Pawprints & Prayers: Devotions for Dog Lovers

Daily Wisdom: A Proverb-a-Day

He Is My Provision

Acts 18:24-19:22 | You Don't Need to Know It All

Shattered, Still Chosen

See God’s Peace: 3 Days of Visio Divina

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One Minute, One Verse, One Prayer: Truth & Faith

Pawprints & Prayers: Dog Devotions on Comfort and Compassion

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkMRK">
      <div class="chapter ch16" data-usfm="MRK.16">
         <div class="label">16</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Jesus Has Risen</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="MRK.16.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus&#8217; body. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="MRK.16.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="MRK.16.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">and they asked each other, &#8220;Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="MRK.16.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="MRK.16.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="MRK.16.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="MRK.16.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="MRK.16.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">&#8220;Don&#8217;t be alarmed,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="MRK.16.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">But go, tell his disciples and Peter, &#8216;He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="MRK.16.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="MRK.16.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">16:8 </span><span class="ft">Some manuscripts have the following ending between verses 8 and 9, and one manuscript has it after verse 8 (omitting verses 9-20): </span><span class="fqa">Then they quickly reported all these instructions to those around Peter. After this, Jesus himself also sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation. Amen.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="iex"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="MRK.16.8"><span class="content">[The earliest manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses do not have verses 9&#8211;20.]</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="MRK.16.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="MRK.16.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">  </span><span class="it"><span class="content">When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons.</span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="MRK.16.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="it"><span class="content">She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping.</span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="MRK.16.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="it"><span class="content">When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.</span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="MRK.16.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="MRK.16.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">  </span><span class="it"><span class="content">Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country.</span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="MRK.16.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="it"><span class="content">These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.</span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="MRK.16.13"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="MRK.16.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">  </span><span class="it"><span class="content">Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.</span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="MRK.16.14"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="MRK.16.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">  </span><span class="it"><span class="content">He said to them, </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">&#8220;Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.</span></span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="MRK.16.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="it"><span class="wj"><span class="content">Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.</span></span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="MRK.16.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="it"><span class="wj"><span class="content">And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues;</span></span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="MRK.16.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="it"><span class="wj"><span class="content">they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.&#8221;</span></span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="MRK.16.18"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="MRK.16.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">  </span><span class="it"><span class="content">After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God.</span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="MRK.16.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="it"><span class="content">Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.</span></span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkGEN">
      <div class="chapter ch44" data-usfm="GEN.44">
         <div class="label">44</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">A Silver Cup in a Sack</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="GEN.44.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Now Joseph gave these instructions to the steward of his house: &#8220;Fill the men&#8217;s sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each man&#8217;s silver in the mouth of his sack. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="GEN.44.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">Then put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one&#8217;s sack, along with the silver for his grain.&#8221; And he did as Joseph said.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="GEN.44.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="GEN.44.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">As morning dawned, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys. </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="GEN.44.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">They had not gone far from the city when Joseph said to his steward, &#8220;Go after those men at once, and when you catch up with them, say to them, &#8216;Why have you repaid good with evil? </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="GEN.44.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">Isn&#8217;t this the cup my master drinks from and also uses for divination? This is a wicked thing you have done.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="GEN.44.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="GEN.44.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">When he caught up with them, he repeated these words to them. </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="GEN.44.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">But they said to him, &#8220;Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your servants to do anything like that! </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="GEN.44.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">We even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the silver we found inside the mouths of our sacks. So why would we steal silver or gold from your master&#8217;s house? </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="GEN.44.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">If any of your servants is found to have it, he will die; and the rest of us will become my lord&#8217;s slaves.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="GEN.44.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="GEN.44.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">&#8220;Very well, then,&#8221; he said, &#8220;let it be as you say. Whoever is found to have it will become my slave; the rest of you will be free from blame.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="GEN.44.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="GEN.44.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">Each of them quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it. </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="GEN.44.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">Then the steward proceeded to search, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin&#8217;s sack. </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="GEN.44.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">At this, they tore their clothes. Then they all loaded their donkeys and returned to the city.