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A narrow stone street in a first-century town at dusk, robed figures walking past market stalls toward a glowing wheel of light at the end of the street.

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The Ancient World Behind the Text

Pick a passage anywhere in the New Testament. See the customs and ideas a first reader knew without being told.

  • Matthew 1:1-17, The family tree Matthew opens with Jesus' ancestry from Abraham through David and the exile, in three sets of fourteen generations, and names four women along the way.
  • Matthew 1:18-25, Joseph and the betrothal Mary is found pregnant while betrothed to Joseph. He plans a quiet divorce until an angel in a dream tells him to take her as his wife and name the child Jesus.
  • Matthew 2:1-12, Magi at Herod's court Magi from the east arrive in Jerusalem asking for the newborn king of the Jews. Herod consults his scholars, sends the visitors to Bethlehem, and they go home another way.
  • Matthew 2:13-23, Refugees in Egypt, home to Nazareth Joseph takes the family to Egypt by night. Herod kills the boys of Bethlehem, and after his death the family settles in Nazareth to stay clear of his son Archelaus.
  • Matthew 3:1-12, John at the Jordan John preaches repentance in the Judean wilderness because the kingdom of heaven has come near. He calls Pharisees and Sadducees a brood of vipers and warns of the winnowing fork.
  • Matthew 3:13-4:11, Baptism and the test in the desert Jesus is baptized and hears the voice from heaven, then is led into the wilderness for forty days, where the devil tests him three times.
  • Matthew 4:12-25, Capernaum, fishermen and crowds Jesus moves to Capernaum, Galilee of the Gentiles, announces the kingdom of heaven, calls four fishermen, and draws crowds from Galilee, the Ten Towns, Jerusalem and beyond the Jordan.
  • Matthew 5:1-12, The Beatitudes Jesus sits on a mountain to teach and pronounces God's blessing on the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, the merciful, the peacemakers and the persecuted.
  • Matthew 5:21-32, Anger, lust and divorce Jesus takes the commands against murder and adultery to the heart, warns of the fire of Gehenna, and speaks against divorce except for sexual immorality.
  • Matthew 5:33-48, No oaths, the other cheek, the second mile Jesus tells his hearers not to swear at all, not to resist an evildoer, to go a second mile with a soldier who forces one, and to love their enemies.
  • Matthew 6:1-18, Alms, prayer and fasting in secret Jesus warns against doing acts of piety to be seen, and teaches his disciples the Lord's Prayer.
  • Matthew 7:13-29, Two ways, false prophets, two builders Jesus ends his sermon with the narrow gate, a warning about false prophets known by their fruit, and two houses built on rock and on sand. The crowd is struck by his authority.
  • Matthew 8:1-17, A leper, a centurion and a mother-in-law Coming down the mountain, Jesus touches and heals a leper, heals a centurion's servant from a distance, and heals Peter's mother-in-law and many others.
  • Matthew 8:18-34, Let the dead bury their dead, the storm and Gadara Jesus answers two would-be followers, calms a storm on the lake, and frees two men possessed by demons in the region of the Gadarenes.
  • Matthew 9:1-17, A paralyzed man, Matthew's table and the wedding guests Jesus forgives and heals a paralyzed man, calls Matthew from the tax booth and eats with tax collectors and sinners, and is asked why his disciples do not fast.
  • Matthew 9:18-34, A ruler's daughter, a bleeding woman, the blind and the mute A synagogue ruler asks Jesus to raise his daughter; on the way a woman touches the fringe of his cloak. Then two blind men call him Son of David, and a mute man speaks.
  • Matthew 9:35-10:15, The Twelve sent with nothing Seeing the crowds as sheep without a shepherd, Jesus sends twelve apostles to the lost sheep of Israel, with no money, bag or staff, to stay with whoever will have them.
  • Matthew 10:16-42, Wolves, floggings, a sword and a cup of water Jesus warns the Twelve of councils, floggings in synagogues and trials before governors and kings, of family turned against family, and promises that whoever receives them receives him.
  • Matthew 11:2-30, John's question, children in the square, an easy yoke John asks from prison whether Jesus is the one to come. Jesus praises John, compares his generation to sulking children, pronounces woes on the lake towns, and offers rest under his yoke.
  • Matthew 12:1-14, Grain on the Sabbath, a withered hand Pharisees object when the disciples pick grain on the Sabbath. Jesus answers with David, the priests in the temple and mercy, then heals a withered hand in the synagogue.
  • Matthew 12:22-50, Beelzebul, the strong man, Jonah and his true family When Jesus heals a blind and mute man, the crowds wonder if he is the Son of David and the Pharisees say he works by Beelzebul. Jesus answers with the strong man, refuses a sign except Jonah's, and names his true family.
  • Matthew 13:1-23, The sower From a boat Jesus tells the parable of the sower to the crowd on the shore, explains why he speaks in parables, and interprets the story for his disciples.
  • Matthew 13:24-52, Darnel, mustard, yeast, treasure and a net More parables of the kingdom: weeds sown among wheat, a mustard seed, yeast in flour, treasure in a field, a pearl, and a dragnet, with the weeds and the net explained as the judgment at the end of the age.
  • Matthew 13:53-58, No honor in Nazareth Teaching in his hometown synagogue, Jesus is dismissed as the carpenter's son whose family everyone knows, and he says a prophet is not without honor except at home.
  • Matthew 14:1-12, John beheaded at a birthday feast Herod the tetrarch hears about Jesus and thinks John has risen. Matthew tells how Herod, bound by an oath at his birthday, had John beheaded.
  • Matthew 14:13-36, Bread in a deserted place, a walk on the sea Jesus feeds five thousand men, besides women and children, in a deserted place, then comes to the disciples walking on the lake, and Peter tries to walk to him.
  • Matthew 15:21-28, A Canaanite mother and the dogs In the region of Tyre and Sidon a Canaanite woman begs the Son of David to free her daughter. Jesus is silent, then speaks of bread and dogs, and her answer wins him over.
  • Matthew 16:13-28, The rock, the keys and the cross At Caesarea Philippi Peter confesses Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the living God, and is called the rock and given the keys. When Jesus speaks of his death, Peter rebukes him and is called Satan.
  • Matthew 17:24-27, The coin in the fish's mouth Collectors of the two-drachma temple tax ask Peter whether his teacher pays. Jesus says the king's sons are free, then sends Peter to find a coin in a fish to pay for them both.
  • Matthew 18:1-14, Little ones, a millstone and their angels Asked who is greatest in the kingdom, Jesus stands a child among the disciples. He warns against causing little ones to stumble, speaks of their angels, and tells of a shepherd who leaves ninety-nine sheep.
  • Matthew 18:15-20, Two or three witnesses and the assembly Jesus sets out how to deal with a brother who sins: privately, then with witnesses, then before the church. What they bind on earth is bound in heaven, and he is present where two or three gather in his name.
  • Matthew 18:21-35, Ten thousand talents and a hundred denarii Peter asks whether forgiving seven times is enough. Jesus tells of a king who cancels an impossible debt, and of the forgiven servant who then chokes a colleague over a small one.
  • Matthew 19:1-15, Any and every reason, and the children Pharisees ask whether a man may divorce his wife for any and every reason. Jesus answers from creation, the disciples wonder whether it is better not to marry, and children are brought for his blessing.
  • Matthew 20:1-16, A day's wage for an hour's work A landowner hires laborers for his vineyard at dawn and again through the day, then pays everyone a full denarius, starting with the last. Those hired first complain.
