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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 bkJOS">
      <div class="chapter ch16" data-usfm="JOS.16">
         <div class="label">16</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Allotment for Ephraim and Manasseh</span></div><div class="pi1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="JOS.16.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">The allotment for Joseph began at the Jordan, east of the springs of Jericho, and went up from there through the desert into the hill country of Bethel. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="JOS.16.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">It went on from Bethel (that is, Luz),</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="fr">16:2 </span><span class="ft">Septuagint; Hebrew </span><span class="fqa">Bethel to Luz</span></span></span><span class="content"> crossed over to the territory of the Arkites in Ataroth, </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="JOS.16.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">descended westward to the territory of the Japhletites as far as the region of Lower Beth Horon and on to Gezer, ending at the Mediterranean Sea.</span></span></div><div class="m"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="JOS.16.3"></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="JOS.16.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">So Manasseh and Ephraim, the descendants of Joseph, received their inheritance.</span></span></div><div class="b"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="JOS.16.4"></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="JOS.16.4"></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="JOS.16.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">This was the territory of Ephraim, according to its clans:</span></span></div><div class="b"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="JOS.16.5"></span></div><div class="pi1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="JOS.16.5"><span class="content">The boundary of their inheritance went from Ataroth Addar in the east to Upper Beth Horon </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="JOS.16.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">and continued to the Mediterranean Sea. From Mikmethath on the north it curved eastward to Taanath Shiloh, passing by it to Janoah on the east. </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="JOS.16.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">Then it went down from Janoah to Ataroth and Naarah, touched Jericho and came out at the Jordan. </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="JOS.16.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">From Tappuah the border went west to the Kanah Ravine and ended at the Mediterranean Sea. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the Ephraimites, according to its clans. </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="JOS.16.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">It also included all the towns and their villages that were set aside for the Ephraimites within the inheritance of the Manassites.</span></span></div><div class="m"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="JOS.16.9"></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="JOS.16.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">They did not dislodge the Canaanites living in Gezer; to this day the Canaanites live among the people of Ephraim but are required to do forced labor.</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkJOB">
      <div class="chapter ch10" data-usfm="JOB.10">
         <div class="label">10</div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="JOB.10.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">&#8220;I loathe my very life;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="JOB.10.1"><span class="content">therefore I will give free rein to my complaint</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="JOB.10.1"><span class="content">and speak out in the bitterness of my soul.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="JOB.10.1"></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="JOB.10.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">I say to God: Do not declare me guilty,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="JOB.10.2"><span class="content">but tell me what charges you have against me.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="JOB.10.2"></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="JOB.10.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Does it please you to oppress me,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="JOB.10.3"><span class="content">to spurn the work of your hands,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="JOB.10.3"><span class="content">while you smile on the plans of the wicked?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="JOB.10.3"></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="JOB.10.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">Do you have eyes of flesh?</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="JOB.10.4"><span class="content">Do you see as a mortal sees?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="JOB.10.4"></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="JOB.10.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">Are your days like those of a mortal</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="JOB.10.5"><span class="content">or your years like those of a strong man,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="JOB.10.5"></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="JOB.10.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">that you must search out my faults</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="JOB.10.6"><span class="content">and probe after my sin&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="JOB.10.6"></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="JOB.10.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">though you know that I am not guilty</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="JOB.10.7"><span class="content">and that no one can rescue me from your hand?</span></span></div><div class="b"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="JOB.10.7"></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="JOB.10.7"></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="JOB.10.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">&#8220;Your hands shaped me and made me.</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="JOB.10.8"><span class="content">Will you now turn and destroy me?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="JOB.10.8"></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="JOB.10.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Remember that you molded me like clay.</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="JOB.10.9"><span class="content">Will you now turn me to dust again?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="JOB.10.9"></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="JOB.10.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">Did you not pour me out like milk</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="JOB.10.10"><span class="content">and curdle me like cheese,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="JOB.10.10"></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="JOB.10.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">clothe me with skin and flesh</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="JOB.10.11"><span class="content">and knit me together with bones and sinews?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="JOB.10.11"></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="JOB.10.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">You gave me life and showed me kindness,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="JOB.10.12"><span class="content">and in your providence watched over my spirit.</span></span></div><div class="b"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="JOB.10.12"></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="JOB.10.12"></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="JOB.10.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">&#8220;But this is what you concealed in your heart,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="JOB.10.13"><span class="content">and I know that this was in your mind:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="JOB.10.13"></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="JOB.10.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">If I sinned, you would be watching me</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="JOB.10.14"><span class="content">and would not let my offense go unpunished.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="JOB.10.14"></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="JOB.10.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">If I am guilty&#8212;woe to me!</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="JOB.10.15"><span class="content">Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="JOB.10.15"><span class="content">for I am full of shame</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="JOB.10.15"><span class="content">and drowned in</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="fr">10:15 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">and aware of</span></span></span><span class="content"> my affliction.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="JOB.10.15"></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="JOB.10.