, I want you to know that the message about Christ that I proclaim to people is not one that some person created/thought up."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "12", "text": "I did not receive this message from a human messenger, and no human being taught it to me. Instead, Jesus Christ revealed it to me."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "13", "text": "People have told you how I used to behave when I practiced the Jewish religion. They told you that I continually did very harmful things to the groups of believers that God established, and they told you that I tried to get rid of those people."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "14", "text": "I practiced the Jewish religion more thoroughly than many other Jews who were my age practiced it. I much more enthusiastically tried to get others to obey the traditions that my ancestors kept."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "15", "text": "Nevertheless, before I was born God◄set me apart/selected me►. He chose me to live eternally, something that I did not deserve."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "16", "text": "He wanted me to know that Jesus is his Son, so that I would tell others the message about his Son in regions where non-Jews live. But I did not immediately go to any human beings [SYN] in order to gain an understanding of that message. I received it directly from Christ!"}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "17", "text": "I did not immediately leave Damascus and go to Jerusalem for that purpose to those who were apostles before I was. Instead, I went away to Arabia region, a desert area. Later I returned once more to Damascus city."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "18", "text": "Then three years after God revealed this good message to me, I went up to Jerusalem in order that I might meet Peter. But I stayed with him for only fifteen days, which was not long enough for him to teach me thoroughly about Christ."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "19", "text": "I also saw James, the brother of our Lord Jesus and the leader of the believers there, but I did not see any other apostle."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "20", "text": "God knows that what I am writing to you is completely true [LIT]!"}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "21", "text": "After I left Jerusalem, I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "22", "text": "At that time people in the Christian congregations that are in Judea province still had not met me [SYN] personally."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "23", "text": "They only heard others say about me repeatedly, “ Paul, the one who was formerly doing harmful things to us, is now telling the same message which we believe and which formerly he was trying ◄to destroy/to cause people to stop believing►!”"}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "24", "text": "And they praised God because of what had happened to me."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "1", "text": "After fourteen years passed, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas. I took Titus also."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "2", "text": "But I tell you that I went up there because of what God revealed to me. It was not because someone asked me to come. I told people what was the good message that I was preaching in regions where non-Jews live. But I talked privately to those whom your new teachers highly respect. I did that in order that what I was doing and what I had done [MET] might not become useless [MET] as a result of people rejecting my message because they thought that I was teaching something that was not true."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "3", "text": "But even though the leaders of the believers usually insisted that when non-Jews trusted in Christ someone must circumcise them, they did not even insist that Titus be circumcised, even though he was a Greek man who was with me."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "4", "text": "I talked to them privately because some people successfully pretended that they were fellow believers and associated with the true believers. They did that in order that they might observe closely what we do because we are free from having to obey all the Jewish laws and rituals because of our close relationship with Christ Jesus [MET]. Those people wanted to make us like slaves [MET] of those rituals by convincing us that we cannot trust Christ solely but that we must also obey all the Jewish rituals."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "5", "text": "But not even briefly did we(exc) do what they wanted about circumcision. We(exc) resisted them in order that the truth of the message about Christ might continue to benefit you."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "6", "text": "The leaders in Jerusalem, whom your new teachers respect, did not add anything to what I preach. And I would add that what status those leaders had did not influence me, because God does not favor certain/important persons [IDM] more than others."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "7", "text": "Instead of those leaders adding to the message that I tell people, they understood that I had been given the good message {God had given the good message to me} so that I might proclaim it to the non-Jews [MTY], just like God had given the good message to Peter so that he might tell it to those who are Jews [MTY]."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "8", "text": "That is, just like God had empowered/authorized Peter in order that he might be an apostle to bring God's message to the Jews [MTY], he also had empowered/authorized me in order that I might be an apostle to bring his message to the non-Jews."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "9", "text": "And those leaders knew that God had kindly given to me this special work. So James, Peter, and John, the ones whom your new teachers respect because they are leaders [MET] of the believers, shook hands with us [IDM] to show that they agreed that Barnabas and I are serving the Lord just like they are, and that we are preaching the same message that they are preaching. They also agreed that we(exc) are the ones whom God was sending to tell his message to non-Jews, but that God is sending them to tell his message to Jews [MTY]."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "10", "text": "They merely urged that we(exc) still remember to help the poor fellow believers who live in Jerusalem. That is exactly what I have been eager to do."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "11", "text": "But later while I was at Antioch city, after Peter came there, I told him directly [SYN] that what he was doing was wrong."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "12", "text": "This is what happened. Peter went to Antioch and started eating regularly with non-Jewish believers there. Later there were certain Jewish believers who came to Antioch who claimed that James, the leader of the congregations in Jerusalem, had sent them. But when those certain men came, Peter gradually quit eating with the non-Jewish believers and would not associate with them. He was afraid that the Jewish believers from Jerusalem would criticize him for associating with non-Jews."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "13", "text": "Also, the other Jewish believers who were in Antioch[SYN] acted ◄insincerely/in a way that they knew was not right► along with Peter. The result was that they convinced even Barnabas to stop associating with the non-Jewish believers!"}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "14", "text": "But when I realized that they were not acting according to the truth of the message about Christ, when all the fellow believers there were present, I told Peter the following: “Although you(sg) are a Jew, you often conduct yourself like non-Jews do by disregarding Jewish laws about food. When you are among non-Jews, you(sg) do not customarily conduct yourself at all like Jews do. So, ◄now it is wrong that you(sg) are causing non-Jews to think that they must obey all the Jewish rituals and customs!/why are you(sg) causing non-Jews to think that they must obey all the Jewish rituals and customs?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "15", "text": "Some of us believers were born as Jews. We(exc) were not born as non-Jews. We Jews have always considered non-Jews to be❛sinners❜ because they do not obey the Jewish rituals and laws."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "16", "text": "But we(exc) now know that it is not because some person obeys the laws that God gave to Moses that God erases the record of that person's sins. God erases the record of a person's sins only if that person trusts in what Jesus Christ has done. Even we(exc) Jews trusted Christ Jesus. We(exc) did that in order that God would erase the record of our sins because of our trusting Christ, and not because of our obeying the laws that God gave to Moses. God has said that he will never erase the record of people's sins just because of their obeying those laws."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "17", "text": "Furthermore, because we(exc) Jews desired that God would erase the record of our sins because of our relationship with Christ, it means that we realized that we ourselves were sinners like non-Jews, whom we called sinners, because we(exc) also were not obeying the Jewish rituals and laws. But◄ we(inc) certainly cannot conclude that it is Christ who causes us to sin./ should we conclude that it is Christ who causes us to sin?► [RHQ] No, Christ certainly does not cause anyone to sin."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "18", "text": "So if I should again believe that God would erase the record of my sins because of my obeying the laws that he gave to Moses[MET], I would be like a man who rebuilds an old building that he tore down. It would soon be clear that I am one who disobeys those same laws that God gave to Moses."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "19", "text": "When I realized that I could not earn God's favor by obeying the laws that he gave to Moses, I decided not to respond to what those laws demanded[MET], just like a dead person does not respond to anything. Now I live to honor/serve God."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "20", "text": "It is as though I was with Christ when he was crucified {died on the cross} [MET] (OR, It is as though my old way of life ended when Christ died on the cross.) No longer am I directing the way I behave as I did before I believed in Christ. Now Christ is directing how I behave. And whatever I do now while I live, I do it trusting in God's Son. He is the one who loved me and offered himself as a sacrifice for me."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "21", "text": "I am not rejecting as useless what God did for me◄ kindly/that I did not deserve►, as my opponents are doing. I fully accept that God saved me by acting kindly towards me. If it is because people obey the laws that God gave to Moses that God erases the record of their sins, then Christ died ◄for nothing/needlessly►."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "1", "text": "You fellow believers who live in Galatia are very foolish! ◄Someone must have put an evil spell on you!/Did someone put an evil spell on you?► [RHQ] I clearly explained to you [SYN] what Jesus Christ accomplished when he was crucified {he died on the cross}."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "2", "text": "So, I want you to tell me one thing: Do you think that it was because you obeyed the laws God gave Moses that you received the Holy Spirit? Do you not know that[RHQ] it was because when you heard the good message concerning Christ, you trusted in him?"}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "3", "text": "◄You are acting so foolishly/Why are you being so foolish?► [RHQ]! You first became Christians as a result of God's Spirit enabling you. So, ◄you should not now think that it is by what you yourselves do that you will continue to grow spiritually/do you now think it is by your own human efforts that you will continue to grow spiritually? !► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "4", "text": "Keep in mind that if what God has done for you was because of your obeying the laws that God gave to Moses and not because of trusting in Christ, when others caused you to suffer, ◄you suffered many things needlessly!/did you not suffer many things needlessly?► [RHQ] I certainly hope that you did not suffer like that needlessly."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "5", "text": "When God now generously gives to you his Spirit and performs miracles among you, do you think that it is[RHQ] because you obey the laws that God gave to Moses? Surely you know that it is because when you heard the good message about Christ, you trusted in him [RHQ]!"}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "6", "text": "What you have experienced is as Moses wrote in the Scriptures about Abraham. He wrote that Abraham trusted God, and as a result, he was considered as being righteous { God erased the record of his sins}."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "7", "text": "You must realize, therefore, that it is those who trust in what Christ has done who are like Abraham's descendants [MET] because they trust in God as Abraham did."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "8", "text": "Furthermore, God planned beforehand that it was when non-Jews trusted him that he would erase the record of their sins. Moses wrote in the Scriptures [PRS] this good message that God told Abraham: “Because of what you did, I will bless people in[MTY] all nations.”"}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "9", "text": "So, we can conclude that it is those who trust in what Christ has done whom God blesses. That includes all non-Jews and Jews who trust him, along with Abraham, the one who trusted him long ago."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "10", "text": "That is, God will eternally punish all those who mistakenly think that God will erase the record of their sins as a result of their obeying the laws that God gave to Moses. What is written in the Scriptures is that God will eternally punish everyone who does not continuously and completely obey all the laws that Moses wrote."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "11", "text": "But God has declared that if he erases the record of anyone's sins, it will not be as a result of their obeying the laws God gave Moses. This is evident because the Scriptures say, “Every person whose record of sins God erases because that person trusts God will live spiritually.”"}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "12", "text": "But when God gave his laws to the Jews, he did not say that a person must trust him. Instead God said that it is those who obey all God's laws, continuously and completely, who will live."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "13", "text": "Even though we humans have not continuously and completely obeyed God's laws, Christ rescued us from God punishing us eternally. Christ rescued us by his being the one God condemned instead of God condemning us. What is written { someone/Moses wrote} in the Scriptures shows that this is true. It is written { He wrote}, “ God has cursed anyone whom people have executed for his crimes and whose body they have hung on a tree.”"}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "14", "text": "Jesus Christ rescued us in order that as a result of what he has done, God might bless the non-Jews, in a way similar to the way God blessed Abraham. He also desired that as a result of our trusting Christ, we all might receive the Spirit whom God promised to give to us."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "15", "text": "My fellow believers, I will now illustrate by referring to human relationships. After an agreement is confirmed by two people{ two people have signed an agreement}, no one can reject it or add to it."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "16", "text": "God declared to Abraham and his descendant that he was promising to give blessings to Abraham. The words that God spoke were not “and your descendants.” He was not referring to many persons. Instead, he was referring to one person, who is Christ, because the words that God spoke were, “and your descendant.”"}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "17", "text": "This is what I am saying: Since God gave the laws to the Jews 430 years after he declared to Abraham what he was promising to do for Abraham, those laws do not cancel that agreement with Abraham that God himself had previously agreed about [PRS]."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "18", "text": "Remember that if it is because we obey God's laws that he gives to us what he has promised to give to us, then it is not just because he has promised that he would give those things to us. God freely gave to Abraham what he had promised to give to him, just because God had promised that he would give it to him. Similarly, it is not because we obey God's laws that God gives to us what he has promised to give to us."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "19", "text": "So, if someone should ask, “Why did God later give his laws to Moses?” I would reply that it was in order that people might realize how sinful they were. Those laws were valid until Jesus came. He was the descendant that God was referring to when he made the promises to Abraham. The laws were given { God gave his laws} to Moses by God's causing angels to speak to him. Moses was the mediator, the one who told the laws to the people."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "20", "text": "Now, when a mediator functions, one person is not speaking with another directly; but God himself made his promises directly to Abraham."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "21", "text": "If someone should ask, “When God gave his laws to Moses long after he told Abraham what he was promising to give to him, was he changing his mind?” I would reply that God certainly did not change his mind when he did that! If God had given a law that could enable people to live eternally, then it actually would be because of people obeying that law that God would erase the record of their sins."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "22", "text": "But instead, what we read in the Scriptures [PRS] is that God caused all people to be unable to escape being punished for their sins[MET], just like people in prison are unable to escape[PRS, MET]. God did that in order that he might give what he promised to those who trust Jesus Christ, just because they trust him."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "23", "text": "Before God revealed the good message about trusting in Christ, the laws [PRS] that God gave to Moses were confining/imprisoning us Jews[MET], as a prisoner in jail is confined. We were unable to escape obeying those[MET] laws. This happened in order that we might believe the good message concerning Christ, the message that God would reveal later."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "24", "text": "Like a father supervises his immature son by appointing a servant to take care of him [MET], God was supervising us by his laws [MET, PRS] until Christ came. He did this in order that he might erase the record of our sins only because we trust Christ."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "25", "text": "But now that God has revealed the message about trusting in Christ, the laws that God gave to Moses are no longer supervising us Jews[PRS, MET]."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "26", "text": "Now all of you Jews and non-Jews are as though you are God's children because you trusted Christ Jesus."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "27", "text": "That is, you who began a relationship with Christ when you were baptized identified yourselves [MET] with Christ."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "28", "text": "If you are believers, it does not matter to God if you are Jews or non-Jews; slaves or ones who are not slaves; males or females, because all of you are as one sort of person because of your relationship with Christ Jesus."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "29", "text": "Furthermore, since you belong to Christ, you are like Abraham's descendants because you trust God as Abraham did, and you will possess/receive all that God has promised [MET]."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "1", "text": "Now, I will further discuss children and heirs: An heir is a person who will later control all that his father has. But as long as that heir is a child, others control him, with the result that he is just like a slave [MET]."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "2", "text": "Until the day that his father previously determined, other persons supervise him and manage his property."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "3", "text": "Likewise, when we(inc) (OR, we(exc) Jews) were like young children [MET], we were controlled by the spiritual powers of this world. They controlled us like masters control their slaves[MET]."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "4", "text": "But exactly at the time [MTY] that God had previously determined, he sent Jesus, who is ◄his Son/the man who is also God►, into the world. Jesus was born to a human mother. He had to obey the laws that God gave to Moses."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "5", "text": "God sent Jesus in order that he might redeem us who had to obey God's laws. God wanted us all to receive from God the status of being his children [MET]."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "6", "text": "Furthermore, we know that we are God's children because God sent the Spirit, who is intimately related to his Son, to live in our ◄inner beings/hearts►. The Spirit enables us to pray fervently, “Daddy, Father!” This shows that we are God's children."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "7", "text": "So, because of what God has done, no longer is each of you like a slave. Instead, each of you is a child of God. Furthermore, since each of you is God's child, God has also made you his heir, one who will receive all that he has promised."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "8", "text": "When you did not have a relationship with God [MET], you served gods that really did not exist [MET]. You were their slaves."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "9", "text": "But now you have come to know God. Perhaps it would be better to say that now God knows you. So now you are acting foolishly◄You are again believing that by obeying rules and rites you will benefit spiritually!/Why are you again believing that by obeying rules and rituals you will benefit spiritually?► [RHQ] Those rules are ineffective and inadequate! ◄You are wanting to obey them again [MET] like slaves obey their masters./Are you wanting to obey them again [MET] like slaves obey their masters?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "10", "text": "You non-Jews are carefully practicing Jewish rules and rituals about what you should do◄on Sabbaths/on Jewish days of rest► and on the first day of each month and on special seasons and years."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "11", "text": "I ◄worry/am concerned► about your mistaken ideas. I do not want to have so strenuously served you in vain."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "12", "text": "My fellow believers, I strongly urge you that you do as I do. Stop thinking that you have to obey ◄Jewish rules and rituals/ceremonial laws►. When I was with you, I did not obey all the Jewish rules and rituals, just like you did not obey them. At that time you treated me entirely as you should have [LIT]."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "13", "text": "You know that the first time I told the good message to you, I went to your area to regain my health, because I was physically weak."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "14", "text": "Although you might have despised me because I was physically weak, you did not despise me or act contemptuously/disrespectfully toward me. Instead, you welcomed me like you would welcome an angel from God. You welcomed me like you would welcome Christ Jesus!"}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "15", "text": "◄I am disappointed that you have forgotten that then you declared that you were pleased with me./Have you forgotten that then you declared that you were pleased with me?► [RHQ] I can testify that you would have done anything to help me. You would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me, if that would have helped me!"}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "16", "text": "So I am very disappointed that you now act as though [RHQ] I have become hostile to you because I have kept speaking the true message about Christ to you."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "17", "text": "Those who are insisting on obeying Jewish rules are eagerly showing interest in you, but what they are doing is not good. They even want you not to associate with me and other true believers, because they want you to eagerly show interest in them, not in us."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "18", "text": "But just like it always feels good to have others show that they appreciate you, I would like you always to appreciate me, and not only when I am with you."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "19", "text": "You who are like my children, once again I am very worried/concerned about you [MET], and I will continue to be worried/concerned until Christ's nature becomes developed in you completely and wholeheartedly[MET] as a child becomes developed in his mother's womb."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "20", "text": "But I do wish that I could be with you now and that I might talk more gently with you, because I do not know what to do about you while we are apart."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "21", "text": "Some of you desire to obey all the laws that God gave Moses. I say that you should consider [RHQ] the implications of what Moses wrote in the Scriptures."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "22", "text": "He wrote that Abraham became the father of two sons. His female slave, Hagar, bore one son, and his wife Sarah, who was not a slave, bore the other."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "23", "text": "Also, the sons differed. Ishmael, the son born by the female slave, was conceived naturally. But Isaac, the son born by his wife who was not a slave, was conceived miraculously as a result of what God had promised Abraham."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "24", "text": "I am telling you this as an illustration. These two women symbolize two agreements. God made the first agreement, which involved obeying the laws that God gave to Moses at Sinai Mountain. Because that agreement forces those who accept it to keep obeying all its rules[MET], it is like a slave mother who gives birth to slaves. So Hagar, the female slave, symbolizes this agreement."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "25", "text": "Also, the word❛Hagar❜ is associated with Sinai Mountain, which is in Arabia land. Hagar, the female slave, also represents Jerusalem city as it is today. Jerusalem city is like[MET] a slave mother, and those who live there[PRS] are like her slave children [MET] because they all must obey the laws that God gave to Moses."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "26", "text": "But there will be a new Jerusalem in heaven [MTY], and we who will go there are free from having to obey Jewish laws. We who belong to that city consider it to be our mother [MET] city because we are God's true children."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "27", "text": "Our new city will have more people than those who live in Jerusalem now. It will be just like Isaiah foretold about the people whom he expected would come back to Jerusalem from exile. He expected that they would be more numerous than those who were taken into exile. He wrote:"}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "28", "text": "Now, my fellow believers, you have become children of God as a result of believing God's promise to us, as Isaac was born as a result of Abraham believing what God promised to him[MET]."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "29", "text": "Also, long ago Abraham's son Ishmael, the one who was conceived naturally, caused trouble for Abraham's son Isaac, who was conceived supernaturally [MET]. Similarly, now those who think that we must obey the laws that God gave Moses in order that God will save us are causing trouble for those who are trusting Abraham's descendant, Christ."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "30", "text": "But these are [RHQ] the words in the Scriptures [PRS]: “The son of the woman who was not a slave will inherit what his father has. The female slave's son will certainly not inherit those things. So send away from this place the female slave and her son [MET]!” That means that you should certainly expel from your groups those who insist that we obey all the laws God gave Moses[MET]."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "31", "text": "My fellow believers, Hagar symbolizes the laws that God gave to Moses. But we are not those who must obey all the laws that God gave to Moses[MET]. So we are not the female slave Hagar's spiritual descendants [MET]. But Sarah's descendants are those who were born as a result of believing what God promised to Abraham. So we are the spiritual descendants of Sarah, the woman who was not a slave [MET]."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 5, "verse": "1", "text": "It is in order that we might live without ◄being obliged to/having to► obey all the Jewish rituals that Christ freed us from God condemning us because of our disobeying those rituals. So, firmly reject the false teaching that someone must circumcise you, and do not live like slaves again [MET] by letting others force you to obey those rules and rituals again."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 5, "verse": "2", "text": "Consider very carefully what I, Paul, an apostle, now tell you: If you are to fulfill Jewish ritual laws, you are permitting yourself to be circumcised {someone to circumcise you}, what Christ has done for you will not benefit you at all."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 5, "verse": "3", "text": "Instead, I solemnly declare again to every man who is circumcised {has someone circumcise him} in order for God to accept him, that you must perfectly obey all of the laws that God gave Moses, in order for God to save you."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 5, "verse": "4", "text": "Those of you who are sure that God will erase the record of your sins because you obey the laws that God gave to Moses, you have separated yourselves from Christ. You have abandoned/rejected God's true method of saving you, which was by kindly erasing the record of your sins, in a way that you did not deserve."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 5, "verse": "5", "text": "But we who have a relationship with Christ and who trust in Christ are eagerly waiting to receive what God's Spirit assures us that we can expect. We can expect to receive it because God has erased the record of our sins."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 5, "verse": "6", "text": "As for us who have a relationship with Christ Jesus, God is not concerned whether we are circumcised or not circumcised. Instead, God is concerned about whether we trust in Christ, with the result that we love other people."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 5, "verse": "7", "text": "You were progressing well spiritually[MET]. You should not have let someone influence you so that now you are not believing the true message about Christ[RHQ]!"}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 5, "verse": "8", "text": "God, the one who chose you, is not the one who is persuading you to think like this!"}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 5, "verse": "9", "text": "Remember that this false doctrine that someone is teaching you will affect all of you, just like[MET] a little yeast causes all of the dough to swell up."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 5, "verse": "10", "text": "Nevertheless, because of my relationship with the Lord, I am certain that you will think only as I do about forcing people to obey rules and rituals. Furthermore, God will punish anyone who is confusing you by teaching this false message, even if he is an important person."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 5, "verse": "11", "text": "But, my fellow believers, although someone claims that I am proclaiming that men must be circumcised, I certainly am not still proclaiming that. Remember that the Jews are still◄ persecuting me/causing me to suffer►. If I were still proclaiming that men must be circumcised in order for God to accept them, ◄the Jews would not be persecuting me./why would the Jews be persecuting me?► [RHQ] They would[RHQ] not be persecuting me/causing me to suffer because then the Jews would no longer be offended. They◄ are offended/do not want to accept what I teach► because I proclaim that Christ, the Messiah, died on the cross [MTY]."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 5, "verse": "12", "text": "I would even wish that those who are disturbing you by insisting that men be circumcised would also emasculate [EUP] themselves, with the result that they would be expelled from your congregations."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 5, "verse": "13", "text": "My fellow believers, God chose you in order that you might live without having to obey rules and rituals. But do not assume that because you are free from having to obey rules and rituals, God permits you to do whatever your self-directed nature desires. Instead, constantly, as you love each other, serve each other."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 5, "verse": "14", "text": "Keep in mind that we can sum up all of the laws that God has given us in one law, which is: “You must love each person you come in contact with, just like you love yourself.”"}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 5, "verse": "15", "text": "Since you are attacking and injuring [MET] each other by the things that you say[MET], I warn you that if you continue doing that, you will totally ruin each other spiritually."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 5, "verse": "16", "text": "So I tell you this: Constantly let God's Spirit direct you. If you do that, you will certainly not do the things that your self-directed nature wants you to do."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 5, "verse": "17", "text": "Your self-directed nature ◄opposes God's Spirit/does not want you to do what God's Spirit wants you to do►, but also his Spirit opposes your self-directed nature. These two are always ◄fighting with/opposing► each other. The result is that you do not constantly do the good deeds that you truly desire to do."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 5, "verse": "18", "text": "But when you are led by God's Spirit {when God's Spirit directs you}, you can do what pleases God, now that you are no longer obligated to obey all the laws that God gave Moses."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 5, "verse": "19", "text": "You already know how people think and act [PRS] because of their self-directed nature. These are some of the things that they do: People are sexually immoral. People commit unnatural sexual acts. People act indecently."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 5, "verse": "20", "text": "People worship false gods and things that represent those gods. People perform ◄rituals in order that evil spirits might act for them/sorcery►. People are hostile to others. People quarrel with each other. People are ◄jealous/resent other people's status►. People behave angrily. People try ◄to get others to think highly of them/to exalt themselves► and ◄do not consider what others want/act selfishly►. People do not associate with others. People associate only with those who agree with them."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 5, "verse": "21", "text": "People want what others have. People get drunk. People◄revel/participate in wild parties►. And people do other things like these. I warn you now, just like I warned you previously, that the ones who constantly act and think like this will not receive what God has for his own people when he begins to rule over us."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 5, "verse": "22", "text": "But God's Spirit causes us to do these things: We love others. We are joyful. We are peaceful. We are patient. We are kind. We are good. We are ones whom others can trust."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 5, "verse": "23", "text": "We are gentle. We control our behavior. There is no law that says people should not think and act in such ways."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 5, "verse": "24", "text": "Furthermore, we who belong to Christ Jesus have stopped obeying our self-directed nature and stopped doing all the evil things that we desire to do [MET]. It is as though[MET] we nailed them to the cross!"}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 5, "verse": "25", "text": "Since God's Spirit has caused us to be spiritually alive, we should conduct our lives the way the Spirit directs us."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 5, "verse": "26", "text": "We should not be saying how great we are. We should not be making ourselves more important than others. We should not envy each other."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 6, "verse": "1", "text": "My fellow believers, if you discover that a person among your congregation is sinning, those of you whom God's Spirit is directing and empowering should gently correct that person. Furthermore, each of you who corrects another person should be very cautious in order that you might not sin like that when you are tempted { when something tempts you}."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 6, "verse": "2", "text": "When there are ones who have problems, you should help each other. By doing that, you will complete what Christ requires."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 6, "verse": "3", "text": "Keep in mind that those who refuse to help others because they think that they are more important than other people, although they are not really more important, are deceiving themselves."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 6, "verse": "4", "text": "Instead, each of you should constantly test/judge and decide if you can approve what you yourself are doing and thinking. Then you can boast because of what you yourself are doing and thinking, and not because what you are doing is superior to what other persons are doing."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 6, "verse": "5", "text": "Keep in mind that you must each perform your own individual tasks."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 6, "verse": "6", "text": "You who are being taught {whom others are teaching} God's truth should share your various material things [EUP] with your teachers."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 6, "verse": "7", "text": "You should not deceive yourselves. Remember that God is never outwitted {no one ever fools God}. Just like a farmer will reap exactly the kind of crop that he plants [MET], God will reward people according to what they have done[MET]."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 6, "verse": "8", "text": "God will punish eternally those who do what their self-directed natures urge them to do. But those who please God's Spirit will live forever with God because of what God's Spirit does for them."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 6, "verse": "9", "text": "But we should not ◄tire of/become discouraged while► doing what pleases God, because eventually, at the time that God has determined, we will receive a reward [MET], if we do not stop doing the good things that we have been doing."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 6, "verse": "10", "text": "So, whenever we have opportunities, we should do what is good to all people. But especially we should do what is good to all our fellow believers."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 6, "verse": "11", "text": "I am now writing this last part of this letter to you in my own handwriting. Notice the large letters with which I am now writing. I am doing this in order that I might emphasize this:"}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 6, "verse": "12", "text": "Some Jewish believers are trying to force you to perform certain rituals so that other Jews will think highly of them. They are insisting that you be circumcised {that someone must circumcise you}. They are doing that only in order that other Jews would no longer ◄persecute them/cause them to suffer► for proclaiming that God will save us because of our trusting in what Christ accomplished when he died on the cross [MTY, MET]."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 6, "verse": "13", "text": "The reason that I say that is that the ones who are insisting that you be circumcised {that someone circumcise you} do not themselves fully obey the laws that God gave to Moses. Instead, they desire that you let someone circumcise you in order that they might boast to those Jews who would ◄persecute them/cause them to suffer► that you did that because they insisted [MTY] that you do it."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 6, "verse": "14", "text": "I myself, however, strongly desire that I never boast about anything like that. The only thing I will boast about is what our Lord Jesus Christ accomplished by dying on the cross [MTY]. Because of what Christ did on the cross, I no longer am interested in the things that those who do not trust Christ [MTY] think are important, and those people are no longer interested in the things that I [MET] think are important."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 6, "verse": "15", "text": "I will boast about Christ dying on the cross because God is concerned neither that people are circumcised nor that people are not circumcised. Instead, he is concerned only that people conduct their lives in a completely new way."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 6, "verse": "16", "text": "I pray that God will give inner peace and act kindly towards all who will act according to this new way of life. It is all those who live according to this new way of life who are now truly God's people [MET], as the Israelite people were God's people previously."}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 6, "verse": "17", "text": "Finally, I say that people have persecuted me/caused me to suffer for declaring the truth about Jesus, and as a result I have scars on my body. Your new teachers do not have scars like mine! So do not trouble/bother me about these matters again!"}
{"book": "GAL", "chapter": 6, "verse": "18", "text": "My fellow believers, I pray that our Lord Jesus Christ will kindly accomplish what he desires within you. ◄Amen!/May it be so!►"}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "1", "text": "I, Paul, am an apostle whom God appointed ◄to represent/to proclaim the message about► Christ Jesus because that is what God wanted. I am writing this letter to you who are the people of God in Ephesus city. You are people who◄faithfully/continue to► trust in Christ Jesus and who have a close relationship with him."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "2", "text": "I pray that God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord will continue to act kindly toward you and cause you to have inner peace."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "3", "text": "Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! Because of our relationship with Christ, he has blessed us spiritually in every way by giving us blessings that come from heaven."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "4", "text": "Before God created the world, he chose us to be his people because of our ◄relationship with/union with► Christ, in order that God could consider us to be completely holy [DOU]. Because God loves us,"}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "5", "text": "he decided long ago that he would adopt us to be as though we were his own children because of what Jesus Christ has done. He decided to do that because it pleased him to do that,"}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "6", "text": "in order that we would praise him for acting very kindly toward us in a wonderful way that we did not deserve, because of our relationship with his beloved Son { Son whom he loves}."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "7", "text": "When the blood of Christ flowed when he died[MTY], it was as though he paid a price to free/save us from the guilt of our sins. That◄ provided a way/made it possible► for God to act very kindly toward us to forgive us for having sinned."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "8", "text": "He acted very kindly toward us and enabled us to become wise about many [HYP] things and to understand his truth."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "9", "text": "He has enabled us to know the things that he had planned secretly (OR, that he had not revealed to anyone yet). He did that because he wanted to do that, and because he planned to do that by means of the things Christ would do."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "10", "text": "God planned that at the time that he appointed, he would unite all things/beings in heaven and all things/beings on earth (OR, all beings in heaven and all things on earth), and cause Christ to be the one who will rule them [MET]."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "11", "text": "Because of our close relationship with Christ, God has also chosen us(inc) (OR, us(exc) Jews) to receive what he has promised to give us. He decided long ago to do that. It was exactly what he planned. He accomplishes everything exactly as he plans and desires,"}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "12", "text": "in order that we(exc) Jews, who confidently expected the Messiah to do great things for us before the non-Jews expected such things (OR, we(inc) who were already confidently expecting Christ to do great things for us) will praise him for his greatness."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "13", "text": "You Ephesians also heard the true message, the good message about how God saves you. People put their seal on something to show that it belongs to them. Similarly, when you believed in Christ, God showed that you also belong to him by sending you the Holy Spirit as he promised to do [MET]."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "14", "text": "The Holy Spirit is like[MET] a ◄deposit/down payment►. That is, he ◄guarantees/assures us► that we will receive all that God has promised to give us, at the time when God will give to those who belong to him [MET] everything that Christ freed us to receive. God also assures you that you belong to him, in order that you would praise him for his greatness."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "15", "text": "Because of what God has done for you, and because people told me that you continue to trust in the Lord Jesus and that you love all those who belong to God,"}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "16", "text": "I thank God for you constantly [LIT, HYP]. I ◄mention/pray for► you constantly, whenever I pray."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "17", "text": "I pray that God, who is the glorious/wonderful Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, may cause his Spirit to make you wise, and that his Spirit will reveal God to you so that you may fully know him."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "18", "text": "And I pray that God would enable you to understand [MTY] his truth within your ◄inner beings/hearts►, in order that in your ◄inner beings/hearts► you may know the things that we believers should confidently expect to receive because he chose us to be his people. And I pray that you will know how God will bless his people in a very wonderful way when we finally receive all that he has promised to give us."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "19", "text": "And I pray that you will know how very powerfully God acts for us who continue to trust in Christ. He works powerfully for us"}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "20", "text": "just like he acted powerfully for Christ when he caused Christ to become alive again after he died, and put him in the place of highest/greatest honor [MTY] in heaven."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "21", "text": "There, Christ is the supreme ruler over every powerful spirit of every level of authority. His rank is much higher than any of them can receive, not only now, but forever."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "22", "text": "God has caused all beings to be subject to Christ [MTY], and he has also appointed Christ, who rules over all things, to rule [MET] over all believers."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "23", "text": "We believers relate to Christ like the parts of a person's body [MET] relate to its head. Christ uses all his power among us just like he uses his power throughout the whole universe."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "1", "text": "Formerly, because you were habitually sinning [DOU], you were ◄ spiritually dead/ as unable to please God as a corpse [MET] is►."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "2", "text": "You were acting in the same evil way as those who oppose Christ [MTY] act. That is, you were behaving in the evil ways that Satan wanted you to behave. He rules over evil spiritual beings that no person can see [MTY]. He is the spirit who now powerfully controls the people who disobey God."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "3", "text": "Formerly, we all used to disobey God as they do. We did the things that our self-centered nature wanted us to do. We habitually did those evil deeds that our bodies and our minds wanted. When we were acting like that, it was certain that God would punish [MTY] us, just like he will certainly punish all other evil people."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "4", "text": "But God always acts very mercifully, and he loves us very much."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "5", "text": "As a result, even when we were ◄ spiritually dead/ as unable to please God as a corpse [MET] is► because we were habitually sinning, he enabled us to receive spiritual/ eternal life because of our relationship with Christ. Do not forget this: It is only because God has acted so kindly toward you, in a way that you did not deserve, that you are saved {that he saved you} from the guilt of your sin"}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "6", "text": "And it is as though God gave us spiritual life when he caused Christ Jesus to be alive again after he died [MET]. And it is as though God caused us to sit and rule[MTY] with him in heaven,"}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "7", "text": "in order that he might show to everyone at all times in the future that he has acted toward us in an extremely kind way because of what Christ Jesus did for us."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "8", "text": "It is only by God acting [PRS] toward you in a way that you did not deserve that you have been saved {that he has saved you} as a result of your trusting in Christ. You did not save yourselves. His saving you was his gift to you."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "9", "text": "He did not save any of you because of anything you yourselves did. The result is that no one can be proud of what they have done to save themselves."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "10", "text": "It is God who has made us what we are now. Because of our relationship with Christ Jesus, he has enabled us to receive spiritual/eternal life in order that we should conduct our lives habitually doing the good deeds that God previously planned for us to do."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "11", "text": "You Ephesians were non-Jews from the time that you were born. The Jews ◄ insult you/say that you are not God's people► by calling you ❛those who are not circumcised❜. They proudly call themselves ❛we(exc) who are circumcised❜. They have allowed people to circumcise them to indicate that they are God's people, but that has only changed their bodies, not their◄ inner beings/hearts►."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "12", "text": "You should constantly remember these things: Formerly you did not have any relationship with Christ. You did not belong to the people of Israel, the people whom God chose. You did not know about the things God promised in his agreements with his people. You did not confidently expect to go to heaven after you die (OR, that God would save you). You lived in this world without knowing God."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "13", "text": "But now, because of your relationship with Christ Jesus, God has brought you, who had no relationship with him [MET], into his family [MET]. He did that because you trusted in what Christ accomplished when his blood [MTY] flowed from his body when he died on the cross."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "14", "text": "Christ himself has caused us Jewish and non-Jewish believers to have peace with each other. He has made both of our groups to become one group. Just like people◄tear down/demolish► a wall that separates groups of people[MET], he has destroyed the hatred between Jews and non-Jews."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "15", "text": "By dying [MTY] for us on the cross he made it no longer necessary for us to obey all the Jewish laws and rituals in order to be saved. He did that in order to enable the two groups to become one new group because of our relationship with him. The result was that he has caused us to have peace with each other."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "16", "text": "By dying on the cross [MTY] he caused both Jews and non-Jews to have a peaceful relationship with God. That is how he caused us to no longer be [MET] enemies with God(OR, with each other)."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "17", "text": "He came to earth and proclaimed that you non-Jews, who did not have a relationship with [MET] God, and us(exc) Jews, who considered that we(exc) belonged to[MET] God's family, can all now have peace with God."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "18", "text": "We know that he has done that because we both, Jews and non-Jews, are now able to approach God the Father in prayer by the help of his Spirit, because of what Christ has done."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "19", "text": "So God no longer treats you non-Jews as people treat[MET] foreigners and strangers who live among them[MET]. Instead, along with all God's people, it is as though you have become citizens of a country that he rules over, and as though you have become members of the family of which he is the father[MET]."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "20", "text": "Just like a building is built { as someone builds a building} on a foundation, God has joined you into one group that originated/began from what the apostles and prophets taught. Christ Jesus is the most important one in that group, just like a cornerstone is the most important part of a building. And"}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "21", "text": "just like a builder might join together all the parts of a building to make it a temple that people will dedicate to the Lord [MET], Christ is continually causing all of you who have a relationship with him to be united, in order that you will become one holy group."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "22", "text": "And because of your relationship with Christ, God is joining you non-Jews together with Jewish believers to be like one building [MET] in which his Spirit lives."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "1", "text": "Because God has done all this for you non-Jews, I, Paul, pray for you. I want you to know that it is because I serve Christ Jesus for your sake that I am in prison."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "2", "text": "I ◄assume that/think that probably► someone has told you how God acted very kindly toward me, appointing me so that I would proclaim the good message to you non-Jews."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "3", "text": "God revealed to me the message that he had not revealed to others. When you read what I have already written briefly about that,"}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "4", "text": "you will be able to understand that I understand clearly that message about Christ."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "5", "text": "Formerly, God did not reveal that message to anyone, but now his Spirit has revealed that message to ◄his holy apostles and prophets/people who tell messages that come directly from God►."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "6", "text": "That message, which he has now revealed, is that because of our(inc) relationship with Christ Jesus, all of us, non-Jews as well as Jews [MTY], will receive the great spiritual blessings that God has promised as we all form one group [MET] as a result of our believing the good message about Christ."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "7", "text": "By God powerfully enabling me, and because God acted kindly toward me, doing what I did not deserve, and chose me to do that work, I became one person who tells others this good message."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "8", "text": "Although I am the least worthy of all God's people, God kindly appointed me to proclaim to the non-Jews the message about the great spiritual blessings that they can receive from Christ,"}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "9", "text": "and to enable everyone to understand clearly how God accomplished what he planned. God, who created everything, has now revealed this message, which he never revealed to anyone before."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "10", "text": "What he planned was that all ◄believers/people who belong to Christ► would be the ones who would reveal to all the ranks [DOU] of spiritual beings in heaven that what God had planned is wise in every way."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "11", "text": "That is what God had always planned, and it is what he accomplished by what our Lord Jesus has done."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "12", "text": "Because of what he has done and because of our relationship with him, when we pray we can approach God confidently and without being afraid."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "13", "text": "So I ask that you do not be discouraged because of my suffering many things for you here in prison. You should feel honored that I am willing to suffer these things for your sake."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "14", "text": "Because God has done all this for you, I kneel and pray[MTY] to God our Father."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "15", "text": "He is the one who is like a father of all the believers who are now in heaven and those who are still on the earth."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "16", "text": "I pray that, using his unlimited resources, he will cause you to be strengthened by his Spirit {cause his Spirit to strengthen you} in your ◄inner beings/hearts► with all God's power."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "17", "text": "That is, I pray that because of your trusting in Christ, his Spirit may live in your ◄inner beings/hearts► (OR, he may live in your hearts). And I pray that because you love Christ firmly and faithfully/continually [MET], you,"}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "18", "text": "along with all other believers, may be able to know how very [DOU] much Christ loves us(inc) ."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "19", "text": "I want you to experience how very deeply he loves us, even though it is not possible for us to understand fully how much he loves us. And I pray that God will enable you to be filled with {have a full measure of} all the qualities of his character that he himself has."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "20", "text": "God is able to do much ◄greater things/more► than we could ask him to do, or even that we might think that he can do, according to (OR, by) his power that is working within us."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "21", "text": "Because of our relationship with Christ Jesus, may all ◄believers/those who belong to him► praise him forever. ◄Amen!/May it be so!►"}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "1", "text": "Therefore I, who am in prison because I serve the Lord Jesus, urge you, whom God has chosen to be his people, to do these things: Conduct your lives as God's people should."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "2", "text": "Always be humble, and do not demand your own rights. Be patient with each other, and, because you love each other, endure each other's ◄ irritating behavior/behavior that you do not like►."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "3", "text": "God's Spirit has caused you to be united with one another, so do all that you can to remain united with one another by acting peacefully toward each other."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "4", "text": "All we believers form just one group[MET], and there is only one Holy Spirit, just like you were chosen { God chose you} in order that you all might confidently keep expecting one set of good things as a result of his choosing you."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "5", "text": "There is only one Lord, Jesus Christ. We all believe the same teaching about him. It was to show that we belong to him alone that we had someone baptize us."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "6", "text": "There is one God, who is the spiritual Father of all us believers. He rules over all his people; he enables all his people to do powerful things(OR, he sustains all his people); and his Spirit lives in all his people."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "7", "text": "Christ has generously given to each one of us spiritual gifts, just like he decided to give them."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "8", "text": "When Christ gave gifts to his people, it was similar to what the Psalmist said about God receiving tribute money from those whom he had conquered, When he ascended to heaven, he gave as gifts to people the things that he had taken from the people whom he captured:"}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "9", "text": "The words ❛he ascended❜ certainly imply/indicate [RHQ] that Christ had also previously descended to the earth."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "10", "text": "Christ, who descended to earth, is also the one who ascended to the most exalted position in heaven, in order that he might show his power [MTY] throughout the universe."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "11", "text": "He appointed some people to be apostles. He appointed some people to be ◄prophets/ones who reveal messages that come directly from God►. He appointed some people to be ◄evangelists/ones whose work is to tell others the message about Christ►. He appointed some people to lead and teach the congregations."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "12", "text": "He appointed all of these in order that they would prepare God's people to do God's work, so that all the people who belong to Christ [MET] might become spiritually mature."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "13", "text": "He wants all of us believers to be united because we all believe in the Son of God and because we all know him. He wants us to become spiritually mature; that is, he wants us to be ◄perfect/all that God wants us to be►, just like Christ was ◄ perfect/all that God wanted him to be►."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "14", "text": "Then we will no longer be spiritually immature, like [MET] little children are immature. We will no longer be constantly changing what we believe, like[MET] waves of the sea are constantly changing as the wind blows and tosses them back and forth. We will not allow people who teach what is false and who ◄scheme/try cleverly► to deceive/influence us."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "15", "text": "Instead, by loving others as we behave according to God's truth (OR, speak in a loving manner what is true), we will become more and more like Christ in every way. He is the one who controls/guides all his people[MET], just like a person's head controls/guides his body."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "16", "text": "He enables all those who belong to him to mature spiritually. Specifically, they will become mature spiritually by loving each other and by each of them doing the work that God wants them to do. That is like[MET] a person's body grows stronger, as each part of the body is joined to the others by the ligaments and as each part ◄functions properly/works as it should►."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "17", "text": "By the authority of the Lord Jesus, I strongly ◄affirm/tell you► that you must no longer conduct your lives like unbelievers do. The futile/worthless way in which they think [MET] controls how they conduct their lives."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "18", "text": "They are unable to think clearly [MET] about what is right and what is wrong. Because they have decided that they do not want to know about God and because they stubbornly [IDM] refuse to listen to his message, they do not have the eternal life that God gives us."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "19", "text": "The result is that because they have ceased ◄to care/to be concerned► about what is right and what is wrong, they have ◄deliberately committed themselves to doing/wholeheartedly decided to do► the shameful things that their bodies want, and they commit all kinds of immoral acts, and continually are eager to do more of those things."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "20", "text": "But when you learned about Christ, you did not learn to behave like that."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "21", "text": "I am sure that you heard the message about Christ, and because you are people who have a close relationship with him, you were taught { others taught you} the true way to live that Jesus showed us."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "22", "text": "You were taught{ They taught you} that you must put aside [MET] your evil nature; that is, that you must not behave like you formerly did. Your evil desires deceived you, making you want to do evil things and causing you to think that doing that was good for you; and your thinking like that was destroying you spiritually."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "23", "text": "Others taught you that instead, you must let God's Spirit change the way you think,"}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "24", "text": "and that you must start being [MET] the new persons that God made you to become. That is, your behavior must be righteous and truly/genuinely devout."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "25", "text": "Therefore, quit lying to one another. Instead, because we all belong to just one group of believers, speak truthfully to each other."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "26", "text": "If you get angry, do not sin as a result of getting angry. Before the end of the day [MTY], stop being angry"}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "27", "text": "and by doing that, do not allow the devil to make you do evil."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "28", "text": "Those who have been stealing must not steal any longer. Instead, they should work hard to earn ◄their living/what they need► ◄ by their own efforts/ by what they do themselves► [MTY], in order that they may have something to give to those who are needy."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "29", "text": "Do not use [MTY] foul language. Instead, say only things that are suitable/useful for helping people when they need help, things that will help spiritually the people that you talk to."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "30", "text": "God has given you his Spirit ◄to confirm/to assure you► that some day God will claim all you people whom Christ has redeemed [MET], just like people confirm that something belongs to them by putting their seal on it. So do not cause God's Holy Spirit to be sad ◄ by the way you talk/by the things that you say►."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "31", "text": "Do not be resentful at all towards others. Do not become angry in any way. Never shout abusively at others. Never ◄slander/say bad things about► others. Never act maliciously/be mean in any way."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "32", "text": "Be kind to one another. Act mercifully toward each other. Forgive each other, just like God forgave you because of what Christ has done."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "1", "text": "◄Imitate/Behave like► God, because he loves you who are as though you were[SIM] his children."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "2", "text": "Do everything in a way that shows that you love people, just like Christ loved us and willingly died for us. He offered himself to God as a sacrifice that was very pleasing to God, just like Jewish priests offered sweet-smelling animal sacrifices to God [MET]."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "3", "text": "Do not commit any kind of immoral act [DOU], and do not desire more things than you need. Do not act in such a way that others could even ◄spread rumors/talk► about your acting in such ways, because it is not appropriate/fitting for God's people to do such things."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "4", "text": "Do not use obscene/shameful language when you talk to people. Do not talk foolishly. Do not use vulgar/indecent language, because it is not appropriate/fitting that God's people should talk like that. Instead, tell people how much you thank God for all he does for you."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "5", "text": "You can be sure of this: No person who is sexually immoral or who acts indecently/shamefully will be among those people whom God rules over [MET] in heaven. Neither will those who desire more things than they need. Such people worship their possessions instead of worshipping God."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "6", "text": "Do not let anyone deceive you by suggesting that God will really not punish people who commit such sins, because God certainly will punish [MTY] those who habitually disobey him by doing such things."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "7", "text": "So, do not commit the same kind of deeds that such people do,"}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "8", "text": "because formerly you did not know God's truth[MET], as those who are in darkness do not know what is around them. But now it is as though you are in the light [MET] because you know God's truth because of your relationship with the Lord Jesus. So do those things that those who know God's truth [MET] should do."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "9", "text": "Keep in mind that as light [MET] produces things that are good, those who know God's truth should do those things that are good, righteous, and honest."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "10", "text": "And as you do that, try ◄to find out/to discover► what pleases the Lord."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "11", "text": "Do not do the worthless deeds that the people ◄who are in spiritual darkness/who do not know God's truth► [MET] do. Instead, let others know that those people's deeds are worthless."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "12", "text": "It is shameful for God's people to even talk among themselves about those evil deeds that evil people do secretly and habitually."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "13", "text": "But when God's people rebuke those evil people about their deeds, it will be clear/evident how evil their deeds really are, just like everything exposed to the light becomes visible {as light [MET] reveals everything that we cannot see in the darkness}."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "14", "text": "Just like something on which a light shines reflects that light[MET], whoever has learned God's truth reveals that truth to others. That is why we believers say this: You who are not aware of your sins, become aware of them [MET]! It is as though you are sound asleep, so wake up! Be like dead people who are becoming alive again! Christ will cause you to know God's truth, just like a light [MET] that shines causes people to know what is in the darkness."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "15", "text": "So be very careful how you behave. Do not behave as foolish people do. Instead, behave as wise people do."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "16", "text": "Use your time carefully, because in these days [MTY] people do extremely evil deeds."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "17", "text": "Because of that, do not be foolish. Instead, understand what the Lord Jesus wants you to do, and do it!"}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "18", "text": "Do not become drunk by drinking alcoholic drinks, since people are unable to control their behavior when they are drunk. Instead, let God's Spirit control your behavior at all times [MTY]."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "19", "text": "Sing to each other ◄Psalms/songs with words from the Scriptures►, sing other songs that the congregation knows, and songs that God's Spirit gives you. Sing these Psalms and other songs sincerely to praise the Lord Jesus."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "20", "text": "At all times thank God, who is our heavenly Father, for everything, because of what the Lord Jesus Christ [MTY] has done for you."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "21", "text": "Humbly submit yourselves to each other because you reverence Christ, who is our example."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "22-23", "text": "Because husbands have authority over [MET] their wives, just as all of us believers form one group under the authority of Christ, you women should submit yourselves to the authority of your husbands just as you submit yourselves to the Lord Jesus. He is the one who saves all his people from the guilt of their sins."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "24", "text": "Just like all believers submit themselves to the authority of Christ, the women must submit themselves completely to the authority of their husbands."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "25", "text": "Each of you husbands, love your wife as Christ loved all of us who would become believers, with the result that he willingly died for our sake,"}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "26", "text": "in order that he might ◄set us apart for himself/cause us to belong to him►. That is, by revealing his message to us, he wanted to remove the guilt of our sin, just like people remove dirt from something by washing it [MET]."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "27", "text": "Christ did that in order that he might cause all of us believers to be a glorious group of people that belong to him, people that do not have any moral flaws/imperfections, but instead might be completely pure [DOU] when he gathers us ◄to his presence/to himself►."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "28", "text": "In the same way, each man should love his wife as he loves his own body. Men who love their wives, it is as though they love themselves."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "29-30", "text": "This is shown by the fact that no one ever hated his own body. Instead, he feeds his own body and cares for it, just like Christ also cares for all us believers. We have become one group of believers that belongs to him [MET]."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "31", "text": "What someone has written in the Scriptures about people who marry is this,"}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "32", "text": "It is very difficult to understand the meaning of these things that God has now revealed to me, but I am telling you that those words also refer to the relationship between Christ and all those who belong to him."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "33", "text": "However, as for you, each man must love his wife just as he loves himself, and each woman must respect her husband."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 6, "verse": "1", "text": "You children, because you ◄belong to/have a close relationship with► the Lord Jesus, obey your parents, because it is right for you to do that."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 6, "verse": "2", "text": "God commanded in the Scriptures, Greatly respect your father and mother. That is the first law that God commanded in which he also promised something. He promised,"}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 6, "verse": "3", "text": "If you do that, you will prosper, and you will live a long time on the earth."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 6, "verse": "4", "text": "You parents (OR, You fathers), do not treat your children so severely that they become angry. Instead, bring them up well by instructing them and by disciplining them in the manner that the Lord Jesus wants you to do."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 6, "verse": "5", "text": "You slaves, obey those who are your masters here on the earth. Obey them very respectfully and sincerely [DOU], just like you obey Christ."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 6, "verse": "6", "text": "Obey them, not only when they are watching [MTY] you, and not only to cause them to think highly/well of you. Instead, obey them as though you were[MET] slaves of Christ, not slaves of your masters. Do enthusiastically what God wants you to do."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 6, "verse": "7", "text": "Serve your masters zealously/wholeheartedly, as you would serve the Lord Jesus, not as you would serve ordinary people."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 6, "verse": "8", "text": "Do this because you know that some day the Lord Jesus will reward each person for whatever good deeds that person has done. He will reward people who are slaves and people who are not slaves."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 6, "verse": "9", "text": "You masters, just like your slaves should serve you well, you similarly must treat them well. Stop threatening to beat them if they do not do their work well. Do not forget that the one who is their Lord and your Lord is in heaven. So he is the one who will say to you and your slaves whether he approves of what you and they have done, and when he judges people, he does not act more favorably toward some than he acts toward others."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 6, "verse": "10", "text": "Finally, at all times rely/depend completely on the Lord Jesus to strengthen you spiritually by his own mighty power."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 6, "verse": "11", "text": "Just like a soldier puts on all his ◄armor/things to help him fight► [MET], you should use every spiritual resource/help that God provides for you, in order that you may successfully resist the devil when he cleverly tries to oppose you."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 6, "verse": "12", "text": "You must do this because the fighting that we believers do is not only against human beings [SYN]. Instead, we are also fighting against evil spirits who rule and have authority over all that is evil [MET] in the world. We are fighting against evil spirits who are in heavenly places (OR, everywhere)."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 6, "verse": "13", "text": "Therefore, just like a soldier puts on all his ◄armor/things to help him fight► [MET], use well all the spiritual resources/helps that God provides for you. Do that in order that you may be able to resist successfully the devil and all his powerful evil spirits [MTY] every time they ◄attack you/tempt you to sin or cause something bad to happen to you►. Do it also in order that when you have done all that you can to resist them when they attack you, you will still be ready to resist them when they attack you the next time."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 6, "verse": "14", "text": "You must be ready to firmly resist the devil and his evil spirits[MET], just like soldiers must be ready to resist the enemy. Prepare for doing that by doing these things: To be strong spiritually, hold firmly to God's truth, just like soldiers prepare ◄to stand firm against/to firmly resist► their enemies by fastening their belts around their waists [MET]. Act righteously in order to protect yourself against demonic attacks, just like soldiers put on breastplates to protect their chests against his enemies' attacks[MET]."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 6, "verse": "15", "text": "Hold firmly the good message that gives us peace with God, just like soldiers put on their boots firmly [MET] ◄to stand firm against/ to firmly resist► their enemies."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 6, "verse": "16", "text": "In addition, keep trusting firmly in the Lord. That will enable you to protect yourselves from anything that Satan, the evil one, may do to harm you spiritually, just like soldiers carry shields to protect themselves against the arrows that have flaming tips that their enemies shoot at them[MET]."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 6, "verse": "17", "text": "And rely/depend on the fact that God has saved you, in order to protect yourselves against demonic attacks, just like soldiers put on a helmet to protect their heads from attacks by their enemies[MET]. And be ready to use the weapon that God's Spirit has given you, which is the message of God, in order to fight against◄ demonic powers/Satan►, just like soldiers use their swords to fight against their enemies[MET]."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 6, "verse": "18", "text": "As you are doing that, keep praying to God at all times, and requesting him to do things for you and others; and let God's Spirit direct what you pray. For this purpose, always be spiritually alert/watchful, and ◄always be persistent in/never quit► praying for all God's people."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 6, "verse": "19", "text": "And specifically, pray for me. Pray that God will tell me what I should say [MTY] whenever I speak, in order that I may boldly tell others the good message about Christ. People did not know that message before, but God has now revealed it to me."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 6, "verse": "20", "text": "I am ◄a representative of Christ/one who speaks on behalf of Christ► as I tell this message to others, and I am in prison [MTY] because of that. Pray that when I tell others about Christ, I may speak without being afraid, because that is how I ought to speak."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 6, "verse": "21", "text": "In order that you may know about what is happening to me and what I am doing, I am sending Tychicus to you with this letter. He will tell you everything that is happening here. He is a fellow believer whom we all(inc) love very much, and he serves the Lord Jesus faithfully."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 6, "verse": "22", "text": "That is the reason that I am sending him to you; I want you to know ◄how my companions and I are/what is happening to my companions and me►, and I want him to encourage you [SYN]."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 6, "verse": "23", "text": "I pray that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will cause all of you fellow believers to have inner peace, and enable you to love each other and to continue trusting in Christ."}