  • Matthew 21:1-11, A donkey, a colt and the Hallel Jesus sends for a donkey and her colt, rides into Jerusalem as Zechariah foretold, and the pilgrim crowds spread cloaks and branches, crying Hosanna to the Son of David.
  • Matthew 21:12-22, Tables, the blind and the lame, and a fig tree Jesus drives out the sellers and overturns the money changers' tables, heals the blind and the lame in the temple courts, and the next morning curses a leafy fig tree that withers at once.
  • Matthew 21:23-46, By what authority, two sons and the tenants The chief priests and elders demand to know Jesus' authority. He answers with a question about John, then with two parables: a son who says no and goes, and tenants who kill the owner's son.
  • Matthew 22:1-14, The king's wedding feast A king's invited guests refuse to come to his son's wedding and kill his messengers. He burns their city, fills the hall with people from the roads, and throws out a guest without wedding clothes.
  • Matthew 22:15-22, Caesar's coin Pharisees and Herodians ask Jesus whether it is lawful to pay the poll tax to Caesar. He asks for the coin, asks whose image is on it, and tells them to give Caesar and God what is theirs.
  • Matthew 22:23-33, Seven brothers and one bride Sadducees, who deny the resurrection, pose a riddle about a woman married in turn to seven brothers. Jesus answers that the raised do not marry, and that God is the God of the living.
  • Matthew 23:1-12, Moses' seat, wide phylacteries, the best seats Jesus tells the crowds to do what the scribes and Pharisees teach but not what they do, and mocks their wide phylacteries, long tassels, best seats and love of the title rabbi.
  • Matthew 23:13-28, Oaths, mint, gnats and whitewashed tombs Jesus pronounces woes on the scribes and Pharisees: they shut the kingdom, play games with oaths, tithe herbs while neglecting justice, strain gnats and swallow camels, and look clean outside like whitewashed tombs.
  • Matthew 24:1-14, Stones, birth pangs and false messiahs As the disciples admire the temple, Jesus says not one stone will be left on another. On the Mount of Olives he warns of false messiahs, wars and persecution, the beginning of the birth pangs.
  • Matthew 24:15-28, The desolating sacrilege and the flight When the desolating sacrilege spoken of by Daniel stands in the holy place, those in Judea must flee to the mountains at once. False messiahs will say he is in the wilderness, but his coming will be like lightning.
  • Matthew 24:29-51, The Son of Man on the clouds and the slave in charge After the distress, sun, moon and stars fail and the Son of Man comes on the clouds to gather his chosen. No one knows the day, so the household must stay ready, like a slave left in charge.
  • Matthew 25:1-13, Ten young women and the bridegroom Ten young women wait with their lights for a bridegroom who comes late at night. Five brought extra oil and go in to the feast; five go to buy oil and find the door shut.
  • Matthew 25:14-30, Five, two and one talent A man going abroad entrusts his property to three slaves. Two double what they were given and are rewarded; the third buries his talent and is thrown out.
  • Matthew 25:31-46, Sheep, goats and the least of these The Son of Man comes in glory with his angels, gathers the nations, and separates them as a shepherd separates sheep from goats, judging them by how they treated the least of his brothers and sisters.
  • Matthew 26:1-16, Perfume at Bethany and thirty pieces of silver The chief priests meet at Caiaphas's house to plot Jesus' arrest away from the festival crowds. At Bethany a woman pours costly perfume on his head, and Judas sells him for thirty pieces of silver.
  • Matthew 26:17-30, The Passover and the cup Jesus eats the Passover with the Twelve in the city, names the one who dips with him as his betrayer, gives the bread and the cup new meaning, and vows not to drink wine again until the kingdom.
  • Matthew 26:47-75, Arrest, twelve legions, the council and the rooster Judas comes with an armed crowd and a kiss. Jesus refuses the sword and the twelve legions of angels, is tried at night before Caiaphas, and is condemned for blasphemy while Peter swears he never knew him.
  • Matthew 27:1-26, Blood money, Pilate and Barabbas At dawn the council hands Jesus to Pilate. Judas returns the silver and hangs himself, the priests buy a potter's field, and Pilate, warned by his wife's dream, releases Barabbas and washes his hands.
  • Matthew 27:27-56, Mock king, the cross and the torn curtain Soldiers dress Jesus as a mock king. He is crucified as king of the Jews between two rebels, cries out in the words of Psalm 22 and dies; the curtain tears, the earth shakes, and women watch from a distance.
  • Matthew 27:57-66, Joseph's tomb and the sealed stone Joseph of Arimathea, a rich disciple, asks Pilate for the body and lays it in his own new tomb. The next day the chief priests get a guard and a seal on the stone.
  • Matthew 28:1-15, Women at dawn and a bribed guard At dawn after the Sabbath an angel rolls back the stone and tells two women that Jesus is risen. They meet him on the road, while the chief priests pay the guards to say the disciples stole the body.
  • Matthew 28:16-20, Make disciples of all nations On a mountain in Galilee the risen Jesus claims all authority in heaven and on earth and sends the eleven to make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching them.
  • Mark 1:1-13, John in the wilderness John preaches and baptizes at the Jordan, dressed like Elijah. Jesus is baptized, hears the voice from heaven and is driven into the wilderness for forty days.
  • Mark 1:14-20, Fishermen called Jesus announces that God's kingdom is near, then calls two pairs of brothers from their nets on the Sea of Galilee.
  • Mark 1:21-45, A Sabbath in Capernaum and a leper Jesus teaches in the synagogue, drives out a spirit, heals Simon's mother-in-law and, after sunset, the whole town. Then he touches and cleanses a leper.
  • Mark 2:13-22, Levi and the party Jesus calls a tax collector from his booth and eats with tax collectors and sinners. He is questioned about eating with them and about not fasting.
  • Mark 2:23-3:6, Grain and a withered hand on the Sabbath Jesus defends his disciples for picking grain on the Sabbath, heals a man's hand in the synagogue, and the Pharisees start plotting with the Herodians.
  • Mark 3:13-35, The Twelve, his family and Beelzebul Jesus appoints twelve. His family thinks he is out of his mind, and teachers from Jerusalem say he drives out demons by Beelzebul.
  • Mark 4:1-34, Parables by the lake From a boat Jesus tells the crowd the sower, the lamp, the growing seed and the mustard seed, and explains them in private.
  • Mark 4:35-41, The storm on the lake A storm swamps the boat while Jesus sleeps. He rebukes the wind and the sea, and the disciples ask who he is.
  • Mark 5:1-20, Legion among the tombs Across the lake, in Gentile country, Jesus frees a man possessed by many spirits. They enter a herd of pigs that rushes into the sea.
  • Mark 5:21-43, A synagogue leader's daughter and a bleeding woman On the way to heal Jairus' dying daughter, Jesus is touched by a woman who has bled for twelve years. Then he raises the girl.
  • Mark 6:14-29, Herod's banquet and John's death Herod hears of Jesus and thinks John has risen. Mark then tells how Herod, at his birthday banquet, had John beheaded.
  • Mark 6:30-52, Bread in a deserted place, a walk on the sea Jesus feeds five thousand men from five loaves and two fish, then comes to his disciples walking on the lake at night.
  • Mark 7:1-23, Washed hands and the tradition of the elders Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem object that Jesus' disciples eat with unwashed hands. Jesus answers that what defiles comes from inside.