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">If I hold my head high, you stalk me like a lion</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="JOB.10.16"><span class="content">and again display your awesome power against me.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="JOB.10.16"></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="JOB.10.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">You bring new witnesses against me</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="JOB.10.17"><span class="content">and increase your anger toward me;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="JOB.10.17"><span class="content">your forces come against me wave upon wave.</span></span></div><div class="b"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="JOB.10.17"></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="JOB.10.17"></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="JOB.10.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">&#8220;Why then did you bring me out of the womb?</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="JOB.10.18"><span class="content">I wish I had died before any eye saw me.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="JOB.10.18"></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="JOB.10.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">If only I had never come into being,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="JOB.10.19"><span class="content">or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="JOB.10.19"></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="JOB.10.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">Are not my few days almost over?</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="JOB.10.20"><span class="content">Turn away from me so I can have a moment&#8217;s joy</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="JOB.10.20"></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="JOB.10.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">before I go to the place of no return,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="JOB.10.21"><span class="content">to the land of gloom and utter darkness,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="JOB.10.21"></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="JOB.10.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">to the land of deepest night,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="JOB.10.22"><span class="content">of utter darkness and disorder,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="JOB.10.22"><span class="content">where even the light is like darkness.&#8221;</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkISA">
      <div class="chapter ch21" data-usfm="ISA.21">
         <div class="label">21</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">A Prophecy Against Babylon</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ISA.21.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">A prophecy against the Desert by the Sea:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ISA.21.1"><span class="content">Like whirlwinds sweeping through the southland,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ISA.21.1"><span class="content">an invader comes from the desert,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ISA.21.1"><span class="content">from a land of terror.</span></span></div><div class="b"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ISA.21.1"></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ISA.21.1"></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ISA.21.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">A dire vision has been shown to me:</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ISA.21.2"><span class="content">The traitor betrays, the looter takes loot.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ISA.21.2"><span class="content">Elam, attack! Media, lay siege!</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ISA.21.2"><span class="content">I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused.</span></span></div><div class="b"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ISA.21.2"></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ISA.21.2"></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ISA.21.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">At this my body is racked with pain,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ISA.21.3"><span class="content">pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ISA.21.3"><span class="content">I am staggered by what I hear,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ISA.21.3"><span class="content">I am bewildered by what I see.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ISA.21.3"></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ISA.21.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">My heart falters,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ISA.21.4"><span class="content">fear makes me tremble;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ISA.21.4"><span class="content">the twilight I longed for</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ISA.21.4"><span class="content">has become a horror to me.</span></span></div><div class="b"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ISA.21.4"></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ISA.21.4"></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ISA.21.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">They set the tables,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ISA.21.5"><span class="content">they spread the rugs,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ISA.21.5"><span class="content">they eat, they drink!</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ISA.21.5"><span class="content">Get up, you officers,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ISA.21.5"><span class="content">oil the shields!</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ISA.21.5"></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ISA.21.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">This is what the Lord says to me:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ISA.21.6"><span class="content">&#8220;Go, post a lookout</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ISA.21.6"><span class="content">and have him report what he sees.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ISA.21.6"></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ISA.21.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">When he sees chariots</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ISA.21.7"><span class="content">with teams of horses,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ISA.21.7"><span class="content">riders on donkeys</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ISA.21.7"><span class="content">or riders on camels,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ISA.21.7"><span class="content">let him be alert,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ISA.21.7"><span class="content">fully alert.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ISA.21.7"></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ISA.21.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">And the lookout</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="fr">21:8 </span><span class="ft">Dead Sea Scrolls and Syriac; Masoretic Text </span><span class="fqa">A lion</span></span></span><span class="content"> shouted,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ISA.21.8"><span class="content">&#8220;Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ISA.21.8"><span class="content">every night I stay at my post.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ISA.21.8"></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ISA.21.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Look, here comes a man in a chariot</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ISA.21.9"><span class="content">with a team of horses.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ISA.21.9"><span class="content">And he gives back the answer:</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ISA.21.9"><span class="content">&#8216;Babylon has fallen, has fallen!</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ISA.21.9"><span class="content">All the images of its gods</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ISA.21.9"><span class="content">lie shattered on the ground!&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="b"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ISA.21.9"></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ISA.21.9"></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ISA.21.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">My people who are crushed on the threshing floor,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ISA.21.10"><span class="content">I tell you what I have heard</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ISA.21.10"><span class="content">from the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> Almighty,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ISA.21.10"><span class="content">from the God of Israel.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">A Prophecy Against Edom</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ISA.21.10"></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ISA.21.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">A prophecy against Dumah</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="fr">21:11 </span><span class="fq">Dumah</span><span class="ft">, a wordplay on </span><span class="fq">Edom</span><span class="ft">, means silence or stillness.