{"book": "EPH", "chapter": 6, "verse": "24", "text": "I pray that God will continue to act kindly to you and to all others who love our Lord Jesus Christ and will never quit loving him."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 1, "verse": "1", "text": "I, Paul, and Timothy, who is with me, are men who serve Christ Jesus. I am writing this letter to all of you who are pastors and deacons in Philippi city and to the rest of God's people there who have a close relationship with Christ Jesus."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 1, "verse": "2", "text": "We both(OR, I) pray that God, who is our Father, and Jesus Christ, who is our Lord, will continue to act kindly toward you and will continue to cause you to have inner peace."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 1, "verse": "3", "text": "I thank my God whenever I think about you."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 1, "verse": "4", "text": "Every time [DOU] I pray for you, I joyfully pray [DOU] for all of you."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 1, "verse": "5", "text": "I thank God and rejoice because you have been working together with me in order to make known the good message about Christ. You started doing that when you first [MTY] believed it, and you have continued doing it until now."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 1, "verse": "6", "text": "I am completely confident that God, who has begun to perform in you what is good, (OR, that since God has begun to perform in you what is good, he) will continue to do that until he finishes doing it on the day Christ Jesus [MTY] returns."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 1, "verse": "7", "text": "During this time that I have been a prisoner [MTY] and during the times I was previously able to defend the good message about Christ and proved/confirmed to others that it is true, all of you have been sharing with me (OR, have helped me) in this work that God kindly gave to me to do. So indeed it is right that I feel joyful about you all, because you are very dear [IDM] to me."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 1, "verse": "8", "text": "God can verify that Christ Jesus causes me to love and long for all of you very much, just like Christ loves you."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 1, "verse": "9", "text": "And what I pray for you is that God will enable you to truly know and discern how to love one another more and more in a proper way in every situation."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 1, "verse": "10", "text": "And I pray that he will enable you to completely understand how you should believe and act. I pray this in order that you might be spiritually pure and faultless (OR, completely faultless [DOU]) on the day that Christ returns[MTY],"}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 1, "verse": "11", "text": "and in order that you might conduct your lives [IDM] completely righteously as a result of Jesus Christ enabling you to do so, in order that people will honor God and praise him (OR, people will praise God very much [DOU])."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 1, "verse": "12", "text": "My fellow believers, I want you to know that the troubles I have experienced have not prevented me from proclaiming the good message to people. Instead, these things that I have experienced have enabled even more people to hear the good message about Christ."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 1, "verse": "13", "text": "Specifically, all the military guards who are stationed here in Rome and many other [HYP] people in this city[HYP] now know that I am a prisoner [MTY] because I proclaim the good news about Christ."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 1, "verse": "14", "text": "Also, most of the believers here now proclaim the message from God more courageously and fearlessly because they trust the Lord more firmly to help them. They trust the Lord more because they have seen how the Lord has helped me while I have been a prisoner [MTY] here."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 1, "verse": "15-16", "text": "Some people proclaim the message about Christ as I do because they are happy with my work. They proclaim the message about Christ because they love me and because they know that God has placed me here in order that I defend the message about Christ [CHI]."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 1, "verse": "17", "text": "Others proclaim the message about Christ because they envy me and oppose me. Those people want to exalt themselves above me. They proclaim the message about Christ because they have wrong motives. They wrongly assume that because they are causing many people to follow them, I will be jealous, and as a result, I will feel more miserable while I am a prisoner [MTY] here."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 1, "verse": "18", "text": "But ◄it does not matter!/what does it matter?► [RHQ] It does not matter whether people proclaim the message about Christ because they have wrong motives, or whether people proclaim the message about Christ because they have right motives. The important thing in either case is that the message about Christ is being proclaimed {people are proclaiming the message about Christ}. And because of that I rejoice! Furthermore, I will continue to rejoice,"}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 1, "verse": "19", "text": "because I know that the outcome of these troubles that I am experiencing will be that some day God will say that he approves of what I have done(OR, that the Roman authorities will set me free). This will happen as a result of your praying for me, and as a result of God's Spirit, whom Jesus Christ gave me, helping me."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 1, "verse": "20", "text": "I know that this will happen because I very confidently expect [DOU] that in no way I will be reluctant to honor Christ. Instead, just like I always have done, Christ will be greatly honored {I will continue now also to very boldly honor Christ} by means of all that I do [SYN, MTY], whether by the way I live or by the way I die."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 1, "verse": "21", "text": "As for me, I live in order to honor Christ. But if I die, it will be better for me than if I continue to live, because then I will be completely united with him."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 1, "verse": "22", "text": "On the other hand, if I continue to live, that will enable me to continue to serve Christ effectively. As a result, I do not know whether I prefer to live or to die."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 1, "verse": "23", "text": "That is, I am not sure which of those two I prefer. I long to leave this world and go to be with Christ, because that will be very much better for me."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 1, "verse": "24", "text": "Nevertheless, it is more important that I remain alive than that I go to be with Christ because you still need me to help you."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 1, "verse": "25", "text": "Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain alive and that I will go/come to be with you all. As a result, you will believe in Christ more firmly, and as a result of that, you will rejoice."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 1, "verse": "26", "text": "That is, you will be able to rejoice very greatly because of Christ Jesus bringing me to be with you again."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 1, "verse": "27", "text": "Most importantly, as fellow believers in Christ, conduct yourselves just like you learned you should do when you heard the message about Christ. Do that in order that whether I come and see you, or whether I am away from you and people tell me about you, what I hear or see will make me happy. They will tell me that you are unitedly and cooperatively resisting those who oppose the message about Christ(OR, oppose you). I will know that you are not allowing others to influence you to believe a message that is different from the good message about Christ."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 1, "verse": "28", "text": "And I will know that you are not at all frightened by {afraid of} the people who oppose you. This will show/prove to those people that God will destroy them, but this will show/prove to you that God will save you eternally. It is God who is doing all this."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 1, "verse": "29", "text": "Remember that he has not only kindly enabled you to believe in Christ, he has also kindly allowed you to suffer for the sake of Christ."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 1, "verse": "30", "text": "As a result, you are having to resist those who oppose the good message, just like you saw that I had to resist such people there in Philippi, and just like you hear that I still have to resist such people here now."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 2, "verse": "1", "text": "Since Christ encourages us, since he loves us and comforts us, since God's Spirit fellowships with us, and since Christ is very merciful [DOU] to us,"}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 2, "verse": "2", "text": "make me completely happy by doing the following things: Agree with one another, love one another, be closely united with one another, and live harmoniously with one another [DOU]."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 2, "verse": "3", "text": "Never try to selfishly make yourselves more important than others nor boast about what you are doing. Instead, be humble, and in particular, honor one another more than you honor yourselves."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 2, "verse": "4", "text": "Each one of you should not only be concerned about your own affairs. Instead, each of you should also be concerned that you help/about the needs of one another."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 2, "verse": "5", "text": "You should think/act just like Christ Jesus thought/acted."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 2, "verse": "6", "text": "Although he has the same nature as God has, he did not insist on keeping all the privileges of being equal with God."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 2, "verse": "7", "text": "Instead, he willingly gave up divine privileges. Specifically, he became a human being and took the attitude of a servant. When he had become a human being,"}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 2, "verse": "8", "text": "he humbled himself even more. Specifically, he obeyed God even to the extent of being willing to die. He was even willing to be nailed to a cross, to die as though he was a criminal."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 2, "verse": "9", "text": "As a result, God raised him to a rank that is above every other rank."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 2, "verse": "10", "text": "God did that in order that every being [SYN] in heaven and on earth and under the earth should worship [MTY] Jesus,"}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 2, "verse": "11", "text": "and in order that every person [SYN] should declare that Jesus Christ is Lord. As a result of everyone doing that, they will honor God, his Father."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 2, "verse": "12", "text": "My dear friends, as you consider this, since you have always obeyed God, each of you should very reverentially [DOU] try to do those things that are proper for people whom God has saved. You should do those things not only when I am with you. Instead, you should try even more to do them now when I am not with you."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 2, "verse": "13", "text": "You are able to do these things, since God himself causes you to desire to do what he wants you to do, and he also enables you to do what he wants you to do."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 2, "verse": "14", "text": "Do everything God or your leaders ask you to do. Never complain about what they want you to do or argue with them."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 2, "verse": "15", "text": "Behave like that in order that you may be completely faultless [DOU] and may be perfect children of God [DOU] while you live in the midst of people who are wicked and do very wicked things [DOU]. As you live among them, show them clearly [MET] the way they ought to behave, just like the sun, moon, and stars show an earthly road clearly to us[SIM]."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 2, "verse": "16", "text": "Tell them the message about how to have eternal life. I ask that you do that in order that on the day Christ returns I may be able to rejoice [MTY], that I did not labor [DOU] so hard among you in vain."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 2, "verse": "17", "text": "Perhaps the Roman authorities will execute me, and my blood will pour out[MET] as the wine pours out when the priest offers it to God [MET]. For your part, you believe in Christ firmly. As a result, you have given yourselves completely to God in order that you might do what he wills [MET], just like a priest offers a sacrifice completely to God[MET]. Because I dedicate myself wholly to God together with you, even if they are about to execute me, I will greatly rejoice [DOU], because I am giving myself wholly to God, and because you all are giving yourselves wholly to God."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 2, "verse": "18", "text": "Similarly, you too should rejoice because you are giving yourselves wholly to God, and you should rejoice because I am giving myself wholly to God."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 2, "verse": "19", "text": "My relationship with the Lord Jesus leads me to confidently expect that he will enable me to send Timothy to you soon, in order that his telling you the news about me will encourage you. But I also expect that his returning to me and telling me the news about you will encourage me."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 2, "verse": "20", "text": "Keep in mind that I have no one else like him who genuinely cares for you."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 2, "verse": "21", "text": "All the others whom I have considered that I might send to you are concerned only about their own matters. They are not concerned about what Jesus Christ considers important."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 2, "verse": "22", "text": "But you know that Timothy has proved that he serves the Lord and others faithfully. You know that he has served the Lord closely together with me in proclaiming to people the message about Christ as though he were [SIM] my son and I were his own father."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 2, "verse": "23", "text": "So then he is the one I confidently expect to send to you as soon as I know what will happen to me."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 2, "verse": "24", "text": "And I am confident that I will soon be released { the authorities will soon release me} so that the Lord will enable me also to come/go to you soon."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 2, "verse": "25", "text": "I have concluded that it is really necessary that I send Epaphroditus back to you. He is a fellow believer and my fellow worker, and he endures difficulties together with me[MET], just like soldiers endure together difficulties. You sent him to me in order that he might help me when I was needy [EUP]."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 2, "verse": "26", "text": "But I have concluded that I must send him back to you because he has been longing to see you all. Furthermore, he has been very distressed because he knows that you heard that he had become sick."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 2, "verse": "27", "text": "Indeed, he was so sick that he almost died. However, he did not die. Instead, God pitied him and he also pitied me, and as a result he healed him. God pitied me because he did not want me to be even more sorrowful than I already was."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 2, "verse": "28", "text": "So, I am sending him back to you as quickly as possible in order that you may rejoice when you see him again and in order that I may be less sorrowful than I was."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 2, "verse": "29-30", "text": "Welcome him very joyfully just like believers in our Lord Jesus should welcome one another. While he was working for Christ, he was helping me in place of you because you were far away. He knew that he might die as a result of helping me, and truly he nearly did die. So honor him, and honor all those who are like him."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 3, "verse": "1", "text": "Now there are other things that I want to write about. My fellow believers, continue to rejoice because you belong to the Lord. Though I will now write to you about those same matters that I mentioned to you before, this is not tiresome for me, and it will protect you from those who would harm you spiritually."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 3, "verse": "2", "text": "Beware of those people who are dangerous[MET] like wild dogs. They are dangerous evildoers [DOU]. Beware of them since they are like people who cut other people's bodies [MET]. They will harm you spiritually by insisting that you must let someone circumcise you in order for you to become God's people[MTY, MET]."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 3, "verse": "3", "text": "Those people think that they are God's people because someone has circumcised them. But we, not they, are truly God's people[MET], whether or not someone has circumcised us. God's Spirit enables us to[MTY] worship God; we praise Christ Jesus because he has enabled us to become the people of God. We do not believe that God will consider/make us his people as a result of what someone has done to our bodies [MTY, SYN]."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 3, "verse": "4", "text": "We do not trust in those rituals to make us acceptable to God, although I could very well do that if it would be useful for me. In fact, if I could benefit from it for my salvation, I could rely upon what I have done and who I am [MTY, SYN] more than anyone else could. I will tell you why."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 3, "verse": "5", "text": "I was circumcised{ Someone circumcised me} when I was one week old. I am from the people of Israel. I am from the tribe of Benjamin. I am completely Hebrew in every way. While I was a member of the Pharisee sect, I strictly obeyed the laws that God gave Moses."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 3, "verse": "6", "text": "I was so zealous to make people obey those laws that I caused the people who believe in Christ to suffer because I thought they were trying to abolish those laws. Indeed, as far as my obeying those laws is concerned, no one could have accused me by saying that I had disobeyed any of those laws."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 3, "verse": "7", "text": "Nevertheless, all such things as those, which I used to consider to be useful to me, those very things I now consider worthless, because I want to know Christ (OR, in order that I may know Christ)."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 3, "verse": "8", "text": "More than that, I consider all things to be worthless, compared to how great it is to know Christ Jesus my Lord. Because I want to know him better(OR, In order that I may know him better), I have rejected all things as worthless. I consider them as useless as[MET] rubbish, in order that I may have a close relationship with Christ [MET],"}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 3, "verse": "9", "text": "and in order that I may completely belong to him. It was not as a result of my obeying the laws he gave Moses that God erased the record of my sins. Instead, it is because I have trusted in Christ that God has declared the guilt for my sins to be ended and he enables me to act righteously. It is God himself who has erased the record of my sins, and he enables me to act righteously, only because I have trusted in Christ."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 3, "verse": "10", "text": "I want to know Christ better and better. Particularly, I want to continually experience his working powerfully in ◄me/my life►, just like God worked powerfully when he caused Christ to become alive after he died. I also want to be continually willing to suffer in order that I may obey God, just like Christ suffered in order that he might obey God. I also want to be completely willing to die for Christ, even as he died for me,"}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 3, "verse": "11", "text": "because I expect that, as a result of God's goodness, he will cause me to live again after I have died."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 3, "verse": "12", "text": "I do not claim that I have already become completely like Christ Jesus; that is, I have not already become all that God intends me to be [DOU]. But I earnestly try to become more and more like Christ, because he chose me in order that I might become like him."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 3, "verse": "13", "text": "My fellow believers, I certainly do not consider that I have already become completely like Christ. But I am like a runner. A runner does not look backward[MET]. Instead, he leans/stretches forward as he runs straight toward the goal in order that he might win the race and get the prize. Similarly, I do not think about what I have already done."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 3, "verse": "14", "text": "Instead, I concentrate only on continuing to become more and more like Christ right up to the end of my life[MET]. As a result, because of my relationship with Christ Jesus, God will call/summon me to receive a reward from him in heaven."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 3, "verse": "15", "text": "So, all of us who are spiritually mature should think/act this same way. If any of you do not think this same way regarding what I have written here, God will reveal this to you."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 3, "verse": "16", "text": "What is important is that we must conduct our lives according to what God has already revealed to us."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 3, "verse": "17", "text": "My fellow believers, all of you should unitedly imitate me, and observe those people who act as I do, in order that you may imitate them also."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 3, "verse": "18", "text": "Keep in mind that there are many people who say that they believe in Christ, but who act in such a way that shows that they are opposed to the teaching about Christ dying on the cross [MTY]. I have told you about those people many times before, and now I am sad, even crying, as I tell you about them again."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 3, "verse": "19", "text": "God will severely punish them. The things their bodies desire [MTY] have become like gods to them [MET]. They are proud of the things they should be ashamed of. They think only about what unbelievers [MTY] think about."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 3, "verse": "20", "text": "But remember that we are citizens of heaven. And we eagerly wait for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, to return from there."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 3, "verse": "21", "text": "By the power that enables him to put everything under his own control, he will change our weak bodies to become like his glorious body."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 4, "verse": "1", "text": "My fellow believers, I love you, and I long for you. You make me happy [MTY], and I am ◄proud of/pleased with► you. Dear friends, on the basis of all that I have told you, continue to believe firmly in the Lord according to what I have just taught you."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 4, "verse": "2", "text": "I urge you(sg) , Euodia, and I urge you(sg) , Syntyche, to again have a peaceful relationship with each other, because you both have a relationship with the Lord."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 4, "verse": "3", "text": "And, my faithful comrade/partner, I request that you(sg) help them to again have a peaceful relationship with each other, because they have faithfully proclaimed the message about Christ together with me, even though many people have opposed us(exc) . They have faithfully proclaimed that message together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book in which God has written the names of all those people who will live forever."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 4, "verse": "4", "text": "Because you have a relationship with the Lord, always rejoice! I say again, rejoice!"}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 4, "verse": "5", "text": "Act in such a way that everyone can know that you are gentle. The Lord is near (OR, coming soon)."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 4, "verse": "6", "text": "Do not worry about anything. Instead, in every situation, pray to God, tell him what you need, and ask him to help you[DOU]. Also thank him for what he does for you."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 4, "verse": "7", "text": "As a result, God will enable you not to worry about anything[MTY] (OR, God will protect your minds in every way) [PRS]. That is, he will cause you to have inner peace because you have a relationship with Christ Jesus. You will not be able to understand [PRS] how you can be so peaceful in such difficult circumstances!"}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 4, "verse": "8", "text": "My fellow believers, there is one more thing I want you to do. Whatever is true, whatever is worthy of respect, whatever is right, whatever is morally pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is admirable, whatever is good, whatever deserves praise, those are the things that you should continually think about."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 4, "verse": "9", "text": "Those things that I have taught you and that you have received from me, those things that you have heard me say and that you have seen me do, those are the things that you yourselves should continually do. As a result of your doing those things, God, the one who causes us to have inner peace, will ◄be with/bless► you."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 4, "verse": "10", "text": "I rejoice greatly and thank the Lord because now, after some time, by sending money to me you have once again shown that you are concerned about me [EUP]. Indeed, you were concerned about me all the time, but you had no opportunity to show that you were concerned about me."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 4, "verse": "11", "text": "I am saying this not because I am concerned that I lack things that I need. In fact, I have learned to be content in whatever situation I am."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 4, "verse": "12", "text": "Specifically, I know how to be content when I do not have what I need, and I know how to be content when I have plenty. I have learned how to be content in any and every situation[DOU]. Specifically, I have learned how to be content when I have enough to eat, and I have learned how to be content when I do not have enough to eat. I have learned how to be content when I have plenty [DOU] of what I need, and I have learned how to be content when I lack things."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 4, "verse": "13", "text": "I am able ◄to cope with/to handle► every situation because Christ gives me the strength to do that."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 4, "verse": "14", "text": "Nevertheless, you did very well in that you helped me(OR, gave me money) [EUP] while I have been suffering hardship."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 4, "verse": "15", "text": "My friends there at Philippi, you yourselves know that during the time I first proclaimed the message about Christ to you, when I left there to go to Macedonia province, you were the only group of believers [LIT] who sent me gifts [EUP] in order that I might proclaim that message to others just like I did for you."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 4, "verse": "16", "text": "Even when I was in Thessalonica city, you sent money[EUP] to me two different times [IDM] in order to supply what I needed."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 4, "verse": "17", "text": "I say this, not because I desire that you give me money now. Instead, I desire that God will abundantly bless [MET] you as a result of your helping me."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 4, "verse": "18", "text": "I have received a very generous gift[EUP] from you, and as a result, I have plenty. I have an abundant supply of what I need because I have received from Epaphroditus the money [EUP] that you sent to me. God considers that your gift is very acceptable, and he is very pleased with it. Your gift is like a nice-smelling sacrifice [MET]."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 4, "verse": "19", "text": "Moreover, God, whom I serve, has an unlimited supply of everything that we(inc) need. And as a result, because of your relationship with Christ Jesus, he will completely supply everything that you need."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 4, "verse": "20", "text": "So, praise God our Father forever and ever! Amen!"}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 4, "verse": "21", "text": "Greet for me/us(exc) all of God's people there, that is, all those who have a relationship with Christ Jesus. The fellow believers who serve God together with me here send their greetings to you (OR, say they are thinking fondly of you)."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 4, "verse": "22", "text": "All of God's people here send their greetings to you. Especially the fellow believers who work in the palace of the emperor send their greetings to you."}
{"book": "PHP", "chapter": 4, "verse": "23", "text": "My desire is that our Lord Jesus Christ will continue to act kindly toward you all [SYN]."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "1", "text": "I, Paul, am writing this letter to you, and our fellow believer Timothy is with me. I am an apostle who represents Christ Jesus, because that is what God wanted."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "2", "text": "I am sending this letter to you who are in Colossae city, and who are God's people, and our faithful fellow believers who have a close relationship with Christ. We pray that God our Father will be acting kindly towards you, and that he will cause you to have inner peace."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "3", "text": "Very often [HYP] we thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, while we are praying for you,"}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "4", "text": "because we have heard that you believe in Christ Jesus, and that you love all God's people."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "5", "text": "You do that because you confidently expect to receive that which God is ◄reserving/keeping safe► for you in heaven, which you heard about previously when you heard the true message, that is, the message about Christ."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "6", "text": "People proclaimed it [PRS] to you, just like people have proclaimed it in many different countries [HYP, IDM]. The true message is changing more and more people's lives, just like it changed your lives because you heard it and you truly experienced that God acts kindly towards us in ways we do not deserve."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "7", "text": "That is just what Epaphras taught you would happen. We love Epaphras. He serves Christ together with us and works for Christ faithfully for your benefit."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "8", "text": "He told us that you love all God's people, just like God's Spirit has enabled you to(OR, spiritually)."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "9", "text": "Because of what we heard about you, we have also been praying [LIT] very often to God for you [HYP], ever since we heard this report about you. We pray that you will know truly all that God wants you to do; that is, that you will become very wise, and that you will understand spiritual matters well."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "10", "text": "We have been praying that in order that you will conduct yourselves as the Lord's people should conduct themselves, in order that you will please the Lord in every way. Specifically, we have been praying that in order that you will be doing every sort of good deed [IDM] and in order that you will be getting to know God truly, more and more."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "11", "text": "And we pray that God will greatly strengthen you spiritually to the extent of the mighty power that he has shown to people, in order that you will always be steadfast and patient when you experience difficulties, while at the same time you will be rejoicing."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "12", "text": "And we pray that you will be thanking God our Father, because he has qualified you/us so that you/we are also worthy to receive the things that he will give to his people in heaven [SYN]."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "13", "text": "God our Father rescued us spiritually so that the evil one no longer rules us [MET, MTY], and he transferred us spiritually so that his Son, whom he loves, rules us."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "14", "text": "That is, because of our relationship with his Son (OR, because of what his Son did), God has redeemed/bought us; in particular, he has forgiven our sins."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "15", "text": "God's Son reveals perfectly what God, his Father, is like, whom no one can see. God's Son existed before and ranks above everything that God has created."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "16", "text": "When God created everything that is on the earth, he did it by having his Son do it. He created everything that people can see, and also everything which is in heaven that people cannot see. In particular, his Son created all ranks of important spirit beings. And he ranks above everything, because God created everything by the work of his Son, and because by him all things were created {because God created everything} in order that everything might praise his Son,"}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "17", "text": "and because it is his Son who existed before anything else existed, and because God sustains everything by what his Son does."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "18", "text": "And God's Son ranks above everything, because it is he who rules over his people[MET] as a person's head controls his physical body, because he causes them to live spiritually. His Son is the first one who rose from among those who have died, in order that he should become more important than anything and everyone."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "19", "text": "He reveals perfectly what God his Father is like, because it is in his Son that his Father chose that he himself would dwell completely."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "20", "text": "God our Father caused his Son to rule us, because he decided to reconcile to himself everything that is on earth and that is in heaven by what his Son did, in order that everything might honor his Son; that is, God our Father decided to reconcile everything to himself as a result of his Son's blood flowing when he died on the cross. [The chiastic material is rearranged below so that the directly related propositional clusters are joined together.] 13 God our Father rescued us spiritually so that we are no longer ruled by the evil one, and God our Father transferred us spiritually so that we are ruled by his Son whom he loves. 14a That is, by means of what his Son did, we have been redeemed by God, our Father. 14b In particular, our sins have been forgiven by God, our Father. 20 God, our Father, has done this because he decided to reconcile to himself, by means of his Son, everything that is on earth and that is in heaven, in order that his Son might be honored; that is, God, our Father decided to reconcile everything to himself by means of God's Son's blood flowing out when he died on the cross. 15b God cannot be seen by anyone, 15a but his Son reveals perfectly what God—his Father—is like, 19a because it is in his Son that the Father chose 19b that he himself would dwell completely. 15c God's Son ranks above everything 15d that has been created, 16 because it was by means of God's Son that God created everything that is on the earth and that can be seen by people, and also everything that is in heaven and that cannot be seen by people. In particular, all types of important spirit beings were created by means of him, since everything has been created by God by means of God's Son. And his Son ranks above everything, because everything has been created by God, in order that God's Son might be honored by everything, 17 and because it is he who existed before anything else existed, and since everything is sustained by God by means of God's Son. 18 And God's Son ranks above everything because it is he who rules over all believers, just like a person's head controls his physical body, because he causes all believers to live spiritually. His Son is the first one who rose from among those who have died, in order that he should become more important than everything and everyone."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "21", "text": "As for you, although formerly God considered you his enemies (OR, God considered you as alienated from him) and although you were formerly hostile to God because you thought evil thoughts and because you did evil deeds,"}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "22", "text": "nevertheless, God our Father has now reconciled you to himself. He did that as a result of his Son dying physically. He did it in order that you should be completely holy when he brings you into his presence."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "23", "text": "But he wants you to continue [DOU] to believe the message about Christ; specifically, he wants you to continue to be stable/steadfast and to continue to confidently expect to receive that which you heard about when you heard that message. That message has been proclaimed {They have proclaimed that message} to people in very many places [HYP]; and I, Paul, have also become one who tells it to people."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "24", "text": "At the present time I am rejoicing that I am suffering for your benefit; that is, I am completing what Christ decided that I should suffer physically for the benefit of all believers, who are as dear to him as his own body."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "25", "text": "I myself became one who serves God's people, because I was appointed { God appointed me} to be responsible to help you who are non-Jews. I became one who serves God's people in order that I should make known to you non-Jews the whole message from/about God."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "26", "text": "We did not know this message previously; that is, God concealed it from the people who lived in all the previous ages, but he has now revealed it to his people."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "27", "text": "That is, God decided to reveal to them this message, which declares that he will greatly bless the non-Jews. Specifically, this message declares that Christ, by his Spirit, will live in you who are non-Jews, with the result that you confidently expect that you will share in God's glory."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "28", "text": "We proclaim about Christ to every class of persons; specifically, we warn them, and specifically, we teach everyone very wisely. We do this in order that every person who ◄has a close relationship with/is united to► Christ may be ◄all that God wants them to be/perfect► when we present them to Christ."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 1, "verse": "29", "text": "In order that I might achieve/accomplish this, I am also working hard; that is, I am exerting myself as a result of Christ's empowering me very greatly."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "1", "text": "In particular, I want you to realize that I am ◄exerting myself very greatly/working very hard► on your behalf, on behalf of those who are in Laodicea city, and on behalf of all those others who have not seen me personally."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "2", "text": "I am doing this in order that they and you [SYN] might be strengthened spiritually as you are united in loving one another. And I am doing this in order that they and you might fully and thoroughly [DOU] understand the message that God has now revealed; that is, in order that they and you might truly know the message from God our Father and about Christ,"}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "3", "text": "who alone is able to cause them and you to understand thoroughly [DOU] this very important message."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "4", "text": "I am telling you this in order that no one may deceive you by means of arguing persuasively;"}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "5", "text": "because, even though I am absent from you physically, I am very concerned about you. At the same time, I am rejoicing because I know that you are united with each other and that you believe firmly in Christ."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "6", "text": "In a way that is ◄consistent/in harmony► with the message that you received about Christ Jesus, who is our Lord, conduct yourselves as you should, since you have a close relationship with such a one as he is."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "7", "text": "Specifically, continue believing and practicing [MET, DOU] what you were first taught about Christ. Continue to do this more and more; continue to be sure about all the true teaching, just like Epaphras taught it to you. And continue thanking God, our Father, very much for all that he has done for you."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "8", "text": "Make sure that no one forces you(pl) to become his disciples [MET] by his teaching you a religious philosophy/doctrine that is valueless and false. Such a philosophy is false because it teaches what mere human beings think, because it teaches people elementary regulations/rules that are concerned merely with what is external/physical, and because it teaches what is contrary to the true teaching about Christ."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "9", "text": "Make sure of this, because it is in Christ's body that God lives completely."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "10", "text": "And make sure of it because you are spiritually complete because you have a close relationship with Christ, who rules over every being that rules."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "11", "text": "Specifically, because of your close relationship with him, it is as though [MET] you were circumcised {Christ circumcised you} spiritually. This does not mean that someone circumcised you physically [MTY], but it means that Christ completely removed your entire self-directed nature."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "12", "text": "And specifically, when you were baptized, it was as though[MET] you had died and were buried with Christ, and it was as though[MET] God caused you to live again with Christ as a result of your believing that God acted powerfully, specifically, by your believing that God raised Christ from among dead people."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "13", "text": "And specifically, you who are non-Jews, because of your sins, you were spiritually dead before you trusted in Christ. You were uncircumcised spiritually; that is, your self-directed nature controlled you. Nevertheless, it was you whom God caused to become alive spiritually[MET] with Christ. And specifically, God forgave us all our sins."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "14", "text": "It is just as though he canceled the document/paper that stated◄ the charges against us/the sins that we had committed► for which God will punish us. And it was just as though[MET] it was that document/paper that he removed by nailing it to the cross when they nailed Christ on the cross."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "15", "text": "And specifically, God defeated the evil spirit beings that rule, and he demonstrated/showed that publicly; that is, he triumphed over them as a result of what Christ did."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "16", "text": "So disregard anyone who says that God will punish you because you eat certain foods and because you drink certain drinks or because you do not celebrate special yearly festivals or celebrate the time when the new moon appears or weekly ◄Sabbaths/Jewish days of rest►."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "17", "text": "Disregard such people because those regulations/rules about food and drink and festivals are only like a shadow [MET] that is cast by something that is approaching; that is, they merely represent the real spiritual blessings that Christ has given to you."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "18", "text": "Disregard those who say that God will punish you because you do not worship God in the way that they say that you should; that is, they insist that you should humiliate yourselves and that you should worship the angels. Disregard such people since they base their authority on things that they have never seen, and since they are proud without reason because their self-directed nature controls what they think,"}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "19", "text": "and since they do not teach the true teaching about Christ [MET]. Christ is the one who causes all of his people to develop/grow spiritually as God plans that they should develop/grow, just like[MET] a person's head directs how his body grows, as it is held together by its joints and ligaments."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "20", "text": "It is as though[MET] you died with Christ. So you no longer have to obey elementary regulations/rules that are concerned merely with what is external/physical, just like a dead person no longer has to do anything. So, do not submit to regulations/rules"}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "21", "text": "such as ❛Do not handle certain things❜, ❛Do not taste certain things❜, ❛Do not touch certain things❜, as if you still had to obey such regulations/rules."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "22", "text": "All those things are intended to cease to exist when we use them. And do not submit to such regulations/rules, because they are what mere human teachers command and teach."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 2, "verse": "23", "text": "Do not obey such regulations/rules because they only cause people to do what their self-directed nature wants to do. Those regulations seem to be wise because they urge people to worship as mere human teachers have decided. They urge that people should humiliate themselves, and that people should treat their bodies harshly. But those regulations/rules do not help people at all to not do the sinful things that their self-directed nature wants to do."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "1", "text": "You now are alive spiritually, and it is as though you were raised{ God caused you to become alive} when he caused Christ to become alive again. So be constantly wanting what is associated with heaven [MTY], where Christ is. There God has given him supreme authority and the highest honor."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "2", "text": "Be constantly wanting the blessings that God has prepared for you in heaven [MTY]. Do not be constantly wanting to do the evil deeds that people on earth do [MTY],"}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "3", "text": "because you have ceased to behave as you formerly did. You are like people who have died. You now live spiritually together with Christ in the presence of God; and people cannot see that."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "4", "text": "When Christ, who causes you to live spiritually, is publicly revealed, then God will also reveal you publicly together with Christ, and you together with Christ will be glorious."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "5", "text": "Get rid of your evil practices/deeds[MET, MTY] as though they were enemies whom you were killing (OR, Get rid of doing evil[MET, MTY], just as dead people do not do what is evil). Specifically, do not practice sexual immorality. Do not commit unnatural sexual acts. Do not desire to act like that, and do not desire to do anything that is evil. Do not desire to have more things than you need, because, if you do that, you are ◄worshipping material things instead of worshipping God/making material things to become your god►."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "6", "text": "Do not behave like that since God will punish [MTY] those who disobey him, because they act like that."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "7", "text": "You also formerly behaved like that when you were disobeying God."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "8", "text": "Now, however, as for you, do not do any of these evil deeds: Do not get angry in any way [DOU]. Do not act maliciously. Do not ◄slander/talk evil about► people. Do not talk abusively to people."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "9", "text": "Do not lie to one another. Do not do those things, because you have ◄disposed of/stopped obeying► your former evil nature and stopped doing what you did when you had that former evil nature,"}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "10", "text": "and because you have received a new nature. God is causing your new nature to become more and more like his own nature. He created your new nature in order that you might get to know God truly."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "11", "text": "As a result of that, it is not important whether anyone is a non-Jew or a Jew, or whether anyone is circumcised or not, or whether anyone is a foreigner, or even uncivilized, or whether anyone is a slave or not a slave. But what is important is Christ, who is supremely important in every way."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "12", "text": "Because God has chosen you and reserved you to be his people, and because God loves you, be compassionate to one another. Be kind to one another. Be humble. Be meek (OR, be considerate toward one another), be patient with one another,"}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "13", "text": "and tolerate one another. Forgive one another, if one of you has a grudge/complaint against another. Just like the Lord Jesus freely/willingly forgave you, you too must freely/willingly forgive one another."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "14", "text": "And what is more important than all of these is that you love one another, because by doing that you will be perfectly united together."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "15", "text": "Because God chose you to live peacefully with one another in your local congregations, let that peace which Christ gives control your ◄inner beings/hearts►, and be constantly thanking God."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "16", "text": "And continue to let the message about Christ govern/direct all you think and do, as you very wisely teach and warn one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (OR, songs that God's Spirit gives you), while you sincerely and thankfully sing to God."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "17", "text": "Whatever you say, and whatever you do, do all of this in the manner that those who are representatives [MTY] of the Lord Jesus should do, while you constantly thank God, our Father, as you ask the Lord Jesus to take your prayers to God."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "18", "text": "You women, be subject to your husbands, since that is what you should do because you have a close relationship with the Lord Jesus."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "19", "text": "You men, love your wives; in particular, do not be harsh with them."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "20", "text": "You children, obey your parents in every circumstance, because the Lord God is pleased when you do that."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "21", "text": "You parents (OR, you fathers), do not correct your children more than you need to, in order that they do not become discouraged."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "22", "text": "You slaves, obey your earthly masters in every circumstance. Do not obey your masters only when they are watching [MTY] you, like those who merely want to impress their masters favorably. Instead, obey your masters sincerely. Do this because you reverence the Lord Jesus(OR, God)."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "23", "text": "Whatever work you do, work wholeheartedly. Work wholeheartedly, like those who are working for the Lord Jesus. Do not work like those who are working merely for their masters,"}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "24", "text": "because you know that it is the Lord who will properly/justly repay you. That is, you will receive what God has promised. Remember that it is Christ who is the real master whom you are serving."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 3, "verse": "25", "text": "But God will judge impartially any of you who keeps doing wrong. He will judge you according to what you have done that is wrong."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "1", "text": "You masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, because you know that you have a master who is in heaven who will say whether he approves of what you have done."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "2", "text": "Pray to God persistently, and as you pray be alert and be thanking God."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "3", "text": "Since I am in prison [MTY] because I declared the message about Christ that God has now revealed, pray also for me that God will give me opportunities [MTY] to speak, in order that I might declare it."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "4", "text": "That is, pray for me that God will enable me to make his message known publicly. I need to do this because I know that I should declare it."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "5", "text": "Act wisely towards those who do not believe in the Lord Jesus [MTY]; use every opportunity to do that."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "6", "text": "In particular, always speak graciously and in a pleasant way to those who do not believe in the Lord Jesus. As a result, you will come to know in what manner you should answer each one of them."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "7", "text": "Tychicus will tell you all that has been happening to me. He is a fellow believer whom I/we(exc) love and who helps me faithfully and who serves the Lord Jesus together with me."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "8", "text": "The reason that I am sending Tychicus to you with this letter is that he might know how you are and in order that he might strengthen you spiritually. (OR, in order that you might know about us(exc) and in order that he might comfort you.)"}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "9", "text": "I am sending him to you with Onesimus, who is a faithful fellow believer whom I/we(inc) love and who is your fellow townsman. They will tell you all about what has been happening here."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "10", "text": "Aristarchus, who is in prison with me, and Mark, who is Barnabas' cousin, ◄say that they are thinking fondly about you/send you their greetings►. I have instructed you about Mark, so if he comes to you, welcome him."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "11", "text": "Jesus, who is also called Justus, also ◄says that he is thinking fondly about you/greets you/sends you his greetings►. These three men are the only Jewish believers who are working with me in order that people would submit to God as their king, and they have all comforted me."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "12", "text": "Epaphras, who is your fellow townsman and who serves Christ Jesus, ◄says that he is thinking fondly about you/greets you/sends you his greetings►. Epaphras prays earnestly for you very often, that you might be spiritually mature and that you might be fully convinced about {know fully} all that God wills."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "13", "text": "He prays this because he is deeply concerned for you, for those who live in Laodicea city, and for those who live in Hierapolis city; I can assure you that it is true."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "14", "text": "Luke, the doctor, whom I/we(exc) love, and Demas ◄say that they are thinking fondly about you/send you their greetings►."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "15", "text": "Tell the fellow believers who live in Laodicea city and Nympha and the congregation that meets in her house that we ◄are thinking fondly about them/send them our greetings►."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "16", "text": "After someone reads this letter publicly to you, cause someone to also read it to the congregation that is in Laodicea city. And as for the letter that I wrote to the congregation that is in Laodicea city, make sure that it is also read among you {you should also read that letter} publicly."}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "17", "text": "Say to Archippus, “Make sure that you complete the task that God appointed you to do, because you have a close relationship with the Lord Jesus.”"}