  • Mark 7:24-37, A Greek woman and a deaf man In the region of Tyre a Gentile mother asks Jesus to free her daughter, and answers his saying about dogs. In the Decapolis he heals a deaf man.
  • Mark 8:27-9:1, Peter's answer at Caesarea Philippi Asked who he is, Peter says the Messiah. Jesus says the Son of Man must suffer, rebukes Peter, and calls followers to take up the cross.
  • Mark 9:2-13, The transfiguration On a high mountain Jesus is changed before three disciples, Elijah and Moses appear, and a voice says to listen to him. Coming down, they ask about Elijah.
  • Mark 10:32-45, James and John ask for the best seats On the road to Jerusalem Jesus predicts his death a third time. James and John ask to sit at his right and left, and he tells them the first must be slave of all.
  • Mark 11:1-11, The ride into Jerusalem Jesus sends for a colt no one has ridden and rides into Jerusalem over cloaks and branches while the crowd shouts Hosanna.
  • Mark 11:12-25, The fig tree and the temple Jesus curses a leafy fig tree with no fruit, overturns the tables in the temple, and the next morning the tree has withered.
  • Mark 12:13-17, The coin with Caesar's face Pharisees and Herodians ask whether it is right to pay tax to Caesar. Jesus asks for a coin and asks whose image is on it.
  • Mark 13:1-37, The temple's fall and the Son of Man Leaving the temple, Jesus says not one stone will be left on another. On the Mount of Olives he warns of what is coming and of the Son of Man on the clouds.
  • Mark 14:1-11, Perfume at Bethany Two days before Passover, at dinner in Bethany, a woman pours costly perfume on Jesus' head. He says she has anointed him for burial, and Judas goes to the chief priests.
  • Mark 14:12-31, The Passover meal Jesus eats the Passover with the Twelve, names a betrayer at the table, gives the bread and the cup new meaning, and warns that all will scatter.
  • Mark 14:32-52, Gethsemane and the arrest At a place called Gethsemane Jesus prays in anguish while three disciples sleep. Judas arrives with an armed crowd from the chief priests, greets him with a kiss, and the disciples run.
  • Mark 14:53-72, At the high priest's house The council tries Jesus at night. He says he is the Messiah and quotes the Son of Man coming with the clouds, and is condemned for blasphemy while Peter denies him in the courtyard.
  • Mark 15:1-20, Before Pilate The chief priests hand Jesus to Pilate as king of the Jews. Pilate releases Barabbas to the crowd, has Jesus flogged, and the soldiers mock him as a king.
  • Mark 15:21-41, The cross Jesus is crucified as king of the Jews between two bandits, mocked by passers-by, and dies with a loud cry. The temple curtain tears, and women watch from a distance.
  • Mark 15:42-16:8, The tomb Joseph of Arimathea buries Jesus before the Sabbath. When it is over, the women come with spices, find the stone rolled away, and hear that he has been raised.
  • Luke 1:5-25, A priest's turn at the incense altar An elderly village priest, picked by lot to offer incense in the sanctuary, learns from the angel Gabriel that his childless wife will have a son who will prepare Israel for God with an Elijah-like power.
  • Luke 1:26-56, A village girl, a greeting and a song of reversal Gabriel greets Mary, a betrothed girl in Nazareth, with news that she will bear the son of David. She goes to Elizabeth in the hill country and sings of God bringing down rulers and lifting up the humble.
  • Luke 2:1-7, A census and a manger Augustus orders a registration, and Joseph takes the pregnant Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the town of David. She gives birth there and lays the child in a manger, because there is no room for them in the lodging.
  • Luke 2:8-20, Shepherds hear of a savior Angels announce to shepherds in the fields near Bethlehem the birth of a savior who is Christ the Lord, and the shepherds find the child lying in a manger as they were told.
  • Luke 2:21-40, Two birds, Simeon and Anna Jesus is circumcised and named on the eighth day. At the temple his parents make the offering the law allowed the poor, and two old people waiting for God's comfort, Simeon and the widow Anna, speak about the child.
  • Luke 2:41-52, A twelve-year-old among the teachers On the family's yearly Passover pilgrimage the twelve-year-old Jesus stays behind in Jerusalem, and after three days his parents find him in the temple courts among the teachers.
  • Luke 3:1-20, John's answers for toll men and soldiers In the fifteenth year of Tiberius, John preaches repentance around the Jordan. He tells the crowds to share, tax collectors to take no more than is set, and soldiers not to extort, and Herod Antipas shuts him in prison.
  • Luke 4:1-13, The devil offers the kingdoms Full of the Spirit, Jesus is led through the wilderness for forty days, where the devil tests him with bread, with all the kingdoms of the world, and with a leap from the temple.
  • Luke 4:16-30, The year of the Lord's favor in Nazareth In the Nazareth synagogue Jesus reads Isaiah's promise of good news for the poor and release for captives and says it is fulfilled today. When he points to Elijah and Elisha helping foreigners, the town tries to throw him off a cliff.
  • Luke 5:1-11, A catch that breaks the nets Jesus teaches from Simon's boat, then tells the tired fishermen to let down their nets in deep water. The catch nearly sinks two boats, and Simon, James and John leave everything to follow him.
  • Luke 5:17-39, Through the roof, then a feast with toll men Friends lower a paralyzed man through the roof and Jesus forgives his sins. Then Levi leaves his tax booth and gives a banquet for Jesus with other tax collectors, and Jesus is asked why his disciples do not fast.
  • Luke 6:20-36, Blessings, woes and lending with nothing back Jesus blesses the poor, the hungry, the weeping and the hated, pronounces woes on the rich and the well fed, and tells his hearers to love enemies, turn the other cheek and lend without expecting anything back.
  • Luke 7:1-10, A centurion who built the synagogue Jewish elders in Capernaum plead for a centurion whose valued slave is dying, because he loves their nation and built their synagogue. The centurion sends word that Jesus need not come under his roof, only give the order.
  • Luke 7:11-17, A widow's only son on the bier At the gate of Nain Jesus meets a funeral for a widow's only son. He touches the bier, raises the young man and gives him back to his mother, and the crowd says a great prophet has arisen.
  • Luke 7:36-50, A sinful woman at Simon's table At a Pharisee's banquet a woman known as a sinner weeps over Jesus' feet, wipes them with her hair and anoints them. Jesus answers his host's silent objection with a story of two debtors.
  • Luke 8:1-3, Women who paid the bills As Jesus travels from town to town with the Twelve, women he has healed travel with them, among them Joanna, wife of Herod's household manager, and they support the group from their own means.
  • Luke 9:51-62, A Samaritan refusal and three would-be followers Setting out for Jerusalem, Jesus is turned away by a Samaritan village and rebukes James and John for wanting to call down fire. On the road he tells three would-be followers what following him will cost.
  • Luke 10:1-24, Seventy sent out, and Satan falling Jesus sends seventy others, or seventy-two, ahead of him in pairs, with no purse, bag or sandals, to towns that will welcome or refuse them. They come back rejoicing that even the demons obey, and Jesus says he saw Satan fall like lightning.
  • Luke 10:25-37, The Samaritan on the Jericho road A lawyer asks what he must do to inherit eternal life and then who his neighbor is. Jesus tells of a man left half dead on the road to Jericho, passed by a priest and a Levite and rescued by a Samaritan.
  • Luke 10:38-42, Mary at the teacher's feet In Martha's house Mary sits at Jesus' feet listening while Martha works at serving. When Martha complains, Jesus says Mary has chosen the better part.