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="GEN.44.13"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="GEN.44.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">Joseph was still in the house when Judah and his brothers came in, and they threw themselves to the ground before him. </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="GEN.44.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">Joseph said to them, &#8220;What is this you have done? Don&#8217;t you know that a man like me can find things out by divination?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="GEN.44.15"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="GEN.44.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">&#8220;What can we say to my lord?&#8221; Judah replied. &#8220;What can we say? How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servants&#8217; guilt. We are now my lord&#8217;s slaves&#8212;we ourselves and the one who was found to have the cup.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="GEN.44.16"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="GEN.44.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">But Joseph said, &#8220;Far be it from me to do such a thing! Only the man who was found to have the cup will become my slave. The rest of you, go back to your father in peace.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="GEN.44.17"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="GEN.44.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">Then Judah went up to him and said: &#8220;Pardon your servant, my lord, let me speak a word to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, though you are equal to Pharaoh himself. </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="GEN.44.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">My lord asked his servants, &#8216;Do you have a father or a brother?&#8217; </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="GEN.44.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">And we answered, &#8216;We have an aged father, and there is a young son born to him in his old age. His brother is dead, and he is the only one of his mother&#8217;s sons left, and his father loves him.&#8217;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="GEN.44.20"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="GEN.44.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">&#8220;Then you said to your servants, &#8216;Bring him down to me so I can see him for myself.&#8217; </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="GEN.44.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">And we said to my lord, &#8216;The boy cannot leave his father; if he leaves him, his father will die.&#8217; </span></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="GEN.44.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">But you told your servants, &#8216;Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.&#8217; </span></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="GEN.44.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="content">When we went back to your servant my father, we told him what my lord had said.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="GEN.44.24"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="GEN.44.25"><span class="label">25</span><span class="content">&#8220;Then our father said, &#8216;Go back and buy a little more food.&#8217; </span></span><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="GEN.44.26"><span class="label">26</span><span class="content">But we said, &#8216;We cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go. We cannot see the man&#8217;s face unless our youngest brother is with us.&#8217;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="GEN.44.26"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="GEN.44.27"><span class="label">27</span><span class="content">&#8220;Your servant my father said to us, &#8216;You know that my wife bore me two sons. </span></span><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="GEN.44.28"><span class="label">28</span><span class="content">One of them went away from me, and I said, &#8220;He has surely been torn to pieces.&#8221; And I have not seen him since. </span></span><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="GEN.44.29"><span class="label">29</span><span class="content">If you take this one from me too and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in misery.&#8217;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="GEN.44.29"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v30" data-usfm="GEN.44.30"><span class="label">30</span><span class="content">&#8220;So now, if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant my father, and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy&#8217;s life, </span></span><span class="verse v31" data-usfm="GEN.44.31"><span class="label">31</span><span class="content">sees that the boy isn&#8217;t there, he will die. Your servants will bring the gray head of our father down to the grave in sorrow. </span></span><span class="verse v32" data-usfm="GEN.44.32"><span class="label">32</span><span class="content">Your servant guaranteed the boy&#8217;s safety to my father. I said, &#8216;If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before you, my father, all my life!&#8217;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v32" data-usfm="GEN.44.32"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v33" data-usfm="GEN.44.33"><span class="label">33</span><span class="content">&#8220;Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord&#8217;s slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. </span></span><span class="verse v34" data-usfm="GEN.44.34"><span class="label">34</span><span class="content">How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come on my father.&#8221;</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bk2CO">
      <div class="chapter ch12" data-usfm="2CO.12">
         <div class="label">12</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Paul&#8217;s Vision and His Thorn</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="2CO.12.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="2CO.12.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know&#8212;God knows. </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="2CO.12.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">And I know that this man&#8212;whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows&#8212; </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="2CO.12.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="2CO.12.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="2CO.12.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="2CO.12.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="2CO.12.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="2CO.12.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">But he said to me, </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">&#8220;My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.&#8221;</span></span><span class="content"> Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ&#8217;s power may rest on me. </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="2CO.12.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">That is why, for Christ&#8217;s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Paul&#8217;s Concern for the Corinthians</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="2CO.12.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="2CO.12.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">I have made a fool of myself, but you drove me to it. I ought to have been commended by you, for I am not in the least inferior to the &#8220;super-apostles,&#8221;</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">12:11 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">the most eminent apostles</span></span></span><span class="content"> even though I am nothing. </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="2CO.12.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">I persevered in demonstrating among you the marks of a true apostle, including signs, wonders and miracles. </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="2CO.12.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">How were you inferior to the other churches, except that I was never a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong!</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="2CO.12.13"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="2CO.12.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">Now I am ready to visit you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you, because what I want is not your possessions but you. After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="2CO.12.