{"book": "COL", "chapter": 4, "verse": "18", "text": "I, Paul, ◄am thinking fondly about you/send you my greetings►. Having taken the pen from my scribe, I am now writing this myself in order that you may know that I have truly sent this letter. Remember to pray about the fact that I am in prison [MTY]. I pray that our Lord Jesus Christ would continue to act graciously towards you all."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "1", "text": "I, Paul, am writing this letter. Silas and Timothy are with me. We(exc) are sending this letter to you who are the congregation of believers in Thessalonica city. We(inc) all worship(OR, trust in) God our Father [MET] and our Lord Jesus Christ. We three desire/pray that God, our Father, and Jesus Christ, our Lord, will continue to act kindly toward you and will continue to cause you to have inner peace."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "2", "text": "We always thank God for you all when we mention you while we pray (OR, when we pray for you)."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "3", "text": "We thank God because we continually remember that you work for God because you trust in him and you earnestly/energetically help people because you love them. You also endure it when people cause you to suffer. You endure it because you confidently expect that our Lord Jesus Christ will soon return from heaven to rescue you!"}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "4", "text": "My fellow believers whom God loves, we also thank him because we know that he chose you to become his people."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "5", "text": "We know that he chose you because when we told that message to you, we did not speak only words. The Holy Spirit helped us to speak powerfully/effectively, and he strongly assured us that he was powerfully working in you by means of the message about Christ that we told to you. You yourselves know that, because you know how we spoke and how we conducted ourselves when we were with you, in order that we might help you."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "6", "text": "We also know that God chose you because we have now heard that you have endured your troubles when people caused you to suffer very much because you believed in Christ. You endured just like the Lord Jesus Christ endured, and just like we did when people caused us to suffer. At that time you were joyful because the Holy Spirit caused you to be joyful."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "7", "text": "As a result of your joyfully enduring your troubles, all the believers who live in Macedonia and Achaia provinces have heard how firmly you trust God. So they know that they should firmly trust in God as you do."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "8", "text": "Other people have heard you tell the message from the Lord Jesus. Then they also have proclaimed the message to people who live throughout Macedonia and Achaia provinces. Not only that, but people who live in many far-away places [HYP] have heard that you trust in God. As a result, we do not need to tell people what God has done in your lives."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "9", "text": "People who live far from you are telling others what happened when we were with you. They also report that you stopped worshipping things that◄ you/your ancestors► considered to be gods and now you worship God. As a result, you serve the God who is all-powerful and who is the real God."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "10", "text": "They tell us that now you wait expectantly for his Son to return to earth from heaven. You firmly believe that God caused him to live again after he died. You believe also that Jesus will rescue all of us, who trust in him, from God's punishing us [MTY]."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "1", "text": "My fellow believers, you know that our time with you was very worthwhile/effective [LIT]."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "2", "text": "Although people in Philippi city previously mistreated us(exc) and insulted us, as you know, our God caused us to be courageous. As a result, we told you the good message that originates/comes from God, even though some people in your city also strongly ◄opposed us/tried to prevent us from telling God's message►."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "3", "text": "When we exhorted/urged (OR, tried to convince) you to obey God's message, we did not speak to you an untrue message. Instead, we spoke a true message. We do not want to get something for ourselves by immoral means. We do not try to deceive you or other people."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "4", "text": "On the contrary, we tell God's message because he trusted us to do that, because he examined us and considered us to be acceptable to tell people the message about Christ. As we teach people, we do not say what they like to hear. Instead, we say what God wants us to say, because he examines everything that we think and what we desire."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "5", "text": "We never ◄flattered you/said nice things about you insincerely►, as you know. We were never greedy, so we never needed to use words to ◄hide greediness from you/cause you to think that we were not greedy►. God knows that this is true!"}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "6", "text": "We never tried to get people to honor us,"}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "7", "text": "although we could have demanded that you should honor/respect us, because we are apostles who represent(OR, speak for) Christ. On the contrary, we were gentle when we were among you, as a mother gently takes care of her own children [SIM]."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "8", "text": "So, because we love you, we were delighted to personally tell you the good message that God gave us. But also we were delighted to lovingly do all that we could do to help you [SYN] because ◄you had become very dear to us/we had begun to love you very much►."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "9", "text": "My fellow believers, you remember that we worked very hard [DOU] in order to◄ support ourselves/earn money to buy what we needed► while we were with you. We worked during the day and also at night in order that we would not have to ask any one of you to give us what we needed, while we proclaimed to you the good message that God gave us."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "10", "text": "You know that it is true, and God knows that it is true, that we conducted our lives in a very pure, right, and irreproachable/faultless [DOU] manner toward you believers."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "11", "text": "You know also that we lovingly behaved/acted toward each one of you as a father lovingly behaves/acts toward his own children [SIM]."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "12", "text": "Specifically, we kept strongly exhorting/urging and encouraging you that you conduct your lives in the way that God's people should, because he has invited you to become his people over whom he will wonderfully rule [HEN]."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "13", "text": "We continually thank God also because when you heard the message that we told to you, you accepted it as the true message, the good message that God gave to us. We did not invent it. We also thank God that he is changing your lives because you trust this message [PRS]."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "14", "text": "My fellow believers, we know that you sincerely believed the message from God, because the manner in which you acted was just like the manner in which the congregations in Judea acted. They also worship God, and they◄ have a close relationship with/are united to► Christ Jesus. Specifically, you endured it when your own countrymen mistreated you because you believe the message from God, in the same manner that those Jewish believers in Judea endured it when the Jews who do not believe in Christ mistreated them."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "15", "text": "Unbelieving Jews are the ones whom God considers guilty for killing the Lord Jesus, as well as for killing many prophets. Other unbelieving Jews forced us to leave many towns. They really make God angry; and they are opposed to what is best for all human beings!"}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "16", "text": "Specifically, when we tell the good message to non-Jewish people in order that they can be saved { that God will save them} spiritually, these unbelieving Jews try to stop/prevent us from doing that. Because they continually sin more and more, they are almost reaching the limit that has been set by God[MET]! God will soon punish them [MTY], at last, for all their sins!"}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "17", "text": "My fellow believers, when for a short time [IDM] those people forced us to be separated from you, we felt like parents◄who had lost all their children/whose children had died► [MET]. Although we were far away from you, we were still emotionally concerned about you, and we strongly desired to be present with you."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "18", "text": "You can know that we wanted to return to you. Indeed I, Paul, tried to return twice [IDM]. But we did not return because each time Satan prevented us from returning."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "19", "text": "We were strongly desiring to be with you, because truly you [RHQ] are the ones about whom we are proud and are joyful! It is because we are confident that you will◄ remain faithful/continue believing in God► that we will be joyful! You are the ones who we confidently expect will keep strongly trusting in God! It is because you will◄ remain faithful/continue believing in God► that we will be proud of the work that we have done[MET, RHQ] when our Lord Jesus examines what we all have done, at the time when he comes back to earth!"}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "20", "text": "Indeed, it is because of you that even now we are pleased and are joyful!"}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "1", "text": "As a result of that, when I could no longer endure worrying about you, I decided that Silas and I would stay behind alone in Athens city,"}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "2", "text": "and we two sent Timothy to you. You know that he is our close associate and also works for God by proclaiming the message about Christ. Silas and I sent him in order that he would urge you to continue to strongly trust in Christ."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "3", "text": "We wanted that none of you would consider turning away from Christ as a result of people causing you to suffer. You know that God has planned that we who trust in him will suffer like that when people do that to us who trust in him."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "4", "text": "Remember that when we were present with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted {that people would cause us to suffer}. And because that is what happened, you know that what we said was true!"}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "5", "text": "I was afraid that Satan, the one who tempts us, had caused you to stop trusting in Christ. If that had happened, we would have worked uselessly while we were present with you! So I sent Timothy to you in order to find out whether or not you were still trusting in Christ. I sent him because I could no longer endure not knowing ◄about your spiritual condition/whether or not you were still trusting in Christ►."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "6", "text": "Now Timothy has just returned to Silas and me from being with you, and he has told us the good news that you still trust in Christ and that you love him(OR, each other). He told us also that you always happily remember us and that you strongly desire that we visit you, just like we strongly desire to visit you."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "7", "text": "My fellow believers, even though we are suffering very much [DOU] because of what people are doing to us here, we have been cheered up because Timothy told us about your still trusting in Christ."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "8", "text": "Now we feel very encouraged [IDM] that you continue to strongly trust in the Lord Jesus."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "9", "text": "◄We cannot thank God adequately for what he has done for you!/How can we thank God enough for what he has done for you?► [RHQ] We greatly rejoice concerning you when we pray to our God!"}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "10", "text": "We constantly [HYP] and fervently/earnestly ask God that we will be able to visit you [SYN] and that we will be able to help you to trust in Christ/God more strongly!"}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "11", "text": "We pray to God, our Father, and to our Lord Jesus, that they will ◄clear the way/make it possible► so that we can return to you."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "12", "text": "As for you, we pray that the Lord Jesus will help you to love each other and other people more and more, just like we continue loving you more and more."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "13", "text": "We pray that our Lord Jesus will strengthen your purpose/desire to do what pleases God (OR, strengthen you spiritually). We pray that God our Father will enable you to conduct your lives in a way that is pure and that no one can justly criticize so that when Jesus comes back to earth accompanied by all those who belong to him, he will be pleased with you."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "1-2", "text": "Now, my fellow believers, I want to write about some other matters. Because we all have a close relationship with the Lord Jesus, we(exc) strongly urge you [DOU] to conduct your lives in a way that pleases God. We taught you to do that, and you know that we did that as a result of what the Lord Jesus told us to say. We know that you are conducting your lives that way, but we strongly urge that you do that even more."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "3", "text": "God wants you to live pure lives that will show that you completely belong to him. He wants you to avoid doing any sexually immoral acts (OR, avoid being sexually immoral in any way)."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "4", "text": "That is, he wants each one of you to know how to control your own sexual desires [EUP]. He wants you to live pure lives that all people will see as good."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "5", "text": "You must not lustfully desire to do immoral acts as unbelievers [MTY] do who do not obey God."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "6", "text": "God wants each one of you to control your sexual desires, in order that no one of you sin against your fellow believer and take advantage of him or her by doing things like that. Remember that we strongly warned you previously [DOU] that the Lord Jesus will punish all people who do sexually immoral acts."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "7", "text": "When God chose us believers, he did not want us to be people who behave in a sexually immoral way. On the contrary, he wants us to be people who behave in a morally pure way."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "8", "text": "So I warn you that those who disregard this teaching of mine are not just disregarding a human being. On the contrary, they are disregarding God, because God commanded it. Remember that God sent his Spirit, who is holy, to live in you!"}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "9", "text": "I want to urge you again that you should love your fellow believers [MET]. You do not really need that anyone write to you about that, because God has already taught you how to love each other,"}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "10", "text": "and because you already are showing that you love your fellow believers [HYP] who live in other places in your province of Macedonia. Nevertheless, my fellow believers, we urge you to increasingly love each other."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "11", "text": "We urge you also to eagerly strive/try to attend to your own affairs and to not meddle/interfere with the affairs of others. We urge you also to work at your own occupations/jobs to earn what you need to live. Remember that we taught you previously to live like that."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "12", "text": "If you do these things, unbelievers will acknowledge/see that you behave decently/properly, and you will not have to depend on others to◄ supply/give to you► what you need."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "13", "text": "My fellow believers, we also want you to understand well [LIT] what will happen to our fellow believers who now are dead [EUP]. You must not be/do like the unbelievers. They grieve deeply for people who die because they do not confidently expect people to live again after they die."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "14", "text": "We believers know that it is true that Jesus died and that he rose to live again. So we also know well that God will cause those believers who died [EUP] to live again. We know that he will cause them to go to heaven(OR, come) with Jesus as a result of God's commanding them to arise and◄ go to/come with► Jesus."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "15", "text": "I write this because the Lord Jesus revealed to me what I am now telling you. Some of you may think that when the Lord Jesus comes back, he will consider that we believers who are still living will be superior to those believers who have died [EUP], because we will meet Jesus first. That is certainly not true!"}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "16", "text": "It is the Lord Jesus himself who will descend from heaven. When he comes down, he will command all of us believers to rise. The chief angel will shout with a loud voice, and another angel will blow a trumpet for God. Then (OR, As a result), the first thing that will happen is that the people who trusted in Christ before they died will live again."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "17", "text": "After that, God will powerfully take up into the clouds all of us believers who are still living on this earth. He will take us and those other believers who have died, in order that we all might together meet/welcome the Lord Jesus in the sky. As a result of that, we all will be with him forever."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 4, "verse": "18", "text": "Because all this is true, encourage/comfort each other by ◄sharing this teaching with each other/reminding each other of this teaching►."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "1", "text": "My fellow believers, I want to tell you more about the time or period when the Lord Jesus will come back. Really, you do not need that I write to you about that,"}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "2", "text": "because you yourselves know accurately about it already! You know that the Lord Jesus will return[MTY] unexpectedly(OR, when some people are unprepared). People will not expect him, just like no one knows when a thief comes unexpectedly at night [SIM]."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "3", "text": "At a future time many people will say, “ All is peaceful and we are safe!” Then suddenly he will come to punish them severely! Just like a pregnant woman who experiences birth pains cannot stop those pains, those people will definitely not have any way to escape their punishment."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "4-5", "text": "Just like people in darkness are unaware of what is happening around them, most people are not aware of what is about to happen to them[MET, PRS]. Just like a thief comes unexpectedly for people who are unaware, that time of punishment will come on people when they are not expecting it[SIM]. But you, my fellow believers, are people who are very much aware [LIT] of what is going to happen. As a result, you will be expecting [LIT] those things [MTY] to happen [PRS] All of us believers are people [IDM] who do what is right, as people usually do when it is daytime [MET]. We are not people who do evil things, as some people do when it is dark [MET]."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "6", "text": "So we believers must be aware of what is happening. We must be watching carefully, as people who are awake are watchful for a thief[MET]. We must be self-controlled, as people who are ◄sober/not drunk► are able to control what they do [MET]. People who sleep [MET] are unaware of what is happening, and unbelievers are like that."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "7", "text": "It is at night when people are unaware of what is happening because they are asleep, and it is at night when people become drunk and they do very wrong actions/things."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "8", "text": "But we believers are people who should do what is right[MET], so we must be self-controlled, as people in the daytime are usually not drunk and are able to control what they do[MET]. As Roman soldiers protect themselves by putting on breastplates and helmets [MET], we believers must protect ourselves by continuing to trust and love the Lord Jesus and by continuing to confidently expect that he will save us from God's punishing us at the time when he will punish other people."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "9", "text": "When God chose us, he did not plan for us to be people whom he will severely punish [MTY]. On the contrary, he decided that he would save us because of our trusting in what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "10", "text": "Jesus died to atone/pay for our sins in order that we might be able to live together with him, whether we are alive [MET] or whether we are dead [EUP] when he returns to earth."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "11", "text": "Because you know that this is true, continue to encourage/comfort each other, as indeed you now are doing."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "12", "text": "My fellow believers, we three ask that you recognize/honor as leaders those people who work hard for you. Specifically, respect those who lead you as fellow believers who ◄have a close relationship with/are united to► the Lord Jesus. They warn you to stop doing what is wrong(OR, they teach you to do what is right)."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "13", "text": "That is, we ask that you consider those leaders to be very important and that you love them, because they work hard to help you. We also urge you to live peacefully with each other."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "14", "text": "My fellow believers, we urge that you warn believers who will not work in order to◄ obtain/earn the money to buy► things that they need to live. Tell them that they are behaving wrongly. We urge you that you encourage believers who are fearful (OR, discouraged), and that you help all people who are weak in any way. We also urge you to be patient with everyone."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "15", "text": "Make sure that none of you does evil deeds to anyone who has done evil to you. On the contrary, you must always try to do good deeds to each other (OR, to fellow believers) and to everyone else."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "16", "text": "Be joyful ◄at all times/always►,"}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "17", "text": "pray continually,"}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "18", "text": "and thank God◄in all circumstances/ regardless of what happens►. God wants you to behave like that because of what Christ Jesus has done for you(OR, because you have a close relationship with Christ Jesus)."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "19", "text": "Do not refuse the urging from God's Spirit when he is working[MTY] among you. That would be like throwing water on a fire[MET]!"}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "20", "text": "Specifically, do not despise messages that the Holy Spirit reveals to someone and reject them automatically."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "21", "text": "On the contrary, evaluate all such messages. Accept the messages that are truly from God, and obey them."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "22", "text": "Do not obey any kind of evil message."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "23", "text": "We pray to God that he will change you to become more and more like his people should be. He is the one who causes his people to have inner peace. That is, we pray that he will help you so that in all that you think, in all that you desire, and in all that you do, you will be without fault. We ask him that he will keep doing that until our Lord Jesus Christ comes back to earth."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "24", "text": "Because God has invited you to be his people, you can certainly trust him to keep on helping you in that way."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "25", "text": "My fellow believers, pray for me and for Silas and for Timothy."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "26", "text": "When you gather together as believers, greet each other affectionately, as fellow believers should."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "27", "text": "Make certain that you read this letter to all the believers who may be absent when you read it at first, knowing that the Lord Jesus wants you to do it."}
{"book": "1TH", "chapter": 5, "verse": "28", "text": "I pray that our Lord Jesus Christ will continue to act kindly toward you all."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "1", "text": "I, Paul, am writing this letter. Silas and Timothy are with me. We are sending this letter to you. You are the congregation of God's people in Thessalonica city. You belong to God our Father, and you belong to Jesus Christ our Lord."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "2", "text": "We pray that God our Father, and Jesus Christ our Lord, will continue to act kindly toward you and will continue to cause you to have inner peace."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "3", "text": "Our fellow believers, we thank God very frequently [HYP] for you because we believers ought to thank God for each other, and specifically it is appropriate/right that we should thank God for you. We thank him that you are trusting in the Lord Jesus more and more, and that each one of you is loving each of the others more and more."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "4", "text": "As a result, we keep proudly telling about you to the other congregations who worship God. Specifically, we tell them that you are being steadfast and that you continue believing in the Lord Jesus, even though you are frequently suffering [DOU] as a result of people causing you trouble."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "5", "text": "Your being steadfast◄shows/indicates to► us clearly that God will judge all people justly. Specifically, he will publicly declare that you are worthy as his people to be in that place where he will rule forever, because you also are suffering as a result of telling others about letting God rule your lives."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "6", "text": "God will certainly cause trouble for those people who are troubling you, because he considers that it is just that he should punish such people for doing that to you."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "7", "text": "He also considers that it is just that he should reward you who are being troubled, by ◄giving you relief/causing your suffering to end►. He will do that for both you and us when our Lord Jesus will descend from heaven, together with his powerful angels and with blazing fire."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "8", "text": "Then he will punish those people who do not want to know him and those who refuse to obey the message about our Lord Jesus."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "9", "text": "Our Lord Jesus will forbid them from ever coming near to him and near to the glory which he has because he is so powerful (OR, the glory that is manifested by his power). He will cause those people to suffer forever."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "10", "text": "The Lord Jesus will do this when he comes back from heaven at the time that God has decided. As a result, all we who are his people will praise him because of what he has done for his own people, and all we believers will marvel at our Lord because of what he has done. And you will be there, too, because you believed what we testified to you."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "11", "text": "In order that you might praise Jesus like this, we are also praying very frequently [HYP] for you. We pray that you will be able to show our God that you are worthy to receive that which he chose you to receive. We pray also that he would powerfully enable you to do good in every way that you desire, and that he would also enable you to do powerfully every good deed that you do because you believe in Jesus Christ."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 1, "verse": "12", "text": "We pray this because we want you to praise our Lord Jesus, and we want him to honor you. This will happen because God, whom we worship/serve, and our Lord Jesus Christ will keep acting kindly toward you in ways that you do not deserve."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "1", "text": "Now I want to write to you about the time when our Lord Jesus Christ will return and when God will gather us together to where Jesus is. My fellow believers, I urge you"}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "2", "text": "that you think calmly about any message that claims/says that the Lord has already come again. Do not be shaken or alarmed/worried by any such message. It does not matter if it is a message that someone claims God's Spirit revealed to him, or if it is some other message that someone has spoken, or whether it is a message that someone claims that I wrote in a letter."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "3", "text": "Do not allow anyone to deceive you in any way with the result that you believe any such message. The Lord will not come [MTY] immediately. First, many people[PRS] will rebel against God. The result of their rebelling will be that they will accept and obey the man who will sin very greatly against God."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "4", "text": "He will be the supreme enemy of God. He will proudly exalt himself above everything that people consider to be God and above everything that people worship. As a result of wanting people to worship him, he will even enter God's Temple and sit down there to rule He will publicly proclaim that he himself is God! But God will certainly punish that man forever!"}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "5", "text": "◄I am sure that you remember that I kept telling you these things while I was still with you there in Thessalonica./Do you not remember that I continued telling to you these things while I was still with you there in Thessalonica?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "6", "text": "You also know that there is something (OR, someone) that is preventing this man from being revealed{ from revealing himself}. He is being ◄held back/restrained► now in order that he be revealed {that he reveal himself} at the time that God has planned[MTY]."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "7", "text": "Although Satan is already secretly causing people to reject God's laws, ◄the one/God► who is preventing this man from revealing himself now will continue to prevent him until he/ God removes him."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "8", "text": "It is then that God will allow this man, who rejects God's laws completely, to be revealed {to reveal himself}. Then the Lord Jesus, by what he commands [MTY], will destroy him. Jesus, by his own glorious arrival, will cause him to become completely powerless."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "9", "text": "But before Jesus destroys him, Satan will give him very great power. As a result, he will do all kinds of supernatural miracles and amazing deeds [DOU] that will seem as though God has enabled him to do them."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "10", "text": "And by doing wicked deeds, he will completely deceive those who will certainly◄perish/go to hell►. He will deceive them because they will have refused to love the true message. So they will not be saved {God will not save them}."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "11", "text": "So, God, by his power, will enable this man to easily deceive them, so that they will believe what this man falsely claims/says that he is."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "12", "text": "The result will be that everyone will be justly condemned {that God will justly condemn everyone} to be punished who did not believe the true message, but who instead gladly chose to be doing what is wicked."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "13", "text": "Our fellow believers, whom our Lord Jesus loves, we thank God very frequently for you. It is appropriate/right for us to do that, because God chose you ◄from the beginning [MTY] of creation/before the world existed► in order that he might save you as a result of your believing the true message and as a result of God's Spirit setting you apart for God."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "14", "text": "We thank God that he chose you as a result of our proclaiming the message about Christ to you, in order that you might ◄share in/have► some of the glory that our Lord Jesus Christ has."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "15", "text": "So, our fellow believers, continue to be firm concerning what you believe; that is, continue believing the true teaching that we committed/taught to you by our speaking to you and by our writing a letter to you."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "16", "text": "We pray for you to our Lord Jesus Christ himself and to God, our Father. God loves us and encourages us and causes us to confidently expect to receive the eternal things that he has promised to give to us as a result of Christ acting kindly toward us in a way we did not deserve."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 2, "verse": "17", "text": "We strongly pray that God and Jesus together will encourage you! And we pray that they will cause you to continue doing and saying things that God considers to be good."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "1", "text": "As for the other matters, our fellow believers, pray for us that more and more people will hear [PRS] our message about our Lord Jesus. Pray that they will believe this message, as you have done."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "2", "text": "Pray also for us that we will be rescued {that God will rescue us} from those very perverse/evil people here who cause us to suffer. Pray like that because they and many others refuse to believe [LIT] this message."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "3", "text": "Remember that our Lord Jesus is trustworthy! So we are sure that he will cause you to continue to be steadfast. We are also sure that he will protect you from Satan, the evil one (OR, from evil)."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "4", "text": "Because of your close relationship with our Lord Jesus, we are confident about you that you are obeying what we have commanded you, and we are confident that you will obey what we are commanding you in this letter."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "5", "text": "We pray that our Lord Jesus would enable you to continue knowing that God loves you. We pray also that Christ will cause you to continue being steadfast (OR, being steadfast as he was steadfast)."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "6", "text": "Our fellow believers, we command you, with the authority [MTY] that our Lord Jesus Christ has given to us, that you stop associating with every fellow believer who is lazy and refuses to work. That is, you must stay away from those who are not conducting their lives in the manner that we taught you."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "7", "text": "We tell you this because you yourselves know that you should behave like we behaved. We ◄did not just sit around without working/were never lazy► while we were living among you."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "8", "text": "Specifically, we did not eat anyone's food if we did not pay that person for it. Instead, we worked very hard ◄ to support ourselves/to earn the money to buy what we needed►. We worked hard [DOU] during the day and the night, in order that we would not have to depend on any of you to supply what we needed."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "9", "text": "We have always had the right to depend on you for money, but instead we worked hard in order to make ourselves examples for you, in order that you should behave like we behave."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "10", "text": "Remember that when we were there with you, we kept commanding you that if any fellow believer refuses to work, you should not give him food to eat."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "11", "text": "We command you this again now, because someone has told to us that some of you are lazy and not working at all! Not only that, some of you are interfering with what other people are doing!"}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "12", "text": "We command those fellow believers who are not working, and urge them by the authority [MTY] of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they settle down and ◄support themselves by working/work to earn money to buy what they need►."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "13", "text": "Fellow believers! Do not ever get tired of doing what is right!"}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "14", "text": "If any fellow believer refuses to work and does not obey what I have written in this letter, ◄ publicly identify that person/tell the congregation what that person is doing►. Then do not associate with him, in order that he may become ashamed."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "15", "text": "Do not think of him as though he was your enemy; instead, warn him as you would warn your other fellow believers."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "16", "text": "I pray that our Lord Jesus himself, who gives inner peace to his people, will give inner peace to you always ◄and in every situation/whatever happens►. I pray that our Lord Jesus will continue to help you all."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "17", "text": "Now, having taken the pen from my scribe, I, Paul, am sending this greeting to you as I write this myself [SYN]. I do this in all my letters in order that you may know that it is truly I who have sent this letter. This is how I always end my letters."}
{"book": "2TH", "chapter": 3, "verse": "18", "text": "I pray that our Lord Jesus Christ will continue to act kindly to you all."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "1", "text": "I, Paul, am writing this letter. You know that I am an apostle. I represent Christ Jesus because God and Christ Jesus commanded me to do it. God is the one who saved us, and Jesus is the one for whom we are confidently waiting to return,"}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "2", "text": "You, Timothy, are like[MET] a true son to me because you trusted in Christ after I told you about him. I pray/desire that God, who is our Father, and Christ Jesus, who is our Lord, will continue to act kindly and mercifully to you, and that they will give you inner peace."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "3", "text": "I urge you now, just like I urged you when I was going to Macedonia province, that you remain there in Ephesus city. Stay there so that you may command certain persons who teach other believers that they not teach false doctrines/teachings."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "4", "text": "And tell people to not continually give their attention to stories that tell about our ancestors, stories in which there are ◄genealogies/lists of our ancestors' names► that seem to be endless. You must command your congregation not to think that these stories are valuable, because whenever people think that, they just start arguing about things uselessly, instead of teaching God's plan, which is concerned with what we believe (OR, which we know because we trust in Christ)."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "5", "text": "Teach them to have pure desires [MTY] and thus to know within themselves that God approves of what they do, and to sincerely believe the true teaching. By doing that, they will love God well."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "6", "text": "There are some people who have turned away from these true teachings. As a result, they just discuss what is useless."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "7", "text": "They desire to teach the laws that God gave to Moses, but they do not understand what they are really saying nor the things about which they ◄confidently speak/say that they understand well►."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "8", "text": "We know that the laws that God gave to Moses are good if people consider correctly what God intended them for."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "9", "text": "We must remember that God did not give Moses those laws in order to condemn righteous people. By those laws he condemns people who act as though there were no laws and who refuse to obey anyone. He condemns those who do not revere God and those who sin habitually. By them he condemns those who refuse to perform rituals that are pleasing to God and who show no respect for religion. He condemns those who murder their fathers and who murder their mothers and who murder other people."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "10", "text": "He condemns those who are sexually immoral and those who are homosexuals. He condemns those who kidnap/steal people in order to make them slaves. He condemns those who lie and those who promise something strongly but do not do what they promised. He condemns every other action that is contrary to our true teaching."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "11", "text": "This is what we teach people when we tell them the glorious/wonderful message about Christ that our awesome God has revealed and that he gave to me to teach."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "12", "text": "I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord who enabled me to do this work, because he considered that I could be trusted. So he appointed me in order that I would serve him."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "13", "text": "Formerly I said evil things about him, I caused his people to suffer, and I acted very cruelly toward them. But Christ acted kindly to me since I ◄acted ignorantly/did not know that I was doing wrong► because I did not believe in him."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "14", "text": "Our Lord kindly did for me what I did not deserve, so that I now believe in Christ Jesus and I love others (OR, him) because I belong to him."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "15", "text": "Something that all we believers say is certainly true and is worthy for us to fully accept is that Christ Jesus came into the world in order to save sinful people so that God would not punish them for their sins. As for me, I consider that I have sinned more than all others."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "16", "text": "Yet Christ Jesus acted mercifully to me in order that he might demonstrate to people that he is perfectly patient with them. He did that by his being patient with me, one who has sinned worse than all the others. He wanted what he did for me ◄to be an example/to demonstrate his patience► to people who would later believe in him and as a result would live forever."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "17", "text": "I desire that people will honor and praise the only true God forever! Even though no one can see him, he is the King who rules for all time, who will never die! ◄Amen!/That is true!►"}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "18", "text": "Timothy, you are like[MET] a son to me. So, ◄based on/in accordance with► what someone previously ◄prophesied/told what God revealed to them► about you, I am instructing you to strongly oppose those who teach false doctrines/teachings. You should oppose them like[MET] a soldier ◄fights strongly against/opposes► those who attack his countrymen."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "19", "text": "Continue to believe the true teaching and do only what you know to be right! Remember that some people have ◄pushed aside/rejected► the true teaching. As a result, they no longer believe [MET] what is true."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "20", "text": "Among the ones who have done that are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I put in the hands of Satan, in order that when Satan punishes them they may learn not to teach wrong teaching."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "1", "text": "The first (OR, most important) thing that I urge you to tell your congregation is that Christians should continually ask God for what they need. They should also pray to God for all other people, and they should be thanking God."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "2", "text": "Specifically, they should pray for rulers and for all other people who ◄are in important government positions/have authority►, in order that God will help them to rule. As God enables the rulers to rule well, we can live very peaceably as we conduct ours lives doing all that God and others consider to be right and proper."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "3", "text": "It is good to pray like that, and it pleases God, who saves us, when we pray like that."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "4", "text": "He desires to save all people. He wants everyone to fully know and accept his true message."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "5", "text": "He is the only one true God! And there is only one person who talks to God on behalf of people. That person is Christ Jesus, who himself is a man!"}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "6", "text": "He gave ◄his life/himself► as a sacrifice in order to ransom/redeem all people, which showed at the proper time that God desires that all people be saved{ to save all people}."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "7", "text": "As for me, he appointed me to declare this message and to be an apostle. I am telling the truth about God appointing me. I am not lying! He appointed me to teach the non-Jews that they should believe God's true message."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "8", "text": "I desire that in every place where believers worship, the men who pray publicly [MTY] should be men who are not practicing sin. When they pray, they should not be angry with anyone and they should not doubt that God will answer their prayers (OR, should not quarrel with anyone)."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "9", "text": "I would like that the clothing that women wear be ◄modest and sensible/proper and appropriate► [DOU]. I want them to not fix their hair in fancy/elaborate ways, nor wear gold jewelry, nor pearls, nor expensive clothing in order that they may make themselves attractive."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "10", "text": "Instead, they should be doing things that women who ◄claim to/say that they► worship God should do; that is, they should be doing good deeds."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "11", "text": "Women must learn to listen quietly during the worship services and to fully subject themselves to the leaders of the congregation."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "12", "text": "I do not permit women to teach men spiritual truth publicly, and I do not permit them to have authority over men. Instead, I desire that women listen quietly during the worship services."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "13", "text": "Keep in mind that God made Adam first, and afterwards he made Eve,"}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "14", "text": "and that it was not Adam whom Satan deceived. As a result of the woman being deceived, she sinned. She did what God had told her not to do."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "15", "text": "But even though she did that, now women will be saved {God will accept women} as they bear children if they continue to trust God and if they continue to love others, and if they continue to conduct their lives more and more◄acceptably to God/like God wants them to►, and if they continue to be modest."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "1", "text": "Anyone who aspires to be an elder in the congregation(OR, a bishop) desires a noble/honorable task."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "2", "text": "Since that is a task that others should respect, an overseer must conduct himself in such a way that no one can truly ◄say that he has done anything that is wrong/find fault with him►. Specifically, he must be faithful to his wife. He must think clearly about what he does. He must be able to control his behavior. He must be sensible. He must be dignified/respectable. He must welcome and care for guests. He must be able to teach God's truth well."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "3", "text": "He must not be a drunkard. He must not be ready/quick to fight those who make him angry. On the contrary, he must be gentle and he must not be quarrelsome. He must not be greedy for much money."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "4", "text": "He must lead and care for his own household/family well. For example, he must be a man whom his children obey and completely respect,"}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "5", "text": "because if anyone does not know how he should lead well and care for well the people who live in his own house, ◄he certainly cannot care for God's congregation!/how can he care for God's congregation?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "6", "text": "He must not be one who has just recently trusted in Jesus, because if you choose a man like that he might become conceited/proud because you chose him so soon. As a result of his being conceited/proud, God will condemn him like he condemned the devil because he was conceited/proud."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "7", "text": "Moreover, an elder must conduct himself in such a way that non-Christians speak well of him, because if he conducts himself like that, people will not ◄reproach/say evil things about► him, and the devil will not capture/trap him [MET] like people capture animals in a trap."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "8", "text": "Those whom you choose to serve as deacons likewise must be ones who conduct themselves suitably/appropriately. Specifically, they must be ◄serious/worthy that people respect them►. They must ◄be sincere/mean what they say►. They must not like to drink much alcohol. They must not ◄be greedy/have a strong desire to get money►."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "9", "text": "They must sincerely believe the message that God has now revealed to us."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "10", "text": "Like you do for the elders, you must examine ◄ their character/how they conduct their lives► before you appoint them to serve. Then if they are without fault, let them serve as deacons."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "11", "text": "Their wives (OR, The women who are deacons) likewise must conduct themselves suitably/appropriately. Specifically, they must be◄serious/worthy that people respect them►. They must not speak evil about people. They must not drink much alcohol. They must be faithful in everything that they do."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "12", "text": "Deacons must be faithful to their wives, and they must lead well and care well for their children and the rest of the people in their houses."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "13", "text": "Because if deacons serve well, people will respect them and they will be able to speak very boldly/confidently about what they believe concerning Christ Jesus."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "14", "text": "Although I hope that I will come to you soon, I am writing these things to you now"}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "15", "text": "in order that if I ◄am delayed/things prevent me from coming to you soon►, you will know how believers should conduct their lives and you will be able to teach that to them. I am talking about all those who are members of God's family, all the congregations that belong to the all-powerful God, all those who uphold/support [MET] the true message."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "16", "text": "It is certainly true that the message that God has now revealed is very wonderful! From it, we learn this spiritual truth that we say/sing about Christ(OR, We affirm this teaching to be true and very important.) It is what shows us how to live ◄in a godly manner/in a manner that pleases God►. It is what God has now revealed, even though it was not known before. We◄ affirm/say that it is true► concerning Jesus Christ that, He is the one who appeared on the earth in a human body. God's Spirit showed/demonstrated that he is/was truly the Messiah (OR, that he always acted righteously); Angels saw him; people preached about him in many nations; People in many parts of the world believed the message about him. God took him up into heaven."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "1", "text": "God's Spirit has clearly told us that in later times some people will stop believing the teaching that all of us believe. Instead, they will listen to evil spirits who deceive people. They will also believe the false doctrines/teachings that they receive from these evil spirits."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "2", "text": "The people who teach those false doctrines/teachings are liars! And they do not feel at all guilty [MET] when they teach such teachings!"}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "3", "text": "For example, they forbid that believers marry because they say that it makes us unacceptable to God. They also command that people abstain from eating certain foods. But God created such foods in order that we can eat them! We who believe in Christ know the true teaching, and we thank God for the food that he gives us. That is why we can eat it."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "4", "text": "We can eat all kinds of food because God has created all food, and it is all good. We should not refuse to eat certain kinds of food if we thank God for it when we eat it."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "5", "text": "It is acceptable to God because God long ago said that all things that he made are good, and because we pray that God will bless it."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "6", "text": "When you teach these things to your fellow believers, you will be showing that you, whom Christ Jesus appointed, serve them well. You will have become strong spiritually◄by holding fast/by obeying► the true message that we all believe."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "7", "text": "You must completely reject godless, silly/foolish stories from your ancestors that old people tell. Keep training yourself so that you have more ◄godly behavior/behavior that pleases God►."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "8", "text": "Some people say, “It helps us in some ways if we exercise our bodies.” But I say that people benefit very much if they live ◄in a godly way/in a way that pleases God►, because if people live in a godly way, that will benefit them both while they live now and when they live in the future life in heaven."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "9", "text": "Those are words that are absolutely true, and everybody should accept them!"}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "10", "text": "This is the reason why we work so hard [DOU] for others, because we confidently expect that God, who is all-powerful, will do the things that he has promised. He is the one who wants to save all people, so he protects them. He certainly protects us who believe in Christ!"}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "11", "text": "Command these things and teach these things."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "12", "text": "Timothy, by the way you conduct your life, show the believers in your congregation how they should conduct their lives. Specifically, speak good things, conduct yourself well, love people, trust God, and be pure in every way. If you do all that, no one will have any reason◄to belittle/to treat you disrespectfully► because of your being young."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "13", "text": "Until I come, be sure that you read the Scriptures to the congregation and that you exhort/urge them to obey the Scriptures, and teach them."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "14", "text": "Do not neglect to use the abilities that God gave to you as a result of people/us◄prophesying/telling what God revealed to them► about you and as a result of the elders putting their hands on you to commission/appoint you to do God's work."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "15", "text": "Do these things that I have told you to do! ◄Concentrate on them/Do them sincerely and wholeheartedly► in order that everyone may see that you are improving in how you do them."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "16", "text": "Be careful that you conduct yourself well. By continuing to do that, you will save yourself. And if you continue to teach the good doctrine/teaching, the result of your teaching will be that God will save the people who listen to you."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 5, "verse": "1", "text": "Do not rebuke/scold older men. Instead, exhort/advise them respectfully as you would exhort/advise your father. Exhort/advise younger men gently as you would exhort/advise your brothers."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 5, "verse": "2", "text": "Exhort/advise older women respectfully as you would exhort/advise your mother. Exhort/advise younger women gently as you would exhort/advise your sisters; but you must act in a completely proper way as you do that."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 5, "verse": "3", "text": "Make sure that the congregation respects widows who have no one to care for them. They should respect them by taking care of them."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 5, "verse": "4", "text": "If a widow has children or grandchildren, these children or grandchildren should learn that they are to respect their own family first. By doing that they can repay their parents and grandparents for all that they did for them when they were young, because doing that pleases God."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 5, "verse": "5", "text": "The widows who are really alone and have no one to help them confidently expect that God will help them. So night and day they pray, earnestly asking [DOU] God that he will help them and others."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 5, "verse": "6", "text": "But widows who just want to have a lot of pleasure are spiritually[MET] dead, although they are physically alive."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 5, "verse": "7", "text": "And tell the congregation that the children or grandchildren should do these things in order that no one can ◄criticize the believers/say that the believers are doing anything that is wrong►."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 5, "verse": "8", "text": "If anyone does not take care of those who live in his own house, and especially if he does not take care of his own family, he has ◄denied/quit believing► what we believe and we should consider that he is worse than a person who does not believe in Christ."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 5, "verse": "9", "text": "You have a list of widows who will do work for the congregation and receive money. Put women's names on the list only if they are more than sixty years old, and if they were faithful to their husbands."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 5, "verse": "10", "text": "Put women's names on that list only if it is known that they have zealously/wholeheartedly done every kind of good deed, if they have helped children who were afflicted/suffering, if they have ◄brought up/cared for► their children properly/well, if they have welcomed and cared for guests, and if they have humbly served [MTY] other believers."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 5, "verse": "11", "text": "As for younger widows, do not put their names on that list, because they promise to do work for the congregation, but instead of doing that, they usually want to marry again(OR, marry an unbeliever) when they have strong desires."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 5, "verse": "12", "text": "If that happens, they may become guilty of not having done what they had promised to do for the congregation(OR, promised Christ that they would do.)"}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 5, "verse": "13", "text": "In addition, they generally become lazy. Specifically, as they just go about from house to house they also begin ◄to gossip/to talk about people► and to meddle in other people's affairs, saying what they should not say."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 5, "verse": "14", "text": "So I advise that instead of putting the names of younger widows on the list, they marry again, that they bear/have children, that they manage their homes well, and that they do nothing about which an enemy can say bad things about them."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 5, "verse": "15", "text": "I say this because some younger widows have stopped obeying Christ in order to obey Satan."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 5, "verse": "16", "text": "If any woman who believes in Christ has widows in her household/family, she should take care of them. The congregation should not be burdened by having {She should not depend on the congregation} to take care of their needs. The congregation should take care of the widows who truly have no one to care for them."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 5, "verse": "17", "text": "Each congregation should pay well the elders who lead well. They should greatly honor them, especially those who preach and those who teach."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 5, "verse": "18", "text": "Long ago Moses wrote in the Scriptures, “While an ox is threshing grain, you must not tie its mouth so that it cannot eat the grain,” and Jesus said, “ People should pay those who work for their benefit.” So we know that congregations should support their elders."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 5, "verse": "19", "text": "When some person accuses an elder about doing wrong, accept what he says only if there are at least two or three persons who ◄testify/say that► they saw him do that wrong."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 5, "verse": "20", "text": "But as for any elder who repeatedly sins, rebuke him before the whole congregation, in order that the rest of the elders will be afraid to sin."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 5, "verse": "21", "text": "I solemnly tell you that as you keep in mind that God and Christ Jesus and the holy angels know everything that you do, obey these commands about elders! As you consider what others say about an elder doing wrong, do not easily/quickly decide that what they say is true. And treat them all equally."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 5, "verse": "22", "text": "Do not be in a hurry to put your hands on a man ◄ to set him apart/to appoint him► as an elder. Wait until you have examined him to see how he conducts his life, because God will consider that you are responsible if you approve a person who sins, saying that he should become an elder. Keep your life pure in every way."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 5, "verse": "23", "text": "And Timothy, no longer drink only water, but instead, drink a little wine also, because that may help to cure your stomach's frequent illnesses."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 5, "verse": "24", "text": "I tell you not◄ to set apart/appoint► elders hastily, without seeing how they conduct their lives, because some people sin secretly, so that it is not known what they have done until after someone examines them (OR, before God judges them). But some people sin openly, so that people know what they have done before anyone examines them."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 5, "verse": "25", "text": "Similarly, although some people do good deeds openly, with the result that people know what they have done, some people do good deeds secretly, yet the good deeds that they have done cannot remain secret either."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 6, "verse": "1", "text": "As for slaves [DOU] who are believers, teach them that they should consider that it is right for them to honor their masters in every way. If they do that, people will not speak ◄against/evil about► God [MTY] and they will not speak ◄against/evil about► that which we apostles teach, because they will see that the slaves are being respectful of their masters."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 6, "verse": "2", "text": "Slaves who have masters who believe in Christ must not be disrespectful to their masters just because their masters are fellow believers. Instead, they should serve their masters even better because their masters are fellow believers whom God loves and who benefit when the slaves serve them well. As you teach these things to your congregation, exhort/urge people that they do them."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 6, "verse": "3", "text": "Some people teach things that are different. What they teach ◄does not agree with/is not like► the correct teaching that our Lord Jesus Christ taught(OR, that is about our Lord Jesus Christ). They do not say that we should conduct our lives ◄in a godly manner/ in a manner that pleases God►."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 6, "verse": "4", "text": "Such people are very proud and do not understand anything [HYP]. Instead, they abnormally/wrongly desire to argue about unimportant matters and about certain words. As a result, people who listen to them◄envy others/ desire to have what others have►. They quarrel with others and with one another. They say bad things about others. They suspect/think that others have evil ◄ motives/reasons for doing what they do►."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 6, "verse": "5", "text": "Their whole way of thinking has become completely wrong because they have rejected the true doctrine/teaching. As a result, they mistakenly think that ◄by practicing religion/by saying that they believe in God► they will gain a lot of money."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 6, "verse": "6", "text": "Well, we truly do gain great benefit when we conduct our lives ◄in a godly manner/ in a manner that pleases God► and we are content with what we have."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 6, "verse": "7", "text": "We brought nothing into the world when we were born, and we cannot take anything out of it when we die,"}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 6, "verse": "8", "text": "so if we have food and clothing, we should be satisfied with these."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 6, "verse": "9", "text": "But some people strongly desire to be rich. As a result, they do wrong things to get money, and this will cause them to be caught/trapped [MET] as animals get caught in traps. They foolishly desire many things, and those desires cause them to get hurt. And God will completely reject them!"}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 6, "verse": "10", "text": "All kinds of bad things will happen to people who [PRS] desire to have a lot of money. Because some people longed for money, they have stopped believing the doctrine/teaching that all of us believe and they have caused themselves much grief/sadness."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 6, "verse": "11", "text": "But as for you, who are a man who serves God, ◄keep completely away from such love of money/do not be like the people who love money►. Decide that you will do what is right, and that you will ◄be godly/do what pleases God►. Decide that you will trust God, and that you will love others. Endure difficult circumstances. Always be gentle with people."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 6, "verse": "12", "text": "Try earnestly and with all your energy/strength [MET] to live in accordance with what you believe. Continue to do your tasks well in order that you will know for sure that you will live eternally. Remember that God chose you to live with him, and that when many elders were listening you said strongly ◄ what you believe/that you trust in Christ►."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 6, "verse": "13", "text": "God, who gives life to all things, knows everything that you do. Christ Jesus also knows everything that you do. He strongly declared what was true when he was on trial before Pontius Pilate."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 6, "verse": "14", "text": "I command you that as you keep all that in mind, in every way you ◄hold fast/obey► what Christ has commanded us [DOU]. ◄Hold fast/obey► those teachings in a way that our Lord Jesus Christ cannot ◄criticize you about/say that you did what is wrong►, until he comes again."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 6, "verse": "15", "text": "Remember that God will cause Jesus to come again at the proper time. He is awesome! He is the only Ruler! He rules over all other people who rule!"}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 6, "verse": "16", "text": "He is the only one who will never die, and he lives in heaven in light that is so bright that no one can approach it! He is the one whom no person has ever seen and whom no person is able to see! My desire is that all people will honor him and that he will rule powerfully [MTY] forever! ◄May it be so!/Amen!►"}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 6, "verse": "17", "text": "Tell the believers who are rich here in this present world that they should not be proud, and that they should not trust in their many possessions, because they cannot be certain how long they will have them. Teach them that they should not trust in their wealth. Instead, they should trust in God. He is the one who abundantly gives us everything we have in order that we may enjoy it."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 6, "verse": "18", "text": "Also, tell them that their good deeds must be as plentiful as their money. Specifically, they should share very generously with others what they have."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 6, "verse": "19", "text": "If they do that, Jesus will give them a great reward. It will be as though they are storing up in heaven much treasure for themselves that will ◄be a good basis on which they may rely for/result in their► receiving a great reward in the future (OR, which will be as solid as the foundation [MET] of a house). By doing this they will have the life that is the real life."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 6, "verse": "20", "text": "Timothy, faithfully proclaim/protect the true message (OR, do the work) that Jesus has given to you. ◄Avoid/Do not listen to► people who want to chatter about things that are not important to God. ◄Avoid/Do not listen to► people who claim/say that they have❛true knowledge❜ but who say things that oppose/contradict our true teaching."}
{"book": "1TI", "chapter": 6, "verse": "21", "text": "◄ Keep completely away from/Reject completely► such teaching. Remember that some people who claim to have this ❛knowledge❜ have stopped believing what all of us believe. ◄ I desire that/May► God continue to act kindly toward you all."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "1", "text": "I, Paul, am writing this letter. I am an apostle whom Christ Jesus chose so that I would do what God wanted. He chose me to tell people that God has promised that they will live eternally as a result of their having a close relationship with Christ Jesus."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "2", "text": "I am writing to you, Timothy, whom I love as if you were my own son. I pray that God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord will continue to act kindly to you, be merciful to you, and cause you to have inner peace,"}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "3", "text": "I thank God for all that he has done for you. I serve him, and my ancestors served him, too. I serve him in a manner that I know to be right. I thank him while repeatedly I pray for you at night and during the day."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "4", "text": "While I am thanking God for you, I very much want to see you because I remember how you cried [MTY] when we separated. I want to see you in order that I may be ◄filled with joy/very happy►."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "5", "text": "I thank God because I remember that you sincerely believe in Christ Jesus. First, your grandmother, Lois, and your mother, Eunice, believed in him and, I am ◄convinced/very sure► that you also believe in him."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "6", "text": "Because I am sure that you believe in him, I remind you to do fervently/wholeheartedly [MET] what God has ◄assigned for/appointed► you to do and what he has enabled you to do. God◄ assigned for/appointed► you to do it as a result of my putting my hands on you to show/indicate that he had chosen you to do his work."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "7", "text": "Remember that God has put his Spirit within us. His Spirit does not cause us to be afraid. Instead, he causes us to be powerful to work for God, and he helps us to love others and to control what we say and do."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "8", "text": "So never be ashamed/reluctant to tell others the message about our Lord. And do not be ashamed of me, even though I am a prisoner because I preach about him. Instead, be willing to suffer as I do as you proclaim the message about Christ. Endure what you will suffer by letting God empower you to endure it."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "9", "text": "God saved us and chose us to conduct our lives in a pure way. It was not our doing good deeds/actions that caused him to do this for us—something that we did not deserve. Instead, before ◄time began/he created the world► he purposed/planned to be kind to us as a result of what Christ Jesus would do for us."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "10", "text": "Now, as a result of our Savior Christ Jesus having come, it has been revealed {he has shown} that he acts kindly toward us. Specifically, Christ Jesus has declared that we will not remain dead after we die! He has also revealed that, as a result of our hearing and accepting the message about Christ, we will live forever in bodies that will not decay!"}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "11", "text": "I was chosen {Christ chose me} to go as an apostle to many places and proclaim that message to people."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "12", "text": "So, even though I suffer here in this prison, I am not ashamed of being here(OR, I am very confident), because I know Christ Jesus, the one whom I have trusted, and I am convinced/sure that he is able to keep safe the good message that he has entrusted to me (OR, the things that I have entrusted to him), and that he will reward me at the time [MTY] when he comes again."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "13", "text": "Be sure that you tell others the same correct message that you heard from me. And as you tell it, keep trusting in Christ Jesus and keep loving others as Christ Jesus enables you to do."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "14", "text": "Do not let anyone persuade you to change the good message that God has entrusted/given to you. Allow the Holy Spirit who lives in us to direct what you say."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "15", "text": "You know that almost all the believers in Asia province have ◄turned away from/abandoned► me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "16", "text": "But I pray that the Lord will be kind to the family of Onesiphorus for the following reasons: Often he refreshed me and, even though I was a prisoner [MTY], he was not ashamed ◄of me/ to admit he was my friend►."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "17", "text": "On the contrary, when he came here to Rome city, he diligently searched for me until he found me."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 1, "verse": "18", "text": "I pray that the Lord will be kind to him in that day [MTY] when he, the Lord, will judge people. And how much Onesiphorus served me in Ephesus city, you know very well."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "1", "text": "You are like a son to me. So I urge also that you let God empower you spiritually as a result of Christ Jesus acting kindly toward you."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "2", "text": "As you do that, remembering that the message that you heard from me is the same message that other people have affirmed/declared to you, you must entrust/give that message to people whom you can trust, people who will be competent/able/qualified to teach others."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "3", "text": "Endure as I do what we suffer for Christ Jesus, like a good soldier endures what he suffers."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "4", "text": "You know that soldiers, in order to please their captain, do not ◄become involved in civilian affairs/spend time doing other kinds of work► [MET]. So, like soldiers, do not let other matters ◄distract you as you serve/hinder you from serving► Christ Jesus!"}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "5", "text": "Similarly, you know that athletes who do not obey the rules of the contest will not be given {not win} the prize [MET]. So, like athletes, do all that Christ Jesus has commanded so that God will reward you!"}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "6", "text": "You also know that a hard-working farmer should be the first to receive some of the harvest [MET]. So, like farmers, work hard for Christ Jesus and expect that God will reward you!"}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "7", "text": "Think about what I have just written, because, if you do, the Lord will enable you to understand everything that you need to understand."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "8", "text": "Endure everything by remembering how Jesus Christ endured it when he suffered. Remember that he was raised {God raised him} from the dead and God affirmed/declared him to be king as his ancestor King David was. Those are things that I tell to people when I tell them the message about Christ."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "9", "text": "I am suffering here in prison because some people oppose the good message that I tell. They have even put me in chains as if I were a criminal. Nevertheless, the message from God is not chained {nothing is preventing [MET] others from proclaiming the message from God}."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "10", "text": "Therefore I willingly endure all that I am suffering for the sake of those whom God has chosen. I do this in order that Christ Jesus will save them, too, and that they will be forever with him in the glorious place where he is."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "11", "text": "Endure everything as you remember that these words that we all say/sing(OR, that we teach people) are trustworthy, Since we have stopped behaving as we did in the past, as though we died when he died, we shall also live with him."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "12", "text": "Since we are also patiently enduring what we suffer, we shall also rule with him. But if we say that we do not know him, he also will say that he does not know us."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "13", "text": "If we ◄are unfaithful/stop doing what he tells us to do►, he will treat us just like he promised to do, because he ◄can never be untrue to himself/always does what he says that he will do►."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "14", "text": "Those whom you appointed to teach others God's truth, keep reminding them about these things that I have told you. Tell them strongly that, since God knows what they are doing (OR, that God will judge them for everything that is wrong that they do, and therefore) they must not quarrel ◄about words/about matters that are not important►, because, when teachers quarrel, it helps no one, and because, when they quarrel, they spiritually destroy those who hear them (OR, they cause those who hear them to quit ◄being committed to Christ/believing in Christ►.)"}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "15", "text": "◄Do your best/Try hard► to be the kind of person that God will approve of. Be like a good workman as you teach the true message accurately. If a workman works well, he will not need to be ashamed of (OR, will be pleased about) what he does."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "16", "text": "◄Stay away from/Do not talk with► those who talk foolishly and◄ godlessly/say things that displease God►, because those who talk foolishly will become even more ◄ungodly/displeasing to God►,"}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "17", "text": "and because their message will harm people[SIM] like gangrene/cancer does. You know Hymenaeus and Philetus. They are two such people who talk in this manner."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "18", "text": "Specifically, they teach a wrong message; that is, they say wrongly that God will not raise the dead people because he has already given us spiritual life. They claim that our spiritual life is the only new life that we will receive. By saying that, they cause some people"}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "19", "text": "not to continue to believe in Christ. However, the congregations of God are strong [MET]. They are like a strong foundation on which is written: “The Lord knows the people who really belong to him,” and “Every person who calls Jesus [MTY] ‘Lord’ must stop doing wicked deeds”."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "20", "text": "In a wealthy person's house there are not only utensils made of gold and of silver, but also utensils made of wood and of clay. The gold and silver utensils are used at special occasions/events, and the others are used at ordinary occasions. Similarly, in a congregation there are those who◄ are ready/desire► to do great things for the Lord Jesus, and there are those like the teachers of false doctrines/teachings who are not."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "21", "text": "Therefore, those who rid themselves of what is evil in their lives will be able to work well for the Lord. They will be like utensils [MET] used at special occasions, set apart for and especially useful to the owner of the big house. They will be like fine utensils that have been prepared {are ready} to do any kind of good work."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "22", "text": "Because of that, you(sg) must avoid doing the wrong actions that many young people desire to do. Instead, you must earnestly do right actions, believe the true teaching, love God and others, and you must continually be at peace with those who ask the Lord to help them and who are pure in every way (OR, who serve Jesus faithfully)."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "23", "text": "Do not talk with anyone who foolishly wants to argue about matters that are not important. Do not talk with them, because you know that when people talk about foolish things, they begin to quarrel."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "24", "text": "But those who serve the Lord must not quarrel. Instead, they should be kind to all people, they should be ◄able to teach God's truth well/ good teachers►, and they should be patient with people."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "25", "text": "That is, they should gently instruct/teach people who oppose the true message. They should do that in order that perhaps God will cause others to completely change what they think, so that they may acknowledge/believe the true message."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 2, "verse": "26", "text": "In that way they may get free from what is like[MET] a trap set by the devil. The devil has deceived them in order that they might do what he wants them to do."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "1", "text": "You need to realize that during the last days [MTY] before Christ returns, evil people will make it difficult for believers to behave as they should."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "2", "text": "This is because such evil people will be habitually loving themselves and loving money. They will habitually boast about themselves, they will be proud, and will often say bad things about others. They will disobey their parents. They will not be thankful, nor will they respect anything that is good."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "3", "text": "They will not even love their own family, nor agree with anybody(OR, they never forgive anyone). They will tell lies about people. They will not control what they say and do, nor allow anyone to control them. They will not love anything that is good."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "4", "text": "They will ◄betray others/hand others over to their enemies► and act foolishly. They will be overly/very proud of themselves, and they will love to please themselves instead of loving God."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "5", "text": "And, although they will pretend that they worship God, they will not let God's Spirit work powerfully in their lives. Do not associate with such people (OR, Do not let such people join your congregation),"}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "6", "text": "because some such people, even now, subtly/deceivingly persuade foolish women to let them come into their houses, and then they deceive those women so that they control what those women think. These women have been burdened with sins {have sinned very much} and they have been led to do {they do} the many evil things that they strongly desire to do."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "7", "text": "Even though they are always wanting to learn new things, they are never able to recognize what is true."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "8", "text": "Just like Jannes and Jambres long ago very much opposed Moses, so also some people now oppose the true message. Those people think only what is evil. God rejects them because they do not believe what is true."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "9", "text": "Nevertheless, they will not continue to succeed, because most [HYP] people will understand clearly that such people are foolish, just like people also realized clearly that Jannes and Jambres were foolish."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "10", "text": "But as for yourself, you have fully known what I have taught. You have known and imitated the way in which I conducted my life, and what I have been trying to do. You have trusted God as I have You have been patient as I have been. You have loved people as I have and you have endured as you suffered like I have suffered."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "11", "text": "You know how I endured many times when people harmed me. They caused me to suffer at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra cities. But although they caused me to suffer, I endured it; and every time they did those things to me, the Lord rescued me."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "12", "text": "◄Indeed/You know that►, for us(inc) who want to live ◄in a godly manner/ in a manner that pleases God►, we will always be persecuted {there will always be people who will cause us to suffer} because we have a close relationship with Christ Jesus."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "13", "text": "Evil people (OR, And those) who deceive other people will ◄get worse/teach things that are more and more wrong►. Specifically, they will deceive other people, and those who hear them will deceive others."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "14", "text": "But you, in contrast, must continue to believe what you have learned and ◄been assured of/firmly believe►. I know that you are confident/sure that it is true because you know that you have learned it from all of us who taught you◄ God's truth/what is right►."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "15", "text": "From the time when you were a child you have known the holy writings/Scriptures. You now know that they enabled you to become wise so that God saved you because of your believing in Christ Jesus."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "16", "text": "God ◄inspired/put into men's minds► everything that is written in the Scriptures {they wrote in the holy writings}, and those writings are all useful to teach us what is true, to cause us to know when we are wrong and then ◄to correct us/to show us what we have done that is wrong►, and to train/teach us to do what is right."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 3, "verse": "17", "text": "What is written{they wrote} is useful to help us who serve God to be ready/prepared to do all that we should do. By means of it, we are equipped {God gives us what we need} in order to do every kind of good deeds."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "1", "text": "Christ Jesus is going to come back and judge those who are living when he comes and those who will have died. He will judge them concerning what rewards they deserve, and he will rule everyone. So, knowing that he and God are watching everything that we do, I solemnly/earnestly command you"}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "2", "text": "that you proclaim the true message to people. Always be ready/prepared to proclaim it whether people want to hear it or not. Some people are saying things that are not correct; ◄refute their teaching/show why their teaching is wrong►. Rebuke them when they are doing wrong. Tell them what they ought to do. Be very patient while you teach them."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "3", "text": "Do these things because there will be a time when people will not listen to good teaching. Instead, they will bring in many teachers for themselves who will tell them just what they want to hear [IDM]. The reason that they will bring in such teachers is that they want to do the evil things that they desire."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "4", "text": "That is, they will not listen to [MTY] what is true, but will listen instead to strange stories from our ancestors."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "5", "text": "Furthermore, I command that you always control what you think and do. Be willing to endure hardships/suffering. Your work should be telling people the message about Christ Jesus. As you serve the Lord, do everything that God has told you to do."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "6", "text": "Timothy, I say these things to you because as for me, it is as though[MET] they are now about to kill me. It is as though my blood will be poured out {they will kill me} as a sacrifice on the altar; that is, I know that it is the time for me to die [EUP]."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "7", "text": "And as to telling people the good message and defending it, I have ◄exerted myself thoroughly/done it with all my energy► [MET], like a boxer does. As to doing the work that God gave me to do, I have completed it, like a runner who finishes[MET] the race. As to what we believe, I ◄have been loyal to it/continue to believe it►."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "8", "text": "So, like people award a prize [MET] to the winner of a race, the Lord, who judges rightly, will give me a reward because I have lived righteously. He will give me that reward when [MTY] he judges people. And not only will he reward me, but he will also reward all those who very much want him to come back."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "9", "text": "◄Do your best/Try hard► to come to me soon."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "10", "text": "I say that because Demas has left me. He wanted very much the good things that he might enjoy[MTY] in this world right now, and so he went to Thessalonica city. Crescens went to serve the Lord in Galatia province, and Titus went to Dalmatia district."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "11", "text": "Luke is the only one who is still with me of those who were helping me. And when you come, bring Mark with you, because he is useful to help me in my work."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "12", "text": "Tychicus cannot help me because I sent him to Ephesus city."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "13", "text": "And when you come, bring the coat that I left with Carpus in Troas city. Also, bring the books, but ◄most of all/especially► I want◄the parchments/the animal skins► on which important things are written."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "14", "text": "Alexander, the man who makes things from metal, did many evil/harmful things to me. The Lord will punish him for what he did."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "15", "text": "So you, too, must beware of him. He will try to destroy your work if he can, because he very much opposes the message that we proclaim."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "16", "text": "When I first defended myself in court here, no one came along to help defend me. Instead, they all left me. I pray that it will not be counted against { God will forgive} them [LIT] for leaving me."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "17", "text": "Nevertheless, the Lord was with me and strengthened me. He enabled me to fully preach the message, and all the non-Jewish people in the court(OR, people from many nations) heard it. And I was rescued by the Lord{ the Lord rescued me} from great danger, as if I were taken[MET] out of a lion's (OR, wild animal's) mouth."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "18", "text": "Therefore, I am sure that the Lord will rescue me from everything that is truly evil and will bring me safely to heaven, where he rules. Praise him forever! ◄Amen!/May it be so!►"}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "19", "text": "Greet for me Priscilla and her husband Aquila and the family of Onesiphorus."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "20", "text": "Erastus stayed in Corinth city. Trophimus, I left in Miletus city because he was sick."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "21", "text": "◄Do your best/Try hard► to come to me before ◄the stormy season/winter►. Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and many other fellow believers in this city◄send their greetings to/say that they are thinking affectionately about► you."}