  • Luke 11:1-13, Father, daily bread and a friend at midnight Asked to teach his disciples to pray, Jesus gives a short prayer to the Father, then tells of a man who wakes a neighbor at midnight to borrow bread for a guest.
  • Luke 11:14-26, By Beelzebul, or by the finger of God? When Jesus drives out a demon that kept a man from speaking, some say he does it by Beelzebul, the ruler of demons. He answers that a divided kingdom falls, and that if he drives out demons by the finger of God, God's kingdom has come.
  • Luke 11:37-54, Woes at a Pharisee's table At a Pharisee's meal Jesus does not wash before eating, and when his host is surprised he pronounces woes on Pharisees and lawyers: clean cups and greedy hearts, tithed herbs, the best seats, unmarked graves and the tombs of the prophets.
  • Luke 12:13-21, Bigger barns A man asks Jesus to make his brother divide the inheritance. Jesus refuses, warns against greed, and tells of a rich farmer who plans bigger barns for his surplus and dies that night.
  • Luke 12:35-48, Slaves waiting up for the master Jesus tells his followers to be dressed for action with lamps lit, like slaves waiting for their master to come home from a wedding, and asks what a slave left in charge will do if the master is delayed.
  • Luke 13:1-9, Pilate's victims, the tower and the fig tree People tell Jesus about Galileans whose blood Pilate mixed with their sacrifices. He answers with a tower that fell in Siloam, a call to repent, and a fig tree given one more year.
  • Luke 13:10-21, A bent woman freed on the Sabbath; mustard and leaven Teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath, Jesus frees a woman bent double for eighteen years. The synagogue ruler objects, and Jesus answers with an ox untied for water, then compares God's kingdom to a mustard seed and to leaven.
  • Luke 13:22-35, The narrow door, the feast, the fox and the hen On the way to Jerusalem Jesus warns that many will find the door shut while people from east and west recline at the feast in God's kingdom. Warned that Herod wants to kill him, he calls Herod a fox and grieves over Jerusalem.
  • Luke 14:1-14, Dropsy at a Pharisee's table, and guests who cannot repay On a Sabbath at the house of a leading Pharisee, Jesus heals a man with dropsy, tells the guests not to grab the best places, and tells the host to invite people who cannot invite him back.
  • Luke 14:15-24, The great banquet and the excuses A guest blesses whoever will eat bread in God's kingdom. Jesus tells of a man whose invited guests all excuse themselves when the feast is ready, so he fills his house with the poor and with people from the roads.
  • Luke 15:1-10, A lost sheep and a lost coin Pharisees and teachers grumble that Jesus welcomes sinners and eats with them. He answers with a shepherd who searches for one lost sheep and a woman who sweeps the house for one lost coin.
  • Luke 15:11-32, A father and two lost sons A younger son takes his share of the estate early, wastes it in a far country, and comes home to a father who runs to meet him. The older brother refuses to join the feast.
  • Luke 16:1-13, The dishonest manager A rich man's manager, about to be dismissed for wasting his master's property, calls in the master's debtors and cuts their bills. The master praises his shrewdness.
  • Luke 16:19-31, The rich man and Lazarus A rich man feasts every day while a beggar named Lazarus lies at his gate. Both die; Lazarus is carried to Abraham's side, and the rich man finds himself in torment in Hades.
  • Luke 17:11-19, Ten lepers and the Samaritan who came back On the border between Samaria and Galilee ten men with leprosy call to Jesus from a distance. He sends them to the priests, they are cleansed on the way, and only one, a Samaritan, comes back to thank him.
  • Luke 18:1-8, The widow and the judge Jesus tells of a judge who neither feared God nor respected people and a widow who kept coming to him for justice until he gave in. How much more, he says, will God see justice done for his chosen ones.
  • Luke 18:9-14, Two men go up to the temple to pray Jesus tells of a Pharisee who thanks God that he is not like other people and a tax collector who stands far off, beats his breast and asks for mercy. The tax collector goes home justified.
  • Luke 18:18-30, A rich ruler and the needle's eye A ruler asks what he must do to inherit eternal life; told to sell everything and follow, he goes away sad, and Jesus says it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter God's kingdom.
  • Luke 18:35-19:10, A blind beggar and Zacchaeus at Jericho Near Jericho a blind beggar calls Jesus Son of David and receives his sight. In the town Jesus invites himself to the house of Zacchaeus, a rich chief tax collector, who promises to give half his goods to the poor and repay fourfold.
  • Luke 19:11-27, The nobleman who went to receive a kingdom Because people think the kingdom is about to appear, Jesus tells of a nobleman who travels to a far country to be made king while citizens who hate him send a delegation after him, and of the servants who trade with his money.
  • Luke 19:28-48, The king rides down to the city and weeps over it Jesus rides a borrowed colt down the Mount of Olives while his disciples spread their cloaks and praise the king who comes. Seeing the city, he weeps over the siege to come, then drives the sellers out of the temple.
  • Luke 20:9-19, The tenants who killed the heir Jesus tells of a vineyard owner whose tenants beat his servants and kill his beloved son to take the inheritance. The leaders realize he has told it against them.
  • Luke 20:20-26, Caesar's coin Spies sent by the leaders ask Jesus whether it is right to pay tribute to Caesar, hoping to hand him over to the governor. He asks whose image is on a denarius.
  • Luke 20:27-40, The Sadducees and the woman with seven husbands Sadducees, who deny the resurrection, ask whose wife a woman married to seven brothers will be. Jesus answers that the risen do not marry and are like the angels, and argues from the burning bush.
  • Luke 20:45-21:4, Long robes and a widow's two coins Jesus warns against teachers of the law who love long robes and the best seats and devour widows' houses. Then he watches a poor widow put two small coins into the temple treasury.
  • Luke 21:5-38, The temple's stones and Jerusalem surrounded When people admire the temple's stones, Jesus says not one will be left on another. He warns of false claimants, arrests in synagogues, Jerusalem surrounded by armies, and signs in the sky before the Son of Man comes.
  • Luke 22:24-38, Benefactors, thrones, sifting and two swords At the last supper the disciples argue over who is greatest. Jesus contrasts kings who are called benefactors with himself as one who serves, promises them thrones, warns Peter that Satan has asked to sift them, and speaks of swords.
  • Luke 23:1-25, Before Pilate, before Antipas, and Barabbas The council brings Jesus to Pilate charged with forbidding tribute and claiming to be a king. Pilate sends him to Herod Antipas, who mocks him, and in the end Pilate gives in to the crowd and releases Barabbas.
  • Luke 23:26-49, The road to the cross, paradise, and the ninth hour Simon of Cyrene carries the cross, the women of Jerusalem mourn, and Jesus warns them of days to come. Crucified between two criminals, he promises one of them paradise and dies at the ninth hour.
  • Luke 24:13-35, A stranger on the Emmaus road Two disciples walking home to Emmaus are joined by a stranger who explains the Scriptures to them. They press him to stay, and they recognize him when he breaks the bread.
  • Luke 24:36-53, Not a ghost; hands lifted in blessing Jesus stands among the disciples, who think they are seeing a ghost. He shows his hands and feet and eats fish, opens the Scriptures to them, and leads them out to Bethany, where he lifts his hands and blesses them.
  • John 1:1-18, The Word made flesh John begins before creation with the Word who was with God and was God, through whom everything was made, and who became flesh and lived among us.