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">So I will very gladly spend for you everything I have and expend myself as well. If I love you more, will you love me less? </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="2CO.12.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">Be that as it may, I have not been a burden to you. Yet, crafty fellow that I am, I caught you by trickery! </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="2CO.12.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">Did I exploit you through any of the men I sent to you? </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="2CO.12.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">I urged Titus to go to you and I sent our brother with him. Titus did not exploit you, did he? Did we not walk in the same footsteps by the same Spirit?</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="2CO.12.18"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="2CO.12.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? We have been speaking in the sight of God as those in Christ; and everything we do, dear friends, is for your strengthening. </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="2CO.12.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder. </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="2CO.12.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have indulged.</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkREV">
      <div class="chapter ch1" data-usfm="REV.1">
         <div class="label">1</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Prologue</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="REV.1.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="REV.1.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">who testifies to everything he saw&#8212;that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="REV.1.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Greetings and Doxology</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="REV.1.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="REV.1.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">John,</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="REV.1.4"><span class="content">To the seven churches in the province of Asia:</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="REV.1.4"><span class="content">Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">1:4 </span><span class="ft">That is, the sevenfold Spirit</span></span></span><span class="content"> before his throne, </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="REV.1.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="REV.1.5"><span class="content">To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="REV.1.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father&#8212;to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="REV.1.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="REV.1.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">&#8220;Look, he is coming with the clouds,&#8221;</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">1:7 </span><span class="ft">Daniel 7:13</span></span></span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="REV.1.7"><span class="content">and &#8220;every eye will see him,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="REV.1.7"><span class="content">even those who pierced him&#8221;;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="REV.1.7"><span class="content">and all peoples on earth &#8220;will mourn because of him.&#8221;</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">1:7 </span><span class="ft">Zech. 12:10</span></span></span></span></div><div class="q4"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="REV.1.7"><span class="content">So shall it be! Amen.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="REV.1.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="REV.1.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">&#8220;I am the Alpha and the Omega,&#8221; says the Lord God, &#8220;who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">John&#8217;s Vision of Christ</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="REV.1.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="REV.1.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="REV.1.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">On the Lord&#8217;s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="REV.1.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">which said: </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">&#8220;Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.&#8221;</span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="REV.1.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="REV.1.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="REV.1.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man,</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">1:13 </span><span class="ft">See Daniel 7:13.</span></span></span><span class="content"> dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="REV.1.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="REV.1.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="REV.1.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="REV.1.16"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="REV.1.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">&#8220;Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.</span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="REV.1.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="wj"><span class="content">I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.</span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="REV.1.18"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="REV.1.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">  </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">&#8220;Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later.</span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="REV.1.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="wj"><span class="content">The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels</span></span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">1:20 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">messengers</span></span></span><span class="content">  </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.</span></span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkECC">
      <div class="chapter ch2" data-usfm="ECC.2">
         <div class="label">2</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Pleasures Are Meaningless</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.2.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">I said to myself, &#8220;Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.&#8221; But that also proved to be meaningless. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.2.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">&#8220;Laughter,&#8221; I said, &#8220;is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.2.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly&#8212;my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.2.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.2.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.2.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.2.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.2.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.2.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">2:8 </span><span class="ft">The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.</span></span></span><span class="content"> as well&#8212;the delights of a man&#8217;s heart. </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.2.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.2.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.2.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.2.10"><span class="content">I refused my heart no pleasure.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.2.10"><span class="content">My heart took delight in all my labor,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.2.10"><span class="content">and this was the reward for all my toil.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.2.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.2.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.2.11"><span class="content">and what I had toiled to achieve,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.2.11"><span class="content">everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.2.11"><span class="content">nothing was gained under the sun.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Wisdom and Folly Are Meaningless</span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.2.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.2.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.2.12"><span class="content">and also madness and folly.