{"book": "2TI", "chapter": 4, "verse": "22", "text": "I pray that the Lord will help you in your spirit, Timothy, and that he will act kindly toward all of you believers who are there."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "1", "text": "I, Paul, am writing this letter to you, Titus. God appointed me to be his servant and to be an apostle who represents Jesus Christ. God appointed me in order that I might teach those whom God has chosen to be his people to correctly believe in him. He wants me to teach them the true teachings about God, in order that they will learn to behave ◄in a godly manner/ in a manner that pleases God►."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "2", "text": "As a result of my doing these things, they confidently expect that God will cause them to live forever. God, who never lies, promised before he created the world that his people would live forever."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "3", "text": "Then at the time that he chose, he revealed to us his message. Specifically, God our Savior gave this message to me, and he trusted me to proclaim it to people."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "4", "text": "Titus, I am writing this letter to you because you are like a true son [MET] to me because I led/helped you to believe the same teachings about Christ that I do. ◄ I pray that/May► God our Father and Christ Jesus our Savior will continue to act kindly toward you and cause you to have inner peace."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "5", "text": "When I asked you to stay on Crete island, I wanted you to do these things: Teach the believers what they need to know so that they can understand correctly the spiritual matters about which some are teaching wrongly. Appoint elders in the congregation in each town in the manner in which I told you to do."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "6", "text": "When you appoint men as elders, you must choose men whom no one can justly accuse of habitually doing what is wrong (OR, whom everyone speaks well of). Specifically, appoint men who have been faithful to their wives. Appoint men whose children faithfully obey them. Do not appoint men whose children habitually do all the things that their bodies urge them to do, or who refuse to obey their parents."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "7", "text": "Leaders of the congregation must be men who, as everyone knows, habitually do what is good (OR, whom no one can justly accuse of doing what is wrong), because it is on God's behalf that they will direct/serve the congregation. Specifically, they must not be arrogant/proud. They must not easily become angry. They must not be men who drink much alcohol. They must not be men who◄ act violently/fight► when they are angry. They must not be men who are◄greedy for/strongly desire to get► money."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "8", "text": "Instead, they must be ones who welcome and take care of guests. They must ◄be devoted to/like to do► what is good. They must do what God considers to be right. They must be ◄holy/completely dedicated to God►. They must be men who do what their minds tell them is right to do and not what their emotions/desires urge them to do."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "9", "text": "They must firmly believe in the message about Jesus Christ exactly as I/we(inc) taught it, in order that they might be able to teach the believers what is correct and to urge them to follow it well. If they firmly accept our message, they will be able to convince those who oppose what is correct that they are wrong."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "10", "text": "I say this because there are many people who oppose the correct teachings. They refuse to obey people who have authority over them, they talk ◄ on and on/without stopping►, saying what helps no one, and they deceive people. The Jewish believers[MTY] who insist we must obey all the Jewish rituals are especially doing this."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "11", "text": "You and the leaders whom you appoint should prevent such people from teaching the believers. They are causing whole families to stop believing in the correct teachings [MET] by means of their teaching people wrong ideas/teachings. They are teaching people only in order that people will give them money, which is very shameful for them to do."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "12", "text": "A man from Crete island whom they consider a prophet said, “ My fellow Cretan people are always lying to one another! They are like dangerous wild animals [MET]! They are lazy and always eat too much food [SYN]!”"}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "13", "text": "The words that this man said about the Cretan people are still true, especially about their being liars. So, rigorously convince/show those Cretan believers that those false teachings are wrong. Tell them to firmly believe in the correct teachings."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "14", "text": "Teach them that they should no longer listen to the stories that the Jews ◄made up/invented►. Especially they should refuse to obey those who reject our true teachings, because those people are teaching things that only come from human beings, not from God."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "15", "text": "Believers should reject what they teach about food, because no food that we eat can make us unacceptable to God if we are pure in our◄ inner beings/hearts►. But if people are evil within themselves and they do not trust in Christ Jesus, there is no ritual that can make them acceptable to God. Such people's way of thinking has been ruined {Such people have ruined their way of thinking}, and they do not even feel guilty when they do what is evil."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 1, "verse": "16", "text": "Even though they claim/say that they know God, by what they do they show that they do not know ◄God/his true teaching►. They do not obey God, and they are unable to do anything that he considers to be good. So God considers them to be absolutely disgusting!"}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "1", "text": "But as for you(sg) , teach the believers what agrees with the correct teachings."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "2", "text": "Specifically, tell the older men that they should control themselves ◄in all situations/whatever happens►, that they should behave in such a manner that all people will respect them, and that they should control what they say and do. And tell them that they should firmly believe in the correct teachings, that they should sincerely love others, and that they should always be steadfast."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "3", "text": "Similarly, tell the older women that they should behave ◄in a reverent manner that shows that they are devoted to God/in a manner that honors God►; specifically, they should not ◄slander others/talk evil about others►, and they should not ◄be drinking much. /habitually drinking► alcohol. Tell them that they should teach the younger women what is good,"}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "4", "text": "in order that they may love their husbands and love their children."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "5", "text": "They should teach them to control what they say and do and to be pure in every way, to be good workers at home and submissive to their own husbands. The younger women should behave like this in order that no one will speak against the message about God."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "6", "text": "As for the younger men, similarly, urge them to control themselves in all that they say and do."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "7", "text": "You yourself must continually do what is good in order that others will see how they should behave. Teach the believers sincerely and seriously;"}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "8", "text": "teach what is correct and what no one can justly criticize. Do this in order that when the believers conduct their lives in a proper manner, anyone who opposes ◄ us/our message► will be disappointed because there will be nothing bad that they can justly say about us."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "9", "text": "As for slaves, specifically, urge them to be submissive to their masters in everything. They should please their masters; specifically, they should not◄ contradict/refuse to obey► their masters."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "10", "text": "They should not steal things that belong to their masters. Instead, they should always be completely honest/reliable and thus show their masters that their masters can completely trust them. They should behave like this in order that as a result of all the slaves conducting themselves well, people will realize that the teachings about God our Savior are very desirable."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "11", "text": "The believers should behave in a good manner, since God did for us what we did not deserve, sending Jesus Christ to earth in order that he might save all people [PRS]."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "12", "text": "God teaches/tells us [PRS] how to stop doing what he dislikes, and to stop desiring the things that ◄ungodly people/people who habitually do things that do not please God► desire [MTY]. He wants us to control our behavior and to do what is right and to do what pleases him while we live in this present age/time."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "13", "text": "Do not forget that we are waiting expectantly for that which will make us very happy indeed[MTY]! We are expectantly waiting for our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, to come gloriously!"}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "14", "text": "He is the one who willingly gave himself ◄ to die/as a sacrifice► on our behalf to set us free from all sinful behavior! He wants ◄us to get rid of all our evil behavior/to make our lives pure► [MET]. He wants us, who are his very own people, to be people who are eager to do what is good."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 2, "verse": "15", "text": "Teach the believers these things! Urge them to do them! Correct those who do not obey them! As you do this, you have my full authority; so do not allow anyone to disregard you!"}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "1", "text": "Remind the believers that they should submit to all those who rule them or have authority over them, and that they should obey them. They should be ready to do anything that is helpful."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "2", "text": "They should never say bad things about anyone, they should not quarrel with people, they should be patient when others◄ irritate them/do things that they do not like►, and they should always treat all people as important."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "3", "text": "Remind your congregations about these things because formerly we believers ourselves were also foolish, just like all people who do not believe in Christ are now. We did not obey ◄ God/God's message►. We let others deceive us. We ◄spent all our time doing/continually did► what is evil and could not stop ourselves from doing all the things that our bodies liked [DOU]. We were ◄envying others/desiring to have what others have►. We were causing people to hate us and we were hating one another."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "4-5", "text": "Even though we were behaving sinfully like this, he saved us! God our Savior acted kindly and lovingly to us [PRS], and saved us! He did this, not because we did things that are right, but just because he wanted to be merciful to us! He washed us inwardly and gave us a new way of living as a result of the Holy Spirit changing us inwardly."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "6", "text": "Because we trusted in Jesus Christ our Savior, God put the Holy Spirit within us in order to wonderfully change us."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "7", "text": "He wanted to erase the record of our sins even though we did not deserve that, and he wanted us to receive all that God desires to give us. These are the things that we confidently expect to receive when we live with him eternally."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "8", "text": "These words that I have said are trustworthy. So, I want you to confidently teach the things that I have written about in this letter to those who have trusted in God, in order that they will be constantly devoted/attempting to do deeds that are good and helpful for others. These teachings are beneficial and profitable for all people,"}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "9", "text": "but there are people who foolishly dispute/argue with you, wanting you to believe senseless ◄ myths/stories that came from your ancestors►, stories in which there are ◄genealogies/lists of your ancestors' names►. They argue and quarrel with you, ◄ insisting/telling you► that you must obey the Jewish laws. ◄Keep completely away from/Do not talk with► them, because arguing about such things is not profitable for anyone. It is completely worthless!"}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "10", "text": "Those people, by teaching things that are false, are causing others ◄to turn away from/to quit believing► the true teachings. You must warn them that God will judge them if they continue doing that. If they do not stop, warn them one more time. If they still do not stop, then no longer allow them to influence the believers."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "11", "text": "You will know clearly that such persons have deliberately◄turned away from/quit believing and obeying► the true teachings. They know that they are doing what is sinful, but they deliberately keep on doing it."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "12", "text": "I expect to send either Artemas or Tychicus to you. As soon as one of them arrives, ◄make every effort/try hard► to come to me quickly at Nicopolis city, because it is there that I have decided to go and stay during the stormy/winter season."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "13", "text": "As for Zenas ◄the lawyer/the expert in the law► and Apollos, when they are ready to leave Crete Island, help them as much as you can in order that they may have everything [LIT] that they need as they travel."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "14", "text": "Moreover, our fellow believers also should learn ◄to devote themselves to doing/ to constantly do► good deeds for people who need help in order that they, our fellow believers, will live very useful [LIT] lives."}
{"book": "TIT", "chapter": 3, "verse": "15", "text": "As I finish this letter, everyone who is with me ◄says that they are thinking affectionately about you/wants me to send greeting to you►. Tell those who are there who love us and believe as we do that we ◄are thinking affectionately about/greet► them. I pray/desire that our Lord Jesus Christ will continue to act kindly toward all of you."}
{"book": "PHM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "1", "text": "I, Paul, am a prisoner who serves Christ Jesus. I am here with Timothy, our fellow believer. I am writing this letter to you, Philemon, our dear friend and fellow worker."}
{"book": "PHM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "2", "text": "I am also writing to your wife, Apphia, and to Archippus, who is like[MET] our fellow soldier because he serves Christ steadfastly together with us. I am also writing this to the congregation that meets/gathers in your(sg) house."}
{"book": "PHM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "3", "text": "I pray that God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ will continue to act kindly toward you all and will continue to cause you to have inner peace."}
{"book": "PHM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "4", "text": "I always thank my God when I pray for you(sg) , because I hear people say that you love all God's people [CHI]"}
{"book": "PHM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "5", "text": "and that you continue to trust in the Lord Jesus."}
{"book": "PHM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "6", "text": "I pray that as a result of your knowing all the good things that God/Christ has done for us, you may ◄be effective/influence many others► as you tell others what you believe, in order that they may honor Christ."}
{"book": "PHM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "7", "text": "I have rejoiced greatly and have been greatly encouraged because you, my dear friend, have acted lovingly toward God's people by encouraging them [SYN]."}
{"book": "PHM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "8", "text": "So I have a request/favor to ask of you. I am completely confident that I have authority to command you to do what you ought to do, because I am an apostle of Christ."}
{"book": "PHM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "9", "text": "But because I know that you love God's people, I request this instead of commanding you to do it. It is I, Paul, an old man and now also a prisoner because I serve Christ Jesus, who am requesting it."}
{"book": "PHM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "10", "text": "I request that you do something for someone who has become like my own son because I told him about Christ[MET] while I have been a prisoner [MTY] here. His name is Onesimus."}
{"book": "PHM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "11", "text": "Although his name, as you know, means ❛useful❜ , formerly he was useless to you. But now he is useful both to you and to me!"}
{"book": "PHM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "12", "text": "Although ◄he is as dear to me as/I love him as much as I love► [MET] my own self [MTY], I am sending him back to you."}
{"book": "PHM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "13", "text": "I would like to have kept him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf, while I am a prisoner [MTY] because of my preaching the message about Christ."}
{"book": "PHM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "14", "text": "Nevertheless, because I had not yet asked you and you had not yet permitted me to keep him here with me, I decided not to keep him here. I decided that I should not do anything without your permitting it. I decided that you should help me only if you really want to help me."}
{"book": "PHM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "15", "text": "Perhaps the reason that God permitted Onesimus to be separated from {to leave} you for a little while was that he would believe in Christ, and as a result you would have him ◄back/with you► forever!"}
{"book": "PHM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "16", "text": "You will no longer have him only as a slave. Instead, you will have him as someone who is more than a slave. You will have him as a fellow believer! He is especially dear to me, but he certainly will be more dear to you than he is to me(OR, I love him very much, but you will certainly love him more than I do), because now he not only belongs to you but he also belongs to the Lord."}
{"book": "PHM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "17", "text": "So, if you consider me to be your partner in God's work, receive him as you would receive me."}
{"book": "PHM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "18", "text": "If he has wronged you in any manner or if he owes you anything, ◄charge that to me/tell me so that I can pay you►."}
{"book": "PHM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "19", "text": "I, Paul, am now writing this in my own handwriting: I will repay you what he owes you, although I might mention to you that you owe me even more than Onesimus may owe you, because it was the result of my telling you about Christ that God saved your soul/you."}
{"book": "PHM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "20", "text": "◄Yes/I say it again►, my dear friend, because you and I both have a relationship with the Lord, I want you to do this for me. Encourage me [SYN] by receiving Onesimus kindly, just like you encourage others who believe in Christ."}
{"book": "PHM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "21", "text": "I have written this letter to you, confident that you will do what I am requesting you to do. In fact, I know that you will do even more than what I am requesting you to do."}
{"book": "PHM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "22", "text": "Also, keep a guest room ready for me to stay in, because I confidently expect that as a result of your prayers for me, I will be released from prison and will come to you all."}
{"book": "PHM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "23", "text": "Epaphras, who is suffering with me in prison because of his serving Christ Jesus, ◄sends his greetings to you/wants you to know that he is thinking fondly about you►."}
{"book": "PHM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "24", "text": "Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, who are my other fellow workers, also ◄send their greetings to you/want you to know that they are thinking fondly about you►."}
{"book": "PHM", "chapter": 1, "verse": "25", "text": "I pray that the Lord Jesus Christ will◄ continue to work kindly in all your lives/kindly keep accomplishing what he desires within you►."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 1, "verse": "1", "text": "Long ago God communicated frequently to our ancestors in various ways by what the prophets wrote."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 1, "verse": "2", "text": "But now when this final age is beginning, God has communicated to us just once by means of what ◄his Son/the man who was also God► said and did. God appointed him in order that he would possess everything that truly belongs to God. God also appointed him in order that he would create the universe."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 1, "verse": "3", "text": "He manifests God's glory. He exactly represents what God is like. He ◄sustains everything/carries everything forward to its proper goal► by means of his powerful words. When he had enabled people to be freed from the guilt of their sins [MET], he sat down in heaven [EUP] to rule at the place of highest honor [MTY] with God [MTY]."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 1, "verse": "4", "text": "By doing that he showed that he was very much greater than the angels, to the extent that his relationship [MTY] to God, as his Son, is more excellent than the relationship the angels have to God."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 1, "verse": "5", "text": "We know that because in the Scriptures no one [RHQ] ever reported that God said to any angel what he said to his Son, You(sg) are my Son! Today I have declared to all that I am your Father [DOU]! And he said in another Scripture passage, I will be his Father, and he will be my Son [DOU]."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 1, "verse": "6", "text": "And we know his Son is greater than the angels because in another Scripture passage someone wrote this about God's esteemed Son, when God was about to send him into the world, All God's angels must worship him."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 1, "verse": "7", "text": "And in the Scriptures it is written that someone said this about the angels: God makes the angels who serve him to be changeable like[MET] winds and flames of fire."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 1, "verse": "8", "text": "But on the other hand, in the Scriptures it is written that God said this to his Son: You(sg) who are also God will rule forever [MTY], and you will reign righteously over your kingdom [MTY]."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 1, "verse": "9", "text": "You have loved people's righteous deeds and you have hated people's lawless deeds. So I, your God, have caused you to be more joyful [MTY] than anyone else."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 1, "verse": "10", "text": "And we also know that his Son is superior to angels because in the Scriptures the Psalmist wrote that someone said to God's Son, Lord, it was you who created the earth in the beginning. You also made the rest of the universe (OR, the things in the sky) [MTY]."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 1, "verse": "11", "text": "Those things will perish, but you will keep on living forever. They will wear out as clothing wears out."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 1, "verse": "12", "text": "You will dispose of them as one rolls up an old coat to get rid of it. Then, you will exchange all that is in the universe for something new, as someone puts on a new garment in exchange for an old garment[SIM]. But you are not like what you created. You stay the same, and you live forever [LIT]!"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 1, "verse": "13", "text": "We also know that his Son is superior to angels because no one ever stated[RHQ] in the Scriptures that God said to any angel what he said to his Son, Sit next to me and rule with me [MTY] while I put all of your enemies completely under your control [MET]!"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 1, "verse": "14", "text": "◄The angels are only spirits who serve God./Are not the angels only spirits who serve God?► [RHQ] God sends them to earth in order to help those people who will receive what he will give to those whom he has saved (OR, those whom he will save)."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 2, "verse": "1", "text": "So, since that is true, we must pay very great attention to what we have heard about God's Son, in order that we do not drift away from it, as a boat drifts off its course when people do not guide it[MET]."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 2, "verse": "2", "text": "God's laws that were spoken by angels were valid, and God justly punished all who transgressed them and all who disobeyed [DOU] them."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 2, "verse": "3", "text": "So, ◄we will certainly not escape God punishing us if we ignore such a great message about how God[MTY] saves us!/how can we escape God punishing us if we ignore such a great message about how God[MTY] saves us?► [RHQ] This new message was first spoken by the Lord Jesus{The Lord Jesus first spoke this message}. Then it was confirmed to us by those who heard what the Lord told them{those who heard what the Lord told them confirmed it to us}."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 2, "verse": "4", "text": "God also confirmed to us that this message was true by enabling believers to do many things that showed God's power, to do other miraculous things [DOU], and to do other things by the gifts that the Holy Spirit distributed to them according to what God desired."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 2, "verse": "5", "text": "God has not determined that the angels will rule over everything. Instead, he has determined that Christ will rule in the new world that God will create. That is the new world about which I am writing."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 2, "verse": "6", "text": "Someone spoke to God about this somewhere in the Scriptures, saying, ◄No one is worthy enough for you to think about him!/Who is worthy enough for you to think about him?► [RHQ] ◄No human is worthy enough for you to care for him!/Is any human worthy enough for you to care for him?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 2, "verse": "7", "text": "So it is surprising that you have caused people to be for a little while inferior in rank to angels. You have greatly honored [DOU] them [MET], as kings are honored with a crown."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 2, "verse": "8", "text": "You have put everything under their control [MET]. God has determined that people will rule over everything [LIT]. That means that nothing will be omitted from their control. But now, at this present time, we perceive that people do not yet have authority over everything."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 2, "verse": "9", "text": "But we do know about Jesus, who truly has authority over everything! Jesus, for a little, while became inferior in rank to angels in order to die on behalf of [MET] everyone. He became inferior when he suffered and died, as God in his kindness planned. But now he has been greatly honored[DOU] by being crowned as kings are."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 2, "verse": "10", "text": "It was fitting that God make Jesus◄perfect/all that God intended him to be►. He was enabling many people who would belong to him [MET] to share his glory. God is the one who created all things, and he is the one for whom all things exist. He perfected Jesus by causing him to suffer and die. Jesus is the one who enables God to save people."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 2, "verse": "11", "text": "Jesus, the one who ◄makes people holy/sets people apart for God►, and the ones who are ◄made holy/set apart for God► {whom he ◄makes holy/sets apart for God►}, all belong to God's family. As a result, Christ gladly [LIT] proclaims them to be like his own brothers and sisters."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 2, "verse": "12", "text": "The Psalmist wrote what Christ said to God about us becoming his brothers, in these words, I will proclaim to my brothers how awesome you are (OR, what you ◄ are like/have done►) [MTY]. I will sing praise to you in the midst of the congregation!"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 2, "verse": "13", "text": "And a prophet wrote in another Scripture passage what Christ said about God, I will trust him. And in another Scripture passage, Christ said about those who are like his children, I and the ones that God has given me are here."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 2, "verse": "14", "text": "So, since those whom God calls his children are all human beings [MTY], Jesus also became a human being just like them. The devil has the power to cause people to be afraid to die, but Christ became human in order that by his dying he might make the devil powerless."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 2, "verse": "15", "text": "Jesus did that to free all of us who are like slaves [MET] all the time we live, because we are forced to be afraid to die."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 2, "verse": "16", "text": "Because Jesus became a human being, it is not angels that he wants to help. No, it is we who trust God as Abraham did whom he wants to help."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 2, "verse": "17", "text": "So, since he came to help humans, not angels, he had to be made exactly like us whom he calls his own brothers and sisters. He wants to be a high priest who acts mercifully to all people and who acts faithfully in God's matters, so that people who had sinned would no longer be guilty."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 2, "verse": "18", "text": "Specifically, he is able to help those/us who are tempted to sin. He can do that because he suffered, and he was also tempted to sin like we are tempted to sin."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 3, "verse": "1", "text": "My fellow believers, God has set you apart and has chosen you, just like he chose me. So consider Jesus. He is God's messenger to us. He is also the high priest whom we say we believe in."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 3, "verse": "2", "text": "He faithfully served God, who appointed him, just like Moses faithfully served God's people [MTY]."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 3, "verse": "3-4", "text": "Just like every house is made by someone {as someone makes every house}, Jesus made everything, and he is God/Divine. So God has considered that Jesus is worthy that people honor him more than they honor Moses, just like the one who builds a house deserves that people honor him more than they should honor the house he built."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 3, "verse": "5", "text": "Moses very faithfully served God as he◄ helped/cared for► [MET] God's people, just like a servant faithfully serves his master. The result was that Moses testified about what Jesus would say later."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 3, "verse": "6", "text": "But Christ faithfully serves God as he◄ helps/cares for► his own people [MTY, MET], just like a son helps/cares for his own family. And we are God's people [MTY] if we continue to confidently believe in Christ and if we continue to proudly wait for what God will do for us."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 3, "verse": "7", "text": "The Holy Spirit caused the Psalmist to write these words in the Scriptures to the Israelites: Now, when you(pl) hear God speaking to you [MTY],"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 3, "verse": "8", "text": "do not stubbornly ◄ disobey/refuse to obey him► [IDM], as the your ancestors stubbornly disobeyed him when they rebelled against him in the desert. At that time, God said to them, “They tried to determine how many things that displeased me they could do in the desert without me punishing them."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 3, "verse": "9", "text": "Your ancestors repeatedly tested whether I would be patient with them, even though for forty years they saw all the amazing things I did."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 3, "verse": "10", "text": "So, I became disgusted with the people who saw those things, and I said about them, ‘They are constantly disloyal to me, and they do not understand how I wanted them to conduct their lives.’"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 3, "verse": "11", "text": "As a result, because I was angry with them, I solemnly declared, ‘They will not enter the land of Canaan where I would let them rest [MTY]!’”"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 3, "verse": "12", "text": "In accordance with that, my fellow believers, beware that none of you wickedly stops trusting in Christ. That would cause you to reject the all-powerful God."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 3, "verse": "13", "text": "Instead, each of you must encourage each other every day, while you still have the opportunity [IDM], in order that no one of you may stubbornly reject God by letting others deceive you (OR, as you deceive yourselves), with the result that you(sg) sin [PRS]."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 3, "verse": "14", "text": "We must do that, because we(inc) benefit in all Christ has done only if we firmly keep trusting in him from the time when we first confidently trusted in him until the time when we die [EUP]."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 3, "verse": "15", "text": "We can do this by paying attention to what the Psalmist wrote in that Scripture passage in which God said, Now, when you hear me speaking to you(pl) [MTY], do not stubbornly disobey me as your ancestors stubbornly disobeyed me when they rebelled against me."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 3, "verse": "16", "text": "◄ You must keep trusting in God because you must remember who it was who rebelled against God although they heard him speaking to them./Do you remember who it was who rebelled against God although they heard him speaking to them?► [RHQ] It was people who had certainly experienced [LIT] God's power. ◄It was all those people whom Moses led miraculously out of Egypt./Was it not all those people whom Moses led miraculously out of Egypt?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 3, "verse": "17", "text": "And ◄ you must remember who it was that God was disgusted with for forty years./do you remember who it was that God was disgusted with for forty years?► [RHQ] ◄It was those same people who had sinned like that, and whose bodies as a result lay where they died in the desert!/Was it not those same people who had sinned like that, and whose bodies as a result lay where they died in the desert area?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 3, "verse": "18", "text": "And ◄ you must remember about whom God solemnly declared, “They will not enter the land where I would let them rest.”/do you remember about whom God solemnly declared, “They will not enter the land where I would let them rest”?► [RHQ] It was those Israelites who disobeyed God."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 3, "verse": "19", "text": "So, from that example we(inc) perceive that it was because they did not keep trusting in God that they were unable to enter the land where they would rest."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 4, "verse": "1", "text": "The Israelites did not enter the place where they would rest. But God has still promised us that we can enter the place of resting in heaven eternally. So we must beware of the possibility that God may consider that some of you have failed to enter the place of resting eternally as the Israelites did not enter the place where they would rest."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 4, "verse": "2", "text": "We have heard the message about Christ, just like the Israelites heard what God promised. But just like the message did not benefit most of those who heard it because they did not believe it as Joshua and Caleb did, it will not benefit us eternally if we do not keep believing it."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 4, "verse": "3", "text": "We who have believed in Christ are able to enter the place of resting eternally. We know there is a place where we will rest eternally because God said, Because I was angry with them, I solemnly declared, “They will not enter the land where I would let them rest.” God said that even though he ceased his work of creating things after he created the world."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 4, "verse": "4", "text": "What someone wrote somewhere in the Scriptures about the seventh day after he had spent six days creating the world, supports that, Then, on the seventh day, God rested from his work of creating everything."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 4, "verse": "5", "text": "But note again what God said about the Israelites in the passage that I quoted previously, They will not enter the land where I would let them rest."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 4, "verse": "6", "text": "Some people experience entering that place of resting eternally. But those Israelites who first had the good message preached to them {first heard the good message} about what God promised them did not enter that place of resting, because they refused to believe God."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 4, "verse": "7", "text": "But God appointed another time that we may enter that place of resting. That time is now! We know that is true because much later than when the Israelites rebelled against God in the desert, he caused King David to write what I have already quoted, Now, when you understand what God is saying to you, do not stubbornly disobey him."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 4, "verse": "8", "text": "If Joshua had led the Israelites to enter the place of resting, God would not have spoken later about another time when we could rest[MET]. So we know God was speaking about another time when some people would enter that place of resting eternally."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 4, "verse": "9", "text": "So, just like God rested on the seventh day after he finished making everything, there remains a time when God's people will rest eternally."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 4, "verse": "10", "text": "Specifically, whoever enters God's place of resting has ceased doing things to gain God's favor, just like God ceased doing his work of creating everything."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 4, "verse": "11", "text": "God severely punished the Israelites because they disbelieved his message. So we must strive to experience entering that place of resting eternally, in order that he will not severely punish any of us for not believing his message."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 4, "verse": "12", "text": "Beware of being insincere about doing this, because the message God has given us very powerfully penetrates our thinking more than a two-edged sword penetrates flesh[MET]. It penetrates deeply into our souls and spirits, as a sharp sword can penetrate into our joints and marrow. That is, by it God[PRS] discerns all that we think about, and he discerns all that we desire to do[MTY] (OR, His message exposes to us all our thoughts and all our desires)."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 4, "verse": "13", "text": "God knows everything about everyone. Everything is completely exposed [DOU] to him, and he is the one [SYN] who will say whether he approves of what we have done."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 4, "verse": "14", "text": "We have a great high priest who ascended through the heavens when he returned to God's presence. He is Jesus, ◄God's Son/the man who is also God►. So let us firmly profess what we believe about him."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 4, "verse": "15", "text": "Our high priest can indeed [LIT] compassionately deal with us who tend to sin easily, because he also was tempted to sin in every way that we are tempted to sin, and yet he did not sin."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 4, "verse": "16", "text": "So, let us come boldly to Christ[MTY], who rules [MET] from heaven and does for us what we do not deserve, in order that we might experience his acting mercifully toward us, and in order that we might experience his kindly helping us whenever we need it."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 5, "verse": "1", "text": "Every Jewish high priest was chosen by God{ God chose every Jewish high priest} from among ordinary men. They were appointed { He appointed them} in order that they would come before him on behalf of the people. Specifically, God appointed them in order that they would bring gifts to him on behalf of the people, and in order to sacrifice animals to him for people who sinned."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 5, "verse": "2", "text": "The high priests could deal gently with those who ignorantly sinned, since they themselves tended to sin easily."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 5, "verse": "3", "text": "As a result, they had to offer something to God for themselves for their own sins, just like they had to offer something to God for God's people who sinned."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 5, "verse": "4", "text": "Furthermore, no one honors himself by appointing himself to become a high priest. Instead, God chose each man to become a high priest, as he chose Aaron to be the first high priest."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 5, "verse": "5", "text": "Similarly, Christ also did not honor himself by appointing himself to become a high priest. Instead, God appointed him by saying to him what he never said to any other priest, what the Psalmist wrote in the Scriptures, You(sg) are my Son! Today I have declared that I am your Father!"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 5, "verse": "6", "text": "And he also said to Christ what the Psalmist wrote in another Scripture passage, You are a priest eternally just like Melchizedek was a priest."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 5, "verse": "7", "text": "When Christ lived on the earth [MTY], he prayed [DOU] to God and tearfully cried out loudly to him. Specifically, he asked God, who was able to help him, that he would not fear the sufferings just before he died. As a result, God listened to him, because Christ reverently submitted to what God wanted him to do."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 5, "verse": "8", "text": "Although Christ is God's own Son, he learned to obey God by suffering before he died."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 5, "verse": "9", "text": "By becoming ◄all that God intended him to be/perfect►, he has now become fully qualified to be our high priest. As a result, he is the one who saves eternally all who obey him."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 5, "verse": "10", "text": "Furthermore, God has designated him to be our high priest in the way that Melchizedek was a high priest."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 5, "verse": "11", "text": "Although there is much to say to you(pl) about how Christ resembles Melchizedek, this is hard for me to explain to you because you now understand things so slowly."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 5, "verse": "12", "text": "You became Christians long ago. So by now you should be teaching spiritual truths to others. But you still need someone to teach you again the truths that God has revealed. I am talking about the truths that we teach people when they first believe in Christ. You need those elementary truths like babies need milk [MET]. You are not ready for advanced teaching, which is like the solid food which mature people need[MET]."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 5, "verse": "13", "text": "Remember that those who are still learning these elementary truths[MET] have not become familiar with what God says concerning becoming/being righteous. They are just like[MET] babies who need milk!"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 5, "verse": "14", "text": "But the more advanced spiritual truth is for people who are spiritually mature, just like [MET] solid food is for people who are physically mature. They can tell the difference between what is good and what is evil, because they have trained themselves to keep doing that."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 6, "verse": "1", "text": "So, we(inc) must not keep discussing the elementary principles about Christ. Instead, we must proceed to the teaching that will make us spiritually mature [MTY]. We must not be people who always need someone to teach them the elementary truths about Christ that are like[MET] a foundation. I am referring to the teaching that people who do sinful things, things that those who are spiritually[MET] dead do, must turn away from their sinful behavior. I am referring to the teaching that people must believe in God."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 6, "verse": "2", "text": "I am referring to the teaching about what various Jewish and Christian rituals for purifying people signify. I am referring to the teaching about how elders enable people to receive spiritual gifts by laying hands on them[MTY]. I am referring to the teaching that God will◄ cause those who have died to live again/raise people from the dead►. And I am referring to the teaching that God will judge some people and punish them eternally."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 6, "verse": "3", "text": "Instead of continuing to discuss these elementary truths, we(inc) (OR, I) will go on to give people mature teaching, if God allows it."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 6, "verse": "4", "text": "I will explain why it is important to do that. Some people have at one time fully understood the message about Christ[MET]. They have experienced a relationship with Jesus Christ that God [EUP/MTY] gave to them. They have received the Holy Spirit the same as others have."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 6, "verse": "5", "text": "They have experienced that God's message is good. And by what they have experienced now, they know how God will work powerfully in the future. If those people reject the message about Christ, it will not be possible for anyone to persuade them to turn away from their sinful behavior again!"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 6, "verse": "6", "text": "What those believers who later renounce the message about Christ do is as though[MET] they themselves are nailing the Son of God to a cross again! They are causing others to publicly despise Christ."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 6, "verse": "7", "text": "Think about this: It is land on which rain has frequently fallen [PRS] and on which plants grow [PRS] that is useful for the people who prepare the land that God has blessed. Similarly, it is those believers who have received many good things from God and who do good deeds/things that please God, whom God will bless[MET]."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 6, "verse": "8", "text": "But what will happen to believers who do deeds/things that do not please God will be like what happens to land on which only thorns and thistles grow [MET]. Such land is worthless. It has almost become land that God will curse, and eventually he will burn its vegetation[MTY]."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 6, "verse": "9", "text": "Although I am writing to you like this as a warning, I am certain concerning you whom I love that you are doing better than that. Specifically, I am certain that you are doing the things that are appropriate for those whom God has saved."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 6, "verse": "10", "text": "Since God always acts justly [LIT], he will not overlook all you have done for him. He will also not overlook[MTY] your showing that you love him by the way you helped your fellow believers and by the way you still help them. Instead, God will reward you for doing good deeds."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 6, "verse": "11", "text": "I strongly want each of you to diligently continue to fully expect to receive what God has provided for you, until you finally receive all that you have confidently expected to receive."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 6, "verse": "12", "text": "I do not want you to be lazy. Instead, I want you to imitate those who by their patience and continuing to trust in God are receiving what he promised them."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 6, "verse": "13", "text": "When God promised to do things for Abraham, he said that he would punish himself if he did not do that, because there was no one of greater importance to ask to punish him if he did not do it."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 6, "verse": "14", "text": "He said to Abraham, “I will certainly bless you(sg) , and I will certainly increase the number of your descendants[SYN].”"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 6, "verse": "15", "text": "As a result, after Abraham patiently waited for God to do what he promised, he obtained what God promised him."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 6, "verse": "16", "text": "Keep in mind that when people promise something, they ask a more important person to punish them if they do not do what they promise. Furthermore, when people ask God to punish them if they do not tell the truth, that causes the people who are disputing to stop disputing."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 6, "verse": "17", "text": "So, when God wanted to demonstrate very clearly ◄to us/to those people► who would receive what he had promised that he would not change what he had purposed to do, he solemnly guaranteed that he would declare himself guilty if he did not do what he promised."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 6, "verse": "18", "text": "He did that to strongly encourage us as a result of our knowing that God has done two things that cannot change. Namely, he promised to bless us, and he solemnly declared that he would declare himself guilty if he did not bless us. We know that God, who did those things, cannot lie. We have fled to him in order that we might continue confidently to expect to receive what he promised us."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 6, "verse": "19", "text": "Our confidently expecting[SYN] to receive what he has promised is like an anchor [MET] that very firmly [DOU] holds us fast. The one we confidently expect to help us[SYN] is Jesus, who goes into God's very presence, just like the high priests went behind the curtain into the innermost part of the tent in the barren area[MET]."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 6, "verse": "20", "text": "Jesus went into God's presence ahead of us(inc) to help us when he became a high priest eternally in the way that Melchizedek was a high priest."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 7, "verse": "1", "text": "Now I will say more about this man Melchizedek. He was the king of Salem city and was a priest of God, the one who is greater than anyone else. He met Abraham who was returning home after he and his men had defeated the armies of four kings [SYN]. Melchizedek asked God to bless Abraham."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 7, "verse": "2", "text": "Then Abraham gave to him one tenth of all the spoils he took after winning the battle. Melchizedek's name means firstly ❛king who rules righteously❜, and since Salem means ❛peace❜, he was the ❛king who rules peacefully❜."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 7, "verse": "3", "text": "In the Scriptures there is no record of who his father was, nor is there any record of who his mother was, nor is there any record of who his ancestors were. There is no record of when he was born, nor is there any record of when he died. For these reasons, it is as though he continues to be a priest forever, and for this reason he is like God's Son."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 7, "verse": "4", "text": "You can realize how great this man Melchizedek was from the fact that Abraham, our famous ancestor, gave him ◄a tithe/one tenth► of the spoils from the battle."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 7, "verse": "5", "text": "According to the laws God gave Moses, the descendants of Abraham's great-grandson Levi, who were priests, should take tithes from God's people who were their relatives, even though those people also were Abraham's descendants."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 7, "verse": "6", "text": "But this man Melchizedek, who was not among the descendants of Levi, took tithes from Abraham. He also asked God to bless Abraham, the man to whom God promised many descendants."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 7, "verse": "7", "text": "We know for certain that it is the more important people who ask God to bless the less important people. And Melchizedek blessed Abraham. So we conclude that Melchizedek was greater than Abraham."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 7, "verse": "8", "text": "In the case of the priests who are descendants of Levi, men who some day will die receive tithes. But in the case of Melchizedek it is as if God testifies that he was still living, since there is no record in Scriptures about his death."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 7, "verse": "9", "text": "And it was as though Levi himself, and all the priests descended from him—who received tithes from the people—paid tithes to Melchizedek. And when Abraham paid tithes, it was as though Levi and all the priests descended from him acknowledged that the work Melchizedek did as a priest was greater than the work Levi did,"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 7, "verse": "10", "text": "since the sperm from which all those priests were eventually born was still in Abraham's body [EUP] when Melchizedek met Abraham."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 7, "verse": "11", "text": "God gave his laws to his people at the same time he gave regulations about the priests. So, if what the priests who were descended from Levi did could have provided a way for God to completely forgive people for disobeying those laws, ◄certainly no other priest like Melchizedek would have been necessary./why would another priest like Melchizedek have been necessary?► [RHQ] Instead, priests who were descended from Aaron, Levi's descendant, would have been adequate."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 7, "verse": "12", "text": "But we know they were not adequate, because a new type of priest like Melchizedek has come. And since God has appointed a new type of priest, he also had to change the regulations concerning how priests were appointed{ he appointed priests}."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 7, "verse": "13", "text": "Jesus, the one about whom I am saying these things, is a descendant of someone else, not a descendant of Levi. None of the men from whom Jesus descended ever served as priests [MTY]."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 7, "verse": "14", "text": "We know that since it is obvious that it is from the tribe of Judah that our Lord was descended. Moses never said that any of Judah's descendants would become priests."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 7, "verse": "15", "text": "Furthermore, we know that the priests who were descended from Levi were inadequate, since it is even more obvious that another priest has appeared who is like Melchizedek."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 7, "verse": "16", "text": "Jesus became a priest, but not because he fulfilled what God's law required about being a descendant of Levi. Instead, he has the kind of power that came from a life that nothing can destroy (OR, enabled him to live again after he was killed)."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 7, "verse": "17", "text": "We know this since God confirmed it in the Scripture passage in which he said to his Son, You(sg) are a priest eternally just like Melchizedek was a priest."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 7, "verse": "18", "text": "On the one hand, God canceled what he commanded previously concerning the priests because it failed in every way to enable anyone to become all that God intended."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 7, "verse": "19", "text": "Remember that no one was able to become all that God intended by obeying the laws that God gave Moses. On the other hand, God caused that we could confidently expect better things than we could expect by obeying God's laws. He did that by his establishing Christ as priest. Now by means of Christ sacrificing himself for us we can come near to God."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 7, "verse": "20", "text": "Furthermore, when God appointed Christ, it was when God solemnly declared that Christ would be a priest[LIT]. When God appointed former priests, it was not by his solemnly declaring that they would be priests."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 7, "verse": "21", "text": "However, when he appointed Christ to be a priest, it was by these words that the Psalmist wrote in Scripture: The Lord has solemnly declared to the Messiah, —and he will not change his mind— “You will be a priest forever!”"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 7, "verse": "22", "text": "Because of that, Jesus guarantees that the new covenant will be better than the old one."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 7, "verse": "23", "text": "And formerly, the priests could not keep serving as priests, because they all died [PRS]. So there were many priests to take the place of the ones who died."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 7, "verse": "24", "text": "But because Jesus lives eternally, he will continue to be a high priest forever."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 7, "verse": "25", "text": "So, he can completely and eternally save those who come to God by trusting in what Christ has done for them, since he lives forever to plead with God to help them."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 7, "verse": "26", "text": "Jesus is the kind of high priest that we need. He was holy, he did no wrong, and he was innocent. God has now separated him from living among sinners, and has now taken him up to the highest heaven."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 7, "verse": "27", "text": "The Jewish high priests need to sacrifice animals day by day as well as year by year. They do this, firstly, to atone for their own sins, and then to atone for other people who have sinned. But because Jesus never sinned, he does not need to do that. The only thing he needed to do to save people was to sacrifice himself once!"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 7, "verse": "28", "text": "We need a Supreme Priest ike him, because Moses wrote in the laws that God gave him[PRS] that the ones who would be appointed to be priests would be men who tended to sin easily. But God solemnly declared[PRS] after he had given his laws to Moses that he would appoint◄his Son/the man who is also God► to be a high priest. Now◄ his Son/the man who is also God► has forever become all that God intends him to be."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 8, "verse": "1", "text": "The main point of all that I have written is that we have a high priest like that. He has sat down to rule [MTY] with God [EUP] at the place of greatest honor in heaven."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 8, "verse": "2", "text": "He ministers in the Most Holy Place, that is, in the true place of worship in heaven. That is a place that Moses' tent represented. The Lord set up the true place of worship. No human set it up."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 8, "verse": "3", "text": "Every high priest was appointed { God appointed every high priest} to offer to God gifts and sacrifices for people who sinned. So, since Christ became a high priest, he also had to offer something."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 8, "verse": "4", "text": "Since there are already Jewish priests who offer gifts as God's laws require, if Christ were now living on the earth, he would not be a high priest."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 8, "verse": "5", "text": "The Jewish priests perform rituals which are only a model [DOU] of what Christ would do in heaven[MTY]. What God told Moses when Moses was about to set up the tent for worshipping him supports the idea that those rituals were only a model. God said, “Be sure that you(sg) make everything according to the model that I showed you on Sinai Mountain!”"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 8, "verse": "6", "text": "But now as it is, Christ ministers in a more excellent way than the Jewish priests do. Likewise, the new covenant that he established between God and people is better than the old one. When the new covenant was established{ God established the new covenant}, he promised us better things than the laws that God gave Moses did."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 8, "verse": "7", "text": "If that first covenant had been perfectly adequate [LIT], God would not have thought that he needed another covenant to replace it. But it was not adequate, so he needed a new one."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 8, "verse": "8", "text": "Because God declared that the Israelites were guilty of not obeying the first covenant, he wanted a new covenant. This is what◄ a prophet/Jeremiah► wrote about that: The Lord says, “Listen! There will soon be a time when I will make a new covenant with the people [MTY] of Israel and the people [MTY] of Judah."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 8, "verse": "9", "text": "That covenant will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I led them out of Egypt [MET] like a father leads a child by the hand. They did not continue to obey my covenant, so I rejected them,” says the Lord."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 8, "verse": "10", "text": "“This is the covenant that I will make with the Israelites [MTY], after the first covenant has ended[MTY],” says the Lord: “I will enable them to understand my laws [MTY], and I will enable them to obey them (OR, truly know them) [MTY] sincerely. I will be their God, and they will be my people [DOU]."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 8, "verse": "11", "text": "As a result, no one will need to teach a fellow citizen or tell his fellow kinsmen, ‘ You need to know the Lord,’ because all my people will know me: My people of every status will know me."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 8, "verse": "12", "text": "I will mercifully forgive them for the wicked things they have done. I will no longer consider that they are guilty for[DOU] their sins.”"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 8, "verse": "13", "text": "Since God spoke about a new covenant, he considered that the first covenant was no longer in use, and that it would soon disappear, just like anything that gets old will disappear[MET, DOU]."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 9, "verse": "1", "text": "To continue: In the first covenant God regulated how people should perform rituals, and he told them to make[MTY] a sanctuary."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 9, "verse": "2", "text": "That sanctuary was a tent that the Israelites set up. In its outer room there was the lampstand and the table on which they put the bread that the priests presented to God. That room was called ❛the holy place❜."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 9, "verse": "3", "text": "Behind the curtain inside the holy place there was another room. That was called ❛the very holy place❜."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 9, "verse": "4", "text": "It had an altar, made from gold, for burning incense. It also had the chest which they called the chest of the covenant. All its sides were covered with gold. In it was the golden pot which contained pieces of the food they called manna. That was the food with which God miraculously fed the people before they entered the promised land. In the chest there was also Aaron's walking stick that budded to prove that he was God's true priest. In the chest were also the stone tablets on which God had written the Ten Commandments."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 9, "verse": "5", "text": "On top of the chest were figures of winged creatures that symbolized God's glory. Their wings overshadowed the chest's lid where the high priest sprinkled the blood◄to atone for/to forgive► those who had sinned. I do not need to write about these things in detail now."