  • John 1:19-34, Not the Messiah, not Elijah, not the Prophet Priests and Levites from Jerusalem ask John who he is. He denies being the Messiah, Elijah or the Prophet, calls himself the voice in the wilderness, and points to Jesus as the Lamb of God.
  • John 1:35-51, Come and see Two of John's disciples follow Jesus and spend the day with him. Andrew brings his brother Simon, Philip brings Nathanael, and Jesus promises they will see heaven opened and angels going up and down on the Son of Man.
  • John 2:1-12, Water into wine at a village wedding At a wedding in Cana the wine runs out. Jesus has the servants fill six stone purification jars with water, and the master of the feast tastes the best wine of the week.
  • John 2:13-25, Tables overturned at Passover At Passover Jesus drives the animal sellers and money changers out of the temple courts. Asked for a sign, he tells them to destroy this temple and he will raise it in three days, and John explains that he meant his body.
  • John 3:1-21, Born from above Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler, comes to Jesus at night. Jesus tells him that no one sees God's kingdom without being born from above, of water and Spirit, and speaks of the Son of Man lifted up like the serpent in the wilderness.
  • John 4:1-42, A Samaritan woman at Jacob's well Tired at noon, Jesus sits on Jacob's well and asks a Samaritan woman for a drink. They talk about living water, her husbands and the right mountain for worship, and her town comes out to meet him.
  • John 5:1-18, The pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath At a pool with five porches, Jesus heals a man who had been ill for thirty-eight years and tells him to pick up his mat. It is the Sabbath, and the dispute that follows turns on Jesus calling God his own Father.
  • John 5:19-47, The Son sent by the Father, and his witnesses Jesus answers the charge of making himself equal with God: the Son does what he sees the Father doing, gives life and judges, and has witnesses in John, in his works, in the Father and in the Scriptures.
  • John 6:1-21, Bread in the wilderness and a walk on the sea Near Passover Jesus feeds five thousand men from five barley loaves and two fish. The crowd hails him as the Prophet and wants to make him king, and that night he comes to his disciples walking on the sea.
  • John 6:22-71, The bread from heaven In the synagogue at Capernaum the crowd asks for a sign like the manna. Jesus answers that he is the bread of life come down from heaven, and his hard words about eating his flesh drive many disciples away.
  • John 7:1-36, Up to the Festival of Tabernacles Jesus stays in Galilee while the Judeans look for a chance to kill him, then goes up to Tabernacles privately and teaches in the temple. The crowds argue over whether he is a deceiver or the Messiah, and the chief priests send guards to arrest him.
  • John 7:37-52, Rivers of living water on the last day On the great last day of the feast Jesus cries out that the thirsty should come to him and drink. The crowd divides over whether he is the Prophet or the Messiah, and the Pharisees scorn a prophet from Galilee.
  • John 8:12-30, The light of the world by the treasury Jesus calls himself the light of the world. Told that testimony about himself does not count, he answers with the law's rule of two witnesses: himself and the Father who sent him.
  • John 8:31-59, Abraham's children, and before Abraham, I am Jesus tells Judeans who had believed him that the truth will make them free. They answer that they are Abraham's children and were never slaves, and the argument ends with Jesus saying before Abraham was, I am, and stones in their hands.
  • John 9:1-41, A man born blind is put out Jesus puts mud on a blind beggar's eyes and sends him to wash in Siloam. Because it is the Sabbath the man is questioned, his parents are afraid, and when he defends Jesus he is thrown out.
  • John 10:1-21, The good shepherd and the hired hand Jesus contrasts the shepherd who enters by the gate, calls his sheep by name and lays down his life for them with thieves who climb in another way and a hired hand who runs from the wolf.
  • John 10:22-42, In Solomon's Porch at the Festival of Dedication In winter, at the Festival of Dedication, the Judeans press Jesus to say plainly whether he is the Messiah. He says he and the Father are one, they pick up stones, and he answers from Psalm 82.
  • John 11:1-44, Lazarus four days in the tomb Jesus waits two days after hearing that his friend Lazarus is ill, reaches Bethany to find him four days buried, weeps with the mourners, and calls him out of the tomb still bound in his grave clothes.
  • John 11:45-57, Caiaphas: one man for the nation After the raising of Lazarus the chief priests and Pharisees call a council, afraid the Romans will take away their place and their nation. Caiaphas tells them it is better for one man to die for the people.
  • John 12:1-11, Mary's nard and loosened hair Six days before Passover, at a dinner in Jesus' honor in Bethany, Mary pours a pound of costly nard on his feet and wipes them with her hair. Judas objects, and Jesus says she has kept it for the day of his burial.
  • John 12:12-19, Palm branches and a donkey's colt The festival crowd goes out with palm branches, shouting Hosanna and hailing Jesus as King of Israel, and he rides in on a young donkey, as Zechariah had said Zion's king would come.
  • John 12:20-50, Greeks at the feast, and the ruler of this world cast out Some Greeks who came up to worship ask to see Jesus. He says his hour has come, that the ruler of this world will be driven out, and that when he is lifted up he will draw everyone to himself; many leaders believe but stay silent.
  • John 13:1-30, Washing the disciples' feet, and the morsel for Judas At supper before Passover Jesus takes off his outer clothes, ties a towel around himself and washes his disciples' feet. Then he hands Judas the dipped morsel, and Judas goes out into the night.
  • John 14:1-31, Rooms in the Father's house, and another Advocate Jesus tells his troubled disciples that he is going to prepare a place for them in his Father's house, that he is the way, and that the Father will send another Advocate, the Spirit of truth. He leaves them his peace.
  • John 15:1-17, The true vine, and friends rather than slaves Jesus calls himself the true vine and his Father the vinegrower, who cuts off fruitless branches and prunes the fruitful. He calls his disciples friends, not slaves, because he has told them everything.
  • John 15:18-16:15, Hated by the world and put out of the synagogue Jesus warns that the world will hate his followers as it hated him, that they will be put out of the synagogues and even killed by people who think they are serving God, and that the Advocate will prove the world wrong.
  • John 16:16-33, A woman in labor Jesus tells the puzzled disciples that in a little while they will not see him and then will see him again, and that their grief will turn to joy like a mother's after childbirth. He warns that they will be scattered.
  • John 17:1-26, The prayer: your name made known Before his arrest Jesus lifts his eyes to heaven and prays that the Father will glorify him, keep those given him in the Father's name and set them apart by the truth, and make all who believe one.
  • John 18:1-27, Arrest across the Kidron, and Annas Judas brings soldiers and temple police with torches to a garden across the Kidron. Jesus answers I am he, they fall back, and he is taken bound to Annas while Peter denies him three times by a charcoal fire.
  • John 18:28-40, Pilate's headquarters at dawn At daybreak the leaders bring Jesus to the governor's headquarters but will not go in, so as to stay clean for Passover. Pilate questions him about being king of the Jews, finds no case, and offers to release him, but the crowd asks for Barabbas.
  • John 19:1-16, Flogged, mocked, and no friend of Caesar Pilate has Jesus flogged, the soldiers crown him with thorns and hail him as king, and Pilate shows him to the crowd. Warned that releasing him makes Pilate no friend of Caesar, he sits on the judgment seat at the Stone Pavement and hands him over.
  • John 19:16-30, The cross, the notice in three languages, and his mother Jesus carries his own cross to Golgotha. Pilate's notice, King of the Jews, is written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek; soldiers cast lots for his seamless tunic; he gives his mother to the beloved disciple, takes the sour wine and says it is finished.