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.2.12"><span class="content">What more can the king&#8217;s successor do</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.2.12"><span class="content">than what has already been done?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.2.12"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.2.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">I saw that wisdom is better than folly,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.2.13"><span class="content">just as light is better than darkness.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.2.13"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.2.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">The wise have eyes in their heads,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.2.14"><span class="content">while the fool walks in the darkness;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.2.14"><span class="content">but I came to realize</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.2.14"><span class="content">that the same fate overtakes them both.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.2.14"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.2.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">Then I said to myself,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.2.15"><span class="content">&#8220;The fate of the fool will overtake me also.</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.2.15"><span class="content">What then do I gain by being wise?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.2.15"><span class="content">I said to myself,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.2.15"><span class="content">&#8220;This too is meaningless.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ECC.2.15"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.2.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.2.16"><span class="content">the days have already come when both have been forgotten.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.2.16"><span class="content">Like the fool, the wise too must die!</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Toil Is Meaningless</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ECC.2.16"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ECC.2.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="ECC.2.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="ECC.2.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="ECC.2.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="ECC.2.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="ECC.2.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? </span></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="ECC.2.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="ECC.2.23"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="ECC.2.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="content">A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, </span></span><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="ECC.2.25"><span class="label">25</span><span class="content">for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? </span></span><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="ECC.2.26"><span class="label">26</span><span class="content">To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkPSA">
      <div class="chapter ch44" data-usfm="PSA.44">
         <div class="label">44</div><div class="cl"><span class="heading">Psalm 44</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft"><span class="heading">In Hebrew texts 44:1-26 is numbered 44:2-27.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="d"><span class="content">For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A </span><span class="tl"><span class="content">maskil.</span></span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft">Title: Probably a literary or musical term</span></span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.44.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">We have heard it with our ears, O God;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.44.1"><span class="content">our ancestors have told us</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.44.1"><span class="content">what you did in their days,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.44.1"><span class="content">in days long ago.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.44.1"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.44.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">With your hand you drove out the nations</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.44.2"><span class="content">and planted our ancestors;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.44.2"><span class="content">you crushed the peoples</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.44.2"><span class="content">and made our ancestors flourish.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.44.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.44.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">It was not by their sword that they won the land,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.44.3"><span class="content">nor did their arm bring them victory;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.44.3"><span class="content">it was your right hand, your arm,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.44.3"><span class="content">and the light of your face, for you loved them.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.44.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.44.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">You are my King and my God,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.44.4"><span class="content">who decrees</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">44:4 </span><span class="ft">Septuagint, Aquila and Syriac; Hebrew </span><span class="fqa">King, O God; / command</span></span></span><span class="content"> victories for Jacob.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.44.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.44.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">Through you we push back our enemies;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.44.5"><span class="content">through your name we trample our foes.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.44.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PSA.44.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">I put no trust in my bow,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PSA.44.6"><span class="content">my sword does not bring me victory;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PSA.44.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PSA.44.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">but you give us victory over our enemies,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PSA.44.7"><span class="content">you put our adversaries to shame.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PSA.44.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PSA.44.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">In God we make our boast all day long,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PSA.44.8"><span class="content">and we will praise your name forever.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">44:8 </span><span class="ft">The Hebrew has </span><span class="fqa">Selah </span><span class="ft">(a word of uncertain meaning) here.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PSA.44.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PSA.44.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">But now you have rejected and humbled us;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PSA.44.9"><span class="content">you no longer go out with our armies.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PSA.44.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="PSA.44.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">You made us retreat before the enemy,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="PSA.44.10"><span class="content">and our adversaries have plundered us.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="PSA.44.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="PSA.44.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">You gave us up to be devoured like sheep</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="PSA.44.11"><span class="content">and have scattered us among the nations.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="PSA.44.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="PSA.44.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">You sold your people for a pittance,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="PSA.44.12"><span class="content">gaining nothing from their sale.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="PSA.44.12"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="PSA.44.