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 9, "verse": "6", "text": "After all those things were prepared {After they had prepared all those things like that} in the two rooms of the tent, the Jewish priests habitually went into the outer room of the tent to perform their rituals."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 9, "verse": "7", "text": "But into the inner room, only the high priest went, once a year. He always took [LIT] the blood of animals that they had slaughtered. He offered them to God for his own sins and for the sins that other people had committed. They included sins that they did not realize were sinful."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 9, "verse": "8", "text": "By those things the Holy Spirit indicated that just like God did not reveal the way for ordinary people to enter into the inner room while the outer room still existed [MET], similarly he did not reveal the way for ordinary people to enter the presence of God while the Jewish system of offering sacrifices was in effect."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 9, "verse": "9", "text": "The things that the priests did inside the outer room[MTY] symbolized what was true during the time when the first covenant was in effect. According to the first covenant(OR, In that outer room), priests offered gifts and other sacrifices to God. But by offering them, the people who brought them were unable to make themselves feel that they were no longer guilty for having sinned."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 9, "verse": "10", "text": "They brought those gifts and made those sacrifices according to regulations concerning things to eat and drink, and according to rules that required people to wash various things. God declared that those regulations about our bodies were to be in effect until he put into effect the new covenant; that was a better system."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 9, "verse": "11", "text": "But when Christ came as our high priest, he brought the good things that are now available. When he appeared, he went into God's presence in heaven. That is like a[MET] very great and perfect tent not made by humans {which no human made} [SYN]; that is, it is not part of the world God created. It was better than the tent Moses set up here on earth."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 9, "verse": "12", "text": "When a high priest goes into the inner room in the tent each year, he takes goats' blood and calves' blood to offer as a sacrifice. But Christ did not do that. It was as though he went into that very holy place only once, taking his own blood with him. By doing that, he eternally redeemed us."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 9, "verse": "13", "text": "The priests sprinkle on people goats' blood and bulls' blood and the water that has been filtered through the ashes of a red heifer that has been completely burned. By performing that ritual, they can ritually cleanse the bodies of those who are ceremonially unclean. Furthermore, performing those rituals enabled people to have fellowship with God again."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 9, "verse": "14", "text": "So, because we know what Christ accomplished when his blood flowed when he died for us[PRS, MTY], we will be very certain that we are not guilty for having done those things that those who are spiritually dead do. As a result, we can serve the all-powerful God. The priests always offer to God animals with no defects. Similarly, when Christ offered himself as a sacrifice to God, he was sinless [MET]. He did that as a result of God's eternal Spirit helping him."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 9, "verse": "15", "text": "By dying for us, Christ◄ redeemed/ set free from the penalty for their sins► even those who disobeyed the conditions of(OR, during the time of) the first covenant. So, because no one could be made perfect by obeying the old covenant, now Christ establishes between God and people a new covenant. He does that in order that those whom God has chosen may eternally have the blessings that God has promised them."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 9, "verse": "16", "text": "A covenant is like a will. In the case of a will, in order to put its provisions into effect, someone must prove that the one who made it has died."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 9, "verse": "17", "text": "A will goes into effect only when the one who makes the will has died. It is not in effect when the one who made it is still alive."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 9, "verse": "18", "text": "And so God put the first covenant into effect only [LIT] by means of animals' blood that was shed when they were slaughtered."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 9, "verse": "19", "text": "After Moses had declared to all the Israelites everything that God commanded in the laws that God gave him, he took calves' and goats' blood mixed with water. He dipped into it scarlet wool that he tied around a sprig of hyssop. Then he sprinkled with some of the blood the scroll itself containing God's laws. Then he sprinkled more of that blood on all the people,"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 9, "verse": "20", "text": "saying to them, “This is the blood which brings into effect the covenant that God commanded that you obey.”"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 9, "verse": "21", "text": "Likewise, he sprinkled with that blood the tent and every object that they used in performing rituals."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 9, "verse": "22", "text": "It was by sprinkling blood that they ritually cleansed almost everything. That was what was stated in God's laws. If blood is not shed when people offer a sacrifice, God cannot forgive the person who is making the sacrifice."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 9, "verse": "23", "text": "So, by rituals like that, it was necessary for the priests to cleanse the things that symbolized what Christ does [MTY] in heaven. But God has to consecrate the people who will enter[MTY] heaven by means of better sacrifices than those."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 9, "verse": "24", "text": "Christ did not enter a sanctuary that humans made. That one only represented the true sanctuary. Instead, he entered heaven itself, in order to now be in God's presence ◄ to plead with God for/to represent► us."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 9, "verse": "25", "text": "The Jewish high priest enters the very holy place once every year, taking blood that is not his own, to offer it as a sacrifice. But when Christ entered heaven, it was not in order to offer himself repeatedly like that."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 9, "verse": "26", "text": "If that were so, he would have needed to suffer and shed his blood repeatedly since the time when God created the world. But instead, in this final age, Christ has appeared once in order that by sacrificing himself he could cause that people no longer will be punished for their sins."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 9, "verse": "27", "text": "All people must die once, and after that God will judge them for their sins."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 9, "verse": "28", "text": "Likewise, when Christ died, God offered him once to be a sacrifice, to punish him instead of the many people who had sinned. He will come to earth a second time, not in order to sacrifice himself again for those who have sinned, but in order to complete his saving those who expectantly wait for him."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "1", "text": "Just like a shadow vaguely represents the thing that it is a shadow of, the laws that God gave Moses only poorly represent [MET] the good things that were to come later. Those laws were not all the good things themselves that God has promised. So, by offering the same kinds of sacrifices every year, people [PRS] who approach God can never become ◄perfect/all that God intends them to be►."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "2", "text": "If God had removed the guilt for having sinned of those who brought the sacrifices, they would not feel that they were still guilty. So ◄they would certainly have stopped offering those sacrifices!/would they not have stopped offering those sacrifices?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "3", "text": "But rather, the fact that they offer those sacrifices each year reminds them that they are still guilty for their sins."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "4", "text": "The principle is that blood of animals such as bulls or goats can never remove the guilt of those who have sinned."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "5", "text": "So, as Christ was coming into the world, he said to his Father about offering himself as a sacrifice for people's sin, in words that the Psalmist wrote, It is not sacrifices and offerings that you(sg) have wanted, but you have prepared for me a body to serve you."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "6", "text": "Animals that are completely burned up as sacrifices have not pleased you, and other sacrifices that atone for those who have sinned have not pleased you."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "7", "text": "Then because of this, I said, “My God, ◄listen!/here I am!► I have come here in order to do what you want me to do, just like has been written {as they have written} about me in the Scriptures.”"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "8", "text": "First he said, “It is not sacrifices and offerings and animals that the priests have completely burned up and other offerings to atone for those who have sinned that you have really wanted. They have not pleased you.” He said that even though those things were offered {they offered all those things} according to the laws God gave Moses!"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "9", "text": "Then, concerning his offering himself as a sacrifice to atone for people's sin, he said, “Listen! I have come here to do what you want me to do! ” Thus Christ got rid of the first way of atoning for sin, in order to establish the second way of atoning for sin."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "10", "text": "Because of Jesus Christ doing what God wanted him to do, we have been set apart { he has set us apart} for God by his offering his own body only once as a sacrifice, a sacrifice that will not need to be repeated."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "11", "text": "As every Jewish priest stands daily in front of the altar, he performs rituals and offers the same kind of sacrifices that could never remove the guilt from anyone who sinned [MTY]."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "12", "text": "But Christ offered a sacrifice that will be adequate forever, and he offered it only one time! Then he sat down to rule with God at the place of highest honor [MTY]."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "13", "text": "From now on, he is waiting for God to completely subdue all his enemies [MTY]."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "14", "text": "By offering himself once, he has provided that those whom God has set apart will be eternally made ◄perfect/all that God intends them to be►."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "15", "text": "The Holy Spirit also confirms to us that that is true. First the Lord says:"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "16", "text": "When the time [MTY] of the first covenant with my people has finished, I will make a new covenant with them [MTY]. I will do like this for them: I will cause them to understand my laws and I will cause them to obey them (OR, enable them to know them sincerely)."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "17", "text": "Then he said: I will forgive them for their [DOU] sins, and I will consider that they are no longer guilty for having sinned."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "18", "text": "When God has forgiven someone's sins, that person does not need to make any more offerings to atone for his sin!"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "19", "text": "So, my fellow believers, because we trust in what Jesus accomplished when his own blood flowed for us, we can confidently go into God's very presence that was symbolized by the very holy place in the tent[MTY]."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "20", "text": "He enabled us to go into God's presence by making a new and effective way. Specifically, he offered his body as a sacrifice for us in order that nothing would stop us from entering God's presence, just like[MET] the curtain of the very holy place prevented people from entering God's presence."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "21", "text": "Christ is a great priest who rules over us, who are God's people [MTY]."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "22", "text": "Just like the priests were sprinkled { as Moses sprinkled the priests} with blood[MET] to symbolize that they were no longer guilty for having sinned, we also no longer are guilty for having done evil. Just like the priests ceremonially washed their bodies with pure water to prepare themselves to serve God, we are allowing God to continually make us pure. So, we(inc) must approach God sincerely by confidently trusting in him."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "23", "text": "We must unwaveringly keep professing what we believe. Since God faithfully does all he promised to do, we must confidently expect him to keep doing that."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "24", "text": "Since God faithfully does all that he promised to do, let us consider how each of us can stimulate the others, in order that each one will love the others, and in order that each one will do good deeds."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "25", "text": "We must not cease assembling ourselves to worship the Lord, as some people have done. Instead, each one of us must encourage/exhort the others. Let us do that all the more since we know that the day that the Lord will return[MTY] is near."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "26", "text": "We(inc) must do those things, because if we deliberately and habitually sin after we have known the true message about Christ, no other sacrifice will remove our guilt for having sinned in this way."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "27", "text": "Instead, we must fearfully expect that God will judge us, and then he will angrily punish his enemies in a furious fire [MET]."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "28", "text": "Everyone who rejected the laws that God gave Moses was mercilessly killed when at least two or three people testified that they had done that."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "29", "text": "That was severe punishment. But Christ is ◄God's Son/the man who is also God►. His blood, by means of which he put into effect the new covenant, is sacred. Because of Christ's[MTY] blood flowing for us when he died, God freed us from our guilt. So, you can be sure [RHQ] that anyone who shows contempt for those truths and who insults the Spirit of God, the one who acts with kindness toward us in a way we do not deserve, deserves to be punished even worse than that [MET]!"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "30", "text": "We can be sure of that(OR, need to think about that carefully) since we know that God said, “I myself will get revenge on those who sinned, and I will give them the punishment that they deserve [DOU].” And Moses wrote, “The Lord will judge his people.”"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "31", "text": "It will be a terrible thing if the all-powerful God [MTY] seizes and punishes you [IDM]!"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "32", "text": "Recall the former times when you first understood [MET] the message about Christ. You endured a hard struggle, and you continued to trust him when you suffered because you believed in Christ."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "33", "text": "At times you were publicly insulted {people publicly insulted you} and you were caused to suffer {people persecuted you}. At other times you showed great concern for those who were treated like that."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "34", "text": "You not only were kind to those who were in prison because they believed in Christ, but you also accepted it joyfully when unbelievers took away your possessions. You accepted it because you yourselves knew very well that you have eternal possessions in heaven that are much better than those that they took from you!"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "35", "text": "So, do not become discouraged when they cause you to suffer{ you are persecuted}, because if you continue to trust in God, he will greatly reward you."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "36", "text": "You must patiently continue to trust in him in order that, because of your doing what God wants you to do, he will give you what he has promised."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "37", "text": "You must do that since a prophet wrote in the Scriptures that God said about the Messiah, In just a short time the one I promised would come will surely come; he will not delay coming."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "38", "text": "But those whom I have summoned, who act righteously, must continually live trusting in me, because if they, in a cowardly manner, cease to trust in me, I◄will not be pleased/will be angry► with them."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 10, "verse": "39", "text": "But we are not ones who in a cowardly manner cease to trust in God, with the result that God will severely punish us. Instead, we are ones who trust in him, with the result that God will save us [SYN] eternally."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "1", "text": "It is because people trust God that they are sure that they will receive the things that they confidently expect God to give them. They are also certain that they will see those things happen, though no one sees them yet."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "2", "text": "It was because our ancestors trusted in God that he commended them."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "3", "text": "It is because we trust in God that we understand that God formed the universe by commanding that it exist. The result is that the things that we see were not made from things that already existed."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "4", "text": "It was because Adam's son Abel trusted God that he sacrificed something better to God than what his older brother Cain offered to God. Because Abel did that, when God spoke well about what Abel sacrificed, God declared that Abel was righteous. And although Abel is dead, we still learn from him about trusting God."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "5", "text": "It was because Enoch believed God that God took him up to heaven. The result was that he did not die. No one found him, because he was taken up { God had removed him} from the earth to heaven. Before God took him away, he testified that Enoch pleased him well."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "6", "text": "It is possible for people to please God only if they trust God, because anyone who wants to come to God must first believe that God exists and that he rewards those who seek to know him."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "7", "text": "It was because Noah trusted God that after he was warned by God {after God warned him} about a flood that had not yet happened, Noah showed that he revered God by building a huge ship to save his family. By doing that, he showed all the people who did not believe him[MTY] that they deserved to be condemned{ that God would condemn them}. He became one whom God declared to be righteous because of his trusting in God."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "8", "text": "It was because Abraham trusted God that when he was called {when God called him}, he obeyed God, he left his own country, and went to a place that God would give him. Abraham left his own country, even though he did not know where he would be going."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "9", "text": "It was because Abraham trusted God that he lived as though he was a foreigner in a land that God had promised to him. Abraham lived in tents, and his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob did also. God promised to give to Isaac and Jacob the same things that he promised to give Abraham."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "10", "text": "Abraham was waiting to live in a city in heaven that would remain forever [MET]. It was a city that God is building [DOU]."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "11", "text": "It was because Abraham trusted God that God gave Abraham strength so that he was able to produce a son. Even though his wife Sarah was beyond the time when women bear children, God promised that he would give her a son, and Abraham considered that God would do what he promised to do."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "12", "text": "So, although Abraham was too old to have children, from that one man people descended who are as many in number as the stars in the sky and are as countless as the grains of sand along the shore, just like God promised him."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "13", "text": "It was while they still trusted in God that all those people died. Even though they had not yet received the things that God had promised to give them, it was as though they saw those things in a distance. They were glad to know about what he promised. It was as though they admitted that they were not from this earth, but that they were only here temporarily."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "14", "text": "As for those people who say/believe such things, they clearly show that they long for a place that will become their true native land."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "15", "text": "If they had been thinking about that place being the place from which they had come, they would have taken the opportunity to return there."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "16", "text": "But, instead, they desired a better place in which to live; that is, they desired a home in heaven. So God has prepared a city for them to live with him, and he is pleased [LIT] for them to say that he is their God."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "17", "text": "It was because Abraham trusted God that he was ready to kill his son Isaac as a sacrifice when God tested him. This same man to whom God promised to give him◄ a son/many descendants► was going to sacrifice that same son, the only son whom his own wife had borne!"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "18", "text": "It was to him that God said, “It is only from Isaac that I will consider your family to descend.”"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "19", "text": "Abraham considered that to fulfill that promise, God could make Isaac live again even if he had died after Abraham sacrificed him! The result was that when Abraham did receive Isaac back after God told him not to harm Isaac, it was as though he received him back even after he died."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "20", "text": "It was because Isaac trusted God that he prayed that after he died, God would bless his sons Jacob and Esau."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "21", "text": "It was because Jacob trusted God that, as he was dying, he prayed that God would bless each of the sons of his own son Joseph. He worshipped God as he leaned upon his walking stick before he died."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "22", "text": "It was because Joseph trusted God that, when he was about to die in Egypt, he anticipated the time when the Israelites would leave Egypt; and he instructed that his people should carry his bones with them when they◄ left Egypt/returned to Canaan►."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "23", "text": "It was because Moses' father and mother trusted God that they hid their son for three months shortly after he was born, because they saw that the child was beautiful. They were not afraid of disobeying what the king of Egypt had commanded, namely, that all the Jewish male babies must be killed."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "24", "text": "The daughter of the king, whom they called Pharaoh, raised Moses, but when he had grown up it was because he trusted God that he refused to accept the privileges that would have been his if people considered that he was ◄the son of the king's daughter/the king's own grandson►."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "25", "text": "He decided that it was better for others to mistreat him for a time along with the Israelite people, than to temporarily enjoy living sinfully in the King's palace."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "26", "text": "This is because he decided that if he suffered for the Messiah, it would be worth far more in God's sight than his owning all the treasures of Egypt that he would receive as Pharaoh's heir. He decided that because he looked forward to the time when God would give him an eternal reward."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "27", "text": "It was because he trusted God that he left Egypt. He was not afraid that the king would be angry because of his doing that. He ◄kept going/did not turn back► because it was as though he kept seeing God, whom no one can see."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "28", "text": "It was because Moses believed that God would save his own people that he instituted the festival called Passover. He did that by commanding that the people should kill lambs and sprinkle their blood on their doorposts. They did that in order that the angel who causes people to die would not kill [EUP] the oldest male Israelites when he killed the oldest sons in each Egyptian family."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "29", "text": "It was because they trusted God that when the Israelite people walked through where the Red Sea had been, it was as though they walked on dry land! But, when the army of Egypt also attempted to cross that same water, they drowned, because the sea came back and flooded them!"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "30", "text": "It was because the Israelite people trusted God that the walls around Jericho city collapsed, after the Israelites marched around the walls for seven days."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "31", "text": "Rahab had been a prostitute, but because she trusted God, she did not perish with those inside Jericho who disobeyed God. Joshua sent some spies into the city in order to find ways to destroy it, but God saved her because she welcomed those spies peaceably."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "32", "text": "I do not know what more I should say [RHQ] about others who trusted in God. It would take too much time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the other prophets."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "33", "text": "It was because they trusted God that some of them did great deeds for him. Some conquered lands ruled by powerful men. Some ruled Israel and justly punished those men and nations who rebelled against God. Some obtained from God the things that he promised to give them [MTY]."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "34", "text": "Some forced lions to keep their mouths shut. Some escaped from being destroyed by fire. Some of those people escaped from being killed with a sword [MTY]. Some of those people who trusted God were made strong {became mighty} again after they had once been weak. Some became powerful when they fought wars. Some caused armies that came from foreign lands to run away from them."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "35", "text": "Some women who trusted God received their relatives back again when God◄ made them live again after they had died/raised them from the dead►. But others who trusted God were tortured until they died. They were tortured because they refused to agree when their captors said, “We will release you if you deny that you believe in God.” They refused to do that, because they wanted to live with God forever, which is better than continuing to live on earth after having almost died."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "36", "text": "Other people who trusted God were mocked; some had their backs cut open by being struck with whips. Some were chained and put in prison."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "37", "text": "Some of those believers were stoned to death {People killed some of those believers by throwing stones at them}. Others were cut completely in two. Others were killed with swords. Others of these people who trusted God wandered around the land wearing garments made only of skins from sheep and goats. They did not have any money. They were continually oppressed and tormented {People continuously oppressed them and tormented them}."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "38", "text": "The people on earth who caused those who trusted in God to suffer were so bad that they did not deserve to live with people like those who trusted God. Some who trusted God wandered in deserts and mountains. Some lived in caves and in other large holes in the ground."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "39", "text": "Although all these people were commended by God{ God commended all these people} because they all trusted him, God did not give them all that he promised them while they were alive."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 11, "verse": "40", "text": "God knew ahead of time that what he would give us and them later would be better than giving them immediately what he promised. What God intends is that only when they and we are together will we have all that God intends us to have."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 12, "verse": "1", "text": "We know about many people like that who showed they trusted in God. They are like a crowd of spectators who are cheering for us inside a stadium[MET]. Knowing that, we must put away all the things that hinder us, as a runner puts aside everything that would hinder him because they are heavy[MET]. Especially we must put away sinful actions that hinder us, as a runner sets aside clothes he does not need, clothes that would entangle him [MET]. Let us wholeheartedly strive to achieve what God has planned for us, as someone in a race wholeheartedly runs the course that is before him [MET]."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 12, "verse": "2", "text": "And let us keep our minds on Jesus, as a runner keeps his eyes on the goal[MET]. He is the one we should imitate concerning how he perfectly trusted God. When he died on the cross he endured it when he suffered greatly [MTY], instead of thinking about the things he would rejoice about later. He disregarded being disgraced by dying that way. He is now sitting at the place of highest honor [MTY] at the throne where God rules."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 12, "verse": "3", "text": "Jesus patiently endured it when sinful people acted so hostilely against him. Compare yourselves with him so that you do not give up trusting God or become discouraged."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 12, "verse": "4", "text": "While you have struggled against being tempted to sin, you have not yet bled and died because of resisting evil, as Jesus did."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 12, "verse": "5", "text": "Do not forget [RHQ] these words that Solomon spoke to his son, that are the same as God would exhort you as his children: My child, pay attention [LIT] when the Lord is disciplining you, and do not be discouraged when the Lord punishes you [DOU],"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 12, "verse": "6", "text": "because it is everyone whom he loves whom the Lord disciplines, and he punishes everyone whom he accepts as his child."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 12, "verse": "7", "text": "It is in order that God may discipline you that he requires you to endure the disagreeable things that happen to you. When God disciplines you he is treating you as a father treats his children. All fathers [RHQ] discipline their children [LIT]."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 12, "verse": "8", "text": "So, if you have not experienced God disciplining you just like he disciplines all his other children, you are not true children of God[MET]. You are like illegitimate children; no father disciplines them."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 12, "verse": "9", "text": "Furthermore, our natural fathers disciplined us when we were young, and we respected them for doing that. So ◄we should certainly more readily accept God our spiritual Father disciplining us, with the result that we live eternally!/shouldn't we more readily accept God, our spiritual Father, disciplining us, with the result that we live eternally?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 12, "verse": "10", "text": "Our natural fathers disciplined us for a short time just like they considered right, but God always disciplines us to help us. He does it so that we may be holy as he is."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 12, "verse": "11", "text": "During the time that God is disciplining us, that does not seem to be something about which we should rejoice. Instead, it is something that pains us. But later it causes those who have learned from it to be peaceful and to live righteously."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 12, "verse": "12", "text": "So, instead of acting as though you were spiritually exhausted, renew yourselves [MET] spiritually."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 12, "verse": "13", "text": "Go straight forward in your Christian life[MET], in order that believers who are uncertain about their faith will imitate you and not ◄ leave God's way/ become useless to God► [MET]. Instead, they will be spiritually restored [MET] as an injured and useless limb is restored."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 12, "verse": "14", "text": "Try to live peacefully with all people. Seek to be holy, since no one will see the Lord if he is not holy."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 12, "verse": "15", "text": "Beware that none of you stops trusting in God, who has done kind things for us that we did not deserve(OR, Beware that you have never experienced God kindly saving you). Be on guard lest any of you act evilly towards others, because that will grow like[MET] a root grows into a big plant, and the result of your doing that will be that many believers will sin and become unacceptable to God."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 12, "verse": "16", "text": "Do not let anyone be immoral, or be irreligious as Esau was. He exchanged the rights he had as a firstborn son for only one meal."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 12, "verse": "17", "text": "You know that after he did that, he wanted to receive what his father would promise to give him if he blessed him. But his father refused to do what he requested. And Esau found no way to change what he had done, even though he sought tearfully to do that."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 12, "verse": "18", "text": "In coming to God you have not experienced things like what the Israeli people experienced at Sinai Mountain. They approached a mountain that God told them they should not touch. They approached a blazing fire, and it was gloomy and dark [DOU], and there was a hurricane/cyclone."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 12, "verse": "19", "text": "They heard a trumpet sounding and they heard God speak. The result was that those who heard it pleaded for him not to speak to them like that again."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 12, "verse": "20", "text": "When God commanded them saying, “If a person or even an animal touches this mountain, you must kill him/it by throwing stones at him/it,” they were terrified."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 12, "verse": "21", "text": "Truly, because Moses was terrified after seeing what happened on the mountain, he said, “I am trembling because I am very afraid!”"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 12, "verse": "22", "text": "Instead, it is as though you have come to the presence of God in heaven[MET]. That is like what your ancestors did when they came to worship God on Zion Hill, in Jerusalem, in the city of the all-powerful God. You have come (OR, you are coming) to where there are countless angels, who are rejoicing as they have gathered together."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 12, "verse": "23", "text": "You have joined all the believers who have privileges like firstborn sons, whose names God has written down in heaven. You have come to God, who will judge everyone. You have come to where the spirits of God's people are, people who lived righteously before they died, and who now have been made perfect in heaven."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 12, "verse": "24", "text": "You have come to Jesus, who arranged a new covenant between us and God. You have accepted what he accomplished when his blood flowed when he died on the cross. His doing that made it possible for God to forgive us. That is better than the blood of Abel, who just wanted revenge because his brother Cain murdered him."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 12, "verse": "25", "text": "Beware that you do not refuse to listen to God who is speaking to you. The Israelite people did not escape God punishing them when Moses(OR, God) warned them here on earth. So ◄we shall surely not escape God punishing us if we reject him when he warns us from heaven!/how shall we escape God punishing us if we reject him when he warns us from heaven?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 12, "verse": "26", "text": "The earth shook [PRS] then when he spoke [MTY] at Sinai Mountain. But now he has promised, “I will shake the earth again, one more time, but I will shake heaven too.”"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 12, "verse": "27", "text": "The words “again, one more time” indicate that things on earth will be shaken {that he will shake things on earth}, meaning that he will set aside all that he has created, in order that the things in heaven that cannot be shaken {that nothing can shake} may remain forever."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 12, "verse": "28", "text": "So, let us thank God that we are becoming members of a kingdom that nothing can shake. Let us worship/serve God in a way that pleases him by being greatly in awe [DOU] before him."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 12, "verse": "29", "text": "Remember that the God we worship/serve is like a fire that burns up everything that is impure[MET]!"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 13, "verse": "1", "text": "Continue to love your fellow believers."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 13, "verse": "2", "text": "Do not forget to be hospitable to needy travelers [LIT]. You need to know that by being hospitable, some people have entertained angels without knowing it."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 13, "verse": "3", "text": "Remember to help those who are in prison because they are Christians, as though you were in prison with them. Remember those who are being mistreated {whom people are mistreating} because they are believers. As you do that, consider that you are also alive [MTY], and you could suffer as they do."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 13, "verse": "4", "text": "You must ◄respect/keep sacred► the marriage relationship in every way, and you must keep sexual relations [EUP] pure, because God will surely condemn those who act immorally and those who act adulterously."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 13, "verse": "5", "text": "Live without constantly coveting money, and be content with the things you possess, remembering what Moses wrote that God has said about supplying what you need, I will never leave you, I will never stop providing for you [DOU]."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 13, "verse": "6", "text": "So we can say confidently as the Psalmist said, Since the Lord is the one who helps me, I will not be afraid! ◄People can do nothing to me that will deprive me of God's blessings./What can people do to me that will deprive me of God's blessings?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 13, "verse": "7", "text": "Your spiritual leaders used to tell you the message of God before they died. Remember how they conducted their lives. By considering ◄how they died/what resulted from how they lived►, imitate how they believed in Christ/God."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 13, "verse": "8", "text": "Jesus Christ is the same now as he was previously, and he will be the same forever."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 13, "verse": "9", "text": "So, do not let yourselves be diverted {let anything divert you} so that you believe various teachings that are contrary to God's truth. It is good that God acts kindly toward us so that we may be strengthened spiritually. Obeying rules about various foods, rules that have not benefited those who obeyed them, will not benefit us."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 13, "verse": "10", "text": "We have Jesus[MTY]. All those who continue to observe the Jewish rituals [MTY] of sacrifice have no right to obtain the benefits of his sacrifice [MET]."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 13, "verse": "11", "text": "After the high priest brings into the most holy place the blood of animals that they have sacrificed to atone for sins, the bodies of those animals are burned {they burn the bodies of those animals} outside the camp."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 13, "verse": "12", "text": "Similarly, Jesus suffered and died outside the gate of Jerusalem in order that he might make us, his people, holy by offering his own blood as a sacrifice to atone for our sins."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 13, "verse": "13", "text": "So, we must abandon performing Jewish sacrifices and rituals [MET] in order to be saved, and let us go to Jesus to be saved. As we do that, we must be willing to let others reproach us just like people reproached him."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 13, "verse": "14", "text": "Here on earth, we believers do not have a city such as Jerusalem where we must continually offer sacrifices[MET]. Instead, we are waiting for a future heavenly city that will last forever."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 13, "verse": "15", "text": "With the help of Jesus, we must continually praise God. That will be something we can sacrifice to him[MET] instead of our sacrificing animals only at specific times. Specifically, we must say openly [MTY] that we have trusted in Christ [MTY]."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 13, "verse": "16", "text": "Be continually [LIT] doing good deeds for others, and be continually sharing with others the things you have, because doing things like that will also be as though you are offering sacrifices that will please God."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 13, "verse": "17", "text": "Obey your spiritual leaders and do what they tell you, since they are the ones who are guarding your spiritual welfare [SYN]. Some day they will have to stand before God so that he can say if he approves of what they have done. Obey them in order that they can do the work of guarding you joyfully and not have to do it sadly, because if you cause them to do it sadly, that will certainly not help you at all (OR, they will not be able to help you at all)."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 13, "verse": "18", "text": "Pray for me. I am certain that I have not done anything that displeases God. I have tried to act honorably toward you in every way."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 13, "verse": "19", "text": "I urge you earnestly to pray that God will quickly remove the things that hinder my coming to you."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 13, "verse": "20", "text": "Jesus provides for us, protects us, and guides us as a great shepherd does for his sheep [MET]. And God, who gives us inner peace, raised our Lord Jesus from the dead. By doing that, God ratified his eternal covenant with us by the blood that flowed from Christ when he died on the cross."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 13, "verse": "21", "text": "So I pray that God will equip you with everything good that you need in order that you may do the things that he desires. May he accomplish in us the things that he considers pleasing as a result of Jesus Christ doing this for us. May Jesus Christ be praised forever. ◄Amen!/May it be so!►"}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 13, "verse": "22", "text": "My fellow believers, since this is a short letter that I have written to you, I appeal to you that you patiently consider what I have just written you to exhort you."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 13, "verse": "23", "text": "I want you to know that our fellow believer Timothy has been released { the authorities have released our fellow believer Timothy} from prison. If he comes here soon, he will accompany me when I go to see you."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 13, "verse": "24", "text": "Tell all your spiritual leaders and all the other fellow believers in your city that ◄I am thinking fondly about them/I am sending them my greetings►. The believers in this area who have come from Italy want you to know they are ◄thinking about you/sending you their greetings►."}
{"book": "HEB", "chapter": 13, "verse": "25", "text": "I pray that you will continue to experience God's acting kindly toward you all."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 1, "verse": "1", "text": "I, James, am a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. I am writing this letter to all the Jewish people who trust in Christ(OR, to all God's people) who are scattered throughout the world. I send my greetings to you all."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 1, "verse": "2", "text": "My fellow believers, rejoice greatly, even when you experience various kinds of difficulties/troubles."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 1, "verse": "3", "text": "God sometimes allows you to experience difficulties in order to test whether or not you will continue to trust him. Whenever that happens, you need to realize more and more that if you continue to trust him, you will be able to bravely/patiently endure difficulties."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 1, "verse": "4", "text": "Keep on enduring difficulties bravely/patiently by trusting God more and more firmly[PRS], in order that you may become all that he intends you to be [DOU] (OR, spiritually mature and complete), not lacking ◄any good quality/anything you need to conduct your lives as God wants you to►."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 1, "verse": "5", "text": "If anyone of you does not know how to act wisely in order to endure difficulties/trials well, he should ask God to show him what he should do, because God wholeheartedly/gladly helps all people who ask and does not scold anyone for asking. Those who ask, God will give them wisdom to know what they should do."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 1, "verse": "6", "text": "But when you ask God, you should firmly trust him. You should not doubt that he wants to help you always, because people who keep doubting God are unstable/changeable[SIM] like a wave of the sea that is blown back and forth by the wind {that goes back and forth when the wind blows} [DOU, SIM]."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 1, "verse": "7", "text": "Indeed, people who doubt should not think that the Lord God will do anything that they request him to do,"}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 1, "verse": "8", "text": "because they are people who cannot decide whether they will commit themselves to God, and they are unstable/undecided in all that they do."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 1, "verse": "9", "text": "Believers who are poor should be happy that God considers them very valuable (OR, has exalted them spiritually) [MTY]."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 1, "verse": "10", "text": "And believers who are rich should be happy that they have humbled themselves in order to trust in Jesus Christ(OR, but rich people can only take pride in the fact that God will humble them when he judges everyone[IRO]), because they and their riches[MTY] will pass away, just like wild flowers wither[SIM]."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 1, "verse": "11", "text": "When the sun rises, the scorching hot wind dries plants, and their flowers fall and are no longer beautiful. Similarly, rich people will die [MET] while they are busy working, leaving behind their riches."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 1, "verse": "12", "text": "God is pleased with the people who bravely/patiently endure difficulties. And when, by bravely enduring difficulties, they have proved that they truly trust him, he will give them eternal life. That is the reward [MET] that he has promised to give to those who love him."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 1, "verse": "13", "text": "If people are tempted to do what is evil, they should not think that it is God who is tempting them, because God is totally/completely good. He never tempts anyone to do what is evil, nor can he ever be tempted to do anything evil."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 1, "verse": "14", "text": "But people strongly desire to do what is evil [PRS], and as a result they are stimulated by those desires {those desires stimulate them} to want to do what is evil [PRS, DOU]."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 1, "verse": "15", "text": "Then, because they have desired [MET] to do what is evil [PRS], they begin to [MET] do [PRS] it. And when they have become ones who habitually do what is evil [MET], if they do not turn away from their sinful behavior, they will be separated from God forever."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 1, "verse": "16", "text": "My fellow believers whom I love, stop deceiving yourselves, thinking that God does what is evil."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 1, "verse": "17", "text": "The truth is that God, our heavenly Father [MTY], does only what is good [DOU] for us, in order to help us become all that he intends us to be. He is not like all the things in the sky that he created to give light, because they change; that is, they do not shine the same all the time. But God never changes. He is always good."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 1, "verse": "18", "text": "And because he wanted to help us, he gave us spiritual life as a result of our trusting in his true message. So now we have become the first ones of all the people[MET] that he created to◄ be totally dedicated to/completely belong to► him."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 1, "verse": "19", "text": "My fellow believers whom I love, you know (OR, I want you to now) that every one of you should be eager to pay attention to God's true message. You should not hastily speak your own thoughts, nor be quick to get angry,"}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 1, "verse": "20", "text": "because when any one of you gets angry, you will not be doing the righteous things that God wants you to do."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 1, "verse": "21", "text": "So stop doing all kinds of evil [DOU], and humbly accept (OR, submit to) the message that God planted in your ◄inner beings/hearts►, because he is able to save you [SYN] if you accept his message."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 1, "verse": "22", "text": "Do what God commands in his message. Do not only listen to it, because people who only listen to it and do not obey it think wrongly that God will save them."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 1, "verse": "23", "text": "Some people hear God's message but do not do what it says[MET]. They are like someone who looks at his face in a mirror [SIM]."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 1, "verse": "24", "text": "Although he looks at himself, he goes away from the mirror and immediately forgets what he looks like."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 1, "verse": "25", "text": "But other people look closely at God's message, which is perfect and which sets people free to voluntarily do what God wants them to do. And if they continue to examine God's message and do not just hear it and then forget it, but do what God tells them to do, God will bless them because of what they do."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 1, "verse": "26", "text": "Some people think that they worship God rightly, but they habitually speak evil talk [MTY]. Those people are wrong in thinking [SYN] that they worship God rightly. The fact is that they worship God ◄in vain/uselessly►."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 1, "verse": "27", "text": "One of the things that God has told us to do is to take care of orphans and widows who suffer hardship. Those who do that and who do not think or act immorally like those who do not obey God [MTY] truly [DOU] worship God, who is our Father, and God approves of them."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 2, "verse": "1", "text": "My fellow believers, because you trust our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who is glorious/wonderful, stop honoring some people more than others."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 2, "verse": "2", "text": "For example, suppose that a person who wears gold rings and fine clothes enters your meeting place. Then suppose that a poor person who wears shabby/ragged clothes also comes in."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 2, "verse": "3", "text": "And suppose that you ◄show special attention to/treat better► the one who is dressed in fine clothes by saying, “Sit here in this good seat!” and you say to the poor one, “Stand there or sit on the floor [MTY]!”"}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 2, "verse": "4", "text": "Then you have obviously [RHQ] caused divisions in the congregation (OR, you are clearly treating one better than the others, and you are using evil motives/reasons to ◄ evaluate people/decide whether people are important or not►)."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 2, "verse": "5", "text": "Listen to me, my fellow believers whom I love. God has chosen [RHQ] poor people whom unbelievers consider to possess nothing of value, in order that he might bless them abundantly because they trust in him, and in order that they will enter the place where he will rule [MET] forever. That is what he has promised to those who love him."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 2, "verse": "6", "text": "But you dishonor the poor people. Think about it! ◄It is the rich people, not the poor people, who are causing you to suffer!/Isn't it the rich people, not the poor people, who are oppressing you?► [RHQ] ◄It is the rich people who forcibly take you to court to accuse you in front of judges!/Is it not the rich people who forcibly take you to court to accuse you in front of judges?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 2, "verse": "7", "text": "◄And they are the ones who speak evil against Jesus Christ, the one who is worthy of praise, to whom you belong!/Are they not the ones who speak evil against Jesus Christ, the one who is worthy of praise, to whom you belong?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 2, "verse": "8", "text": "God has commanded you in the Scriptures that each of you must love other people like you love yourself. That commandment was also given by Jesus our King [MTY]. If you are loving others, you are doing what is right."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 2, "verse": "9", "text": "But if you honor some people more than others, you are ◄doing wrong/sinning►. And because you do not do what God commanded us to do, he condemns you [PRS] because you disobey his laws."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 2, "verse": "10", "text": "Do not forget that those who disobey only one of God's laws, even if they obey all his other laws, God considers them to be as guilty as anyone who has disobeyed all of God's laws."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 2, "verse": "11", "text": "For example, God said, “Do not commit adultery,” but he also said, “Do not murder anyone.” So if you(sg) do not commit adultery but you(sg) murder someone, you(sg) have become a person who disobeys God's laws."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 2, "verse": "12", "text": "Continually speak and act toward others as people should who will be judged {whom God will judge} by the law that frees us from being punished{ God punishing us} for our sins."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 2, "verse": "13", "text": "Speak and act like that, because when God judges us, he will not act mercifully toward those who do not act mercifully toward others. But when we are merciful to others, we can rejoice, because our being merciful shows that we are acting like people whom God has mercifully saved from being judged (OR, we can rejoice because God will judge us mercifully)."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 2, "verse": "14", "text": "My fellow believers, there are some people who say, “I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,” but they do not do good deeds to other people. ◄Their saying that will certainly not do them any good!/What good will their saying that do for them?► [RHQ] ◄ God will certainly not save people like that who say that they believe, but do not do good deeds!/Will God save people like that who say that they believe, but do not do good deeds?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 2, "verse": "15", "text": "To illustrate, suppose that fellow believers, either men or women, are continually lacking clothing or lacking food for each day."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 2, "verse": "16", "text": "And suppose that one of you says to them, “May God bless you and supply the clothing and food that you need!” but you(sg) do not give them the things that they need. ◄That would be no help to them!/What help is that to them?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 2, "verse": "17", "text": "Similarly, those who do not do good deeds to help others, what they have said about their believing in Christ is as useless[MET] as a dead person is useless They do not really believe in Christ."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 2, "verse": "18", "text": "But someone may say to me, “ God saves some people only because they trust in him, and he saves others because they do good deeds to people.” I would answer that person, “ You(sg) cannot prove to me that people truly trust in God if they do not do good deeds to others But by doing good deeds to others I will prove to you that I truly trust in God”"}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 2, "verse": "19", "text": "Think about it You believe that there is only one God, and you are right to believe that. But the demons also believe that, but they tremble because they know that God is going to punish them."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 2, "verse": "20", "text": "Also, you foolish person, I will [RHQ] prove to you(sg) that if someone says, “I trust in God,” but he does not do good deeds, what that person says will not benefit him."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 2, "verse": "21", "text": "◄It was certainly because of what our revered ancestor Abraham did, when he prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac, that he was considered by God{that God considered him} to be a righteous, obedient person./Was it not because of what our revered ancestor Abraham did, when he prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac, that he was considered by God{that God considered him} to be a righteous, obedient person?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 2, "verse": "22", "text": "You(sg) can realize that he was not only trusting in God, but he was also doing what God told him to do, and you(sg) can realize that he was able to trust in God more completely because of having done what God told him to do."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 2, "verse": "23", "text": "And so it happened as it is written in the Scriptures: “Because Abraham truly trusted in God, he was considered by God to be { God considered that he was} righteous.” And God also said about Abraham, “He is my friend.”"}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 2, "verse": "24", "text": "From the example of Abraham, you can realize that it is because people do good deeds that God considers them to be righteous, and not only because they trust in him."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 2, "verse": "25", "text": "Similarly, it was certainly [RHQ] because of what Rahab did, that God considered her to be a righteous, obedient person. Rahab was previously a prostitute, but she cared for the Israelite men who came to◄ spy out the land/see what that area was like► and she helped them to escape by sending them home on a different road from the one that they came on."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 2, "verse": "26", "text": "Remember that when our spirits permanently leave our bodies, our bodies are dead and useless. Similarly [SIM], if someone says, “I trust in God,” but does not do things to help others, what that person says about trusting in God is useless."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 3, "verse": "1", "text": "My fellow believers, not many of you should desire to become teachers of God's truth, because you know that God will judge us(exc) , who teach others, more severely than he will judge other people."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 3, "verse": "2", "text": "It is true that we all in many ways do what is wrong [MET]. But those who always [LIT] control what they say will be all that God intends/wants them to be. They will be able to control all their actions [MTY]."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 3, "verse": "3", "text": "To illustrate, if we put a small metal bit into the mouth of a horse in order to cause the horse to obey us, we can cause the horse to turn and go where we want it to[MET]."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 3, "verse": "4", "text": "Think also about ships. Although a ship may be very large and although it can be moved by strong winds {strong winds can move it}, by turning a very small ◄rudder/steering paddle► people can direct the ship wherever they want it to go."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 3, "verse": "5", "text": "Similarly, although our tongues are very small, if we do not control them, we can harm many people by what we proudly say [MTY]. Think also about how just a small flame of fire can cause a large forest (OR, a large area of brushwood) to burn."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 3, "verse": "6", "text": "Just like a fire damages a forest[MET], when we say things that are evil, we harm many people. What we say [MTY] reveals that there is much evil within us. What we say contaminates/defiles all that we think and do [PRS, MET]. Just like a flame of fire easily causes the whole surrounding area[MET] to burn, what we say [MTY] can cause others to want to do evil. It is the devil himself [MTY] who causes us to speak what is evil."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 3, "verse": "7", "text": "Indeed, although people are able to tame/control all kinds of wild animals, birds, reptiles and creatures that live in the water, and people have tamed/controlled them,"}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 3, "verse": "8", "text": "no person ◄ on his own/by himself► is able to control what he says [MTY]. And when people speak evilly, it shows that they are unstable/uncontrolled and wicked [MTY]. As the poison of a snake kills people[MTY], we harm others[MET] by what we say."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 3, "verse": "9", "text": "We use our tongue to praise God, who is our Lord and Father, but we also use our same tongue to ask God to do evil to people. That is very wrong, because God made people like himself."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 3, "verse": "10", "text": "We praise God, but with our same mouth we also ask for evil things to happen to others. My fellow believers, this should not be!"}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 3, "verse": "11", "text": "◄Surely bitter water and good water do not come out of the same spring!/How can bitter water and good water come out of the same spring?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 3, "verse": "12", "text": "My fellow believers, a fig tree cannot [RHQ] produce olives. Nor can [RHQ] a grapevine produce figs. Neither can a salty spring produce good water. Similarly, we should speak only what is good, and we should not speak what is evil[MET]."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 3, "verse": "13", "text": "If any of you thinks [RHQ] that you are wise and know much, you should always act in a good way to show people that your good deeds are the result of your being truly wise. Being wise helps us to act gently toward others."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 3, "verse": "14", "text": "But if in your ◄inner beings/hearts► you are intensely/very [MET] ◄jealous/unhappy when you see that someone else is succeeding► and always want to have what you want, regardless of what others want, you should not say that you are wise, for by boasting like that, you are saying that ◄ God's message/what God says about you► is not true."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 3, "verse": "15", "text": "Those who have such attitudes are not wise [MTY] in the way that God wants them to be. Instead, they are only thinking and acting like ◄ ungodly people/people who do not please God►. They think and act according to their own evil desires. They do what the demons want them to do(OR, they think and act as demons do)."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 3, "verse": "16", "text": "Keep in mind that people who have such attitudes ◄are unruly/do not submit to authority► and do all kinds of evil things."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 3, "verse": "17", "text": "But when people are wise [PRS] in the way that God [MTY] wants them to be, they are pure in every way, which God considers to be very important. They also act peaceably towards others, they ◄are considerate of/think about the rights and feelings of► others, they are willing to yield to the wishes of others, they act compassionately toward others, and they do all kinds of good things for others[MET]. How they treat others does not depend on ◄others' status/whether others are important or not►, and they are sincere in all they do."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 3, "verse": "18", "text": "Those who act peaceably toward others cause the others to also act peaceably, with the result that they all live together acting righteously [MET]."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 4, "verse": "1", "text": "◄Now I will tell you why you are fighting among yourselves and quarreling with each other./Do you know why you are fighting among yourselves and quarreling with each other?► [RHQ] It is [RHQ] because each of you wants to do the evil things that you◄ enjoy doing/like to do► [PRS]. You keep on wanting to do things that are opposed to what God wants you to do."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 4, "verse": "2", "text": "There are things that you very much desire to have, but you do not get those things, so you want to kill [HYP] those who hinder you from getting them. You desire what other people have, but you are unable to get what you desire, so you quarrel and fight with one another[HYP]. You do not have what you desire because you do not ask God for it."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 4, "verse": "3", "text": "And even when you do ask him, he does not give you what you ask for because you are asking for the wrong reason. You are asking for things in order that you may use them just to ◄enjoy yourselves/make yourselves happy►."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 4, "verse": "4", "text": "Like a woman who is unfaithful to her husband, you are being unfaithful to God and not obeying him anymore[MET]. Those who are behaving as evil people do [MTY] (OR, Those who love the evil pleasures of this world) are hostile toward God. Perhaps you do not realize that [RHQ]. So those who decide to act as evil people do [MTY] become enemies of God."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 4, "verse": "5", "text": "◄Surely you do not think that it is for no reason that God told us in the Scriptures that he eagerly desires that his Spirit, who lives in us, will help us to love God only!/Do you think that it is for no reason that God told us in the Scriptures that he strongly desires that his Spirit, who lives in us, will help us to love God only?► [RHQ] God has a reason for desiring that."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 4, "verse": "6", "text": "It is because he is kind to us and he wants very much to help us. That is why ◄someone said/ King Solomon wrote► in the Scriptures, “God opposes those who are proud, but he helps those who are humble.”"}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 4, "verse": "7", "text": "So submit yourselves to God. ◄Resist the devil/Refuse to do what the devil wants►, and as a result he will run away from you."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 4, "verse": "8", "text": "Come near spiritually to God, and as a result he will come near to you. You who are sinners, stop doing what is wrong and do only what is good [SYN, MET]. You who cannot decide whether you will◄ commit yourselves to God/obey God completely►, stop thinking wrong thoughts, and think only pure thoughts [MTY]."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 4, "verse": "9", "text": "Be sorrowful and weep/mourn [DOU] because of the wrong that you have done. Do not laugh [DOU], ◄ enjoying only what you selfishly/enjoying only what you yourselves► desire. Instead, be sad because you have done what is wrong."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 4, "verse": "10", "text": "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and as a result he will honor you."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 4, "verse": "11", "text": "My fellow believers, stop speaking evil against one another, because those who speak evil against a fellow believer and thus condemn one who is like a brother to them are really speaking against the law that God gave us to obey. In this law, God commanded[MTY] us to love others, and those who speak evil against fellow believers, it is as though they are saying by what they do that we do not have to do what God commanded. If you(sg) say that you do not have to do what God commanded, you(sg) are not obeying God's law. Instead, you(sg) are claiming that you have the authority to condemn others."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 4, "verse": "12", "text": "But in fact, there is only one who has the authority to tell people what is right to do and to condemn them, and that is God. He alone is able to save people or to destroy people. So, ◄ you(sg) certainly have no right to decide how God should punish other people./who are you to decide how God should punish other people?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 4, "verse": "13", "text": "Some of you are arrogantly saying, “Today or tomorrow we will go to a certain city. We will spend a year there and we will buy and sell things and earn a lot of money.” Now, you listen to me!"}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 4, "verse": "14", "text": "You should not talk like that, because you do not know what will happen tomorrow, and you do not know how long you will live! Your life is short[MET], like a mist that appears for a short time and then disappears."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 4, "verse": "15", "text": "Instead of what you are saying, you should say, “If the Lord wills/desires, we will live and do this or that.”"}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 4, "verse": "16", "text": "But what you are doing is boasting about all the things that you arrogantly plan to do. Your boasting like that is evil."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 4, "verse": "17", "text": "So if anyone knows the right thing that he should do, but he does not do it, he is sinning."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 5, "verse": "1", "text": "Now I have something to say to the rich people who do not believe in Christ and who◄ oppress you/cause you to suffer►. Listen to me, you rich people! You should weep and wail loudly[DOU] because you will experience terrible troubles [PRS]!"}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 5, "verse": "2", "text": "Your wealth of various kinds is worthless[MET], as though it were rotted. Your fine clothes are worthless[MET], as though termites had ruined them."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 5, "verse": "3", "text": "Your gold and silver are worthless[MET], as though they were corroded. When God judges you, this worthless wealth [MTY] of yours will be evidence [PRS] that you are guilty of being greedy, and as rust and fire destroy[MET, SYN] things, God will severely punish you [SIM]. You have ◄ in vain/uselessly► ◄stored up/accumulated► wealth in a time when God is about to judge you[MTY]."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 5, "verse": "4", "text": "Think about what you have done. You have not paid wages to the workmen who have harvested your fields for you, with the result that[PRS] those reapers are crying out to God for him to help them. And God, the all-powerful Lord, has heard their loud cries."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 5, "verse": "5", "text": "You have lived luxuriously, just to have pleasure here on earth. Just like cattle fatten themselves, not realizing that they will be slaughtered [MET], you have lived just for pleasure[MTY], not realizing that God will severely punish you."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 5, "verse": "6", "text": "You have arranged for others/judges to condemn innocent people. You have arranged for others to kill some people. And even though those people had not done anything wrong, they were not able to defend themselves against you. My fellow believers, that is what I say to the rich people◄ who oppress you/cause you to suffer►."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 5, "verse": "7", "text": "So, my fellow believers, although rich people cause you to suffer, be patient until the Lord Jesus Christ comes back. Remember that when farmers plant a field, they wait for their valuable crops to grow. They must wait patiently for the rain that comes at the planting season and for more rain that comes just before the harvest season. They wait for the crops to grow and mature before they can harvest them."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 5, "verse": "8", "text": "Similarly, you also should wait patiently and trust the Lord Jesus firmly, because he is coming back soon and will judge all people fairly."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 5, "verse": "9", "text": "My fellow believers, do not complain against each other, in order that you will not be condemned and punished by the Lord Jesus{in order that the Lord Jesus will not condemn you}. It is he who will judge us, and he is ready to appear."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 5, "verse": "10", "text": "My fellow believers, as an example of how to be patient, ◄consider/think about► the prophets whom the Lord God sent long ago to speak his messages [MTY]. Although people caused them to suffer much, they endured it patiently."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 5, "verse": "11", "text": "And we know that God◄approves of/is pleased with► those who endure suffering for him. You have also heard about Job. You know that although he suffered much, the Lord God finally brought good to Job because he endured that suffering(OR, because he continued to trust God). And from that we know that the Lord is very compassionate and kind."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 5, "verse": "12", "text": "Also, my fellow believers, I want to say something important about how you talk. If you say that you will do something, do not say, “If I do not do it, may God in heaven [MTY] punish me.” Do not even say, “If I do not do it, may someone here on earth [MTY] punish me.” Do not say anything like that. Instead, if you say “Yes,” then do what you said that you would do. If you say “No,” then do not do it. Otherwise, God will condemn you."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 5, "verse": "13", "text": "Whoever among you is experiencing trouble [RHQ] should pray that God would help him. Whoever is cheerful/happy [RHQ] should sing songs of praise to God."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 5, "verse": "14", "text": "Whoever among you is sick [RHQ] should call the leaders of the congregation to come to pray for him. They should put olive oil on him and, with the Lord's authority [MTY] (OR, calling on the Lord to heal him), pray."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 5, "verse": "15", "text": "And if they truly trust in the Lord when they pray [PRS], the sick person will be healed. The Lord will heal him. And if that person has sinned ◄ in a way that caused him to be/and because of that he became► sick, if he◄ confesses what he did/says that he did what is wrong►, he will be forgiven { the Lord will forgive him}."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 5, "verse": "16", "text": "So, because the Lord is able to heal the sick and to forgive sins, tell each other the sinful things that you have done, and pray for each other in order that you may be healed {that God may heal you} physically and spiritually. If righteous people pray and ask fervently for God to do something, God will act powerfully and will certainly do it."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 5, "verse": "17", "text": "Although the prophet Elijah was ◄an ordinary person/just a human being► like us, he earnestly prayed that it would not rain. As a result, it did not rain for three and a half years."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 5, "verse": "18", "text": "Then he prayed again, asking God to send rain, and as a result God[MTY] sent rain, and plants grew and produced crops again."}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 5, "verse": "19", "text": "My fellow believers, if anyone of you stops obeying the true message from God, someone from among you should persuade that person to once again do what God has told us to do. If he stops doing what is wrong,"}