  • John 19:31-42, Legs unbroken and a hundred pounds of spices Because the coming Sabbath is a high day, the leaders ask for the bodies to be taken down. The soldiers find Jesus already dead and pierce his side; Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus bury him with a lavish weight of spices in a new tomb in a garden.
  • John 20:1-18, The empty tomb and the gardener Mary Magdalene finds the stone moved and runs to Peter and the beloved disciple, who see the linen cloths lying in the empty tomb. Weeping outside, she takes the risen Jesus for the gardener until he says her name, and he sends her to tell the others.
  • John 20:19-31, Locked doors, and my Lord and my God On the evening of the first day Jesus stands among the disciples behind locked doors, shows his hands and side, sends them as the Father sent him and breathes the Spirit on them. A week later Thomas sees the wounds and confesses him as Lord and God.
  • John 21:1-14, Breakfast on the beach Back in Galilee, seven disciples fish all night and catch nothing. At dawn a man on the shore tells them to cast to the right side, the net fills with 153 large fish, and Jesus gives them bread and fish by a charcoal fire.
  • John 21:15-25, Feed my sheep, and stretch out your hands Three times Jesus asks Peter whether he loves him and three times tells him to tend his sheep. He foretells Peter's death and answers his question about the beloved disciple, whose testimony closes the book.
  • Acts 1:1-11, The kingdom question and the cloud Luke's second volume opens with the risen Jesus speaking about God's kingdom for forty days. Asked whether he will now restore the kingdom to Israel, he promises the Spirit, sends the apostles as witnesses to the end of the earth, and is taken up in a cloud.
  • Acts 1:12-26, The Twelve made whole by lot Back in Jerusalem the apostles pray in an upstairs room with the women and Jesus' family. Peter says Judas's place must be filled, and the lot falls on Matthias.
  • Acts 2:1-13, Pentecost and the nations On the day of Pentecost wind and fire come on the gathered believers, and Jewish pilgrims from every nation hear them speaking in their own languages.
  • Acts 2:14-41, Peter's sermon: the Spirit poured out Peter explains the scene from Joel: God has poured out his Spirit, the crucified Jesus is raised and exalted as Lord and Messiah, and three thousand are baptized in his name.
  • Acts 2:42-47, The common life The first believers devote themselves to teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread and the prayers, share their possessions, and meet daily in the temple courts and in their homes.
  • Acts 3:1-26, The lame man at the Beautiful Gate At the afternoon hour of prayer Peter heals a man lame from birth who begged at the temple gate, then tells the gathering crowd that Jesus is the prophet Moses promised.
  • Acts 4:1-31, Before the temple rulers The temple authorities arrest Peter and John for proclaiming the resurrection in Jesus. Before the council the unschooled fishermen speak boldly, are warned and released, and pray with the believers in the words of Psalm 2.
  • Acts 4:32-5:11, Barnabas, Ananias and Sapphira The believers share everything, and Barnabas sells a field for the common fund. Ananias and Sapphira sell land too but lie about the price, and both fall dead.
  • Acts 5:12-42, Peter's shadow, the prison and Gamaliel Crowds bring the sick for Peter's shadow to fall on them. The apostles are jailed, freed by an angel, and brought before the council, where Gamaliel compares the movement to the failed causes of Theudas and Judas the Galilean.
  • Acts 6:1-7, The Hellenists' widows and the Seven Greek-speaking believers complain that their widows are overlooked in the daily distribution of food. The Twelve have the community choose seven men, and lay hands on them.
  • Acts 6:8-7:53, Stephen's charge and speech Men from the Diaspora synagogues accuse Stephen of speaking against the temple and the law. He answers with Israel's story, from Abraham to the temple, and turns the charge back on his judges.
  • Acts 7:54-8:3, The stoning of Stephen Stephen sees the Son of Man standing at God's right hand, and his hearers drag him out and stone him while a young man named Saul looks after their coats. Persecution scatters the church.
  • Acts 8:4-25, Samaria and Simon the magician Philip preaches the Messiah in Samaria, and even the famous magician Simon is baptized. When Peter and John lay hands on the Samaritans and they receive the Spirit, Simon offers money for the power.
  • Acts 8:26-40, The Ethiopian official On the desert road to Gaza, Philip meets a eunuch who serves the queen of the Ethiopians, reading Isaiah in his chariot on the way home from worship in Jerusalem, and baptizes him.
  • Acts 9:1-31, Saul on the Damascus road Carrying the high priest's letters to the synagogues of Damascus, Saul is stopped by a light and a voice. Blinded, healed and baptized, the persecutor begins to proclaim Jesus and has to escape over the city wall.
  • Acts 9:32-43, Lydda and Joppa Peter heals a paralyzed man at Lydda and, at Joppa, raises Tabitha, a disciple known for her charity, while the widows she clothed stand weeping. He stays on with a tanner.
  • Acts 10:1-23, Cornelius and Peter's vision A God-fearing Roman centurion in Caesarea is told in a vision to send for Peter. At noon on a Joppa rooftop Peter sees a sheet full of unclean animals and hears a voice tell him to eat.
  • Acts 10:24-11:18, Peter in Cornelius's house Peter enters a Gentile home, preaches Jesus, and sees the Spirit fall on the uncircumcised listeners. In Jerusalem he is criticized for eating with Gentiles, and his account silences the critics.
  • Acts 11:19-30, Antioch, and the name Christian Scattered believers bring the message to Gentiles in Antioch, where the disciples are first called Christians. When a prophet foretells famine, the church sends relief to the elders in Judea.
  • Acts 12:1-25, Herod Agrippa, the prison and the king struck down King Herod Agrippa kills James and jails Peter at Passover, but an angel leads Peter out. Later, in Caesarea, the king accepts the crowd's cry that he speaks with a god's voice and is struck down.
  • Acts 13:1-12, Sent from Antioch: the proconsul and the magician The church at Antioch fasts, prays and sends out Barnabas and Saul. On Cyprus the Roman proconsul believes after Paul confronts the Jewish magician in his entourage.
  • Acts 13:13-52, The synagogue at Pisidian Antioch Invited to speak after the synagogue readings in a Roman colony, Paul tells Israel's story from the exodus to Jesus. Gentiles welcome the message, and the city's leading men and women drive the apostles out.
  • Acts 14:1-20, Iconium and Lystra: taken for Zeus and Hermes After a plot in Iconium, Paul heals a lame man at Lystra and the crowd hails him and Barnabas as Hermes and Zeus. When they refuse the sacrifice, the crowd is turned against them and Paul is stoned.
  • Acts 14:21-28, Elders appointed, and home to Antioch Paul and Barnabas retrace their route, warning that the kingdom comes through hardships and appointing elders in each church, then report to Antioch that God has opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.
  • Acts 15:1-21, The council in Jerusalem Teachers from Judea insist that Gentile believers must be circumcised to be saved. The apostles and elders meet in Jerusalem; Peter and James argue that God has accepted Gentiles as they are, and James proposes a few rules for them to keep.
  • Acts 15:22-35, The letter to the Gentile churches The council sends Judas and Silas with Paul and Barnabas to carry a letter to the Gentile believers of Antioch, Syria and Cilicia. It is read to the church at Antioch, who rejoice at its encouragement.
  • Acts 16:11-15, Lydia at the place of prayer In Philippi, a Roman colony, Paul finds women gathered by the river on the Sabbath. Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from Thyatira, believes, is baptized with her household and insists that the missionaries stay at her house.