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">You have made us a reproach to our neighbors,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="PSA.44.13"><span class="content">the scorn and derision of those around us.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="PSA.44.13"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="PSA.44.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">You have made us a byword among the nations;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="PSA.44.14"><span class="content">the peoples shake their heads at us.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="PSA.44.14"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="PSA.44.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">I live in disgrace all day long,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="PSA.44.15"><span class="content">and my face is covered with shame</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="PSA.44.15"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="PSA.44.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">at the taunts of those who reproach and revile me,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="PSA.44.16"><span class="content">because of the enemy, who is bent on revenge.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="PSA.44.16"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="PSA.44.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">All this came upon us,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="PSA.44.17"><span class="content">though we had not forgotten you;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="PSA.44.17"><span class="content">we had not been false to your covenant.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="PSA.44.17"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="PSA.44.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">Our hearts had not turned back;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="PSA.44.18"><span class="content">our feet had not strayed from your path.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="PSA.44.18"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="PSA.44.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">But you crushed us and made us a haunt for jackals;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="PSA.44.19"><span class="content">you covered us over with deep darkness.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="PSA.44.19"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="PSA.44.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">If we had forgotten the name of our God</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="PSA.44.20"><span class="content">or spread out our hands to a foreign god,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="PSA.44.20"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="PSA.44.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">would not God have discovered it,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="PSA.44.21"><span class="content">since he knows the secrets of the heart?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="PSA.44.21"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="PSA.44.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">Yet for your sake we face death all day long;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="PSA.44.22"><span class="content">we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="PSA.44.22"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="PSA.44.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">Awake, Lord! Why do you sleep?</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="PSA.44.23"><span class="content">Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="PSA.44.23"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="PSA.44.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="content">Why do you hide your face</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="PSA.44.24"><span class="content">and forget our misery and oppression?</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="PSA.44.24"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="PSA.44.25"><span class="label">25</span><span class="content">We are brought down to the dust;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="PSA.44.25"><span class="content">our bodies cling to the ground.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="PSA.44.25"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="PSA.44.26"><span class="label">26</span><span class="content">Rise up and help us;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="PSA.44.26"><span class="content">rescue us because of your unfailing love.</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkPRO">
      <div class="chapter ch13" data-usfm="PRO.13">
         <div class="label">13</div><div class="q1"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PRO.13.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">A wise son heeds his father&#8217;s instruction,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PRO.13.1"><span class="content">but a mocker does not respond to rebukes.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PRO.13.1"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PRO.13.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">From the fruit of their lips people enjoy good things,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PRO.13.2"><span class="content">but the unfaithful have an appetite for violence.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PRO.13.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PRO.13.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Those who guard their lips preserve their lives,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PRO.13.3"><span class="content">but those who speak rashly will come to ruin.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PRO.13.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PRO.13.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">A sluggard&#8217;s appetite is never filled,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PRO.13.4"><span class="content">but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PRO.13.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PRO.13.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">The righteous hate what is false,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PRO.13.5"><span class="content">but the wicked make themselves a stench</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PRO.13.5"><span class="content">and bring shame on themselves.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PRO.13.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PRO.13.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">Righteousness guards the person of integrity,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PRO.13.6"><span class="content">but wickedness overthrows the sinner.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PRO.13.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PRO.13.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">One person pretends to be rich, yet has nothing;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PRO.13.7"><span class="content">another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PRO.13.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PRO.13.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">A person&#8217;s riches may ransom their life,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PRO.13.8"><span class="content">but the poor cannot respond to threatening rebukes.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PRO.13.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PRO.13.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">The light of the righteous shines brightly,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PRO.13.9"><span class="content">but the lamp of the wicked is snuffed out.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PRO.13.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="PRO.13.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">Where there is strife, there is pride,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="PRO.13.10"><span class="content">but wisdom is found in those who take advice.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="PRO.13.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="PRO.13.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">Dishonest money dwindles away,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="PRO.13.11"><span class="content">but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="PRO.13.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="PRO.13.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">Hope deferred makes the heart sick,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="PRO.13.12"><span class="content">but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="PRO.13.12"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="PRO.13.