{"book": "JAS", "chapter": 5, "verse": "20", "text": "the one who persuaded him should realize that because he has enabled the person who was sinning to stop doing what is wrong, God will save that person from ◄ spiritual death/being separated from him forever►, and will forgive his many sins."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "1", "text": "I, Peter, who have been appointed by Jesus Christ {one whom Jesus Christ has appointed} to be an apostle, am writing this letter to you believers whom God has chosen to belong to him. You are living in the Roman provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. Just like the Jews who lived in Israel long ago were scattered to other countries far from their homes[MET], you now live far from heaven, which is your true home."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "2", "text": "God our Father chose you according to what he himself decided previously, and his Spirit has set you apart in order that you would obey Jesus Christ, and in order that just like Moses sprinkled the Israelites with blood when God established the old covenant[MET], Jesus would establish his new covenant with you with the blood that flowed from his body when he died. May God act very kindly to you, and may he give you much inner peace."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "3", "text": "Praise God, who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! It is because of his great mercy to us that he has given us new life[MET]. Because he has caused Jesus Christ to become alive again after he died, he has enabled us to live very confidently; that is, to fully expect to receive the things that God/he has promised to give us."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "4", "text": "He has enabled us to expect to receive an absolutely imperishable/indestructible [TRI] inheritance that has been {that God has} preserved in heaven for us."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "5", "text": "God, by his mighty power, is guarding you as you trust in Jesus. He is keeping you safe so that he may, at the end of the time in which we now live (OR, when Jesus returns), completely deliver you from Satan's power."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "6", "text": "You rejoice because of what will happen then, but now you are grieving for a short time while God is allowing you to be tested { various things to test you [MET]}, as precious metals are tested{ someone tests precious metals} to see if they are pure. These trials that you are experiencing are necessary"}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "7", "text": "to prove that you really do trust in Jesus. His proving that will be more valuable than gold, which does not last forever even though it is purified by being put{someone tries to make it pure by putting it} in a hot fire. As a result of your passing the test and proving that you really do trust in Jesus, God will honor you very highly [TRI] when Jesus Christ comes again."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "8", "text": "You love Jesus, although you have not seen him. Although you do not see him now, you rejoice very much [DOU]"}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "9", "text": "because you are experiencing the result of your believing in him; that is, God is saving you [SYN] from the guilt of your sins."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "10", "text": "As for those who long ago spoke messages that God had revealed to them about how God would act kindly toward you in ways which you did not deserve, they ◄investigated very carefully/tried very hard to learn► [DOU] about how God would save you."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "11", "text": "They wanted to know whom the Spirit of Christ that was in them was referring to, and what time he was talking about, when he told beforehand that the Messiah would suffer and die, and that glorious/wonderful things would happen to him and to us afterwards."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "12", "text": "It was revealed to { God told} them that it was not for their own sake that he was revealing these things to them, but that it was for your sake. It was these things that were proclaimed to you by those who told you the message about Christ {that those who told you the message about Christ proclaimed to you}. They proclaimed them to you because the Holy Spirit whom God sent from heaven enabled them to do that. And even angels would like to know more about these truths about how God saves us."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "13", "text": "Therefore, prepare your minds[MET] as people fasten their belts around their waists to prepare to work. What I mean is that you should ◄discipline your minds/control what you think about►, and by doing that conduct your lives fully and confidently expecting to receive the good things that God will kindly do for you when Jesus Christ returns from heaven."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "14", "text": "And because you should obey your heavenly Father[SIM], as children ought to obey their fathers here on earth, do not do the evil deeds that you used to desire to do when you did not know God's truth."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "15", "text": "Instead, just like God, the one who chose you to belong to him, is ◄holy/separate from evil►, you also must be ◄holy/separate from evil► in everything that you do,"}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "16", "text": "because it is { someone/Moses has} written in the Scriptures that God said, “You must be ◄holy/separate from evil► because I am ◄holy/separate from evil►.”"}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "17", "text": "God is the one who ◄impartially/without favoritism► judges what each one does. Since you call him ❛Father❜, conduct yourselves ◄reverently/with great respect for him► during the time that you are living here on earth. While you are living here, you are like exiles/foreigners [MET] because you are away from heaven, which is your true home."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "18", "text": "Live reverently because you know that it was not with things that will not last forever, things like gold and silver, that God bought you to free you from your useless life-style that you learned from your ancestors."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "19", "text": "Instead, it was with the precious blood of Christ that flowed from his body when he died that God bought you. Christ's death was a perfect sacrifice for us[MET], like the lambs that the Jewish priests sacrificed were perfect, without any blemishes/defects/flaws or spots [DOU]."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "20", "text": "He was chosen by God{ God chose him} before the world was created { he created the world}. But it was not until now, when the time in which we are living will soon end, that God revealed him for your sake."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "21", "text": "Because of what Christ has done, you are trusting in God, who caused him to become alive again after he died, and greatly honored him. As a result, God is the one in whom you are trusting and confidently expecting that he will do great things for you."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "22", "text": "Because you have been made pure by obeying the truth, with the result that you sincerely love your fellow believers, continue to love each other earnestly and sincerely/wholeheartedly."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "23", "text": "I ask you to do this, because you now have a new life [MET]. It was not by means of something that will perish that you received this new life. Instead, it was by means of something that will last forever; that is, by believing the life-giving and enduring message of God."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "24", "text": "We know that this is true because, as the prophet Isaiah wrote, All people will perish[SIM], like grass perishes. And all the greatness/honor that people have will not last forever, like the flowers [SIM] that grow up in the grass do not last long. The grass withers and the flowers die,"}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "25", "text": "but God's message endures/lasts forever. This message that endures/lasts is the message about Christ that was proclaimed to you."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "1", "text": "Therefore, do not act maliciously in any way or deceive others. Do not ◄be a hypocrite/try to make others think that you have qualities that you do not really have►, and do not ◄envy/be jealous of► others. Do not ever slander anyone."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "2", "text": "Just like newborn babies long for their mothers' pure milk [MET], you should long for God's spiritual truth, so that by learning it you may become spiritually mature. You need to do this until the day when God will free you completely from all the evil in this world."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "3", "text": "Also, you need to do this because you have experienced that the Lord acts in a good way toward you."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "4", "text": "You have come to the Lord Jesus. He is like an important stone [MET] put in the foundation of a building, but he is living, not lifeless like a stone. He was rejected by many people { Many people rejected him}, but God chose him and considers him to be very precious."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "5", "text": "And like men build houses with stones [MET], God is causing you to be joined together into a group in which God's Spirit lives, in order that you, because of what Jesus Christ did for us, might, like priests who offer sacrifices, do deeds that are pleasing to God."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "6", "text": "What Isaiah wrote in the Scriptures shows us that this is true. He wrote these words that God said, Note this well: I am placing in Jerusalem [MTY] one who is like[MET] an extremely valuable [DOU] ◄stone/cornerstone, the most important stone in the structure of a building►, and those who believe in him will never be disappointed."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "7", "text": "Therefore, God will honor you who believe in Jesus. But those who refuse to believe in him are like the builders that this Scripture talks about, The stone that the builders rejected has become ◄the cornerstone/the most important stone in the foundation of the building►."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "8", "text": "And it is also written{ Isaiah wrote} in the Scriptures: He will be like a stone that causes people to stumble, and like a rock that people trip over. Just as people are injured when they stumble over a rock, people who disobey the message about Jesus are injured spiritually, and that is what God determined would happen to them."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "9", "text": "But you are people whom God has chosen to belong to him. You are a group that represents God like priests do, and you rule with God [MET] like kings. You are ◄a holy group of people/a group of people who are separate from evil►. You are people who belong to God. This is in order that you might proclaim the virtues of God. He has called you from your former ways, when you were ignorant of his truth, into the marvelous understanding that he gives us[MET]. That is, he has called you out of spiritual darkness into spiritual light."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "10", "text": "What the prophet Hosea wrote is true of you, Formerly, you were not a people who had a relationship with God, But now you are God's people. At one time God had not acted mercifully toward you, But now he has acted mercifully toward you."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "11", "text": "You people whom I love, I urge you to consider that you are like foreigners [MET, DOU] whose real home is in heaven. As a result, avoid doing the things that your self-directed nature desires, because those desires ◄fight against/always oppose► your souls."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "12", "text": "Keep conducting your lives in a good way among those who do not know God. If you do that, although they may accuse you, saying that you are people who do what is evil, they will see your good behavior, and at the time when God comes to judge people, they will ◄give honor to him/say that what he does is right►."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "13", "text": "For the sake of the Lord Jesus, submit yourselves to every human authority. That includes submitting yourselves to the king, who is the most important authority,"}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "14", "text": "and to governors, who are sent by the king {whom the king sends} to punish those who do what is wrong and to commend/honor those who do what is right."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "15", "text": "What God wants is that by your doing only what is good you will cause that foolish people who do not know God will be unable to say things ◄ to condemn you/to show you why you should be punished►."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "16", "text": "Conduct your lives as though you were free from having to obey authorities, but do not think “Because I am free from having to obey authorities, I can do what is evil.” Instead, act as servants of God should."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "17", "text": "Act respectfully toward everyone. Love all your fellow believers. Revere God, and honor the king."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "18", "text": "You slaves who are believers, submit yourselves to your masters and completely respect them. Submit yourselves not only to those who act in a good and kind [DOU] way towards you, but also submit yourselves to those who act in a harsh way towards you."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "19", "text": "You should do that because God is pleased with those who, knowing that he is aware of what is happening to them, endure the pain that they suffer because of being treated unjustly by their masters{ their masters have treated them unjustly}."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "20", "text": "God will certainly not [RHQ] be pleased with you if you do something that is wrong and as a result you are beaten {someone beats you}! But if, instead of doing wrong, you do what is good, and as a result of that, you suffer for doing what is good, and you endure that suffering, God will ◄commend/be pleased with► you."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "21", "text": "One of the reasons why God chose you is that you would suffer. When Christ suffered for you he became an example for you, in order that you would ◄imitate what/do like► he did."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "22", "text": "Remember how Christ conducted himself, He never sinned, And he never said [MTY] anything to deceive people."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "23", "text": "When people insulted him, he did not insult them in return. When people caused him to suffer, he did not threaten ◄to get revenge/to cause them to suffer►. Instead, he decided to let God, who always judges justly, prove that he ◄was innocent/had done nothing that is wrong► (OR, he left his case in the hands of God, who always judges justly)."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "24", "text": "He himself endured the punishment for our sins in his body when he died on the cross, in order that we would stop sinning (OR, no longer respond to sinful desires) and start living righteous lives. It is because he was wounded {they wounded him} that your souls have been saved[MET] from being sinful, as people's bodies are healed from being sick."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "25", "text": "Truly you were like sheep that had gone astray [SIM], but now you have returned to Jesus, who cares for your souls as a shepherd cares for his sheep[MET]."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "1", "text": "You women believers, just like slaves should submit themselves to their masters, submit yourselves to your husbands. Do that in order that if any of them do not believe the message about Christ, they may become believers without it being necessary for you to say anything to them about their relationship to God."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "2", "text": "They will believe in Christ when they see that you respect them and that your way of life is pure."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "3", "text": "Do not be trying to make yourselves beautiful by decorating the outside of your bodies, such as ◄by the way you comb your hair/by your hair style► or by wearing gold jewelry and fine clothes."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "4", "text": "Instead, make your ◄inner beings/hearts► beautiful with qualities/attitudes that will not fade away. Specifically, have a humble and quiet/calm attitude, which is something that God considers to be very valuable."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "5", "text": "◄The devout women/The women who habitually worshipped God► who lived long ago and who trusted in God made themselves beautiful by having attitudes like that, and by being submissive to their husbands."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "6", "text": "Sarah, for example, obeyed her husband Abraham and called him ❛my master❜. You will be as though you are[MET] her daughters if you do what is right and are not afraid of what your husbands or anyone else may do to you because you are believers."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "7", "text": "You men who are believers, just like your wives should respect you, you should conduct your lives in an appropriate way with them. Treat them respectfully, realizing that they are usually weaker than you are, and realizing that ◄they share with you/both of you have► the gift that God has kindly given to you, which is eternal life. Do this so that nothing will hinder you from praying (OR, hinder God◄ from answering/from doing what you ask for► when you pray)."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "8", "text": "To end this part of my letter, I say to all of you, agree with each other in what you think. Be sympathetic toward each other. Love each other as members of the same family should. Act compassionately toward each other. Be humble."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "9", "text": "When people do evil things to you or insult you, do not ◄retaliate/repay them by► doing evil things to them or insulting them. Instead, ask God to bless them, because that is what you have been chosen by God{what God called you} to do, in order that you may receive a blessing from him."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "10", "text": "Consider what the Psalmist wrote about the proper way of conducting our lives, As for those who want ◄to enjoy life/to live happily► and experience good things happening to them every day, they must not speak [MTY] what is evil or speak [MTY] words that deceive others."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "11", "text": "They must continually turn away from doing evil, and must do what is good instead. They must deeply desire to enable people to act peacefully toward each other; they must zealously urge people to act in a peaceful way,"}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "12", "text": "because the Lord sees [MTY] what righteous people do and he appreciates/likes what they do. He listens to righteous people when they pray and he answers them. But he is [MTY] opposed to those who do evil."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "13", "text": "If you ◄are eager/try very hard► to do good deeds, ◄ most people will not harm you./who will harm you?► [RHQ]"}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "14", "text": "But even if you suffer because of doing what is right, God will bless you. Do as Isaiah wrote: “Do not be afraid of people who ◄threaten you/say things to cause you to be afraid of what they might do to you►, and do not worry about [DOU] what they might do to you.”"}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "15", "text": "Instead, acknowledge in your ◄inner beings/hearts► that Christ is the one who is in complete control of your lives. Always be ready to answer everyone who demands that you tell them about what you confidently expect God to do for you."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "16", "text": "But answer them humbly and respectfully, and make sure that you ◄do/have done► nothing wrong, in order that those who speak evil about you may be ashamed when they see the good way in which you are conducting yourselves because of your relationship with Christ."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "17", "text": "It may be that God wants you to suffer. But it is better to do good deeds, even if you suffer for doing them, than to do evil deeds and suffer for doing that."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "18", "text": "I say that because Christ died once for the sake of people who have sinned. He was a righteous person who died for unrighteous people. He died in order that ◄he might bring us to/we might begin an intimate relationship with► God. During the time that he had an ordinary body, he was killed {people killed him}, but God's Spirit caused him to become alive again."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "19", "text": "The Spirit also helped him as he went to proclaim God's victory to the evil spirits whom God had imprisoned in the heavens(OR, to the spirits of those who had died, and who were in the place where the spirits of dead people are)."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "20", "text": "Long ago, during the time that Noah was building a big boat, those evil spirits disobeyed God when he waited patiently [PRS] to see if people would turn from their evil behavior. Only a few people were saved { God saved only a few people} in that boat. Specifically, God brought only eight persons safely through the waters of the flood, while all the others drowned in it."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "21", "text": "That water, by means of which eight people were saved when God punished the other people[MET], represents the water in which we are baptized to show that God has saved us from God punishing us. The water in which we are baptized does not remove dirt from our bodies. Instead, it shows that we are requesting God to assure us that he has removed our guilt for having sinned. And because Jesus Christ became alive again after he died, we know that God accepted his sacrifice for us and because of that was able to remove our guilt."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "22", "text": "Christ has gone into heaven and is ruling [MTY] in the place of highest honor ◄next to God/at God's side►, after God caused all the evil and powerful spirit beings [DOU] to be made subject to him."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 4, "verse": "1", "text": "Therefore, because Christ suffered in his body, you also must think the way that he did when he was willing to suffer, because those who suffer in their bodies because of belonging to Jesus have stopped sinning the way they used to sin."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 4, "verse": "2", "text": "As a result, during their remaining time here on earth, they do not do the things that sinful people desire to do, but instead they do the things that God wants them to do."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 4, "verse": "3", "text": "I say that to you because [SAR] you have already spent too much of your time here on earth doing what the people who do not know God like to do. In the past you committed all kinds of sexually immoral acts [DOU], you got drunk and then participated in ◄orgies/wild parties► and carousing/revelry, and you worshipped idols, which is very displeasing to God."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 4, "verse": "4", "text": "Because you used to do those things, your friends are surprised that you do not join with them anymore when they participate in that kind of wild behavior that◄ is rushing to/will quickly► destroy them like[MET] a flood. As a result, they speak evil about you."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 4, "verse": "5", "text": "But God is ready to judge the people who are living now and the people who have died, and he is the one who will decide whether he approves of what they have done."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 4, "verse": "6", "text": "That is the reason why the message about Christ was preached { people preached the message about Christ} to believers who have now died. That message was preached to them in order that even though sinful people might judge them and say that they are guilty, God's Spirit would enable them to live eternally."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 4, "verse": "7", "text": "It is almost the time when all things on this earth will come to an end. Therefore, keep thinking sensibly/reasonably and control what you think [DOU], so that you can pray clearly."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 4, "verse": "8", "text": "Most important of all, love each other earnestly/wholeheartedly, because if we love others [PRS], we will just ignore many of the sinful things that they do to us."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 4, "verse": "9", "text": "Provide food and a place to sleep for those who come to your community, and do it without complaining."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 4, "verse": "10", "text": "Believers should all use the spiritual gifts that God has given them to serve others. They should manage/use well the various gifts that God has kindly given them."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 4, "verse": "11", "text": "Those who speak to the congregation should do that as though they are speaking the very words of God. Those who do kind deeds to others should do it with the strength that God gives them, in order that God may be honored by all this {that all this may honor God} as Jesus Christ enables us to do it. I pray that we will praise God(OR, Jesus) and give him the authority to rule over us forever. ◄May it be so!/Amen!►"}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 4, "verse": "12", "text": "You whom I love, do not be surprised about the painful things that you are suffering because you belong to Christ. Those things are testing you as metals are tested by people putting them in a fire. Do not think that something strange is happening to you."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 4, "verse": "13", "text": "Instead, rejoice that you are suffering the same kinds of things that Christ endured. Rejoice when you suffer, in order that you may also be very glad [DOU] when Christ returns and reveals how glorious/wonderful he is."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 4, "verse": "14", "text": "If you are insulted {If people insult you} because you believe in Christ [MTY], God is pleased with you, because it shows that the Spirit of God, the Spirit who reveals how great God is, lives within you."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 4, "verse": "15", "text": "If you suffer, do not let that suffering be the result of your being a murderer or a thief or as a result of doing some other evil deed, or as a result of interfering in someone else's affairs."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 4, "verse": "16", "text": "But if you suffer because of being a Christian, do not be ashamed about it. Instead, praise God that you are suffering because of belonging to Christ [MTY]."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 4, "verse": "17", "text": "I say that, because it is now time for God to begin judging people, and first he will judge those who belong [MTY] to him. Since he will judge us believers first, think about the terrible things that will happen to [RHQ] those who do not obey the good message that comes from him!"}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 4, "verse": "18", "text": "That will be as it is written in the Scriptures, Many righteous people will have to suffer many difficult trials before going to heaven. So ungodly and sinful people will surely have to suffer much severe punishment from God."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 4, "verse": "19", "text": "Therefore, those who suffer because of its being God's will that they suffer because of being Christians should commit themselves to God, the one who created them and the one who always does what he promises to do. And they should continue to do what is right."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 5, "verse": "1", "text": "Now I will say this to those among you who are elders in the congregations: I also am an elder. I am one of those who saw Christ when he suffered, and I am also one who will share some of the glory/greatness that Christ has in heaven."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 5, "verse": "2", "text": "I appeal to you elders to take care of the people who are in your congregations[MET] as shepherds take care of their flocks of sheep. Do this, not because you must do it, but instead do it willingly, as God desires. Do not be greedy to get a lot of money for doing it, but instead do it enthusiastically/wholeheartedly."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 5, "verse": "3", "text": "Do not act like domineering bosses over the people [MET] whom God has assigned/entrusted to you, but instead be examples to them by the way in which you conduct your lives."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 5, "verse": "4", "text": "If you do that, when Jesus, who is like our chief shepherd [MET], appears, he will give each of you a glorious/wonderful reward[MET]. That reward will be like the wreaths that are given to victorious athletes, but your reward will never wither like wreaths do."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 5, "verse": "5", "text": "Now I will say this to you young men and women. Just like married men and women are◄ to be subject/to submit themselves► to their spouses, you must ◄be subject/submit yourselves► ◄to the older men/to the leaders► of the congregation. And all of you believers should act [MET] humbly toward each other, because this proverb is true, God opposes people who are proud, but he acts kindly toward those who are humble."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 5, "verse": "6", "text": "Therefore, realizing that God has great power [MTY] to punish proud people, humble yourselves in order that he may honor you at the time that he has determined."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 5, "verse": "7", "text": "Because he takes care of you, let him take care of all the things that you are worried/concerned about."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 5, "verse": "8", "text": "Always be alert with your full attention, because the devil, who is your enemy, is going/sneaking around, looking for people to destroy. He is like [SIM] a lion who roars as it prowls around, seeking someone to kill and devour."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 5, "verse": "9", "text": "You must resist him by continuing to firmly trust in Christ and his message, remembering that your fellow believers all over the world are experiencing similar sufferings that the devil is bringing to them."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 5, "verse": "10", "text": "God is the one who kindly helps us in every situation, and he is the one who chose us to share his eternal glory/greatness in heaven because of our relationship with Christ. And after you have suffered for a while because of things that people do to harm you, he will remove your spiritual defects/imperfections, he will strengthen you spiritually[DOU], and he will support you emotionally."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 5, "verse": "11", "text": "I pray/desire that he will rule powerfully forever. ◄May it be so!/Amen!►"}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 5, "verse": "12", "text": "Silas has written this letter for me as I have◄ dictated it to him/told him what to write►. I consider/know that he is a faithful fellow believer. I have written this short letter to you to encourage you, and I want to assure you that what I have written is a true message about the things that God kindly does for us, things that we do not deserve. Continue to firmly believe this message."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 5, "verse": "13", "text": "In this city that is sometimes referred to as❛Babylon❜ [MET], the believers [SYN], whom God has chosen to belong to him just like he chose you, ◄send you(pl) their greetings/say that they are thinking affectionately about you►. Mark, who is [MET] like a son to me, also ◄ sends you his greetings/says that he is thinking affectionately about you►."}
{"book": "1PE", "chapter": 5, "verse": "14", "text": "Greet each other with a kiss on the cheek to show that you love each other. I pray that God will give inner peace to all of you who have a relationship with Christ."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "1", "text": "I, Simon Peter, am writing this letter to you. I serve Jesus Christ, and am an apostle appointed by him. I am sending this letter to you whom God has caused to believe in Christ just like he caused us(exc) apostles to believe in Christ. You and we have ◄equally been given the/both been given the same► privilege of believing in Jesus Christ. He is God, he is righteous, he is the one whom we worship, and he is our Savior."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "2", "text": "I pray that God will continue to act very kindly towards you, and give you ◄a deep/very much► inner peace, because you truly know God and Jesus, who is our Lord."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "3", "text": "God[PRS] has given us everything that we need in order that we might receive eternal life and in order that we might conduct our lives◄in a godly way/in a way that pleases him►. He gives us that by the power that he has because he is God, and he has also given it to us as a result of our knowing him. He is the one who by his own glorious/wonderful and perfect nature chose us to be his people."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "4", "text": "By means of this glorious and perfect nature, he has promised us that he will do very great and ◄priceless/very precious► things for us. He has also promised to you that by believing what he has promised you will be able to act righteously, just like God acts righteously, and that you will be free from being morally depraved/corrupted, and that you will not be like those who do not believe in Christ and are morally depraved because of their desire to do what is evil."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "5", "text": "Because God has done all that, ◄by exerting yourselves strenuously/by trying very hard►, make sure that you not only believe in Christ, but that you are also living morally good lives. And make sure that you are not only living morally good lives, but that you also know what God desires(OR, behave wisely)."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "6", "text": "And make sure that you not only know what God desires(OR, behave wisely) but that you also control what you say and do. And make sure that you not only control what you say and do, but that you are also steadfast. And make sure that you are not only ◄steadfast/patient when you suffer►, but that you are also godly."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "7", "text": "And make sure that you not only ◄are godly/conduct your lives in a way that pleases God►, but that you also have a concern for your fellow believers, as brothers and sisters ought to have for each other. And make sure that you not only have a concern for your fellow believers, but that you also love others."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "8", "text": "If you do these things, and if you do them more and more, that demonstrates that knowing our Lord Jesus Christ ◄is very effective/produces good results► [LIT] in your lives."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "9", "text": "If these qualities are not present in people, it means they are not aware that these things are important, just like a blind person is not aware of what is around him. They think only about earthly matters, just like[MET] a shortsighted person sees clearly only things that are near. It seems that they have forgotten that God has forgiven them for their former sinful lives."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "10", "text": "Instead of acting like those people, try to confirm/prove by the way you conduct your lives that you are among those whom God has chosen [DOU] to be his people. If you do that, you will certainly never become separated from God,"}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "11", "text": "and God will very wholeheartedly welcome you into the place where our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will rule his people forever."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "12", "text": "I intend to keep on reminding you very frequently [HYP] about these matters, even though you already know them and are firmly convinced that they are true."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "13", "text": "I consider it right that I should help you to continually think about these matters by reminding you about them as long as I am alive [EUP],"}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "14", "text": "because I know that I shall die [EUP] soon, just like our Lord Jesus Christ clearly has revealed to me."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "15", "text": "Moreover, I will ◄make every effort/try hard► by writing these things down to enable you to remember them at all times after I have died [EUP]."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "16", "text": "We apostles told you that our Lord Jesus Christ acts powerfully and that he is coming back some day. We were not basing what we told you on stories that we had cleverly ◄invented/made up►. Instead, we told you what we ourselves saw with our own eyes, that the Lord Jesus is supremely great."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "17", "text": "God, our Father, greatly honored him when God's great glory/brightness surrounded him, and God [MTY] said, “This is my Son, whom I love very much; I am very pleased with him.”"}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "18", "text": "We(exc) ourselves heard God[MTY] say that from heaven, when we were with Christ on that holy/sacred mountain."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "19", "text": "We also have what the prophets wrote about Christ long ago, which is completely reliable/trustworthy. You should ◄pay attention to/think carefully about► what they wrote, because what they wrote enables you to know whether what is taught to you is true or whether it is false[SIM], like a lamp that is shining in a dark place enables people to see where they are going[SIM]. You should◄ pay attention to/think carefully about► what they wrote until our Lord Jesus Christ comes back and enables you [SYN] to know God fully, which will be like when[MET] ◄a day dawns/daylight comes► and the morning star rises and we can see it clearly."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "20", "text": "It is important that you realize that no one can interpret/explain by himself the meaning of what the prophets wrote in the Scriptures without the help of God's Spirit(OR, no part of the Scriptures originated with the prophet himself),"}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 1, "verse": "21", "text": "because no human beings decided to make those prophecies. On the contrary, those who spoke messages from God did that because it was the Holy Spirit who caused them to do it, and therefore the Spirit must help us to interpret/understand their meaning."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "1", "text": "Just like there were false prophets among the Israelite people long ago, so there will also be teachers of false teachings among you. They will enter your congregations without you realizing what/who they are, and they will spiritually injure some people by what they teach. Specifically, these teachers will even deny that the Lord Jesus died to pay for the guilt of our sins. As a result, they will soon destroy themselves spiritually, and God will also punish them."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "2", "text": "And many people will behave in an extremely immoral manner, imitating the extremely immoral manner in which these teachers of false teaching behave. As a result, unbelievers will ◄discredit the true message/say the true message is false►."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "3", "text": "Because the teachers of false teaching want a lot of things that other people have, they think that by telling you stories that they themselves have ◄made up/invented►, they will get money from you. God decided long ago that he would punish them, and he has not fallen asleep [LIT]! He will certainly destroy them."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "4", "text": "God destroyed [LIT] the angels who sinned. He threw them into the worst place in hell and imprisoned them there in darkness in order to keep them there until he judges and punishes them."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "5", "text": "He also got rid of [LIT] the people who lived in[MTY] the world long ago. He saved only eight of them, including Noah, who was a righteous preacher. God saved them when he destroyed by a flood all◄the ungodly people/the people whose lives were not pleasing to him► who were living then."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "6", "text": "He also condemned Sodom and Gomorrah cities; that is, he destroyed them by burning them completely to ashes. By doing that he gave a warning to those who afterwards would live in ◄an ungodly manner/a manner that is displeasing to him►."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "7", "text": "But he rescued Abraham's nephew, Lot, who was a righteous man. Lot was ◄greatly distressed/very sad► because the people in Sodom were doing very immoral deeds."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "8", "text": "That righteous man's soul ◄was tormented/suffered great agony► day after day because he saw and heard those wicked people behave in a very lawless/wicked manner when he was living among them."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "9", "text": "And since the Lord God rescued Lot, you can be sure that he knows how to rescue ◄godly people/people whose lives please him► from their sufferings, and he is able to keep ◄ungodly people/people whose lives do not please him►, whom he has started to punish even now, until the time when he will finish judging them and punish them."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "10", "text": "He will punish especially severely those ungodly teachers of false teachings who do the things that their self-directed nature desires, things that ◄defile them/cause them to be impure in every way►. Those teachers of false teachings despise all beings who rule over them. Because those teachers of false teachings are extremely arrogant/proud [DOU], they ◄are not afraid to insult/boldly speak evil about► glorious beings in heaven(OR, glorious/wonderful beings who rule over people)."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "11", "text": "In contrast, angels do not insult those teachers when those teachers accuse the angels while the Lord God is watching, even though the angels are much more powerful [DOU] than the teachers of false teaching."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "12", "text": "Because those teachers of false doctrines are like animals that cannot think as humans do[DOU], they say evil things about spiritual things concerning which they know nothing. As a result, God will destroy them like people destroy animals, animals that are born only in order to be captured and destroyed {in order that people should capture and destroy them}."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "13", "text": "God will punish those teachers in return for the unrighteous actions/things that they have done. It even pleases them ◄to carouse/to drink and revel noisily► in the daytime as well as at night. And as they indulge/enjoy themselves just like they want to while they are feasting with you, they ◄ defile you greatly/cause you to become impure►, as[MET] stains and blotches [DOU] defile a clean garment."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "14", "text": "They want to commit[MTY] adultery with every woman whom they look at. They never stop seeking opportunities to sin. They entice/persuade those who are spiritually unstable to join them in doing the sinful things that they do. Because of their ever-increasing ◄greed/desire to have more and more things►, they are doomed to eternal punishment."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "15", "text": "They have ◄rejected good moral standards/quit doing what everyone knows is right►. They have imitated what the prophet Balaam, the son of Bosor, did long ago. He, acting very unrighteously, wanted the enemies of the Jews to pay him if he asked God◄ to curse/to do bad thing to► the Jews."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "16", "text": "But God rebuked him for having done that which was wrong and for behaving very foolishly. And even though donkeys do not speak, God used a donkey to hinder Balaam by enabling it to speak to him with a human voice."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "17", "text": "These teachers of false teachings mislead/deceive people by promising what they cannot do, as [MET] dried-up springs mislead/deceive people by causing them to expect to get water from them. They mislead/deceive people[MET] just like clouds that are blown along by strong winds mislead/deceive people by causing them to expect rain, but no rain falls. Therefore, God has reserved the darkness of hell for those teachers of false teachings."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "18", "text": "By boasting proudly as they make speeches that are worthless, they entice people who have recently become believers and have ceased to do the things that wicked people do. They entice them into sin by encouraging them to do the evil deeds that their self-directed nature urges them to do."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "19", "text": "The false teachers tell people that they are free to do whatever they want to do, even though they themselves are like slaves [MET] because their own self-directed nature forces them to do sinful deeds. Think about these well-known words: “Whenever a person is controlled by something{ something controls a person}, it is as though that person has become a slave of what controls him.”"}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "20", "text": "Those teachers of false teachings learned about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As a result, they stopped doing those deeds that ◄defile people/cause people to become impure► spiritually. Since they have begun to do those evil deeds again, with the result that they are unable to stop doing such deeds, they are in a worse condition than they were in before they knew Jesus Christ."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "21", "text": "Because God will severely punish them, it would have been better for them if they had never known what it means to conduct their lives in a righteous manner. It is too bad that although they knew how to conduct their lives in a righteous manner, they rejected the things that God commanded people to do, the things that were taught to them ◄ by us apostles/by Christ► {that ◄ we apostles/Christ► taught to them}."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 2, "verse": "22", "text": "The way in which they are behaving again is just like ◄the proverbs/what people often say►: They are like dogs that return to eat their vomit, and they are like pigs that have washed and then roll again in the mud."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "1", "text": "This letter that I am now writing to you whom I love, is the second letter that I have written to you. I have written both these letters to you in order that by reminding you about the things you already know, I may stimulate/cause you to think sincerely about those things."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "2", "text": "I want you to remember the words that were spoken by the holy prophets {that the holy prophets spoke} long ago, and also to remember what our Lord and Savior commanded, things that we, your apostles, told you about."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "3", "text": "It is important for you to understand that in the time immediately before Christ comes back, there will be people who will ridicule the idea of his coming back. Those people will do whatever evil deeds they wish to do."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "4", "text": "They will say, “ Although it was promised that Christ will come back, ◄ nothing has happened that would indicate that he is coming back./ what happened to the promise that he is coming back?► [RHQ] We say that because ever since the Christian leaders who lived long ago died [EUP], everything has remained the same. Things are as they always have been since God created the world! ”"}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "5", "text": "They will say that because they ◄deliberately overlook the fact/have decided to ignore what they know► that God, by commanding long ago that it should be so, caused the heavens to exist, and he caused the earth to come up out of water and to be separate from the water."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "6", "text": "And God, by commanding that it should be so, later destroyed the world that existed at that time, by causing the earth to be flooded with water {water to flood the earth}."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "7", "text": "Furthermore, God, by commanding that it should be so, has set apart the heavens and the earth that exist now, and they are being kept { he is keeping them} until the time when he will judge ◄ungodly people/people whose lives are not pleasing to him►. And at that time he will destroy the heavens and the earth by burning them."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "8", "text": "Dear friends, I want you to understand well that the Lord God is willing to wait a long time to judge the people in the world! How much time passes before the Lord God judges the people in the world does not matter to him! He considers that one day passes no more quickly than a thousand years, and he also considers that a thousand years pass as quickly as one day passes to us!"}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "9", "text": "Therefore, you should not think that because Christ has not yet come back to judge people, the Lord God is ◄delaying/slow to do► what he promised. Some people think that this is so, and they say that Christ never will come back. But you should understand that the reason why Christ has not yet come back to judge people is that God is being patient towards you, because he does not want anyone to be lost eternally. Instead, he wants everyone to turn away from their sinful behavior."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "10", "text": "Although God is being patient, at the time [MTY] that he has appointed, the Lord Jesus Christ will certainly come back to judge people. He will come back unexpectedly, like a thief [SIM] comes unexpectedly. At that time there will be a great roaring sound. The heavens will cease to exist. ◄The elements/The parts of which the universe consists► will be destroyed by fire, and the earth that God made and everything on it that people have made will disappear (OR, will be burned up)."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "11", "text": "Because God will certainly destroy all these things like I just said, ◄you certainly know how you should behave./do you know how you should behave?► [RHQ] You should behave ◄in a godly manner/ in a manner that pleases God►"}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "12", "text": "while you eagerly/expectantly wait for Christ to return on the day that God has appointed/planned[MTY], and you should try to make that day come soon. Because of what God[PRS] will do on that day, the heavens will be destroyed. ◄The elements/The parts of which the universe consist► will melt and burn up."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "13", "text": "Although all those events/things will happen, we rejoice because we are waiting for the new heavens and new earth that God has promised. The only people who will be in the new heavens and on this new earth will be people who are[PRS] righteous."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "14", "text": "Therefore, dear friends, because you are waiting for these things to happen, do all that you can to conduct your lives◄in a godly manner/ in a manner that pleases God►, in order that Christ will see that you are completely pure [DOU] and that you are living peacefully with each other."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "15", "text": "And think about this: Our Lord Jesus Christ is patient because he wants people to be saved. Our dear ◄brother/fellow believer► Paul also wrote wise words to you about these same matters, because God enabled him to understand these◄ events/things that will happen►."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "16", "text": "In the letters that Paul wrote there are certain things that are difficult for people to understand. People who are spiritually ignorant and ◄unstable/do not believe firmly in Christ► interpret these things wrongly, as they also ◄interpret/explain the meaning of► the other parts of the Scriptures wrongly. The result is that they will destroy themselves spiritually, and God will punish them."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "17", "text": "Therefore, dear friends, since you already know about these teachers of false teachings, ◄guard against them/beware►. Do not let these wicked people deceive you by telling you things that are wrong, with the result that you yourselves begin to doubt what you now firmly believe."}
{"book": "2PE", "chapter": 3, "verse": "18", "text": "Instead, live in such a manner that you experience more and more our Savior Jesus Christ acting kindly towards you, and that you get to know him better and better. I pray/desire that Jesus Christ will be honored both now and forever!"}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "1", "text": "I, John, am writing to you about the one who existed before there was anything else! He is the one whom we apostles listened to as he taught us! We saw him! We ourselves looked at him and touched him! He is the one who taught us the message that enables people to have eternal life (OR, live spiritually)."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "2", "text": "Because he came here to the earth and we have seen him, we proclaim to you clearly that the one whom we have seen is the one who has always lived. He was previously with his Father in heaven, but he came to live among us."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "3", "text": "We proclaim to you the message about Jesus, the one whom we saw and heard, in order that you may have a close relationship with us. The ones whom we have a close relationship with are God our Father and his Son Jesus Christ."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "4", "text": "I am writing to you about these things so that you ◄will be convinced/believe► that they are true, and as a result we may be completely joyful."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "5", "text": "The message that we heard from Christ and proclaim to you is this: God is pure in every way. He never sins. He is like[MET] a brilliant light that has no darkness at all."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "6", "text": "If we claim to have a close relationship with God, but we conduct our lives in an impure manner, that is like living [MET] in evil darkness. We are lying. We are not conducting our lives according to God's true message."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "7", "text": "But living in a pure manner, as God is living in a pure manner[MET] in every way, is like living in God's light. If we do that, we have a close relationship with each other. Not only that, but God◄acquits us/removes the guilt► of all our sins because he accepts what his Son Jesus did for us when his blood flowed from his body when he died. So we should conduct our lives◄ in a manner according to what God says is pure►."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "8", "text": "Those who say they never behave sinfully are deceiving themselves, and refusing to accept as true what God says about them."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "9", "text": "But God will do what he says that he will do, and what he does is always right. So, if we confess to him that we have behaved sinfully, he will forgive us for our sins and ◄will free us from/remove► the guilt of all our sins. Because of that, we should confess to him that we have behaved sinfully."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "10", "text": "Because God says that everyone has sinned, those who say/claim that they have never behaved sinfully talk as though God lies! They reject what God says about us!"}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "1", "text": "You who are very dear to me, I am writing this to you to say, “Do not sin!” But if any of you believers sins, God can forgive you because we have Jesus Christ, who is the righteous one, who speaks to the Father on our behalf and asks him to forgive us."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "2", "text": "Remember that Jesus Christ voluntarily sacrificed his own life for us, so that as a result God forgives our sins. Yes, God is able to forgive our sins, but not only ours! He is also able to forgive the sins of people everywhere!"}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "3", "text": "I will tell you how we can be sure that we ◄know/have a close relationship with► God. If we obey what he commands us to do, that shows us that we have a close relationship with him. So we must always obey what he commands us to do."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "4", "text": "Those who say, “We ◄know/I have a close relationship with► God,” and do not obey what God commands us to do, are liars. They are not conducting their lives according to God's true message."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "5", "text": "But those who obey what God commands them to do are the people who love God in the manner in which he wants us to. I will tell you how we can be sure that we have a close relationship with God:"}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "6", "text": "If we say that we are living as God wants us to, we should conduct our lives as Christ did."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "7", "text": "Dear friends, I am not writing a new additional command to you. Instead, I am writing to you a command which was given to you when you first [MTY] believed in Christ. That command is part of the message that you have always heard."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "8", "text": "Nevertheless, I can say that the command I am writing to you is a new command. It is new because what Christ did was new, and what you are doing is new, because you have been ceasing to conduct your lives in a morally impure manner and are now truly conducting your lives in a pure manner. That is like[MET] no longer living in darkness. Instead, it is like living where a brilliant light is already shining."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "9", "text": "Those who claim that they are pure in every way, like people[MET] living in the light, but hate any of their fellow believers, are still behaving in an impure manner, like[MET] people who are continually living in darkness."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "10", "text": "But those who love their fellow believers are continuing to conduct their lives like people who are living in the light. They are people who please God[LIT]. So you should love your fellow believers."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "11", "text": "But those who hate any of their fellow believers are still conducting their lives in an impure way, like[MET] people who are living in darkness. They do not know that they will eventually destroy themselves eternally. They have become spiritually blind [PRS, MET], unaware of spiritual truth."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "12-13", "text": "I am writing this to you whom I love as though[MET] you were my little children, to you who are spiritually mature people who are like[MET] fathers, and to you spiritually vigorous/strong people who are like[MET] young men. Remember that your sins have been forgiven { God has forgiven your sins} on account of what Christ [MTY] has done. You now know Christ, the one who always existed. You have defeated the evil one, Satan."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "14", "text": "I will say it again: I have written this to you because you have come to know the Father, because you now know Christ, the one who always existed, because you are spiritually strong, because you continue to obey God's word, and because you have defeated the evil one, Satan."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "15", "text": "Do not desire to conduct you lives in the evil manner in which godless people in the world [MTY] conduct their lives, and do not love anything that the evil people in the world [MTY] consider to be good. Those who desire to conduct their lives in the evil manner in which other people of the world [MTY] conduct their lives do not really love God, their Father, at all."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "16", "text": "Keep in mind that all the evil human desires in the world are actions/things such as these: People desire to do what their self-directed nature strongly desires. People desire to possess whatever ◄appeals to their senses/they see or hear about►. People boast about the material things that they possess. Such evil ways of living do not originate/come from the Father! Instead they originate/come from the ◄godless people in the world/people in the world who conduct their lives in a manner that displeases God► [MTY]!"}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "17", "text": "The godless people in the world [MTY], along with what they desire, will disappear, but those who do what God wants them to do will live forever! You know that it is now the final period of this age when there are liars who deny that Jesus is God's Chosen One. But you have the power of God's Spirit and you know what is true and what is false. So continue to live according to the true message that you heard when you began to believe in Christ, in order that you may continue to live united both to God's Son and to the Father."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "18", "text": "You who are very dear to me, it is now the final part [MTY] of this age/ the final period of time before Jesus returns. Just like you heard from us apostles that a person who opposes Christ will come/appear, even now there are many people who oppose Christ. That is why we know that it is the final part of this age(OR, before Jesus returns) [MTY]."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "19", "text": "The people who oppose Christ refused to remain in our congregations, but they never really◄belonged with us/were fellow believers►. If they had ◄belonged with us/been fellow believers►, they would have remained with us. But because they left, everyone can clearly know that none of them ◄belongs with us/is a fellow believer►."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "20", "text": "But as for you, you have been given the power of God's Spirit, which comes from Christ(OR, God), the Holy One. As a result, you all know how to◄ distinguish false teaching from/recognize what is false teaching and what is► the true message."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "21", "text": "I am writing this letter to you, not because you do not know what is God's true message, but because you do know what it is. You also know that no false message originates/comes from God, who is the source of all truth."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "22", "text": "The worst liars are the ones who deny that Jesus is ◄the Messiah/the one whom God chose to rescue us►. They are the ones that we told you about, the ones who oppose Christ. They refuse to acknowledge/admit that God is the Father and that Jesus is his Son (OR, the one who is also God)."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "23", "text": "Those who refuse to acknowledge/admit that Jesus is God's Son do not have a relationship with the Father. But those who acknowledge/admit that Jesus is God's Son not only have a relationship with God's Son, but they have a relationship with the Father also."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "24", "text": "So, as for you, you must continue to conduct your lives according to the true message that you heard when you began [MTY] to believe in Christ. If you continue to do that, you will continue to have a close relationship with both God's Son and the Father."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "25", "text": "And what God told us is that he will cause us to live forever!"}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "26", "text": "I have written this to you to◄ warn you about/tell you to beware of► those who want to deceive you concerning the truth about Christ."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "27", "text": "As for you, God's Spirit, whom you received from Christ, remains in you. So you do not need anyone to teach you anything else that they claim/say is the truth. God's Spirit is teaching you all of God's truth that you need to know. God's Spirit is truthful and never says anything that is false. So continue to conduct your lives in the way that he has taught you."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "28", "text": "Now, while some people are trying to persuade you to accept their false teaching, I urge you, who are all very dear to me, to continue to have a close relationship with Christ. We need to do that in order that we may be confident that he will accept us when he comes back again. If we do that, we will not be ashamed when we stand before him when he comes."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 2, "verse": "29", "text": "Since you know that Christ always does what is right, you know that all those who continue doing what is right are the ones who have become children of God."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "1", "text": "Think about how much our heavenly Father loves us! He allows us to ◄say that we are/be called► his children! And it is indeed true that we are his children. But people in the world [MTY] who are unbelievers have not understood who God is. So they do not understand who we are, that we are God's children."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "2", "text": "Dear friends, even though ◄at present/now► we are God's children, he has not yet ◄made clear/revealed► to us what we will be like in the future. However, we know that when Christ comes back again, we will be like him, because we will see what he is really like."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "3", "text": "So, all those who confidently expect to see Christ as he actually is/what Christ is like when he returns must keep themselves pure in every way, just like Christ, who is pure in every way."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "4", "text": "But everyone who continues sinning is refusing to obey God's laws, because that is what sin is, refusing to obey God's laws."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "5", "text": "You know that Christ came in order to completely remove the guilt of our sins. You know also that he never sinned."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "6", "text": "Those who continue doing what Christ wants them to, do not continue sinning repeatedly. But those who repeatedly sin have not understood who Christ is, nor have they had a close relationship with him."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "7", "text": "So I urge you, who are all very dear to me, do not let anyone deceive you by telling you that it is all right to sin. If you continue doing what is right, you are righteous, just like Christ is righteous."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "8", "text": "But if anyone continues sinning, he is like the devil, because the devil has always been sinning. And the reason why God's Son became a human being was to destroy what the devil has done."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "9", "text": "People do not continue sinning repeatedly if they have become children of God. Instead, they continue to conduct their lives according to the character/nature that God produced in them[MET]. They cannot continually sin because God has caused them to become his children."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "10", "text": "Those who are God's children are clearly different from those who are ◄the devil's/Satan's► children. The way that we can know who are Satan's children is this: Those who do not do what is right are not God's children. Specifically, those who do not love their fellow believers are not God's children Instead, they are Satan's children."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "11", "text": "The message that you heard when you first [MTY] believed in Christ is that we should love each other."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "12", "text": "We should not hate others as did Adam's son, Cain, who belonged to Satan, the evil one. Because Cain hated his younger brother, he murdered him. ◄I will tell you about why he murdered his brother./Do you know why he murdered his brother [RHQ]?► It was because Cain habitually conducted his life in an evil way, and he hated his younger brother because his younger brother conducted his life righteously."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "13", "text": "You should not be amazed/surprised, my fellow believers, when unbelievers[MTY] hate you."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "14", "text": "We know that we have been changed from being spiritually dead [MET] to being spiritually alive. We know this because we love our fellow believers. Those who do not love their fellow believers are still spiritually[MET] dead."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "15", "text": "Those who hate any of their fellow believers, God considers[MET] them to be murderers. And you know that no murderer has eternal life."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "16", "text": "The way that we now know how to truly love our fellow believers is by remembering that Christ ◄voluntarily died/gave his life► for us. So, when our fellow believers need something, we should be willing to help them. We should even be willing to die for them."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "17", "text": "Many of us have the things that are necessary for us to live in this world. If we become aware that any of our fellow believers do not have what they need and if we refuse to ◄ provide for them/give to them what they need►, it is clear that we do not love God as we claim/say that we do."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "18", "text": "I say to all of you whom I love dearly, let us not merely say [MTY] that we love our fellow believers! Let us genuinely/really love them by doing things to help them!"}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "19", "text": "When we truly love our fellow believers, we can be sure that we are conducting our lives according to the true message. As a result, we will not feel guilty/ashamed when we talk[MTY] to God."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "20", "text": "We can pray confidently, because although we might feel guilty/ashamed about our sins, God is ◄greater/more worthy to be trusted► than what we feel. He knows everything about us."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "21", "text": "Dear friends, when we do not feel guilty because of our sins, we can pray to God confidently."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "22", "text": "And, when we confidently pray to him and request something from him, we receive it because we do what he commands us to do, and because we do what pleases him."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "23", "text": "I will tell you what he commands us to do: We must believe that Jesus Christ is ◄his Son/the one who is also God►. We must also love each other, just like he commanded us to do."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 3, "verse": "24", "text": "Those who do what God commands are ones who have a close relationship with God, and God has a close relationship with them. I will tell you how we can be sure that God has a close relationship with us: It is because we have his Spirit, whom he gave to us, that we can be sure that God has a close relationship with us."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "1", "text": "Dear friends, many people who have a false message are teaching it to people [MTY]. So do not trust every message that someone claims/says that God's Spirit [MTY] gave to him. Instead, ◄test/think carefully about► the teachings that you hear in order to know whether they are from God or not."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "2", "text": "I will tell you how to recognize teachings that come from the Spirit of God: Those who affirm/say that Jesus Christ came from God to become a human like us are teaching a message that is from God."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "3", "text": "But those who do not affirm/say that about Jesus are not teaching a message from God. They are teachers who oppose Christ. You have heard that people like that are coming to be among us. Even now they are already here!"}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "4", "text": "As for you who are very dear to me, you belong to God, and you have refused the false messages that those people teach, because God, who enables you to do what he wants, is ◄greater/more powerful► than ◄ Satan/the devil►, who enables ◄godless people/people who conduct their lives in a way that displeases God► [MTY]."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "5", "text": "As for those who are teaching what is false, they are ◄godless people/people whose lives are displeasing to God► [MTY]. Because of that, they teach what ◄godless people/people whose lives are displeasing to God► [MTY] want to hear. That is why the ◄godless people/people whose lives displease God► [MTY] listen to them."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "6", "text": "As for us(exc) , because we belong to God, whoever ◄knows/has a close relationship with► God listens to us. But those who do not belong to God do not listen to us. That is how we can know whether the things that people are teaching[MTY] are true or whether they are false, and deceiving people."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "7", "text": "Dear friends, we must love each other, because God enables us to love each other, and because those who love their fellow believers have become God's children and ◄know/have a close relationship with► him."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "8", "text": "God's nature is to love all people. So those who do not love their fellow believers do not ◄know/have a relationship with► God."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "9", "text": "I will tell you how God has shown us that he loves us: He sent ◄his only Son/the only one who was also God► to live on the earth to enable us to live eternally as a result of our trusting in what he accomplished for us by dying for us."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "10", "text": "And God has shown us what it means to love another person: It does not mean that we loved God, but it means that God loved us and sent ◄his Son/the one who was also God► to sacrifice his life in order that our sins might be forgiven{ he might forgive our sins}."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "11", "text": "Dear friends, since God loves us like that, we certainly ought to love each other!"}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "12", "text": "No one has ever seen God. Nevertheless, if we love each other, it is evident that God lives within us and that we love others just like he intends/wants us to do."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "13", "text": "I will tell you how we can be sure that we have a close relationship with God and that God is within us: He has put his Spirit within us."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "14", "text": "We apostles have seen ◄God's Son/the one who is also God►, and we tell people that the Father sent him to save the people in the world [MTY] from being punished for their sins."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "15", "text": "So those who affirm/say that Jesus is the ◄Son of/one who is also► God, God is within them, and they have a close relationship with God."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "16", "text": "We have experienced how God loves us and we believe that he loves us. As a result, we love others. Because God's nature is to love people, those who continue to love others have a close relationship with God, and God has a close relationship with them."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "17", "text": "We should love others completely. And if we do that, when the time comes for him to judge us, we will be confident that he will not condemn us(OR, that we have a close relationship with him). We will be confident of that because of our conducting our lives in this world as Christ did."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "18", "text": "We will not be afraid of God if we truly love him, because those who love God completely cannot possibly be afraid of him. We would be afraid only if we thought that he would punish us. So those who are afraid of God certainly are not loving God completely."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "19", "text": "We love God and our fellow believers because God loved us first."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "20", "text": "So those who say “I love God” but hate a fellow believer are lying. Those who do not love one of their fellow believers, whom they have seen, certainly cannot be loving God, whom they have not seen."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 4, "verse": "21", "text": "Keep in mind that this is what God has commanded us: If we love him, we must also love our fellow believers."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "1", "text": "All those who believe that Jesus is the ◄Messiah/person God sent to rescue us► are ones who have truly become children of God. And everyone who loves a man who is someone's father will be expected to love that man's children as well. Similarly, those who love God, who has caused them to become his children[MET], should love their fellow believers, whom God has also caused to become his children."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "2", "text": "The way we can be sure that we truly love God's children is this: We are loving them when we love God and do what he commands us to do."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "3", "text": "I say this because our obeying what God commands us to do is the same as loving him. And it is not burdensome/difficult for us to do what God commands us to do."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "4", "text": "All of us whom God has caused to become his children have been able to successfully resist ◄doing what/conducting our lives like► the people [MTY] who oppose God do. It is only by our trusting in Christ that we are able to ◄resist doing what/conducting our lives like► people in the world who are opposed to God [MTY] do."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "5", "text": "◄ I will tell you who are the ones who are able to resist doing what the people who are opposed to God do./Do you know who are the ones who are able to resist conducting their lives like the people who are opposed to God [MTY] do? [RHQ]► It is those who believe that Jesus is ◄God's Son/the man who is also God►."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "6", "text": "Think about Jesus Christ. He is the one who came to earth from God. God showed that he had truly sent Jesus when Jesus was baptized in water [MTY] and when Jesus' blood flowed from his body when he died. God showed this not only when Jesus was baptized[MTY], but also when Jesus' blood flowed from his body when he died. And God's Spirit declares truthfully that Jesus Christ came from God. The Spirit always speaks what is true."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "7", "text": "There are three ways by which we know that Christ came from God."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "8", "text": "Those three ways are: What God's Spirit tells us, what God said when Jesus was baptized[MTY] in/with water, and Jesus' blood that flowed from his body when he died on the cross. These three things all tell us the same thing, that Jesus came from God."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "9", "text": "We usually believe what other people say. But what God says is more reliable/trustworthy than what people say. So we must believe what God has said is true about◄his Son/the one who is also God►."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "10", "text": "Those who trust in the Son of God know within their ◄inner beings/hearts► that what God says about his Son is true. But those who refuse to believe that what God says is true are saying that God is a liar, because they refuse to believe what God has said about ◄his Son/the one who is also God►."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "11", "text": "This is what God says to us: “I have given you eternal life!” We will live forever if we have a close relationship with his Son."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "12", "text": "Those who have a close relationship with God's Son (OR, who have accepted what God's Son has done for them) have already begun to live forever. But those who do not have a relationship with ◄God's Son/the one who is also God► (OR, who have not accepted what God's Son has done for them) have not begun to live forever."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "13", "text": "I have written this letter to you who believe that Jesus is [MTY] ◄God's Son/the one who is also God► in order that you may know that you have eternal life."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "14", "text": "Because we have a close relationship with him, we are very confident that he hears us when we ask him to do anything that is in accordance with ◄his will/what he desires►."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "15", "text": "And since we know that he hears whenever we ask him for something, we also know that it is as though he has already done what we requested him to do."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "16", "text": "Those who see one of their fellow believers sinning in a way that does not result in being eternally separated from God should ask God to help that fellow believer; and as a result God will help that fellow believer and enable him or her to live eternally. But some people sin in a manner that causes them to be separated from God eternally. I am not saying that you should ask God to help people who sin like that."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "17", "text": "Everyone who does what is wrong is sinning, but there are some sins that do not cause a person to be separated from God."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "18", "text": "We know that if a person has new life from God [MET], that person does not continue sinning. Instead, the ◄Son of/one who is also► God protects him so that Satan, the evil one, does not harm him spiritually."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "19", "text": "We know that we belong to God, and we know that the evil one controls all the evil people in[MTY] the world."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "20", "text": "We also know that ◄God's Son/the one who is also God► has come to us, and we know that he has enabled us to know God, the one who is really/truly God. So now we have a close relationship with God because we belong to Jesus Christ, the one who is the ◄Son of/man who is also► God. Jesus Christ is truly God, and he is the one who enables us to have eternal life."}