</span></span></span><span class="content">:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ISA.21.11"><span class="content">Someone calls to me from Seir,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ISA.21.11"><span class="content">&#8220;Watchman, what is left of the night?</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ISA.21.11"><span class="content">Watchman, what is left of the night?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ISA.21.11"></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ISA.21.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">The watchman replies,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ISA.21.12"><span class="content">&#8220;Morning is coming, but also the night.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ISA.21.12"><span class="content">If you would ask, then ask;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ISA.21.12"><span class="content">and come back yet again.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">A Prophecy Against Arabia</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ISA.21.12"></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ISA.21.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">A prophecy against Arabia:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ISA.21.13"><span class="content">You caravans of Dedanites,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ISA.21.13"><span class="content">who camp in the thickets of Arabia,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ISA.21.13"></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ISA.21.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">bring water for the thirsty;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ISA.21.14"><span class="content">you who live in Tema,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ISA.21.14"><span class="content">bring food for the fugitives.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ISA.21.14"></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ISA.21.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">They flee from the sword,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ISA.21.15"><span class="content">from the drawn sword,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ISA.21.15"><span class="content">from the bent bow</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ISA.21.15"><span class="content">and from the heat of battle.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ISA.21.15"></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ISA.21.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">This is what the Lord says to me: &#8220;Within one year, as a servant bound by contract would count it, all the splendor of Kedar will come to an end. </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ISA.21.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">The survivors of the archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be few.&#8221; The </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">, the God of Israel, has spoken.</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 ch26" data-usfm="ACT.26">
         <div class="label">26</div><div class="p"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ACT.26.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Then Agrippa said to Paul, &#8220;You have permission to speak for yourself.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ACT.26.1"><span class="content">So Paul motioned with his hand and began his defense: </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ACT.26.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">&#8220;King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews, </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ACT.26.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ACT.26.3"></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ACT.26.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">&#8220;The Jewish people all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem. </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ACT.26.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I conformed to the strictest sect of our religion, living as a Pharisee. </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ACT.26.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our ancestors that I am on trial today. </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ACT.26.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. King Agrippa, it is because of this hope that these Jews are accusing me. </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ACT.26.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ACT.26.8"></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ACT.26.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">&#8220;I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ACT.26.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord&#8217;s people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ACT.26.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ACT.26.11"></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ACT.26.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">&#8220;On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ACT.26.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ACT.26.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic,</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class="body"><span class="fr">26:14 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">Hebrew</span></span></span><span class="content"> </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">&#8216;Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.&#8217;</span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ACT.26.14"></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ACT.26.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">&#8220;Then I asked, &#8216;Who are you, Lord?&#8217;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ACT.26.15"><span class="content">&#8220; </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">&#8216;I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,&#8217;</span></span><span class="content"> the Lord replied. </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ACT.26.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="wj"><span class="content">&#8216;Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me.</span></span><span class="content"> </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ACT.26.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="wj"><span class="content">I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them</span></span><span class="content"> </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="ACT.26.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="wj"><span class="content">to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.&#8217;</span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="ACT.26.18"></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="ACT.26.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">&#8220;So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="ACT.26.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="ACT.26.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">That is why some Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="ACT.26.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen&#8212; </span></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="ACT.26.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="ACT.26.23"></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="ACT.26.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="content">At this point Festus interrupted Paul&#8217;s defense. &#8220;You are out of your mind, Paul!&#8221; he shouted. &#8220;Your great learning is driving you insane.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="ACT.26.24"></span><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="ACT.26.25"><span class="label">25</span><span class="content">&#8220;I am not insane, most excellent Festus,&#8221; Paul replied. &#8220;What I am saying is true and reasonable. </span></span><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="ACT.26.26"><span class="label">26</span><span class="content">The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. </span></span><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="ACT.26.27"><span class="label">27</span><span class="content">King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="ACT.26.27"></span><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="ACT.26.28"><span class="label">28</span><span class="content">Then Agrippa said to Paul, &#8220;Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="ACT.26.28"></span><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="ACT.26.29"><span class="label">29</span><span class="content">Paul replied, &#8220;Short time or long&#8212;I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="ACT.26.29"></span><span class="verse v30" data-usfm="ACT.26.30"><span class="label">30</span><span class="content">The king rose, and with him the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them. </span></span><span class="verse v31" data-usfm="ACT.26.31"><span class="label">31</span><span class="content">After they left the room, they began saying to one another, &#8220;This man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v31" data-usfm="ACT.26.31"></span><span class="verse v32" data-usfm="ACT.26.32"><span class="label">32</span><span class="content">Agrippa said to Festus, &#8220;This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.&#8221;</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
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