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">Whoever scorns instruction will pay for it,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="PRO.13.13"><span class="content">but whoever respects a command is rewarded.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="PRO.13.13"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="PRO.13.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="PRO.13.14"><span class="content">turning a person from the snares of death.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="PRO.13.14"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="PRO.13.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">Good judgment wins favor,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="PRO.13.15"><span class="content">but the way of the unfaithful leads to their destruction.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">13:15 </span><span class="ft">Septuagint and Syriac; the meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="PRO.13.15"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="PRO.13.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">All who are prudent act with</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">13:16 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">prudent protect themselves through</span></span></span><span class="content"> knowledge,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="PRO.13.16"><span class="content">but fools expose their folly.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="PRO.13.16"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="PRO.13.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">A wicked messenger falls into trouble,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="PRO.13.17"><span class="content">but a trustworthy envoy brings healing.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="PRO.13.17"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="PRO.13.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">Whoever disregards discipline comes to poverty and shame,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="PRO.13.18"><span class="content">but whoever heeds correction is honored.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="PRO.13.18"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="PRO.13.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">A longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="PRO.13.19"><span class="content">but fools detest turning from evil.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="PRO.13.19"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="PRO.13.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">Walk with the wise and become wise,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="PRO.13.20"><span class="content">for a companion of fools suffers harm.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="PRO.13.20"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="PRO.13.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">Trouble pursues the sinner,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="PRO.13.21"><span class="content">but the righteous are rewarded with good things.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="PRO.13.21"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="PRO.13.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">A good person leaves an inheritance for their children&#8217;s children,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="PRO.13.22"><span class="content">but a sinner&#8217;s wealth is stored up for the righteous.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="PRO.13.22"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="PRO.13.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">An unplowed field produces food for the poor,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="PRO.13.23"><span class="content">but injustice sweeps it away.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="PRO.13.23"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="PRO.13.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="content">Whoever spares the rod hates their children,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="PRO.13.24"><span class="content">but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="PRO.13.24"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="PRO.13.25"><span class="label">25</span><span class="content">The righteous eat to their hearts&#8217; content,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="PRO.13.25"><span class="content">but the stomach of the wicked goes hungry.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkJDG">
      <div class="chapter ch20" data-usfm="JDG.20">
         <div class="label">20</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">The Israelites Punish the Benjamites</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="JDG.20.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Then all Israel from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came together as one and assembled before the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> in Mizpah. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="JDG.20.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">The leaders of all the people of the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of God&#8217;s people, four hundred thousand men armed with swords. </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="JDG.20.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">(The Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the Israelites said, &#8220;Tell us how this awful thing happened.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="JDG.20.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="JDG.20.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, said, &#8220;I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night. </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="JDG.20.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">During the night the men of Gibeah came after me and surrounded the house, intending to kill me. They raped my concubine, and she died. </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="JDG.20.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">I took my concubine, cut her into pieces and sent one piece to each region of Israel&#8217;s inheritance, because they committed this lewd and outrageous act in Israel. </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="JDG.20.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">Now, all you Israelites, speak up and tell me what you have decided to do.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="JDG.20.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="JDG.20.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">All the men rose up together as one, saying, &#8220;None of us will go home. No, not one of us will return to his house. </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="JDG.20.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">But now this is what we&#8217;ll do to Gibeah: We&#8217;ll go up against it in the order decided by casting lots. </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="JDG.20.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">We&#8217;ll take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred from a thousand, and a thousand from ten thousand, to get provisions for the army. Then, when the army arrives at Gibeah</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">20:10 </span><span class="ft">One Hebrew manuscript; most Hebrew manuscripts </span><span class="fqa">Geba, </span><span class="ft">a variant of </span><span class="fq">Gibeah</span></span></span><span class="content"> in Benjamin, it can give them what they deserve for this outrageous act done in Israel.&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="JDG.20.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">So all the Israelites got together and united as one against the city.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="JDG.20.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="JDG.20.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">The tribes of Israel sent messengers throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, &#8220;What about this awful crime that was committed among you? </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="JDG.20.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">Now turn those wicked men of Gibeah over to us so that we may put them to death and purge the evil from Israel.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="JDG.20.13"><span class="content">But the Benjamites would not listen to their fellow Israelites. </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="JDG.20.