{"book": "1JN", "chapter": 5, "verse": "21", "text": "I say to you who are very dear to me, guard/keep yourselves from worshipping gods that have no real power"}
{"book": "2JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "1", "text": "You all know me as the chief Elder. I am writing this letter to all of you [MET] in your congregation. God has chosen you, and I love you truly! Not only do I myself love you, but all those who know and accept the true message that Jesus taught also love you!"}
{"book": "2JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "2", "text": "All of us believe God's true message. It is in our ◄ inner beings/hearts► and we will continue to believe it forever!"}
{"book": "2JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "3", "text": "God the Father and Jesus Christ, who is ◄his Son/the man who is also God►, will continue to act kindly and mercifully toward us because they love us. They will enable us to have inner peace, because we believe their true message."}
{"book": "2JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "4", "text": "I am very happy because I learned about some of you [SYN] who are conducting your lives in a manner that is ◄consistent/in accordance► with God's true message. You are doing that just like our Father God commanded us to do."}
{"book": "2JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "5", "text": "And now, dear congregation [MET], there is something that I am requesting you to do. I am writing this not to command that you do something new, but that you continue to do what God commanded when we first began [MTY] to believe his true message. What he commanded is that we love each other."}
{"book": "2JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "6", "text": "And we really/truly are loving God when we are conducting our lives in accordance with whatever he commands us to do. What he commands us to do is to continue to love one another. That is exactly what you heard when you first began [MTY] to believe God's true message."}
{"book": "2JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "7", "text": "Many people who deceive others have left your congregation and have now gone out among other people who are in your area[MTY]. They are the ones who ◄do not acknowledge/refuse to say► that Jesus Christ became human. They are the very ones who deceive people and oppose what we teach about Christ."}
{"book": "2JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "8", "text": "So be sure that you do not let those teachers deceive you! If you let them deceive you, you will lose the reward which we, together with you, have been working for, and you will not receive the complete reward of being eternally united to God!"}
{"book": "2JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "9", "text": "Those who change what Christ taught and do not continue to believe what he taught do not have a relationship with God. But those who continue to believe what Christ taught have a close relationship with both God, our Father, and with ◄his Son/the one who is also God►."}
{"book": "2JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "10", "text": "So when anyone comes to you who teaches something different from what Christ taught, do not welcome him into your homes! Do not encourage him by◄wishing him well/greeting him as a fellow believer► in any way!"}
{"book": "2JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "11", "text": "I say that because if you treat people like that as you would treat a fellow believer, God will punish you along with them for the evil that they do."}
{"book": "2JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "12", "text": "Even though I have much more that I want to tell you, I have decided not to say it in a letter [MTY]. Instead, I expect to be with you soon and talk directly with you. Then we can be completely joyful together."}
{"book": "2JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "13", "text": "Your fellow believers here [MET], ones whom God has also chosen, ◄send their greetings to you/say that they are thinking affectionately about you►."}
{"book": "3JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "1", "text": "You(sg) know me as the chief Elder. I am writing this letter to you, my dear friend Gaius, whom I truly love."}
{"book": "3JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "2", "text": "Dear friend, I ask God that things may go well for you in every way, specifically, that you will be physically healthy just like you are spiritually healthy [MTY]."}
{"book": "3JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "3", "text": "I am very happy because some fellow believers have come here and told me that you conduct your life in a manner that is consistent with God's true message."}
{"book": "3JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "4", "text": "I am very happy when I hear that ◄people whom I helped to believe in Christ/my spiritual children► are conducting their lives like you are!"}
{"book": "3JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "5", "text": "Dear friend, you are serving Jesus loyally/faithfully whenever you do things to help fellow believers, even those whom you do not know, who are traveling around doing God's work."}
{"book": "3JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "6", "text": "Some of them have reported before the congregation here how you have showed that you love them. You should continue to help such people in their travels in a way that is pleasing to God."}
{"book": "3JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "7", "text": "When those fellow believers went out to tell people about Jesus[MTY], the people who do not believe in Christ did not give them anything to help them."}
{"book": "3JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "8", "text": "So we who believe in Christ ought to give food and money to such people to help them as they teach others God's true message."}
{"book": "3JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "9", "text": "I wrote a letter to the congregation telling them to help those fellow believers. However, Diotrephes does not ◄acknowledge my authority/ pay any attention to what I wrote►, because he ◄desires to be in charge/wants to be the leader► of the congregation."}
{"book": "3JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "10", "text": "So, when I arrive there I will publicly tell what he does: He tells others evil nonsense about us in order to harm us by what he says, and he is not content with only doing that. He himself refuses to receive the fellow believers who are traveling around doing God's work, and he also stops those who want to receive them by expelling them from the congregation."}
{"book": "3JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "11", "text": "Dear friend, do not imitate a bad example like that. Instead, keep imitating good examples. Remember that people who do good deeds ◄ truly belong to God/are spiritual children of God►, but those who do what is evil do not ◄know/have fellowship with► God."}
{"book": "3JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "12", "text": "All the believers who know Demetrius say that he is a good person. The fact that he conducts his life in a way that is consistent/in accordance with God's true message shows that he is a good person, and we also say the same thing about him. You know that what we say about him is true. So it will be good if you welcome him and help him. He is the one who will be bringing this letter to you."}
{"book": "3JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "13", "text": "When I began to write this letter, I had much more that I intended to tell you. But now I do not want to say it in a letter [MTY]."}
{"book": "3JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "14", "text": "Instead, I expect to come and see you soon. Then we will talk directly with one another."}
{"book": "3JN", "chapter": 1, "verse": "15", "text": "I pray that God will enable you to experience inner peace. Our friends here◄send you their greetings/say that they are thinking affectionately about you► [MTY]. Tell our friends there that we ◄send our greetings to/are thinking fondly about► them."}
{"book": "JUD", "chapter": 1, "verse": "1", "text": "I am Jude. I serve Jesus Christ like a voluntary slave [MET]. I am a younger brother of James, the leader of all the congregations. I am writing to you whom God has chosen to belong to him. You are loved by God our Father and protected by Jesus Christ (OR, whom God has protected to present to Jesus Christ)."}
{"book": "JUD", "chapter": 1, "verse": "2", "text": "I pray that you will continue to experience very much God acting mercifully toward you, causing you to have inner peace, and loving you."}
{"book": "JUD", "chapter": 1, "verse": "3", "text": "You whom I love, I ◄was very eager/very much wanted► to write to you about that which we all ◄share/have in common►, which is how ◄ God/Jesus Christ► has saved us. But now I realize that it is necessary for me to write to you in order to exhort you to defend the truth about Christ that we believe. Jesus and his apostles gave that truth once for all to us who belong to God, and we must not let it be changed{ anyone revise/change it}."}
{"book": "JUD", "chapter": 1, "verse": "4", "text": "Some people falsely teach that because God kindly does for us what we do not deserve, it ◄does not matter/is all right► if we continue to sin. Those people show by the way that they conduct their lives that they do not want to admit/accept that Jesus Christ is our only Master and Lord. It was written long ago { Someone long ago wrote} that God would condemn ◄such ungodly people/people like that whose lives are displeasing to him►. But some of those people have entered [MET] like crawling snakes into your congregations and oppose the truth about Christ, so you must resist/oppose them."}
{"book": "JUD", "chapter": 1, "verse": "5", "text": "Although you previously knew all these things, there are certain things about which I desire to remind you. Do not forget that although the Lord rescued his people from Egypt country, he later destroyed most of those same people, ones who did not believe in him."}
{"book": "JUD", "chapter": 1, "verse": "6", "text": "And there were many angels to whom God assigned/gave positions of authority in heaven. But they did not continue to rule with authority in those positions. Instead, they abandoned the place that God gave them to live in heaven. So God has put those angels in chains forever in the darkness in hell. They will stay there until the great day when God will judge and punish them."}
{"book": "JUD", "chapter": 1, "verse": "7", "text": "Similarly, the people who lived [MTY] in Sodom and Gomorrah cities and the nearby cities committed sexual immorality. They sought all kinds of sexual relations that differ from what God permits. So God destroyed their cities. What happened to those people and those angels shows that God will punish people, such as the ones who teach false doctrine, in the eternal fire of hell."}
{"book": "JUD", "chapter": 1, "verse": "8", "text": "Similarly, these ungodly people in your midst also defile their own bodies by living immorally, because they claim/say that God revealed in visions that they should act that way. They refuse to allow anyone to have authority over them, and they ◄revile/speak evil about► God's glorious/wonderful angels."}
{"book": "JUD", "chapter": 1, "verse": "9", "text": "When ◄the devil/Satan► argued with the chief angel, Michael, about who would take away the body of the prophet Moses to bury it, Michael did not do as these teachers of false doctrine do. Even though Michael has much more authority than they do, he did not disrespectfully ◄revile/say evil things to► Satan and accuse/condemn him. Instead, he only said, “ I desire that the Lord God will rebuke you!”"}
{"book": "JUD", "chapter": 1, "verse": "10", "text": "But the ones in your midst who teach false doctrine ◄revile/speak evil against► the spiritual beings that they do not understand. They also do the evil things that they desire, things that they know about ◄naturally/without needing to think►, things that they just do without considering the consequences/results, like animals. So they destroy themselves. But they will also be punished by God{ God will also punish them}."}
{"book": "JUD", "chapter": 1, "verse": "11", "text": "God will do terrible things to those who teach false doctrine! They conduct their lives wickedly like Cain, who murdered his brother because he was◄ jealous/angry because God accepted his brother's sacrifice and did not accept his►. They ◄devote themselves to [MET] doing wrong things like Balaam, who tried to induce God's people to sin in order to get the money that was offered to him. They will perish like Korah, who rebelled against the authority that God gave to Moses►."}
{"book": "JUD", "chapter": 1, "verse": "12", "text": "Those teachers of false doctrine are as dangerous to you as[MET] ◄hidden rocks on a reef/rocks underneath the surface of the ocean► are to a boat. When you gather together to eat the meals that help you believers to love each other more and have a closer relationship with each other, they join you and carouse shamelessly, caring only for themselves and not for others. Because they do not do anything to help others[MET], they are as useless as clouds that are blown along by the wind {that the wind blows along} but that do not produce/give any rain. They are as disappointing as[MET] trees that do not produce fruit in the autumn as we expect them to. They are not only spiritually[MET] dead themselves, but they are not able to cause others to be alive spiritually, just like[MET] trees that have been {that someone has} uprooted and as a result are unable to produce any fruit."}
{"book": "JUD", "chapter": 1, "verse": "13", "text": "They are restless[MET], like the pounding waves of the ocean. Just like waves produce foul-smelling foam on the shore, those teachers of false doctrine do shameful [MTY] deeds. We cannot depend/rely on them to show us how to conduct our lives[MET], just like we cannot depend/rely on◄meteors/falling stars► to show us the way when we travel. God has reserved intense darkness for them forever in hell."}
{"book": "JUD", "chapter": 1, "verse": "14", "text": "Enoch, the sixth person in the line of people who descended from Adam, prophesied this about those teachers of false doctrine: “Listen carefully to this: The Lord will certainly come with a countless number of his holy angels in order"}
{"book": "JUD", "chapter": 1, "verse": "15", "text": "to judge everyone, and to punish all wicked and ◄ungodly people/people whose lives are displeasing to God► for all the ◄ungodly things/things that displease God► that they did in ◄an ungodly way/a way that displeases God►, and for all the harsh things that ungodly sinful people have spoken against him.”"}
{"book": "JUD", "chapter": 1, "verse": "16", "text": "Those teachers of false doctrine grumble about the things that God does. They complain about what happens to them. They do the sinful things that their bodies desire. They talk boastfully. They ◄flatter/say nice things to► people, only in order to get those people to give them the things that they want."}
{"book": "JUD", "chapter": 1, "verse": "17", "text": "But you people whom I love need to remember the things that were predicted by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ {that the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ said would happen}."}
{"book": "JUD", "chapter": 1, "verse": "18", "text": "They told you, “In the final period of time in which we are now living there will be people who will laugh at the truths that God has revealed. They will do the ◄ungodly things/things that are displeasing to God► that their bodies desire.”"}
{"book": "JUD", "chapter": 1, "verse": "19", "text": "That describes the teachers of false doctrine well, because they are the ones who cause believers to divide among themselves. They do what their own minds tell them to do. The Spirit of God does not live within them."}
{"book": "JUD", "chapter": 1, "verse": "20", "text": "But you people whom I love, ◄establish yourselves/continue to trust► firmly in the very sacred truths that you believe. Pray by letting the Holy Spirit enable/empower you."}
{"book": "JUD", "chapter": 1, "verse": "21", "text": "Keep conducting your lives in a way that is appropriate for those whom God loves. Keep constantly expecting that our Lord Jesus Christ will act mercifully toward you. Keep expecting that until the time when we begin living eternally with him."}
{"book": "JUD", "chapter": 1, "verse": "22", "text": "Mercifully help those who are not certain what teaching they should believe."}
{"book": "JUD", "chapter": 1, "verse": "23", "text": "Rescue others from the influence of those who teach what is false[MET], as you would rescue things by snatching them from a fire. Pity those whom the teachers of false doctrine have completely convinced, but beware that you are not influenced by them{that they do not influence you}. Detest doing or even thinking about the sins that those people commit, just like you would detest[MET] touching not only filthy things but the clothes that were stained by those things {that those things stained}."}
{"book": "JUD", "chapter": 1, "verse": "24", "text": "God is able to keep you from ceasing to trust in him (OR, from sinning), and he is able to present you before his glorious presence. In his presence, there will be nothing for which you will be condemned { he can condemn you}, and you will be rejoicing greatly."}
{"book": "JUD", "chapter": 1, "verse": "25", "text": "He is the only true God. He has saved us as a result of what Jesus Christ our Lord did for us. God was glorious and great and mighty and he ruled with great authority before time began. He is still like that, and he will remain like that forever! ◄Amen!/That is true!►"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 1, "verse": "1", "text": "This book tells the message that God revealed to Jesus Christ. God revealed it to him in order that he might reveal to his servants the things/events that must happen soon. Jesus communicated this message to me, his servant John, by sending his angel to me."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 1, "verse": "2", "text": "As I write it, I, John, am truthfully reporting everything that I saw and heard, the message from God that Jesus Christ truthfully reported to me."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 1, "verse": "3", "text": "God is pleased with those who read this book to the congregation, and he will be pleased with those who listen carefully to it and obey what he has commanded by means of this prophetic message that I am writing. So read this message, listen carefully to it, and obey it, because these things that Jesus has revealed will happen soon."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 1, "verse": "4", "text": "I, John, am writing this to you believers in the seven congregations that are located in Asia province. I pray that God the Father, God's Spirit, and Jesus Christ may act kindly toward (OR, bless) you and cause you to have inner peace. God the Father is the one who exists, who has always existed, and who will always exist. The Spirit of God, who is in front of God's throne, has all kinds of power(OR, The Spirit of God is symbolized by seven spirits who are in front of God's throne)."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 1, "verse": "5", "text": "Jesus Christ is the one who has faithfully told people about God. He is the first one ◄whom God has raised from the dead/who became alive again after being dead►, in order to show that he will raise us who trust him. He is the one who rules the kings of the earth. He is the one who loves us. He is the one who has canceled the guilt for our sins. He did that by the blood which flowed from his body when he died on the cross."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 1, "verse": "6", "text": "He is the one who has caused us to become people over whose lives God rules, and he has made us to be priests who serve his God and Father. As a result of this, we acknowledge that Jesus Christ is eternally divine and eternally powerful. ◄Amen!/That is true!►"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 1, "verse": "7", "text": "Listen carefully! Christ will surely come in the midst of the clouds in order that he may judge the rebellious people of earth, and everyone [SYN] will see him come. Even those who are responsible for piercing and killing him [MTY] will see him come. People from all people-groups on earth will mourn because he will punish them. ◄Amen!/May it be so.►"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 1, "verse": "8", "text": "The Lord God declares, “I am the one who began all things, and I am the one who will cause all things to end [MET].” He is the one who exists, who has always existed, and who will always exist. He is the Almighty One."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 1, "verse": "9", "text": "I, John, your fellow believer, am suffering as you are because of our letting Jesus rule our lives. We are steadfastly enduring trials because of our relationship with him. I was punished by being sent/exiled to the island that is called {that people call} Patmos because of my proclaiming God's message and telling people about Jesus."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 1, "verse": "10", "text": "God's Spirit took control of me on one of the days that we believers met to worship the Lord."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 1, "verse": "11", "text": "At that time, I heard behind me someone speaking to me as loudly and as clearly[SIM] as a trumpet. He was saying to me, “Write on a scroll what you see, and send it to seven congregations. Send it to the congregations in Ephesus city, in Smyrna city, in Pergamum city, in Thyatira city, in Sardis city, in Philadelphia city, and in Laodicea city.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 1, "verse": "12", "text": "In this vision I turned in order that I might see who had spoken to me [SYN]. When I turned,"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 1, "verse": "13", "text": "I saw seven golden lampstands. In the midst of the lampstands there was someone who looked like one who came from heaven. He wore a robe that reached to his feet, and he wore a gold band around his chest."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 1, "verse": "14", "text": "The hair on his head was white like white wool or like snow. His eyes were shining brightly[SIM], like a flame of fire."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 1, "verse": "15", "text": "His feet looked like brass that glows as it is being purified {as people purify it} in a furnace. When he spoke, his voice sounded like the sound made by a huge waterfall (OR, a great/wide river of rushing water)."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 1, "verse": "16", "text": "In his right hand he held seven stars. A sword that had two sharp edges extended from his mouth. His face shone as bright as the sun shines at midday[MTY]."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 1, "verse": "17", "text": "When I saw him, I fell down at his feet and was unable to move or speak[SIM], as though I were dead. But he put his right hand on me and said to me, “Stop being afraid! I am the one who began all things and the one who causes all things to end."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 1, "verse": "18", "text": "I am the one who always lives. Although I died, I am alive and will live forever! I have the power to cause people to die, and I have authority over the place where all the dead people are."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 1, "verse": "19", "text": "So write the vision that you are seeing. Write about the conditions that exist now, and the events that are about to happen afterward."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 1, "verse": "20", "text": "The meaning of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands that you saw is this: The seven stars in my hand represent the leaders, who are like angels, who watch over the seven congregations, and the seven lampstands represent the seven congregations.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 2, "verse": "1", "text": "He also said to me, “Write this message to the leader [MET] of the congregation in Ephesus city: ‘I am saying these things to you: I am the one who firmly holds the seven stars in my right hand. I am the one who walks among the seven golden lampstands."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 2, "verse": "2", "text": "I know what you do: You labor for me intensely, and you continue to serve me steadfastly. I know that you cannot tolerate people who teach what is evil [MTY], and that you investigated people who falsely claimed that they are apostles, and you found that they were lying."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 2, "verse": "3", "text": "I know also that you continue to serve me steadfastly. Even when people◄ caused you to suffer/persecuted you►, you continued to serve me because you believe in me, and you have not become too tired to keep on serving me."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 2, "verse": "4", "text": "Nevertheless, I have this complaint against you: You no longer love each other and me as you did when you first [MTY] trusted in me."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 2, "verse": "5", "text": "So, I tell you to remember how you used to love me and each other, and to realize that you no longer love as you did. I tell you to turn away from your sin of not loving me and each other, and start loving each other and me again as you did at first. If you do not turn away from your sinful behavior, I will come to judge you and cause your group to cease to be a Christian congregation [MET]."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 2, "verse": "6", "text": "But you have the following good quality: Those Nicolaitans teach you believers that you can worship idols and that you may act immorally. However, you hate such teaching, just like I also hate it."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 2, "verse": "7", "text": "Everyone who wants to understand my message [MTY] must listen carefully to the message that God's Spirit speaks to the congregations. To everyone who overcomes Satan, I will give the right to eat fruit[MTY] from the tree that gives eternal life, the tree that is in God's garden.’”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 2, "verse": "8", "text": "“Write this message to the leader [MET] of the congregation in Smyrna city: ‘I am saying these things to you. I am the one who began all things and who causes all things to end. I am the one who died and became alive again."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 2, "verse": "9", "text": "I know that you suffer because of what unbelievers do to you, and that you lack material possessions. But I also know that you are spiritually[MET] rich. I know that people ◄slander/say evil things about► you. They say that they are Jews, but I do not consider that they are Jews. I consider that they belong to the assembly that Satan controls!"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 2, "verse": "10", "text": "Do not be afraid of any of the things that you are about to suffer. The truth is that the devil is about to put some of you in prison, to tempt you to deny that you believe in me. For a short period of time you will suffer because of what people will do to you[MTY]. Continue to trust in me, even if they kill you because you trust in me. As a result, I will reward you with eternal life, just like[MET] people reward a victorious athlete by putting a wreath on his head."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 2, "verse": "11", "text": "Everyone who wants to understand [MTY] must listen carefully to the message that God's Spirit speaks to the congregations. After those who conquer Satan die, they will live with God. They will never suffer again, even though many others will suffer as though they died a second time.’”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 2, "verse": "12", "text": "“Write this message to the leader [MET] of the congregation in Pergamum city: ‘I am saying these things to you. I am the one who has the sharp two-edged sword."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 2, "verse": "13", "text": "I know where you live: It is where Satan controls [MTY] people. I know that you firmly believe in me [MTY]. You did not deny that you believe/trust in me, not even in the time when Antipas, ◄my faithful witness/who faithfully told people about me►, was alive. He was killed {People killed him} in your city, a city where people habitually obey Satan."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 2, "verse": "14", "text": "Nevertheless, I have this complaint against you: You permit some of your members to teach things like Balaam taught long ago. He taught Balak to persuade the Israelite people to sin. Specifically, he taught them to eat food that had been offered to idols, and to practice sexual immorality."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 2, "verse": "15", "text": "In that way, you are also permitting some of your members to practice what the Nicolaitans teach, which is like what Balaam taught."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 2, "verse": "16", "text": "So you must stop doing this. If you do not stop doing it, I will come to you suddenly. With the words that I will speak I will fight against those who believe this false teaching[MTY], and I will ◄ condemn them/say that they must be punished►."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 2, "verse": "17", "text": "Everyone who wants to understand [MTY] must listen carefully to the message that God's Spirit speaks to the congregations. To everyone who conquers Satan, I will give blessings that will be like the food called manna that is in a jar that is {that someone has} hidden. I will also give them a white stone on which I will engrave a new name, a name that no one but the ones who receive it will know.’”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 2, "verse": "18", "text": "“Write this message to the leader [MET] of the congregation in Thyatira city: ‘I, ◄the Son of God/the one who is also God►, am saying these things to you: I am the one whose eyes shine[SIM] like a flame of fire, and whose feet shine[MET] like fine brass."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 2, "verse": "19", "text": "I know that you love me and each other, and that you trust in me. I know that you serve others and that you steadfastly endure a lot of difficulties/trials. I know that you are doing these things more now than you have done them in the past."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 2, "verse": "20", "text": "Nevertheless, I have this complaint against you: You tolerate that woman among your members who is like[MET] that wicked queen Jezebel who lived long ago. She says that she ◄is a prophetess/proclaims messages that come directly from God►, but by what she teaches she is deceiving my servants. She is urging them to practice sexual immorality and to eat food that they have offered to idols."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 2, "verse": "21", "text": "Although I gave her time to turn away from her sexual immorality and pagan practices, she did not want to stop doing them."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 2, "verse": "22", "text": "Take notice that as a result, I will cause her to become very ill [MTY]. I will also cause those who act immorally as she does[MET] to suffer greatly, if they do not stop doing what she does."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 2, "verse": "23", "text": "Some have become like her children by accepting what she teaches[MET]; I will certainly get rid of them. As a result, all the congregations will recognize that I am the one who finds out what everyone thinks and desires [MTY]. I will reward each of you according to what you have done."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 2, "verse": "24", "text": "But I have something good to say about the rest of you believers in Thyatira. It is good that you do not accept that false teaching. It is good that you reject what those teachers call their ❛secret practices❜, practices that Satan inspired(OR, what those teachers facetiously call the secret, profound practices that Satan inspires). I will not burden you with any other commands than that which you already have."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 2, "verse": "25", "text": "Just keep believing firmly in me, and obey me until I come."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 2, "verse": "26", "text": "As for those who conquer Satan and who (OR, because they) keep on doing until they die what I command, I will give them my authority, just like I myself received it from my Father. They will exercise that authority over the nations that rebel against God."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 2, "verse": "27", "text": "They will exercise authority over them severely as if they were striking them[HYP] with an iron rod. They will destroy evildoers just like people shatter clay pots [MET]."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 2, "verse": "28", "text": "I will also give to everyone who conquers Satan a share in the glory like the morning star has[MTY, MET]."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 2, "verse": "29", "text": "Everyone who wants to understand [MTY] must listen carefully to the message that God's Spirit speaks to the congregations.’”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 3, "verse": "1", "text": "“Write this message to the leader [MET] of the congregation in Sardis city: ‘I am saying these things to you. I am the one who can give to people all the power of God's Spirit (OR, in whom is the Spirit of God who has all kinds of power; OR, who has God's Spirit, who is symbolized as seven spirits), and I am the one who has the seven stars. I know everything that you have done. You(pl) appear to be alive spiritually, but you are so weak spiritually it is as though you are dead [MET]."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 3, "verse": "2", "text": "Become aware of your spiritual need as though you were awaking from sleep[MET], and strengthen yourself spiritually, because you are so useless that you are like someone who is about to die [MET]. You must do this because I know that my God considers that nothing that you do is satisfactory."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 3, "verse": "3", "text": "So then, keep remembering God's message, what you accepted when you heard it. Obey it continually, and turn away from your sinful behavior. If you do not become aware of your spiritual need and turn away from your[MET] sinful behavior, I will come to you when you are not expecting me, as a thief comes[SIM]. You will never know at what time I will come to judge you."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 3, "verse": "4", "text": "Nevertheless, there in Sardis you have a few members who have not been doing what is wrong. It is as though they have not soiled their garments [MET]. As a result, because they are worthy to live with me, they will live with me and will be pure in every way[MET], like people who are dressed in pure white clothing."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 3, "verse": "5", "text": "Everyone who conquers Satan I will dress in these same white garments [MET] (OR, will be pure in every way as though they are dressed in these white garments), and I will never erase their names from the book that contains the names of the people who have eternal life. Instead, as my Father and his angels are listening, I will acknowledge that they [MTY] belong to me."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 3, "verse": "6", "text": "Everyone who wants to understand [MTY] must listen carefully to the message that God's Spirit speaks to the congregations.’”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 3, "verse": "7", "text": "“Write this message to the leader [MET] of the congregation in Philadelphia city: ‘I am saying these things to you. I am God's Holy One, the True One. Just like King David had authority [MTY] to allow people to enter the ancient city of Jerusalem, so I have the authority to allow people to enter my kingdom. I am the one who opens doors so that no one can close them, and who closes doors so that no one can open them."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 3, "verse": "8", "text": "I know everything you have done. Be aware that I have opened before you a door that no one can close. I know that although you do not have many believers(OR, much spiritual strength) [MTY] in your congregation, you have obeyed what I say, and you have not denied that you believe in me [MTY]."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 3, "verse": "9", "text": "I am aware that some of your people meet together with those who follow/worship Satan. They claim to be Jews, but I know that they are not true Jews. They are lying. I will cause them to come to you and to bow down humbly at your feet and to acknowledge that I love you."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 3, "verse": "10", "text": "Because you have paid attention to the message to endure patiently when you suffered, I will keep you safe from those who will try to harm you spiritually during the period/time that is about to come. At that time God will cause rebellious people on the earth to suffer, in order that I can determine whether they will turn away from their sins or not."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 3, "verse": "11", "text": "I am coming soon. So continue ◄to hold fast to/to believe firmly► the message that you have received, in order that no one may cause you to lose the reward that God has reserved for you."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 3, "verse": "12", "text": "I will make everyone who conquers Satan secure. They will be firm like[MET] the pillars in the temple of my God, and they will remain there forever. I will mark them with the name of my God, showing that they belong to him. I will also mark them with the name of the city of my God, showing that they will live there. That city is the New Jerusalem, the city that will descend out of heaven from my God. I will also mark them with my new name, showing that they belong to me."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 3, "verse": "13", "text": "Everyone who wants to understand [MTY] must listen carefully to the message that God's Spirit speaks to the congregations.’”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 3, "verse": "14", "text": "“Write this message to the leader [MET] of the congregation in Laodicea city: ‘I am saying these things to you. I am the one who ◄guarantees all of God's promises/ confirms that God will do all that he has promised► [MET]. I am the one who testifies about God reliably and accurately. I am the one by whom God created all things."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 3, "verse": "15", "text": "I know everything that you have done: You neither deny that you trust in me nor love/obey me zealously/wholeheartedly. You are like water that is neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot!"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 3, "verse": "16", "text": "Because you are neither enthusiastic about me nor concerned about your lack of spiritual growth [MET], I am about to reject you [MET], as if I were spitting lukewarm water out of my mouth."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 3, "verse": "17", "text": "You are saying, “ Because we have all that we need spiritually, we are like rich people who have acquired a lot of wealth. We lack nothing!” But you do not realize that you are lacking in so many ways spiritually that you are like[MET] people who are very wretched and pitiful, poor, blind, and naked."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 3, "verse": "18", "text": "I advise you to obtain from me all that you need spiritually, as though you were buying from me gold that has been refined by fire {that fire has refined}, in order that you may be truly rich [MET] spiritually. Let me make you righteous, as though you were[MET] buying from me white garments in order that you might wear clothes instead of being naked and ashamed. Let me help you to perceive spiritual things, as though[MET] you were buying from me eye salve in order to anoint your eyes in order that you might see."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 3, "verse": "19", "text": "Since I rebuke and correct all those whom I affectionately love, earnestly turn away from your sinful behavior."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 3, "verse": "20", "text": "Be aware that I call each one of you to respond to me as though [MET] I was standing waiting at your door and knocking. I will come to all those who hear my voice and respond to me, and I will fellowship with them as friends do when they eat together [MET]."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 3, "verse": "21", "text": "I will permit everyone who conquers Satan to sit and rule with me on my throne, just like I conquered Satan and now sit and rule with my Father on his throne."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 3, "verse": "22", "text": "Everyone who wants to understand [MTY] must listen carefully to the message that God's Spirit speaks to the congregations.’”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 4, "verse": "1", "text": "After these things I, John, saw in the vision that there was a door open in heaven. The one whose voice was like [SIM] a loud trumpet, the one who had spoken to me previously, said to me, “Come up here! I will show you events that must happen later.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 4, "verse": "2", "text": "Immediately I experienced that God's Spirit was specially controlling me. There was a throne there in heaven, and on the throne someone was sitting and ruling."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 4, "verse": "3", "text": "◄His appearance/He► shone like [SIM] a brilliant crystalline jasper jewel and like a brilliant red carnelian jewel. Around the throne was a rainbow that shone like a brilliant green emerald jewel."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 4, "verse": "4", "text": "Around the throne there were twenty-four other thrones. On these thrones twenty-four elders were sitting. They were wearing pure white garments and had golden crowns on their heads."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 4, "verse": "5", "text": "From the throne there came lightning and rumblings and thundering. Seven torches of fire were burning in front of the throne. Those represent the Spirit of God, who has all kinds of power(OR, who is also symbolized as seven spirits)."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 4, "verse": "6", "text": "In front of the throne there was what looked like an ocean made of glass. It was clear, like crystal. On each of the four sides of the throne there was a living creature. Each one was covered with eyes in front and behind."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 4, "verse": "7-8", "text": "The first living creature was like a lion. The second living creature was like an ox. The third living creature had a face like a man's face. The fourth living creature was like an eagle that was flying. Each of the four living creatures had six wings. They were covered with eyes, all around their bodies and under their wings. Day and night they continually [LIT] sing: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty One. He is the one who has always existed, who exists now, and who will always exist."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 4, "verse": "9-10", "text": "The living creatures praise, honor [DOU], and thank the one who sits on the throne, the one who lives forever. Whenever they do that, the twenty-four elders ◄prostrate themselves/kneel down► before the one who sits on the throne, and they worship him, the one who lives forever. They lay their crowns in front of the throne and sing:"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 4, "verse": "11", "text": "Our(exc) Lord and God, you are worthy that all beings praise you, you are worthy that all beings honor you, and you are worthy that all beings acknowledge that you are the powerful one, because you alone created all things. Moreover, because you purposed/planned that they should exist, you created them, and as a result they exist."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 5, "verse": "1", "text": "I saw that there was a scroll in the right hand of the one who was sitting on the throne. The scroll was written on its outside as well as on its inside, and it was sealed {Someone had written on the outside as well as on the inside of the scroll and sealed it} with seven seals."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 5, "verse": "2", "text": "I saw a strong angel who was announcing in a loud voice, “◄The person who is worthy to break the seals of the scroll and then to open it should come to do it!/Who is worthy to break the seals of the scroll and then to open it?►” [RHQ]"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 5, "verse": "3", "text": "But no created being in heaven nor any created being on the earth nor any created being under the earth was able to open the scroll and see what was written on it."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 5, "verse": "4", "text": "I cried loudly because there was no one worthy to do that."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 5, "verse": "5", "text": "But one of the elders said to me, “Do not cry any longer! Look, the one who is called the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Messiah who is the descendant of King David, has overcome Satan! As a result, he is worthy to break the seven seals on the scroll and open it!”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 5, "verse": "6", "text": "Then I saw Jesus, the one who is like a [MET] sacrificial lamb, standing there. He stood near the throne, in the midst of the four living creatures and the elders. It appeared that he had been killed {that people had killed him}, but he was alive again. He had seven horns, and he had seven eyes that symbolize the Spirit of God who has all kinds of power (OR, who is also symbolized as seven spirits). He sends God's Spirit out into all the earth."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 5, "verse": "7", "text": "He came and took the scroll from the right hand of the one who sits on the throne."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 5, "verse": "8", "text": "When he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders ◄prostrated themselves/knelt down► before Jesus, the one who is like a lamb, to worship him. They each had a harp, and they had golden bowls full of incense that represents the prayers of God's people."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 5, "verse": "9", "text": "The living creatures and the elders sang a new song. They sang: You are worthy to receive the scroll and to open its seals, because you were killed, and because you redeemed/bought people for God from every tribe, language [MTY], people-group, and nation with the blood that flowed from your body when you died."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 5, "verse": "10", "text": "You have caused them to become a people over whom our God rules, and to become priests who serve him, and they will rule on [MTY] the earth."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 5, "verse": "11", "text": "As I continued to look, I heard the voices of many angels around the throne and around the living creatures and the elders. There were millions of them, a crowd so large that no one could count them."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 5, "verse": "12", "text": "They were singing in a loud voice: “The one who is like a lamb, who was killed {whom his enemies killed} and who became alive again, is worthy that all created beings acknowledge that he is infinitely powerful, infinitely rich, infinitely wise, and infinitely strong! He is worthy of being honored and praised by all created beings!”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 5, "verse": "13", "text": "I also heard every creature that is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the ocean, every creature in all those places, saying (OR, singing): “We must forever praise and honor the one who sits on the throne and the one who is like a lamb, May they reign with complete power forever!”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 5, "verse": "14", "text": "The four living creatures said, “◄Amen!/May it be so!►” Then the elders prostrated themselves and worshipped God and Jesus."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 6, "verse": "1", "text": "I saw that Jesus, the one who is like a lamb, opened the first of the seven seals of the scroll. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice as loud as [SIM] thunder, “Come!”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 6, "verse": "2", "text": "Then I saw a white horse come out. The one who sat on it had a bow and arrows. God gave him a crown to show that he was the king. Then the one who conquers people went out to continue to conquer people."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 6, "verse": "3", "text": "When the one who was like a lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 6, "verse": "4", "text": "Then a red horse came out. The one sitting on it was allowed { God allowed the one sitting on it} to cause people to no longer live peacefully, but instead to be killing each other. For this purpose he was given { God's agent gave to him} a large sword."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 6, "verse": "5", "text": "When the one who is like a lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” This time, I saw a black horse come out. The one who sat on it had a pair of balance scales in his hand."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 6, "verse": "6", "text": "I heard a voice that sounded like it was coming from among the four living creatures. It was saying ◄ to the horseman/to the man who was sitting on the horse►, “A quart of wheat will cost so much that a man must work a whole day to earn enough money to buy it, and three quarts of barley will sell for the same price. But do not cut off the supply of olive oil or the wine [MTY]!”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 6, "verse": "7", "text": "When the one who is like a lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living creature say, “Come!”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 6, "verse": "8", "text": "This time I saw a pale horse come out. The one who sat on it is named ❛ The one who causes death [PRS]❜, and the one that is named ❛The place where dead people go❜ accompanied him. God gave them authority over one quarter of the people on earth to incite them to kill each other with weapons [SYN], and also authority to kill them ◄by means of their causing them to lack food/by famine►, by means of their causing them to become sick from epidemics, and by means of their causing wild animals to attack them."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 6, "verse": "9", "text": "When the one who is like a lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under (OR, at the base of) the altar in heaven the souls of God's servants who had been killed {whom people had killed} because of their believing God's message, and because they told others the message about Jesus."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 6, "verse": "10", "text": "They spoke loudly to God saying, “Sovereign/Almighty Lord, you are holy and true. How long will it be before you judge and punish the people on earth who murdered us(exc) ?”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 6, "verse": "11", "text": "God gave to each of them a long white robe, and he told them to rest a little longer until people killed all the believers who served the Lord with them. They were believers whom God wanted to die in just the same way that these others had been killed."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 6, "verse": "12", "text": "I saw that when the one who is like a lamb opened the sixth seal, the earth shook violently. The sun became as black as cloth made ◄of black wool/of pitch►. The whole moon became red[SIM] like blood."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 6, "verse": "13", "text": "The stars fell to the earth in great numbers, just [SIM] like immature figs fall when a fig tree is shaken by a strong wind {when a strong wind shakes a fig tree}."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 6, "verse": "14", "text": "The sky split open and rolled up on either side just [SIM] like an old scroll rolls up when it is split in two. Every mountain and island moved out of its place."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 6, "verse": "15", "text": "As a result, all the rebellious people of the earth, including kings, high-ranking people, generals, the rich people, the powerful people, along with every body else, both slave and free, hid themselves in caves and between the mountain rocks."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 6, "verse": "16", "text": "They shouted to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us(exc) and hide us(exc) in order that the one who sits upon the throne will not be able to see us(exc) [MTY], and in order that the one who is like a lamb will not be able to punish [MTY] us(exc)"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 6, "verse": "17", "text": "This is the great/terrible day on which they will punish [MTY] us(exc) , and when that happens, ◄no one will be able to survive!/who will be able to endure?► [RHQ]”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 7, "verse": "1", "text": "After this I saw four angels. One was standing at the north, one at the east, one at the south, and one at the west. They were restraining the winds that blew from all directions [MTY] to keep them from blowing destructively on the earth or on the ocean or even on any tree."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 7, "verse": "2", "text": "I saw another angel ascend from the east. He was carrying God's seal. With this seal God, who is all-powerful, marks his own people to protect them. He called out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom he had given power to harm the earth and the ocean. He said"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 7, "verse": "3", "text": "to them, “Do not harm the earth or the ocean or the trees until we(exc) have marked the servants of our(inc) God on their foreheads.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 7, "verse": "4", "text": "Then the angel and his fellow angels marked all God's servants. I heard the number of people who were marked {whom the angels marked} because of their being God's servants. The number was one hundred and forty-four thousand. They were from all the tribes of Israel. They symbolized the complete number of people whom God would protect."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 7, "verse": "5", "text": "The angels marked twelve thousand people from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand from the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand from the tribe of Gad,"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 7, "verse": "6", "text": "twelve thousand from the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand from the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand from the tribe of Manasseh,"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 7, "verse": "7", "text": "twelve thousand from the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand from the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand from the tribe of Issachar,"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 7, "verse": "8", "text": "twelve thousand from the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand from the tribe of Joseph, and twelve thousand from the tribe of Benjamin."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 7, "verse": "9", "text": "After these things I saw a huge crowd. There were so many people that no one would be able to count them. They were from every nation, every tribe, every people-group, and every language [MTY]. They were standing before the throne and before Jesus, the one who is like a lamb. They were wearing white robes and held palm branches to wave with their hands in order to celebrate."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 7, "verse": "10", "text": "They shouted loudly, “ O our(exc) God, you who sit on the throne, and Jesus, you who are like a lamb, you two have delivered us(exc) from Satan's power! ”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 7, "verse": "11", "text": "All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They all bowed down before the throne with their faces to the ground and worshipped God."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 7, "verse": "12", "text": "They said, “May it be so! We(exc) praise, thank, and honor you, our(exc) God, forever! We(exc) acknowledge that you are completely wise, the powerful one, who is able to do all things forever! ◄It is so!/Amen!►”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 7, "verse": "13", "text": "Then one of the elders asked me, “These people who are wearing white robes, do you know who they are, and where they come from?”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 7, "verse": "14", "text": "I answered him, “Sir, I do not know. Surely you know who they are! ” He said to me, “These are the people ◄whom others have caused to suffer greatly/who have been persecuted►. Because they believed that Jesus, the one who is like a sacrificial lamb, atoned for our sin when his blood flowed from his body when he died, it is as though[MET] they have washed their robes and have made them clean and white."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 7, "verse": "15", "text": "Because of this, they are in front of God's throne, and they serve him day and night in his heavenly temple. God, the one who sits on the throne, will shelter/protect them [MTY]."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 7, "verse": "16", "text": "As a result, they will never again be hungry. They will never again be thirsty. The sun will never again ◄beat on/burn► them, nor will any heat scorch them."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 7, "verse": "17", "text": "This is because the one who is like a lamb who is at the throne will take care of them, just like a shepherd takes care of his sheep[MET]. He will guide them to the source of eternal life, just like a shepherd leads his sheep to springs of water, which enable the sheep to live [MET]. God will cause them to no longer be sad. It will be as if he were wiping away all tears from their eyes [MTY].”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 8, "verse": "1", "text": "When Jesus, the one who is like a lamb, opened the seventh seal, there was no sound at all in heaven for ◄a very short time/about half an hour►."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 8, "verse": "2", "text": "I saw the seven angels who stand in front of God. A trumpet was given {◄ God/An angel► gave a trumpet} to each one of them."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 8, "verse": "3", "text": "Another angel, who had a golden container for burning incense, came and stood at the altar. He was given{ An angel gave to him} a large quantity of incense, in order that he might offer it, with the prayers of all God's people, upon the golden altar that is in front of God's throne. Then he burned this incense on the altar."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 8, "verse": "4", "text": "From the pot in the angel's hand, the smoke of the incense, along with the prayers of God's people went up to God."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 8, "verse": "5", "text": "In response, the angel took the golden incense burner and filled it with coals of fire from the altar. He threw the contents of the [MTY] incense burner onto the earth. Thunder sounded and rumbled, lightning was flashing, and the earth shook."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 8, "verse": "6", "text": "The seven angels, each of which had one of the seven trumpets, prepared to blow them."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 8, "verse": "7", "text": "When the first angel blew his trumpet, hail and fire mixed with blood poured down onto the earth. As a result, a third of everything on the surface of the land was burned up { the fire burned up a third of everything on the surface of the land}. A third of the trees were also burned up {It also burned up a third of the trees}, and a third of all the green grass was burned up."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 8, "verse": "8", "text": "When the second angel blew his trumpet, something that was like a huge mountain burning with fire fell into the ocean. As a result, a third of the ocean became red like[MTY] blood,"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 8, "verse": "9", "text": "a third of the living creatures in the ocean died, and a third of the ships in the ocean were destroyed."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 8, "verse": "10", "text": "When the third angel blew his trumpet, a huge star, which was burning like a torch, fell from the sky into a third of the rivers and into a third of the water springs."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 8, "verse": "11", "text": "The name of the star is Bitterness. As a result, the water in a third of the rivers and springs became bitter, and many people died from drinking the water because it had become bitter."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 8, "verse": "12", "text": "When the fourth angel blew his trumpet, God struck the sun, the moon, and the stars, so that they lost a third of their light. The sun also did not shine during a third of the day, and the moon and stars did not shine during a third of the night."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 8, "verse": "13", "text": "As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying high in the sky, shouting in a loud voice, “Terrible things will happen to rebellious people who live on the earth as a result of what will happen when the three remaining angels blow their trumpets! They are about to blow them!”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 9, "verse": "1", "text": "The fifth angel blew his trumpet. Then I saw an evil angel. He was like a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. He was given { Someone gave him} the key to the shaft that descended◄ to the underworld/ to the deep dark pit►."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 9, "verse": "2", "text": "When he opened that shaft, smoke arose from it like smoke from a great burning furnace. The smoke prevented anyone from seeing the light of the sun and the sky."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 9, "verse": "3", "text": "Locusts came out of the smoke onto the earth. They were given{ God gave them} power to sting people, like scorpions sting people."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 9, "verse": "4", "text": "God told the locusts that they should not harm the grass of the earth, nor any plants, nor any tree. God said that they should harm only those people who did not have a mark on the forehead to show that they belonged to God."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 9, "verse": "5", "text": "God did not allow the locusts to kill those people. Instead, he allowed them to continue torturing people for five months. When they tortured people, the pain those people felt was like the pain a scorpion causes when it stings someone."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 9, "verse": "6", "text": "During the time when the locusts torture rebellious people, the pain will be so bad that people will want to find a way to die, but they will not find [PRS] any way. They will long to die, but they will not be able to die [PRS]."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 9, "verse": "7", "text": "The locusts looked like horses that are ready for battle. They had on their heads what looked like golden crowns. Their faces were like the faces of people."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 9, "verse": "8", "text": "They had long hair like the long hair of women. Their teeth were strong, like lions' teeth."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 9, "verse": "9", "text": "They wore metal breastplates. When they were flying, their wings made a noise like a roar when many horses pull chariots as they are rushing into battle."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 9, "verse": "10", "text": "They had tails like tails of scorpions by which they stung people. Their power to harm people during those five months was in their tails."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 9, "verse": "11", "text": "The king who ruled over them was the angel of the underworld. His name in the Hebrew language is Abaddon. In the Greek language it is Apollyon. Both of those names mean ❛Destroyer❜ ."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 9, "verse": "12", "text": "That ended the first terrible event. Be aware that two tragic events are still to come."