  • Acts 16:16-24, The slave girl with a Python spirit A slave girl who earns her owners money by fortune-telling follows Paul, crying out about the Most High God. Paul drives the spirit out, and her owners drag him and Silas before the magistrates, who have them beaten and jailed.
  • Acts 16:25-40, The jailer and the Roman citizens At midnight an earthquake opens the prison. The jailer, about to kill himself, believes with his household; next day Paul reveals that he and Silas are Roman citizens beaten without trial, and the magistrates come to apologize.
  • Acts 17:1-9, Another king in Thessalonica Paul argues from the Scriptures in the synagogue at Thessalonica that the Messiah had to suffer and rise. Some believe; opponents raise a mob, drag Jason before the city officials and accuse the believers of defying Caesar by proclaiming another king.
  • Acts 17:16-21, Athens: idols, the marketplace and the philosophers Waiting in Athens, Paul is distressed at a city full of idols. He argues in the synagogue and the marketplace, and Epicurean and Stoic philosophers take him for a preacher of foreign gods and bring him to the Areopagus.
  • Acts 17:22-34, Paul before the Areopagus Before the Areopagus, Paul starts from an altar to an unknown god and from the Athenians' own poets, speaks of the one Creator who made every nation from one man, and ends with a coming judgment and a man raised from the dead. Some mock; a few believe.
  • Acts 18:1-11, Tentmakers in Corinth In Corinth Paul lodges and works with Aquila and Priscilla, Jews lately expelled from Rome who share his trade. When the synagogue turns against him he moves next door to the house of Titius Justus, and the synagogue leader Crispus believes with his household.
  • Acts 18:12-17, Gallio's judgment seat Jewish leaders bring Paul before Gallio, proconsul of Achaia, accusing him of teaching a worship contrary to the law. Gallio refuses to judge a dispute about words, names and their own law and drives them from the judgment seat.
  • Acts 18:18-28, A vow at Cenchreae and Apollos of Alexandria Paul has his hair cut at Cenchreae because of a vow and sails for Syria by way of Ephesus. In Ephesus Priscilla and Aquila teach the eloquent Alexandrian Apollos more accurately, and the believers write ahead to Achaia to welcome him.
  • Acts 19:8-20, The lecture hall and the burned books In Ephesus Paul teaches daily in the hall of Tyrannus for two years, and even cloths that touched him bring healing. When the sons of Sceva try to use Jesus' name as a spell, the spirit overpowers them, and believers burn their magic books in public.
  • Acts 19:23-41, Great is Artemis of the Ephesians Demetrius the silversmith rouses the craftsmen who make shrines of Artemis, warning that Paul's teaching threatens their trade and the goddess's honor. The city rushes into the theater chanting for two hours, until the city clerk calms them with a warning about Rome.
  • Acts 20:1-12, The collection party and Eutychus at Troas Paul leaves Ephesus for Macedonia and Greece, then sets out for Jerusalem with delegates from the churches. At Troas the believers meet on the first day of the week, and a young man who falls from a window is taken up alive.
  • Acts 20:17-38, Farewell to the Ephesian elders Hurrying to reach Jerusalem by Pentecost, Paul calls the elders of Ephesus to Miletus. He reminds them how he lived among them, warns of wolves who will attack the flock, charges them as overseers to shepherd God's church, and leaves them in tears.
  • Acts 21:17-26, James, the rumors and the vow In Jerusalem James and the elders welcome Paul but warn him that thousands of believers zealous for the law have heard he teaches Jews abroad to abandon Moses. They ask him to pay for four men completing a vow and to purify himself with them in the temple.
  • Acts 21:27-40, Riot in the temple, rescue by the tribune Jews from Asia see Paul in the temple and cry that he has brought Greeks into the holy place. The city riots, and the Roman tribune's soldiers pull him from the crowd, chain him, and nearly mistake him for the Egyptian rebel.
  • Acts 22:22-29, A Roman citizen under the lash When Paul speaks of his mission to the Gentiles, the crowd erupts again. The tribune orders him examined by flogging, until Paul asks the centurion whether it is lawful to flog an uncondemned Roman citizen.
  • Acts 22:30-23:11, Paul before the council The tribune brings Paul before the chief priests and the council. Struck on the high priest's order, Paul calls him a whitewashed wall, then declares himself a Pharisee on trial for the hope of the resurrection, and the council splits.
  • Acts 23:12-35, The oath, the nephew and the night march More than forty men bind themselves by an oath not to eat until they have killed Paul. His nephew learns of the ambush, and the tribune sends Paul under heavy escort by night to the governor Felix at Caesarea, with a letter explaining the case.
  • Acts 24:1-27, The hearing before Felix The high priest's orator Tertullus charges Paul before Felix with stirring up riots and trying to profane the temple. Paul answers point by point; Felix puts off a decision and keeps him in custody for two years, hoping for a bribe.
  • Acts 25:1-12, Festus and the appeal to Caesar The new governor Festus hears the case again at Caesarea. When he asks whether Paul will be tried in Jerusalem, Paul appeals to Caesar, and after conferring with his council Festus grants it.
  • Acts 25:13-26:32, Agrippa and Bernice hear Paul King Agrippa II and his sister Bernice visit Festus, who asks them to hear Paul so that he will have something to write to the emperor. Paul tells his story; Festus calls him mad, Agrippa turns the question aside, and all agree he could have been set free had he not appealed to Caesar.
  • Acts 27:1-26, Sailing late in the season Paul sails for Rome in the custody of a centurion named Julius, changing to an Alexandrian grain ship at Myra. With the Fast already past, the owner presses on against Paul's warning, and a northeaster drives the ship helpless for days until an angel promises Paul that all aboard will live.
  • Acts 27:27-44, Shipwreck off Malta On the fourteenth night the sailors sense land, drop anchors from the stern and try to slip away in the ship's boat. Paul urges everyone to eat and gives thanks over bread, and when the ship breaks up the centurion stops the soldiers from killing the prisoners; all 276 reach the shore.
  • Acts 28:1-10, Malta: the viper and the goddess Justice The islanders of Malta welcome the shipwrecked with a fire. When a viper fastens on Paul's hand they decide that Justice will not let a murderer live; when he takes no harm they call him a god. Publius, the island's chief man, takes them in, and Paul heals his father and many others.
  • Acts 28:11-16, The Twin Brothers and the road to Rome After three months they sail in an Alexandrian ship with the Twin Brothers as its figurehead, land at Puteoli and walk the Appian Way toward Rome, where believers come out to meet Paul. In Rome he is allowed to live on his own with a soldier guarding him.
  • Acts 28:17-31, Two years in rented quarters Paul calls the Jewish leaders of Rome, explains why he is in chains, and spends a day arguing from Moses and the Prophets. Some are persuaded and some are not; for two whole years he lives at his own expense, welcoming everyone and preaching the kingdom without hindrance.
  • Romans 1:1-7, A slave of the Messiah writes to Rome Paul opens with his name and titles, a short summary of the good news about God's Son, and a greeting of grace and peace to believers in Rome he has never met.
  • Romans 1:8-17, Longing to see Rome Paul thanks God that the Roman believers' faith is spoken of everywhere, explains why he has not yet come, and states his theme: the good news is God's power to save everyone who believes, Jew and Greek.
  • Romans 1:18-32, Images of the immortal God Paul describes God's anger against people who knew him from creation yet traded his glory for images of humans and animals, and the disorder that followed.
  • Romans 2:17-29, You who boast in the law Paul turns on an imagined Jewish teacher who boasts in the law yet steals, commits adultery and robs temples, so that God's name is blasphemed among the nations, and says true circumcision is of the heart.