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">From their towns they came together at Gibeah to fight against the Israelites. </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="JDG.20.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">At once the Benjamites mobilized twenty-six thousand swordsmen from their towns, in addition to seven hundred able young men from those living in Gibeah. </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="JDG.20.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred select troops who were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="JDG.20.16"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="JDG.20.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand swordsmen, all of them fit for battle.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="JDG.20.17"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="JDG.20.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">The Israelites went up to Bethel</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">20:18 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">to the house of God</span><span class="ft">; also in verse 26</span></span></span><span class="content"> and inquired of God. They said, &#8220;Who of us is to go up first to fight against the Benjamites?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="JDG.20.18"><span class="content">The </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> replied, &#8220;Judah shall go first.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="JDG.20.18"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="JDG.20.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">The next morning the Israelites got up and pitched camp near Gibeah. </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="JDG.20.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">The Israelites went out to fight the Benjamites and took up battle positions against them at Gibeah. </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="JDG.20.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">The Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelites on the battlefield that day. </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="JDG.20.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">But the Israelites encouraged one another and again took up their positions where they had stationed themselves the first day. </span></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="JDG.20.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">The Israelites went up and wept before the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> until evening, and they inquired of the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">. They said, &#8220;Shall we go up again to fight against the Benjamites, our fellow Israelites?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="JDG.20.23"><span class="content">The </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> answered, &#8220;Go up against them.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="JDG.20.23"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="JDG.20.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="content">Then the Israelites drew near to Benjamin the second day. </span></span><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="JDG.20.25"><span class="label">25</span><span class="content">This time, when the Benjamites came out from Gibeah to oppose them, they cut down another eighteen thousand Israelites, all of them armed with swords.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="JDG.20.25"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="JDG.20.26"><span class="label">26</span><span class="content">Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">. </span></span><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="JDG.20.27"><span class="label">27</span><span class="content">And the Israelites inquired of the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">. (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there, </span></span><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="JDG.20.28"><span class="label">28</span><span class="content">with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministering before it.) They asked, &#8220;Shall we go up again to fight against the Benjamites, our fellow Israelites, or not?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="JDG.20.28"><span class="content">The </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> responded, &#8220;Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="JDG.20.28"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="JDG.20.29"><span class="label">29</span><span class="content">Then Israel set an ambush around Gibeah. </span></span><span class="verse v30" data-usfm="JDG.20.30"><span class="label">30</span><span class="content">They went up against the Benjamites on the third day and took up positions against Gibeah as they had done before. </span></span><span class="verse v31" data-usfm="JDG.20.31"><span class="label">31</span><span class="content">The Benjamites came out to meet them and were drawn away from the city. They began to inflict casualties on the Israelites as before, so that about thirty men fell in the open field and on the roads&#8212;the one leading to Bethel and the other to Gibeah. </span></span><span class="verse v32" data-usfm="JDG.20.32"><span class="label">32</span><span class="content">While the Benjamites were saying, &#8220;We are defeating them as before,&#8221; the Israelites were saying, &#8220;Let&#8217;s retreat and draw them away from the city to the roads.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v32" data-usfm="JDG.20.32"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v33" data-usfm="JDG.20.33"><span class="label">33</span><span class="content">All the men of Israel moved from their places and took up positions at Baal Tamar, and the Israelite ambush charged out of its place on the west</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">20:33 </span><span class="ft">Some Septuagint manuscripts and Vulgate; the meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.</span></span></span><span class="content"> of Gibeah.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">20:33 </span><span class="ft">Hebrew </span><span class="fqa">Geba, </span><span class="ft">a variant of </span><span class="fq">Gibeah</span></span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v34" data-usfm="JDG.20.34"><span class="label">34</span><span class="content">Then ten thousand of Israel&#8217;s able young men made a frontal attack on Gibeah. The fighting was so heavy that the Benjamites did not realize how near disaster was. </span></span><span class="verse v35" data-usfm="JDG.20.35"><span class="label">35</span><span class="content">The </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> defeated Benjamin before Israel, and on that day the Israelites struck down 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords. </span></span><span class="verse v36" data-usfm="JDG.20.36"><span class="label">36</span><span class="content">Then the Benjamites saw that they were beaten.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v36" data-usfm="JDG.20.36"><span class="content">Now the men of Israel had given way before Benjamin, because they relied on the ambush they had set near Gibeah. </span></span><span class="verse v37" data-usfm="JDG.20.37"><span class="label">37</span><span class="content">Those who had been in ambush made a sudden dash into Gibeah, spread out and put the whole city to the sword. </span></span><span class="verse v38" data-usfm="JDG.20.38"><span class="label">38</span><span class="content">The Israelites had arranged with the ambush that they should send up a great cloud of smoke from the city, </span></span><span class="verse v39" data-usfm="JDG.20.39"><span class="label">39</span><span class="content">and then the Israelites would counterattack.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v39" data-usfm="JDG.20.39"><span class="content">The Benjamites had begun to inflict casualties on the Israelites (about thirty), and they said, &#8220;We are defeating them as in the first battle.&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v40" data-usfm="JDG.20.40"><span class="label">40</span><span class="content">But when the column of smoke began to rise from the city, the Benjamites turned and saw the whole city going up in smoke. </span></span><span class="verse v41" data-usfm="JDG.20.41"><span class="label">41</span><span class="content">Then the Israelites counterattacked, and the Benjamites were terrified, because they realized that disaster had come on them. </span></span><span class="verse v42" data-usfm="JDG.20.42"><span class="label">42</span><span class="content">So they fled before the Israelites in the direction of the wilderness, but they could not escape the battle. And the Israelites who came out of the towns cut them down there. </span></span><span class="verse v43" data-usfm="JDG.20.43"><span class="label">43</span><span class="content">They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them and easily</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">20:43 </span><span class="ft">The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.