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 9, "verse": "13", "text": "The sixth angel blew his trumpet. Then I heard a voice from the four corners of the golden altar that is in God's presence."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 9, "verse": "14", "text": "It was saying to the sixth angel, the one who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels whom I have bound at the great river Euphrates.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 9, "verse": "15", "text": "The four angels were released, those who had been { He released the four angels, whom God had} kept ready for that exact hour of that day, of that month, of that year. They were released { He released them} in order that they might enable their soldiers to kill a third of the rebellious people."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 9, "verse": "16", "text": "The number of the soldiers riding on horses that did that was two hundred million. I heard someone say how many there were."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 9, "verse": "17", "text": "In the vision I saw what the horses and the beings that rode them looked like. They wore breastplates that were red like fire, dusky blue like smoke, and yellow like sulfur. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions. From their mouths came fire, smoke, and fumes of burning sulfur."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 9, "verse": "18", "text": "Those three things—the fire, the smoke, and the burning sulfur from the horses' mouths—killed a third of the rebellious people."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 9, "verse": "19", "text": "The power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails. Their tails have heads like snakes by which they harm people."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 9, "verse": "20", "text": "The rest of the rebellious people, those who were not killed by these plagues of fire and smoke and burning sulfur, did not turn from their sinful behavior. They did not stop worshipping the idols that they had made with their own hands. They did not stop worshipping demons and idols that were made of gold, of silver, of bronze, of stone, and of wood, even though they are idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 9, "verse": "21", "text": "They did not stop murdering people, or practicing sorcery, or acting in sexually immoral ways, or stealing things."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 10, "verse": "1", "text": "In the vision I saw another mighty angel that was coming down out of heaven. A cloud surrounded him. There was a rainbow over his head. His face shone[SIM] like the sun. His legs looked like pillars of fire."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 10, "verse": "2", "text": "He had in his hand a small scroll that was open. He set his right foot on the ocean and his left foot on the land."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 10, "verse": "3", "text": "He shouted something with a loud voice, a voice like the roar of a lion. When he shouted this, it thundered seven times, speaking words that I could understand."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 10, "verse": "4", "text": "When it thundered like that, I was about to write the words that I heard, but a voice from heaven said to me, “Keep secret what the thunder said! Do not write it down!”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 10, "verse": "5", "text": "Then the angel whom I had seen standing on the ocean and the land raised his right hand toward heaven,"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 10, "verse": "6", "text": "and he asked the one who lives forever, the one who created heaven and everything that is in it, who created the earth and everything that is in it, and who created the ocean and everything that is in it, to affirm that what he said was true. He said that he would surely no longer delay what he had planned."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 10, "verse": "7", "text": "He said that when the time came for the seventh angel to blow his trumpet, he would complete God's secret plan, just like he announced long ago to his servants, the prophets."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 10, "verse": "8", "text": "The one whose voice I had heard from heaven spoke to me again. He said, “Go and take the open scroll from the hand of the angel who is standing on the ocean and on the land.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 10, "verse": "9", "text": "So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. In your mouth it will taste sweet like honey, but it will make your stomach bitter.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 10, "verse": "10", "text": "I took the little scroll from the angel's hand and ate it. In my mouth it tasted sweet like honey, but when I had eaten it, it made my stomach bitter."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 10, "verse": "11", "text": "The one whose voice spoke from heaven said to me, “You must ◄prophesy again/proclaim again what I will reveal to you► about many people- groups, many nations, speakers of many languages [MTY], and many kings.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 11, "verse": "1", "text": "An angel gave to me a reed similar to a measuring stick. He said to me, “ Christ says this: ‘Go to the temple where people worship God, measure it and the altar in it, and count the people who worship there."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 11, "verse": "2", "text": "But do not measure the courtyard outside of the temple[DOU], because it has been given { God has given it} to the non-Jewish people. As a result, they will trample Jerusalem city for forty-two months."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 11, "verse": "3", "text": "I will appoint my two ◄witnesses/men who will tell others about me►. They will proclaim what I reveal to them for one thousand two hundred and sixty days. They will wear rough clothes made from goat's hair to show that they are sad about people's sin.’”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 11, "verse": "4", "text": "Those witnesses are the ones that are represented by the two olive trees and the two lampstands that are in the presence of the Lord who rules the earth [SYM]."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 11, "verse": "5", "text": "If enemies try to harm those witnesses, fire will come from the mouths of the witnesses and destroy them. If people want to harm them, the two witnesses will certainly kill them similarly."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 11, "verse": "6", "text": "Those witnesses will have authority over the sky in order to keep rain from falling during the time that they are proclaiming what God reveals to them. They also will have authority to cause water everywhere to become red like[MET] blood, and authority to send down to the earth all kinds of plagues. They will do this as often as they want to."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 11, "verse": "7", "text": "When they have finished proclaiming to people the message from God, the beast that comes up ◄from the underworld/from the deep dark pit► will attack them, overcome them, and will kill them."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 11, "verse": "8", "text": "The dead bodies of the two witnesses will lie in the street of the great city where their Lord was crucified, the city that is symbolically named Sodom or Egypt because its people are very evil, like the people who lived in Sodom and Egypt."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 11, "verse": "9", "text": "Individuals of many people- groups, tribes, language groups[MTY], and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days. But they will not allow anyone to bury their bodies."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 11, "verse": "10", "text": "When the rebellious people who live on the earth see that the witnesses are dead, they will rejoice and celebrate. They will send gifts to each other, because these two prophets had sent plagues which tormented the rebellious people on the earth."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 11, "verse": "11", "text": "But after three and a half days, God will cause them to breathe again and live. They will stand up, and the people who see them will be terrified."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 11, "verse": "12", "text": "The two witnesses will hear a loud voice from heaven saying to them: “Come up here!” Then they will go up into heaven in a cloud. Their enemies will see them as they ascend."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 11, "verse": "13", "text": "At that same time there will be a great earthquake, as a result of which a tenth of the buildings in[MTY] the city will collapse, and seven thousand people will die. The rest of the people will be afraid and acknowledge that the God who rules in heaven is awesome."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 11, "verse": "14", "text": "That will be the second terrible event. Be aware that the third tragic event will happen soon."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 11, "verse": "15", "text": "Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet. Voices in heaven shouted loudly, “Our Lord God and the Messiah whom he has appointed can now govern all the people in[MTY] the world, and they will continue to rule those people forever!”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 11, "verse": "16", "text": "The twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones in God's presence ◄prostrated themselves/bowed down low► and worshipped him."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 11, "verse": "17", "text": "They said: Lord God, you are the Almighty One! You are the one who exists now! You are the one who has always existed! We thank you that you have defeated with your power everyone who has rebelled against you, and you now rule over all the people in the world."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 11, "verse": "18", "text": "The unbelieving people of [MTY] the nations were angrily raging at you. As a result you have become very angry with them. You have decided that this is the appropriate time for you to judge all the dead people. You have also decided that it is the time for you to reward all your servants, both the prophets and the rest of your people who reverence you [MTY], whether they were considered socially significant/important or socially insignificant/unimportant. It is time for you to reward all of them! You have also decided it is the time for you to destroy the people who are destroying others on the earth."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 11, "verse": "19", "text": "Then God's temple in heaven was opened {was open} and I saw in the temple the sacred box/chest that contains God's covenant. Lightning was flashing, it was thundering and rumbling, the earth shook, and large hail fell from the sky."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 12, "verse": "1", "text": "Then something very unusual appeared in the sky. It was a woman, whose appearance and clothing were [MET] as bright as the sun. The moon was under her feet. On her head was a crown that was made of twelve stars."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 12, "verse": "2", "text": "She was pregnant. Then, because she was about to give birth, she cried out because she was suffering pain."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 12, "verse": "3", "text": "Something else very unusual appeared in the sky. It was a huge red dragon. It had seven heads and ten horns. On each of its heads was a royal crown."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 12, "verse": "4", "text": "The dragon's tail dragged a third of the stars from the sky and threw them to the earth. The dragon set himself in front of the woman who was about to give birth, in order that he might eat her child as soon as it was born."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 12, "verse": "5", "text": "She gave birth to a son, who is destined to rule all the nations with complete authority as if he was using[MET] an iron rod [MET]. God snatched away her child and took him to rule from his throne."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 12, "verse": "6", "text": "The woman fled to a desert. She has a place there that God has prepared for her, in order that the angels may take care of her for a thousand, two hundred and sixty days."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 12, "verse": "7", "text": "There was a battle in heaven. Michael and the angels that he commanded fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back against Michael and his angels."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 12, "verse": "8", "text": "But the dragon did not win the battle, so God did not allow the dragon and his angels to stay in heaven any longer."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 12, "verse": "9", "text": "The huge dragon was thrown { Michael and his angels threw the huge dragon} out of heaven. The dragon is the ancient serpent, the one who is called the Devil and Satan. He is the one who deceives people all over the earth. He was thrown to the earth, along with all his angels."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 12, "verse": "10", "text": "Then I heard someone in heaven shout loudly, saying, Now our God has saved his people by his power, and he rules all people! Now his Messiah, who is the supreme ruler whom God appointed, has authority to rule all people, because our God has thrown out of heaven the one who accuses our fellow believers! The dragon is the one who accuses them day and night before our God, saying that they have sinned and that God ought punish them."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 12, "verse": "11", "text": "Our fellow believers overcame him because they never stopped trusting(OR, never stopped telling people about) Jesus, and because they trusted in what the one who is like a lamb accomplished when his blood flowed when he died. Even though those believers wanted to live, they were willing to let people kill them for speaking truly about him."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 12, "verse": "12", "text": "So, all you angels living [MTY] in heaven, rejoice! But terrible things will happen to you ungodly people who [MTY] live on the earth and on the ocean, because the devil has come down to you! He is very angry because he knows that he has only a short time during which he can harm people."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 12, "verse": "13", "text": "When the dragon realized that he had been thrown {that the angels had thrown him} down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to a son."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 12, "verse": "14", "text": "But the woman was given two wings like the wings of a very large eagle, in order that she might fly to a desolate place. That is a place that God has prepared for her. There she was taken care of { God's angels took care of her} for three and one half years. The serpent, that is, the dragon, was not able to reach her there."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 12, "verse": "15", "text": "The serpent poured water like a river from his mouth in the direction of the woman, in order that the water might sweep her away."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 12, "verse": "16", "text": "But the ground helped the woman by opening up and swallowing the river that the dragon poured out from his mouth!"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 12, "verse": "17", "text": "Then the dragon was very angry with the woman, so he went away to fight against the people who are like the rest of her descendants. They are the people who obey God's commandments and who tell other people about Jesus (OR, hold fast to what Jesus taught them)."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 12, "verse": "18", "text": "The dragon stood on the ocean shore."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 13, "verse": "1", "text": "I saw a beast that was coming up out of the ocean. It had ten horns and seven heads. On each of its horns there was a royal crown. On each of its heads there was a name that insulted God."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 13, "verse": "2", "text": "The beast that I saw was like a leopard. But its feet were like the feet of a bear, and its mouth was like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave the beast power. From his own throne he also gave it authority to rule people[DOU]."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 13, "verse": "3", "text": "One of the heads of the beast had been wounded { The Lord had wounded one of the heads of the beast}, causing the beast to almost die. But its wound was healed. As a result, nearly all the people of the earth [HYP, MTY] marveled at the beast and became his disciples."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 13, "verse": "4", "text": "They worshipped the dragon, because he had given to the beast authority to rule people. They also worshipped the beast, saying, “◄No one is as powerful as the beast!/Who is as powerful as the beast?► [RHQ] ◄No one would dare to fight against it!/Who would dare to fight against it?►” [RHQ]"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 13, "verse": "5", "text": "The beast was allowed { God allowed the beast} to speak [MTY] proudly and to insult God. It was also allowed { God also allowed it} to exercise authority over people for forty-two months."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 13, "verse": "6", "text": "It spoke [MTY] in order to insult God, in order to insult his name, in order to insult the place where he lives, and in order to insult the people who live there in heaven."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 13, "verse": "7", "text": "It was allowed { God allowed it} to fight against God's people and to conquer them. It was allowed { God allowed it} to have authority to rule over every tribe, over every people- group, over speakers of every language [MTY], and over every nation."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 13, "verse": "8", "text": "Most of [HYP] the people living on earth worshipped it. They were people whose names were not written in a book by the one who is like a lamb, the one who had been killed. Since the beginning of the world he wrote in it the names of the people who will have eternal life."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 13, "verse": "9", "text": "Everyone who wants to understand [MTY] must listen carefully to this message from God:"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 13, "verse": "10", "text": "If God has determined that some people will be captured by their enemies, they will be captured. If God has determined that some people will be killed with a sword, they will be killed with the sword. So God's people must be steadfast, and be faithful to him."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 13, "verse": "11", "text": "I saw another beast, which was coming up from the earth. It had two small horns on its head like a sheep has. But it spoke things to deceive people, like the dragon does."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 13, "verse": "12", "text": "While the first beast watched, it used all the same authority to rule people that the first beast had. It forced the people who live on the earth [MTY, DOU] to worship the first beast, that is, the one who was healed of the wound that had caused it to almost die."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 13, "verse": "13", "text": "The second beast performed awesome miracles, even causing fire from the sky to fall to earth while people watched."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 13, "verse": "14", "text": "He performed miracles ◄on behalf of/with the authority of► the first beast. By doing that he deceived the unbelieving people on the earth so that they believed that they should worship the first beast. But this happened only because God allowed it to happen. The second beast told the people living on earth to make an image of the first beast, the one that people had killed with a sword and that then came back to life again."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 13, "verse": "15", "text": "The image of the first beast was allowed to breathe, in order that it might speak and in order that it might command that whoever refused to worship its image should be killed {that people should kill whoever refused to worship its image}."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 13, "verse": "16", "text": "The second beast required also that the first beast's name be marked { its agents mark the first beast's name} on the right hand or on the forehead of everyone, those of little social importance and of great social importance, the rich and the poor, free people and slaves. Everyone!"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 13, "verse": "17", "text": "They did this in order that people could not buy anything or sell anything if they did not have the mark, which represents the name of the beast or the number of its name, on their foreheads."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 13, "verse": "18", "text": "You must think wisely to understand the meaning of the mark. Anyone who thinks wisely should calculate from the number of the beast what the man's name is. That number is six hundred and sixty-six."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 14, "verse": "1", "text": "But then I saw the one who is like a lamb standing on Zion Hill in Jerusalem. With him were 144,000 people. His name and his Father's name had been written { He had written his name and his Father's name} on their foreheads."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 14, "verse": "2", "text": "I heard a sound from heaven, which was as loud[SIM] as the sound of a huge waterfall (OR, a great/wide river of rushing water) and which was as loud as[SIM] mighty thunder. The sound that I heard was like the sound that people make when they are playing their harps."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 14, "verse": "3", "text": "The 144,000 people were singing a new song while they stood in front of the throne, in front of the four living creatures, and in front of the elders. Only the 144,000 people, the ones who have been {whom the one who is like a lamb has} redeemed/bought from among the people on the earth, could learn that song. No one else could learn the song that they sang."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 14, "verse": "4", "text": "Those 144,000 are the people who are spiritually pure, like virgins are morally pure. They have not ◄defiled themselves/made themselves impure► [MET] by worshipping any false god. They are the ones who accompany Jesus, the one who is like a lamb, wherever he goes. They represent all those whom he has redeemed/bought for God from among the people of earth, in order that he might offer them to God and to himself."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 14, "verse": "5", "text": "Those people never lie when they speak [MTY], and they never act immorally."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 14, "verse": "6", "text": "I saw another angel that was flying between the sky and heaven. He was bringing God's eternal good message to earth, in order that he might proclaim it to people who live on the earth. He will proclaim it to every nation, to every tribe, to speakers of every language [MTY], and to every people- group."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 14, "verse": "7", "text": "He said in a loud voice, “Reverence God and honor him, because it is now time for him to judge people! Worship God, because he is the one who created the heaven, the earth, the ocean, and the springs of water.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 14, "verse": "8", "text": "Another angel, the second one, came after him saying, “The very evil cities(OR, city) represented by Babylon are completely destroyed! God has punished their people because they have persuaded people of all the nations to forsake God, just like a prostitute[MET] persuades men to drink strong wine and as a result commit sexual immorality.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 14, "verse": "9", "text": "Another angel, the third one, came afterward, saying in a loud voice, “If people worship the beast and its image and allow its mark to be put {its agent to put its mark} on their foreheads or on their hands,"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 14, "verse": "10", "text": "God will be angry with them and punish them very severely [MET]. They will be tormented { God will torment them} in burning sulfur in the presence of his holy angels and in the presence of the one who is like a lamb."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 14, "verse": "11", "text": "The smoke from the fire that torments them will rise forever. They will be tormented { God will torment them} continually, day and night. That is what will happen to the people who worship the beast and its image and who allow its name to be marked on them {allow its agent to mark them with its name}.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 14, "verse": "12", "text": "So God's people, those who obey what God commands and who trust in Jesus, must faithfully continue obeying and trusting him."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 14, "verse": "13", "text": "I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: God will now abundantly bless the people who have a close relationship with the Lord Jesus for the rest of their lives.” God's Spirit says, “Yes, after they die they will no longer have to work hard. Instead, they will rest, and the record of the good deeds[MTY] that they have done will go with them (OR, God will reward them for the good deeds that they have done).”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 14, "verse": "14", "text": "Then I was surprised to see a white cloud, and on the cloud someone was sitting who looked like the one who came from heaven. He was wearing a golden crown on his head. In his hand he held a sharp sickle."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 14, "verse": "15", "text": "Another angel came out of the temple in heaven. In a loud voice, speaking figuratively about gathering people for God to judge them, he said to the one who was sitting on the cloud, “The time has come to reap the grain on the earth, so with your sickle reap the grain, because the grain on the earth is ripe.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 14, "verse": "16", "text": "The one who was sitting on the cloud forcefully gathered together all the people on earth, as[MET] a farmer reaps grain with his sickle."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 14, "verse": "17", "text": "Another angel came out of the sanctuary in heaven. He also held a sharp sickle."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 14, "verse": "18", "text": "From the altar came another angel. He is the one who takes care of the fire of the altar. Also speaking figuratively about gathering the wicked people for God to judge and punish them, he said in a loud voice to the angel who held the sharp sickle, “With your sharp sickle cut off the clusters of grapes in the vineyards on the earth! Then gather the clusters of grapes together, because its grapes are ripe!”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 14, "verse": "19", "text": "So, just like a man would cut off with his sickle the clusters of grapes in his vineyard [MET], an angel forcefully gathered the wicked people on the earth. Then he threw them into the huge place where God will angrily punish them."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 14, "verse": "20", "text": "The wicked people were trampled on { God's agent trod on the wicked people} in the winepress outside the city. The blood that came out from the winepress flowed in a stream so deep that it reached to the bridles of the horses, and extended◄180 miles/300 kilometers►."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 15, "verse": "1", "text": "Something else very unusual appeared in the sky. I saw seven angels, whose duty it was to punish(OR, inflict hardship upon) rebellious people with seven different plagues (OR, in seven different ways). God is so angry with rebellious people that this is the last time that he will punish them with the purpose of giving them an opportunity to turn away from their sinful behavior."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 15, "verse": "2", "text": "I saw what looked like an ocean that was made of glass and mixed with fire. And I saw the people who overcame the beast by not worshipping it or its image, or allowing its agent to mark them with the number that corresponds to the beast's name [PRS]. They were standing by the ocean that looked like it was made of glass. They had harps for praising God."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 15, "verse": "3", "text": "They were singing a song like God's servant Moses sang long ago. They sang like this to praise Jesus, the one who is like a lamb: Lord God Almighty, whatever you do is powerful and marvelous! You always act righteously and truthfully. You are king forever!"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 15, "verse": "4", "text": "O Lord, you alone are holy! People of [MTY] all nations will come and worship you, because you show everyone that you have judged everyone righteously. So, ◄everyone will fear you and honor you!/who would not fear and honor you?► [RHQ]."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 15, "verse": "5", "text": "After this I saw in heaven the temple that ◄corresponds to/was represented by► the tent that the Israelites pitched in the desert. That was the tent that contained the Ten Commandments. The temple door was opened {was open}."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 15, "verse": "6", "text": "The seven angels who had the bowls containing the seven plagues came out of the temple. The angels were dressed in clean, white linen garments, and they wore gold bands around their chests."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 15, "verse": "7", "text": "One of the four living creatures gave each of the seven angels a golden bowl, filled with wine/liquid. That wine/liquid symbolized that God, who lives forever, would severely punish rebellious people."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 15, "verse": "8", "text": "The temple was filled with smoke that symbolized the presence of the glorious and all-powerful God. No one was able to enter the temple until the seven angels finished pouring out the seven plagues."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 16, "verse": "1", "text": "In the vision I heard someone in the temple speak in a loud voice to the angels who had the seven bowls. He said, “Go from here and pour out on the earth the wine/liquid in[MTY] the seven bowls. This will show that God is angry with rebellious people and will punish them.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 16, "verse": "2", "text": "So the first angel went and poured out on the earth the wine/liquid that was in[MTY] his bowl. As a result, horrible and painful sores broke out on his enemies who had allowed the beast's agents to mark them and who worshipped the image of the beast."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 16, "verse": "3", "text": "The second angel poured out on the ocean the wine/liquid that was in[MTY] his bowl. As a result, the water in the ocean stank like the blood of a person who has died. And[MTY] every living creature that was in the ocean died."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 16, "verse": "4", "text": "The third angel poured out on the rivers and water springs the wine/liquid[MTY] that was in his bowl. As a result, the water in the rivers and springs turned into blood."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 16, "verse": "5", "text": "I heard the angel who has authority over the waters say to God, “ O God, you exist and have always existed. You are the holy one. You judge people justly."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 16, "verse": "6", "text": "The rebellious people murdered your holy people and prophets. So you are just in punishing them by giving them blood to drink. This is what they deserve!”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 16, "verse": "7", "text": "Then I heard an angel respond from the altar [PRS], “Yes, Lord God, you who are almighty, you punish people rightly and justly!”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 16, "verse": "8", "text": "Then the fourth angel poured out on the sun the wine/liquid that was in[MTY] his bowl. He enabled the sun to scorch people with fiery heat."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 16, "verse": "9", "text": "Because people were severely burned by the intense heat {the intense heat severely burned people}, they said evil things about God [MTY], because he had the power to strike people with plagues like those. But they refused to turn away from their evil behavior and refused to honor him."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 16, "verse": "10", "text": "When the fifth angel poured out on the throne of the beast the wine/liquid that was in[MTY] his bowl, it became dark in the kingdom that the beast ruled. As a result, the beast and the people whom it ruled were biting their tongues because they were suffering intense pain."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 16, "verse": "11", "text": "They insulted God who rules in heaven, because their sores were so painful. But they refused to stop doing the evil things that they were doing."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 16, "verse": "12", "text": "The sixth angel poured out on the huge river Euphrates the wine/liquid that was in[MTY] his bowl. As a result, the water in the river was dried up so that the rulers from the eastern [MTY] countries could cross it with their armies[SYN]."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 16, "verse": "13", "text": "I saw evil spirits that looked like frogs. One came out of the mouth of the dragon, one from the mouth of the beast, and one from the mouth of the false prophet."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 16, "verse": "14", "text": "Those spirits were demons who were able to perform miracles. They went out to the rulers of the whole world, in order to gather their armies[SYN] together to the battle that they will fight on the great day when Almighty God punishes his enemies[MTY]."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 16, "verse": "15-16", "text": "The evil spirits will gather the rulers at a place that is called in the Hebrew language Armageddon. I heard the Lord Jesus say, “ You must listen carefully to me: I am coming unexpectedly [SIM], like a thief. So, I will be happy with those who stay alert and keep on living righteously so that they will not be ashamed, just like [MET] a person keeps his clothes on so that he will not be ashamed like a person who is naked.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 16, "verse": "17", "text": "The seventh angel poured out into the air the wine/liquid that was in[MTY] his bowl. As a result, someone said with a loud voice from the throne in the temple, “ The time for God to punish rebellious people is about to be finished.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 16, "verse": "18", "text": "When the angel emptied his bowl, lightning flashed, there were rumblings and thunder, and the earth shook. It shook more violently than it has ever shaken since people first lived on earth."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 16, "verse": "19", "text": "And as a result, the very evil city that is symbolized by Babylon split into three parts. God also destroyed cities in other nations. God did not forget that the people of[MTY] the very evil city symbolized by Babylon had sinned very much. So he caused the people with whom he was furiously angry [MET] to drink a cup of very poisonous wine/liquid that represented his punishment."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 16, "verse": "20", "text": "Also as a result of the earthquake, every island disappeared, and the mountains became flat land."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 16, "verse": "21", "text": "Also as a result of the angel's emptying his bowl, huge hailstones, each weighing about 100 pounds, fell from the sky onto the people. Then people insulted God because he had caused the terrible plague of destructive hail to fall on them."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 17, "verse": "1", "text": "One of the seven angels, who had one of the seven bowls, came to me. He said to me, “Come with me and I will show you how God will punish the very evil city that is represented by[SYM] a prostitute, a city in which there are many canals of water."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 17, "verse": "2", "text": "It is as though the rulers of earth have acted immorally and idolatrously with the people of that city [MET], and they have persuaded people who live on the earth to act immorally and idolatrously with them [MET], just like a prostitute persuades men to drink the strong wine she gives them, resulting in their becoming drunk and committing immorality.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 17, "verse": "3", "text": "Then, as God's Spirit controlled me, the angel carried me away to a desolate area. There I saw a woman who was sitting on a red beast. The beast had written names all over itself. They were names that ◄insulted/spoke evil against► God. It had seven heads and ten horns."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 17, "verse": "4", "text": "The woman that I saw was wearing purple and red clothes; and gold, precious stones, and pearls were fastened to her clothes and her body. She held in her hand a golden cup. The cup was full of a liquid that represents[SYM] the detestable/disgusting, idolatrous things and filthy immoral things that she does."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 17, "verse": "5", "text": "This name, that has a hidden/secret meaning, was written on her forehead: “ This woman is Babylon, the very evil city! She acts like the mother of the prostitutes on the earth. She teaches them to act immorally and to worship idols.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 17, "verse": "6", "text": "I saw that the woman had become drunk as a result of drinking the blood of God's people, those who had told others about Jesus. When I saw her, I was very bewildered/perplexed."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 17, "verse": "7", "text": "The angel said to me, “Do not be bewildered!/Why are you bewildered [RHQ]? I will explain to you the hidden/secret meaning of the woman and of the beast on which she rides, the beast that has the seven heads and the ten horns."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 17, "verse": "8", "text": "The beast that you saw lived previously. Eventually God will destroy him, but now he is dead. He is about to come up ◄from the underworld/from the deep dark pit►. When the beast who had previously lived, and who then had died, reappears, the people who live on the earth will be amazed. They are people whose names were not in the book in which are written the names of people who will have eternal life. The angels have been writing those names in a list◄from the beginning of the world/from the time when the world began►."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 17, "verse": "9", "text": "Those who think wisely can understand this: The seven heads of the beast on which the woman sits symbolize the seven hills of the city that the woman represents. They also symbolize seven rulers."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 17, "verse": "10", "text": "Five of those rulers have died. One is still alive. The seventh ruler has not yet come. When he comes, he must remain for only a short time."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 17, "verse": "11", "text": "The beast that lived before and then was not alive will be the eighth ruler. He will be evil like the seven rulers were, but God will surely destroy him."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 17, "verse": "12", "text": "The ten horns that you saw represent ten rulers who have not yet begun to rule. They will receive authority in order to rule people together with the beast for only a short time, as if it were[MET] for one hour."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 17, "verse": "13", "text": "Those rulers will all agree to do the same thing. As a result they will give to the beast their right to rule people and their authority to rule people[DOU]."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 17, "verse": "14", "text": "The rulers and the beast will fight against Jesus, the one who is like a lamb. He will defeat them, because he is Lord who rules over all other lords and the King who rules over all other kings. Those people who are with him and helping him are the ones whom God has chosen, and who keep serving him faithfully.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 17, "verse": "15", "text": "Then the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw in the city where the prostitute sits represent people- groups, multitudes of people, nations, and speakers of many languages[MTY]."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 17, "verse": "16", "text": "The ten horns that you saw represent rulers[SYM]. They and the beast will hate the people in the city[MTY] that the prostitute represents. As a result, they will take away everything that is in the city, as if they were [MET] leaving it naked. They will destroy it as if[MET] devouring flesh/meat, and they will burn it with fire."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 17, "verse": "17", "text": "They will do that because God has caused them to decide to do what he wants them to do. As a result, they will let the beast have their power to rule until what God has said is fulfilled {until they fulfill what God has said} [MTY]."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 17, "verse": "18", "text": "The prostitute that you saw represents the very evil city whose leaders[MTY] rule over the kings of the earth.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 18, "verse": "1", "text": "After this I saw another angel, who had great authority, coming down from heaven. The earth became bright because he was shining so intensely/brightly."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 18, "verse": "2", "text": "He shouted with a very loud voice, “ God is about to completely destroy [DOU] all the very evil cities (OR, the very evil city) that Babylon represents. As a result, all kinds of evil spirits [DOU] will live there, and all kinds of foul and detestable [DOU] birds will live there."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 18, "verse": "3", "text": "God will destroy those cities because their rulers have persuaded the people of [MTY] all nations to act very immorally and idolatrously with the people of[MET] those cities, just like a prostitute persuades men to drink strong wine and then commit fornication with her. The rulers of the earth have also acted immorally and idolatrously with the people of [MTY] those cities. The merchants of the earth have become rich because the people of those cities strongly desired and bought from the merchants many ◄luxuries/expensive things►.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 18, "verse": "4", "text": "I heard Jesus speak from heaven. He said, “My people, flee from those cities, in order that you do not sin as the people of those cities do. If you sin as they do, I will punish you as I will punish them."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 18, "verse": "5", "text": "It is as though their sins have been piled {have piled} up to heaven, and God remembers them [DOU], so now he will punish them[MTY].”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 18, "verse": "6", "text": "To the angels whom God assigned to punish those cities, Jesus said, “Pay back/Punish the people of those cities to the same extent that they harmed other people. Cause them to suffer twice as much as they caused other people to suffer[DOU, MET]."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 18, "verse": "7", "text": "To the same extent that they have honored themselves and done the things that they wanted to do, to that extent torment them and cause them to grieve. Do that because in their minds they think, ‘We rule as queens! We are not widows, and we will never mourn as widows do! ’"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 18, "verse": "8", "text": "So in one day terrible calamities/troubles will come upon them. The people in those cities will die, others will mourn for them, people will be hungry because there will be no food, and their cities will be burned up. The Lord God is able to punish those cities like that, because he is mighty.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 18, "verse": "9", "text": "“The kings of the earth who have acted immorally with people of those cities and have lived with the people of those cities, doing just what they wanted to do, will weep and mourn [DOU] for them when they see the smoke of the fire that is burning them."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 18, "verse": "10", "text": "They will stand far away from those cities, because they will be afraid that they will suffer just like the people of those cities are suffering. They will say, ‘Terrible things will happen to the awesome and mighty cities represented by Babylon! God will punish them suddenly and swiftly [MTY]!’"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 18, "verse": "11", "text": "The merchants of the earth will weep and will mourn [DOU] for those cities, because no one will ever again buy the things that they have to sell to the people in those cities."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 18, "verse": "12-13", "text": "They sell ornaments made of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls. They sell expensive cloth made of fine linen and silk, expensive cloth that is dyed purple and crimson. They sell all kinds of rare wood, all kinds of items made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron, and marble. They sell cinnamon, spice, perfume, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, and grain. They sell cattle, sheep, horses, and chariots. They even sell human beings [SYN, DOU] to become slaves."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 18, "verse": "14", "text": "The merchants will say, ‘The good things you people longed to have are gone! All your luxurious and splendid [DOU] possessions have vanished! They will be gone forever/You will never have them again [LIT]!’"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 18, "verse": "15", "text": "The merchants who sold these things and who had become rich by supplying them for those cities will stand far away, because they will be afraid that they will suffer just like the people of those cities are suffering. They will weep and mourn [DOU],"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 18, "verse": "16", "text": "and they will say, ‘Terrible things [DOU] have happened to the awesome/great [MET] cities! They were like queens who dressed themselves in clothes made of[MTY] fine linen cloth and expensive cloth dyed purple and crimson, and who were adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 18, "verse": "17", "text": "But suddenly and swiftly [MTY] God has destroyed these expensive things.’ Every ship captain, all people who travel by ship, all ◄sailors/those who work on ships►, and all others who earn their living by traveling on the ocean will stand far away from those cities."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 18, "verse": "18", "text": "When they see the smoke of the fire that is burning those cities, they will shout, ‘◄No other cities have ever been so awesome!/Was there ever any other city that was as awesome as those cities?►’ [RHQ]"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 18, "verse": "19", "text": "They will throw dust on their heads to show that they are sad, and they will shout, weep, and mourn [DOU]. They will say, ‘Terrible things have happened to the awesome/great cities, the cities that made all people who own ships that sail on the ocean become rich by carrying their costly ◄things to sell/merchandise►! God has suddenly and swiftly destroyed [MTY] those cities!’”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 18, "verse": "20", "text": "Then someone spoke from heaven saying, “You who live in heaven, rejoice over what has happened to the cities represented by Babylon! You who are God's people, including you apostles, you ◄prophets/who speak messages that come directly from God►, rejoice, because God has justly punished the people of those cities because they acted evilly toward you!”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 18, "verse": "21", "text": "Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large stone for grinding grain, and he threw it into the ocean. Then he said, “O you people in [APO] the awesome/great cities represented by Babylon, your cities will be destroyed so that they will disappear just like that stone disappeared in the ocean! Your cities will be gone forever [LIT]!"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 18, "verse": "22", "text": "In your cities there will never again be anyone playing harps, singing, playing flutes, and blowing trumpets. There will no longer be any ◄skilled workers/craftsmen► making things. There will never again be people grinding grain at[MTY] the mills."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 18, "verse": "23", "text": "No lamplight will ever again shine. There will never again be the happy voices of a bridegroom and his bride. God will destroy your cities because your merchants were the most deceiving men in the world. You persuaded them to deceive people of[MTY] all nations."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 18, "verse": "24", "text": "You are also responsible for killing[MTY] the prophets and others of God's people. Indeed, you are the ones who are guilty for the deaths of all those who have been {whom others have} killed on the earth!”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 19, "verse": "1", "text": "After these things I heard what sounded like a huge crowd in heaven. They were shouting things like, “◄Hallelujah!/Praise our God!►” “He has saved us!” “He is glorious and mighty!”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 19, "verse": "2", "text": "“Praise him because he judges truly and justly!” “He has punished the very evil cities that are like a prostitute, because their people persuaded the other people of earth [MTY] to act immorally and idolatrously like they do.” “Praise him because he has punished them for murdering his servants [MTY]!”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 19, "verse": "3", "text": "The crowd shouted a second time saying: ◄Hallelujah!/Praise God!► The smoke of the fire that is burning the cities will rise forever!"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 19, "verse": "4", "text": "The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures◄prostrated themselves/knelt down► and worshipped God, who sits on the throne. Then they said, “ It is true! ◄Hallelujah!/Praise God!►”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 19, "verse": "5", "text": "Someone spoke from the throne and said, “All you who are his servants, praise our God! All you who reverence him, whether you are socially significant or insignificant, praise him! Everyone! ”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 19, "verse": "6", "text": "I heard something like the noise of a huge crowd of people, like the sound of a huge waterfall (OR, a great/wide river of rushing water), and like the sound of loud thunder. They were shouting: ◄Hallelujah!/Praise God!► Because the Lord God, the Almighty One, reigns!"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 19, "verse": "7", "text": "We should rejoice, we should be extremely glad, and we should honor him, because it is now time for Jesus, the one who is like a lamb, to be united permanently with his people, which will be like a man [MET] marrying his bride, and because those who belong to him have prepared themselves to be united with him."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 19, "verse": "8", "text": "God has permitted them to be completely pure, like a bride who [MET] dresses in fine linen that is bright and clean. Fine bright and clean linen represents the righteous acts of God's people."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 19, "verse": "9", "text": "Then the angel said to me, “Write this: God will abundantly bless the people who are {whom he has} invited to the feast that celebrates Jesus, the one who is like a lamb, permanently uniting with his people, like someone[MET] marrying a wife.” He also said to me: “These words that God declares are true!”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 19, "verse": "10", "text": "I immediately◄prostrated myself/knelt down► at his feet in order to worship him. But he said to me, “Do not worship me! I am just your(sg) fellow servant and the fellow servant of your(sg) fellow believers who tell people about Jesus. God is the one whom you should worship, because it is the Spirit of God who gives people the power to tell others about Jesus (OR, those who tell others about Jesus are truly declaring the words that the Spirit of God has given them)!”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 19, "verse": "11", "text": "I saw heaven opened {open}, and I was surprised to see a white horse. Jesus, the one who was riding on the horse, is called ❛Trustworthy and Genuine/True❜. He judges all people according to what is right, and fights righteously against his enemies."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 19, "verse": "12", "text": "His eyes shone like[MET] a flame of fire. There were many royal crowns on his head. A name had been written on him. Only he knows the meaning of that name."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 19, "verse": "13", "text": "The cloak he was wearing was drenched with blood. His name is also“◄The one who expresses what God is like/The Word of God►.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 19, "verse": "14", "text": "The armies of heaven were following him. They were riding on white horses. They were wearing clothes made of clean white linen."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 19, "verse": "15", "text": "The words that he speaks are like[MTY] a sharp sword with which he will strike the rebellious people of the nations. He himself will rule them powerfully, as though he had[MET] an iron rod. He will crush his enemies just like[MET] a person crushes grapes in a winepress. He will do this for God Almighty, who is furiously angry with them because of their sins."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 19, "verse": "16", "text": "On his cloak close to his thigh a name had been written { he had written a name}, which is “King who rules over all other kings and Lord who rules over all other lords.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 19, "verse": "17", "text": "I saw an angel who was standing in the light of[MTY] the sun. He called loudly to all the flesh-eating birds flying high in the sky, “Come and gather for the great feast that God is providing for you!"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 19, "verse": "18", "text": "Come and eat the flesh of all God's enemies who are dead— the flesh of kings, of army commanders, of people who fought powerfully, of horses and of the soldiers who rode them, and the flesh of all other kinds of people, whether they were free or slave, socially insignificant or significant. All kinds!”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 19, "verse": "19", "text": "Then I saw the beast and the kings of earth with their armies gathered together to fight against the rider on the horse, and against his army."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 19, "verse": "20", "text": "The beast and the false prophet were captured { He captured the beast and the false prophet}. The false prophet is the one who had performed miracles in the beast's presence. By doing that he had deceived the people who had accepted the beast's mark on their foreheads and who worshipped its image. The beast and the false prophet were thrown { He threw the beast and the one who falsely said that he spoke messages that came directly from God} alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 19, "verse": "21", "text": "The rider on the horse killed the rest of their armies by his words, which were like[MTY] a sword that extended from his mouth. All those birds gorged themselves on the flesh of the people whom he had killed."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 20, "verse": "1", "text": "I saw an angel coming down from heaven. He had the key to the deep dark pit, and he was carrying a large chain in his hand."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 20, "verse": "2", "text": "He seized the dragon. That dragon is the ancient serpent, the devil, that is, Satan. The angel bound him with the chain. That chain could not be loosed { No one could loose that chain} for a thousand years."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 20, "verse": "3", "text": "The angel threw him into the deep dark pit. He shut the door of the pit, locked it, and sealed it to prevent anyone from opening it. He did that in order that Satan might no longer deceive the people of the nations [MTY], until those thousand years are ended. After that time, Satan must be released { God/God's angel must release Satan} for a short time in order that he can do what God has planned."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 20, "verse": "4", "text": "I saw thrones on which people were sitting. They were given{ God gave those people} authority to judge other people. I also saw the souls of people whose heads had been {whose heads others had} cut off because of their telling people about Jesus and declaring God's message. They were people who refused to worship the beast or its image, and who did not allow the beast's agents to put the beast's mark on them, either on their foreheads or on their hands. They became alive again, and they ruled with Christ during those thousand years."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 20, "verse": "5", "text": "They were the ones who lived again the first time that God caused dead people to live again. The rest of the believers who had died did not live again until after those thousand years."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 20, "verse": "6", "text": "◄ God will be pleased with/ How happy will be► those who live again this first time. God will consider them holy. They will not die [PRS] a second time. Instead, they will be priests who serve God and Christ, and they will rule with Christ during those thousand years."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 20, "verse": "7", "text": "When the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released { God's angel will release Satan} from his prison."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 20, "verse": "8", "text": "He will go out to deceive the rebellious people in nations [IDM] all over the earth. These are the nations that the prophet Ezekiel called Gog and Magog. Satan will gather them to fight against God's people. There will be so many of them fighting against God's people that no one will be able to count them[SIM], just like no one can count the grains of sand on the ocean shore."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 20, "verse": "9", "text": "They will march over the whole earth and will surround the camp of God's people in Jerusalem, the city that God loves. Then God will send fire down from heaven, and it will burn them up."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 20, "verse": "10", "text": "The devil, who had deceived those people, will be thrown { God's angel will throw the devil, who had deceived those people} into the lake of burning sulfur. This is the same lake into which both the beast and the false prophet had been thrown{ he had thrown both the beast and the false prophet}. As a result, they will continually suffer severely forever."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 20, "verse": "11", "text": "Then I saw a huge white throne on which God was sitting. He was so awesome that the earth and the sky disappeared from his presence completely; they were completely destroyed { God completely destroyed them}."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 20, "verse": "12", "text": "I saw that the people who had died but now lived again were standing in front of the throne. They included people of every social status! The books in which God records what people do were opened { God/God's angel opened the books in which God records what people do}. Another book was opened { He opened another book}, which is called the Book of Life, in which God has written the names of people who have eternal life. God judged the people who had died and now lived again according to what they had done, just like he had recorded it in the books."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 20, "verse": "13", "text": "The people whose bodies were buried in the sea became alive again in order to stand before God's throne. Everyone who had been buried on the land (OR, Every person who was waiting in the place where dead people stay) became alive again, in order to stand before the throne. God judged each one of them according to what each one had done."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 20, "verse": "14", "text": "All the unbelievers [PRS, MTY] —those who had been in the place where they waited after they died— were thrown into the burning lake. The burning lake is the place in which people die the second time."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 20, "verse": "15", "text": "The people whose names[MTY] are not in the book, the one where God has written the names of people who have eternal life, were also thrown{◄ God/God's angel► threw them also} into the lake of fire."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 21, "verse": "1", "text": "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had disappeared, and the oceans no longer existed."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 21, "verse": "2", "text": "I saw God's holy city, which is the new city of Jerusalem. It was coming down out of heaven from God. The city had been prepared and decorated{ God had prepared and decorated the city} as [SIM] a bride is decorated {decorates herself} beautifully in order to marry her husband."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 21, "verse": "3", "text": "I heard a loud voice that spoke from the throne of God. It said, “Listen to this! Now God will live with people. He will live right in the midst of them [DOU]! They will be his people. God himself will be with them, and he will be their God."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 21, "verse": "4", "text": "As a result, he will cause them to no longer be sad. It will be as though he will[MTY] wipe every tear from their eyes. None of them will ever again die or mourn or cry [DOU] or suffer pain, because the former things that make us sad will have passed away.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 21, "verse": "5", "text": "Then God, who sits on the throne, said, “Listen to this! I am now making everything new!” He said to me: “Write these things that I have told you, because you can trust that I will certainly cause them to happen.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 21, "verse": "6", "text": "He said to me, “I have completed all these things I am the one who began all things [MET] and the one who will cause all things to end [MET]. To everyone who is spiritually thirsty [MET], I will ◄freely give/give as a free gift► water from the spring that causes people to live forever."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 21, "verse": "7", "text": "I will give this to every person who is victorious over the evil powers(OR, over Satan). I will be their God, and they will be my children."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 21, "verse": "8", "text": "But those who are cowardly, those who do not believe in me, those who do detestable things, those who are murderers, those who sin sexually, those who commit sorcery, those who worship idols, and every liar, will all suffer in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. Anyone who suffers in that lake will be dying the second time.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 21, "verse": "9", "text": "One of the seven angels who had one of the seven bowls that had been full of the wine/liquid causing[MTY] the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come with me and I will show you the people who have permanently united with Christ, the one who is like a lamb! They will be like[MET] a bride for him.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 21, "verse": "10", "text": "Then, while God's Spirit controlled me, the angel took/carried me to the top of a very high mountain. He showed me God's holy city, the New Jerusalem. It was coming down out of heaven from God."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 21, "verse": "11", "text": "It was shining with his glory. The city was shining like a very precious jasper stone shines, and it was clear like crystal."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 21, "verse": "12", "text": "Around the city was a very high wall. The wall had twelve gates. An angel was at each gate. The names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written { God had written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel} over the gates. Each gate had the name of one tribe."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 21, "verse": "13", "text": "Three gates were on the east side, three gates were on the north side, three gates were on the south side, and three gates were on the west side."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 21, "verse": "14", "text": "The wall of the city had twelve foundation stones. On each foundation stone was the name of one of the twelve apostles of Jesus, the one who is like a lamb."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 21, "verse": "15", "text": "The angel who was speaking to me carried a golden measuring rod, in order to measure the city, its gates, and its wall."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 21, "verse": "16", "text": "The city was square in shape; it was as long as it was wide. After the angel measured the city with his rod, he reported that it was◄1,500 miles/2,400 kilometers► long, and that its width and height were each the same as its length."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 21, "verse": "17", "text": "He measured its wall and reported that it was◄ 216 ft./70 meters► thick(OR, high). The angel used the measure that people normally use."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 21, "verse": "18", "text": "The city wall was made of something like the green stone that we call jasper. The city itself was made of something like pure gold that looked like clear glass."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 21, "verse": "19", "text": "The foundations of the wall of the city were beautifully made with wonderful stones that are like precious stones on earth. The first foundation stone was a crystalline stone like jasper, the second foundation stone was a blue stone like sapphire, the third foundation stone was a green stone like agate, the fourth foundation stone was a green stone like emerald,"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 21, "verse": "20", "text": "the fifth foundation stone was a brown and white layered stone like sardonyx, the sixth foundation stone was a red stone like carnelian, the seventh foundation stone was a yellow stone like chrysolite, the eighth foundation stone was a green stone like beryl, the ninth foundation stone was a yellow stone like topaz, the tenth foundation stone was a green stone like chrysoprase, the eleventh foundation stone was a blue stone like hyacinth, the twelfth foundation stone was a purple stone like amethyst."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 21, "verse": "21", "text": "The twelve gates of the city were something like huge pearls. Each gate was like it was a single pearl. The ground of the main plaza of the city (OR, The streets of the city) appeared to be pure gold that looked like clear glass."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 21, "verse": "22", "text": "There was no temple in the city. The Lord God Almighty himself, and the one who is like a lamb, are there, so there was no need for[MET] a temple."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 21, "verse": "23", "text": "The city will not need the sun or the moon to light the city, because the glory of God will light the city, and Jesus, the one who is like a lamb, will also be its light."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 21, "verse": "24", "text": "The people of [MTY] the nations will live with the light of the city shining upon them. And the kings of the earth will bring their wealth into the city to honor God and the one who is like a lamb."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 21, "verse": "25", "text": "The gates of the city will not be shut {No one will shut the gates of the city} at the end of the day as they usually are shut, because there will be no night there."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 21, "verse": "26", "text": "The people of the world will also bring their wealth into the city to honor God and the one who is like a lamb."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 21, "verse": "27", "text": "No one who is morally impure, no one who does deeds that God considers detestable, no one who tells lies, will ever enter that city. Only those people whose names are written in the book of the one who is like a lamb {whose names the one who is like a lamb has written in his book}, the names of people who have eternal life, will be there."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 22, "verse": "1", "text": "The angel showed me the river of water that causes people who drink from it to live forever. The water was sparkling and clear like crystal. The river was flowing out from the throne where God and the one who is like a lamb were sitting."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 22, "verse": "2", "text": "It flowed down through the middle of the main street of the city. On each side of the river were trees having fruit that causes people who eat it to live forever. The trees bear twelve crops(OR, twelve kinds) of fruit; they produce one crop each month. The people of the nations [MTY] use the leaves of the trees as medicine in order that they may be strengthened."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 22, "verse": "3", "text": "There will never be anyone or anything there that God will curse. The throne of God and of the one who is like a lamb will be in the city. And his servants will worship him there."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 22, "verse": "4", "text": "They will see him face-to-face, and his name will be written{ he will write his name} on their foreheads."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 22, "verse": "5", "text": "There will never again be night. God's servants will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will shine his light upon them. And they will rule forever."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 22, "verse": "6", "text": "The angel said to me: “These words that God has revealed to you are true, and he will certainly fulfill them. The Lord God who ◄ inspires the prophets/tells the prophets what to say► sent his angel to show the people who serve him the events that must happen soon.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 22, "verse": "7", "text": "Jesus says to all his people, “Listen to this! I am coming soon; God will abundantly bless everyone who obeys the message that has been written in this book.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 22, "verse": "8", "text": "I, John, am the one who heard and saw in a vision these things that I have written down. When I had heard and seen them, I immediately knelt down at the feet of the angel who was showing them to me, in order to worship him."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 22, "verse": "9", "text": "But he said to me, “Do not worship me I am just your fellow servant! I am also the fellow servant of your fellow believers who are ◄the prophets/the ones who tell messages that come directly from God►, and I am a fellow servant of those who obey the message in this book. Instead, worship God!”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 22, "verse": "10", "text": "He also said to me, “Do not keep secret the message about what God has foretold in this book, because it is almost time [MTY] for him to fulfill this message."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 22, "verse": "11", "text": "Since that time is near, if those who act in an evil manner want to continue to act that way [IRO], that is up to them. God will soon◄ pay them back/punish them► for that. If those who are vile want to continue to be vile [IRO], that is up to them. God will soon◄ pay them back/punish them► for that. Those who are acting righteously should continue to act righteously. Those who are holy should continue to be holy.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 22, "verse": "12", "text": "Jesus says to all people: “Listen! I am coming soon! And I will pay back and punish or reward everyone according to what each one has done."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 22, "verse": "13", "text": "I am the one who began all things [MET] and the one who will cause all things to end [MET]. I am before all things and I am at the end of all things[DOU]."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 22, "verse": "14", "text": "God is very pleased with the people who wash their robes, making themselves spiritually clean[MET], because they will be able to eat the fruit of[MTY] the tree that enables people to live forever, and because they will be able to enter the gates into the holy city."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 22, "verse": "15", "text": "Outside are people who are unholy. They include people who practice sorcery, people who sin sexually, murderers, idol worshipers, and all people who enjoy telling lies and are continual liars. They can never enter that city.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 22, "verse": "16", "text": "“I, Jesus, sent my angel in order that he might say to you who are in the congregations that all these things are true. I am the descendant of King David whom the prophets promised would come[MET]. I am the one who is like the bright morning star [MET], the one that Moses promised would come.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 22, "verse": "17", "text": "God's Spirit and his people, who are like[MET] the bride of Christ, say to each one who desires to believe, “Come!” Whoever hears this should also say to each one who desires to believe, “Come!” The spiritually thirsty people should come[MET]! Everyone who desires the water that enables people to live forever should take it as a free gift!"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 22, "verse": "18", "text": "“I, Jesus, solemnly warn everyone who hears the message about what I have foretold in this book: If anyone adds anything to this message, God will cause him to experience the plagues that are {that I have} described in this book."}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 22, "verse": "19", "text": "If anyone takes away any of the message about what I have foretold in this book, God will take away that person's right to eat fruit from[MTY] the tree that enables people to live forever. He will also take away that person's right to enter God's city. Both these things are described { I have described both these things} in this book.”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 22, "verse": "20", "text": "Jesus, who says that all these things are true, says, “Certainly I am coming soon!” I, John, reply, “◄May it be so!/Amen!► Lord Jesus, come!”"}
{"book": "REV", "chapter": 22, "verse": "21", "text": "I pray that our Lord Jesus will continue to act kindly to all of you who are God's people. ◄Amen!/May it be so!►"}