</span></span></span><span class="content"> overran them in the vicinity of Gibeah on the east. </span></span><span class="verse v44" data-usfm="JDG.20.44"><span class="label">44</span><span class="content">Eighteen thousand Benjamites fell, all of them valiant fighters. </span></span><span class="verse v45" data-usfm="JDG.20.45"><span class="label">45</span><span class="content">As they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, the Israelites cut down five thousand men along the roads. They kept pressing after the Benjamites as far as Gidom and struck down two thousand more.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v45" data-usfm="JDG.20.45"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v46" data-usfm="JDG.20.46"><span class="label">46</span><span class="content">On that day twenty-five thousand Benjamite swordsmen fell, all of them valiant fighters. </span></span><span class="verse v47" data-usfm="JDG.20.47"><span class="label">47</span><span class="content">But six hundred of them turned and fled into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, where they stayed four months. </span></span><span class="verse v48" data-usfm="JDG.20.48"><span class="label">48</span><span class="content">The men of Israel went back to Benjamin and put all the towns to the sword, including the animals and everything else they found. All the towns they came across they set on fire.</span></span></div>
      </div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkACT">
      <div class="chapter ch16" data-usfm="ACT.16">
         <div class="label">16</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Timothy Joins Paul and Silas</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ACT.16.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ACT.16.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ACT.16.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ACT.16.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ACT.16.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Paul&#8217;s Vision of the Man of Macedonia</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ACT.16.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ACT.16.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ACT.16.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ACT.16.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ACT.16.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, &#8220;Come over to Macedonia and help us.&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ACT.16.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Lydia&#8217;s Conversion in Philippi</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ACT.16.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ACT.16.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ACT.16.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">16:12 </span><span class="ft">The text and meaning of the Greek for </span><span class="fqa">the leading city of that district </span><span class="ft">are uncertain.</span></span></span><span class="content"> of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ACT.16.12"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ACT.16.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ACT.16.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul&#8217;s message. </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ACT.16.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. &#8220;If you consider me a believer in the Lord,&#8221; she said, &#8220;come and stay at my house.&#8221; And she persuaded us.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Paul and Silas in Prison</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ACT.16.15"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ACT.16.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ACT.16.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, &#8220;These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="ACT.16.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, &#8220;In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!&#8221; At that moment the spirit left her.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="ACT.16.18"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="ACT.16.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="ACT.16.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">They brought them before the magistrates and said, &#8220;These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="ACT.16.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="ACT.16.21"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="ACT.16.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. </span></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="ACT.16.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. </span></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="ACT.16.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="content">When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="ACT.16.24"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="ACT.16.25"><span class="label">25</span><span class="content">About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. </span></span><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="ACT.16.26"><span class="label">26</span><span class="content">Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone&#8217;s chains came loose. </span></span><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="ACT.16.27"><span class="label">27</span><span class="content">The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. </span></span><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="ACT.16.28"><span class="label">28</span><span class="content">But Paul shouted, &#8220;Don&#8217;t harm yourself! We are all here!&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="ACT.16.28"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="ACT.16.29"><span class="label">29</span><span class="content">The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. </span></span><span class="verse v30" data-usfm="ACT.16.30"><span class="label">30</span><span class="content">He then brought them out and asked, &#8220;Sirs, what must I do to be saved?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v30" data-usfm="ACT.16.30"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v31" data-usfm="ACT.16.31"><span class="label">31</span><span class="content">They replied, &#8220;Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved&#8212;you and your household.&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v32" data-usfm="ACT.16.32"><span class="label">32</span><span class="content">Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. </span></span><span class="verse v33" data-usfm="ACT.16.33"><span class="label">33</span><span class="content">At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. </span></span><span class="verse v34" data-usfm="ACT.16.34"><span class="label">34</span><span class="content">The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God&#8212;he and his whole household.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v34" data-usfm="ACT.16.34"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v35" data-usfm="ACT.16.35"><span class="label">35</span><span class="content">When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: &#8220;Release those men.&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v36" data-usfm="ACT.16.36"><span class="label">36</span><span class="content">The jailer told Paul, &#8220;The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v36" data-usfm="ACT.16.36"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v37" data-usfm="ACT.16.37"><span class="label">37</span><span class="content">But Paul said to the officers: &#8220;They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v37" data-usfm="ACT.16.37"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v38" data-usfm="ACT.16.38"><span class="label">38</span><span class="content">The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed. </span></span><span class="verse v39" data-usfm="ACT.16.39"><span class="label">39</span><span class="content">They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city. </span></span><span class="verse v40" data-usfm="ACT.16.40"><span class="label">40</span><span class="content">After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia&#8217;s house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them. Then they left.</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

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