  • Romans 3:21-31, Redemption and the mercy seat Paul announces that God's righteousness has been revealed through faith in Jesus for all who believe, Jew and Gentile alike, through a redemption and an atoning death he links to the mercy seat.
  • Romans 4:1-25, Abraham, father of the uncircumcised too Paul argues from Genesis 15:6 that Abraham was counted righteous by trusting God before he was circumcised, so he is the father of all who believe, circumcised or not.
  • Romans 5:1-21, Peace with God, and Adam Justified by faith, believers have peace with God and are reconciled to him by the death of his Son. As sin and death came through Adam, grace and life come through Christ.
  • Romans 6:1-23, Slaves of a new master Baptized into Christ's death, believers are dead to sin. Once slaves of sin, they have been set free to become slaves of God, whose gift is eternal life.
  • Romans 7:1-25, Bound while the husband lives A wife is bound to her husband only while he lives, and believers have died to the law to belong to Christ. Then Paul describes a divided self that knows the good and cannot do it.
  • Romans 8:12-17, Not slaves but adopted heirs Those led by God's Spirit are God's children. They have received the Spirit of adoption, not of slavery, and cry Abba, Father, as heirs of God with Christ.
  • Romans 8:18-30, Groaning and firstfruits Creation groans as in labor, waiting to be freed from decay, and believers who have the firstfruits of the Spirit groan too as they wait for their adoption and the redemption of their bodies.
  • Romans 8:31-39, Angels, rulers and powers With God on the believers' side, Paul asks who could oppose them, then names hardships and powers, from the sword to angels, rulers, height and depth, and none of them can cut believers off from God's love in Christ.
  • Romans 9:1-5, Israel's privileges Paul grieves for his own people and lists what belongs to Israel: the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the law, the worship, the promises, the patriarchs and the Messiah.
  • Romans 10:1-21, How beautiful are the feet Paul prays for Israel, whose zeal for God lacks knowledge, and argues from Scripture that the word of faith is near, that whoever calls on the Lord will be saved, and that heralds must be sent.
  • Romans 11:11-24, The olive tree Israel's stumbling has brought salvation to the Gentiles. Paul pictures Gentile believers as wild olive shoots grafted into Israel's tree and warns them not to boast over the natural branches.
  • Romans 11:25-36, The full number of the nations Paul reveals a mystery: a partial hardening has come on Israel until the full number of the Gentiles comes in, and so all Israel will be saved. He ends in praise of God's wisdom.
  • Romans 12:1-21, A living sacrifice Paul urges believers to offer their bodies as a living sacrifice, to see themselves as members of one body, and to love without pretense: honoring one another, welcoming strangers, weeping with those who weep and repaying evil with good.
  • Romans 13:1-7, The sword and the tax Paul tells believers to be subject to the governing authorities, whom God has put in place. The ruler bears the sword, and they should pay taxes and give honor where it is owed.
  • Romans 14:1-23, Vegetables, holy days and wine Some believers eat only vegetables and keep certain days; others eat anything and treat every day alike. Paul tells both not to judge one another, since all will stand before God's judgment seat, and not to wreck another's faith over food.
  • Romans 15:14-24, To Spain by way of Rome Paul describes his priestly work of offering the Gentiles to God, from Jerusalem round to Illyricum, and his plan to visit Rome on his way to Spain and be helped on his journey there.
  • Romans 15:25-33, The gift for Jerusalem Before coming west Paul must take a gift from the churches of Macedonia and Achaia to the poor among the believers in Jerusalem. He asks for prayer that he will be kept safe and the gift accepted.
  • Romans 16:1-2, Phoebe of Cenchreae Paul commends Phoebe, a servant or deacon of the church at Cenchreae and a patron of many, Paul included, and asks the Romans to welcome her and help her in whatever she needs.
  • Romans 16:3-16, Greet the church in their house Paul greets more than two dozen believers in Rome by name, from Prisca and Aquila and the church in their house to the households of Aristobulus and Narcissus, and tells them to greet one another with a holy kiss.
  • Romans 16:17-27, Tertius, Gaius and Erastus Paul warns against those who cause divisions, promises that God will soon crush Satan under the believers' feet, and passes on greetings from Corinth, including his scribe Tertius, his host Gaius and Erastus the city treasurer.
  • 1 Corinthians 1:1-9, Grace to the church in Corinth Paul and Sosthenes greet the church of God in Corinth and thank God that its members have been made rich in every kind of speech and knowledge as they wait for the Lord to be revealed.
  • 1 Corinthians 1:10-17, I belong to Paul, I belong to Apollos Told by Chloe's people that the church is splitting into camps behind Paul, Apollos, Cephas and Christ, Paul appeals for unity and asks whether Christ has been divided.
  • 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5, The foolishness of the cross Paul sets the message of a crucified Messiah, folly to Greeks and a stumbling block to Jews, against the wisdom and eloquence Corinth admired, and reminds the believers that few of them were wise, powerful or well born.
  • 1 Corinthians 2:6-16, The rulers of this age Paul speaks of a hidden wisdom of God, planned before time began, which the rulers of this age failed to grasp, or they would never have put Jesus to death.
  • 1 Corinthians 3:1-23, Milk, builders and God's temple Paul calls the Corinthians infants still on milk, says he and Apollos are only servants, warns builders that fire will test their work, and reminds the church that it is God's temple and that all things are theirs.
  • 1 Corinthians 4:6-13, Apostles on display With biting irony Paul sets the Corinthians, already full, rich and reigning, beside the apostles, put on show last of all like men condemned to die, hungry, ragged, homeless and treated as the world's scum.
  • 1 Corinthians 4:14-21, Ten thousand guardians, one father Paul writes as the Corinthians' father in the gospel, sends Timothy to remind them of his ways, and asks whether they want him to come with a rod or with love.
  • 1 Corinthians 5:1-13, A man and his father's wife A church member is living with his stepmother and the church is proud of itself. Paul tells them to hand the man over to Satan, clear out the old leaven as a household does before Passover, and not eat with a so-called brother who lives that way.
  • 1 Corinthians 6:1-11, Lawsuits before unbelievers Paul is appalled that believers take one another to court before pagan judges, reminds them that God's people will judge the world and even angels, and asks why they would not rather be wronged.
  • 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, The body and the prostitute Answering slogans such as everything is permissible and food is for the stomach, Paul argues that the body belongs to the Lord, will be raised, and must not be joined to a prostitute, for believers were bought at a price.
  • 1 Corinthians 7:1-16, Married couples and unbelieving spouses Replying to the Corinthians' letter, Paul tells married couples not to deprive each other, advises the unmarried and widows, repeats the Lord's word against divorce, and says a believer deserted by an unbelieving spouse is not bound.
  • 1 Corinthians 7:17-24, Circumcised or not, slave or free Paul tells each believer to live the life the Lord assigned when he was called: the circumcised should not undo it, the uncircumcised should not seek it, and a slave should not be troubled, though he should take his freedom if he can.
  • 1 Corinthians 7:25-40, The present distress Because of the present distress and the shortness of the time, Paul advises the unmarried to stay as they are, though marrying is no sin, and tells a widow she is free to remarry, only in the Lord.
  • 1 Corinthians 8:1-13, Knowledge, idols and the weak Answering those who know that an idol is nothing, Paul agrees there is one God and one Lord but warns that their freedom to eat sacrificial food, even in an idol's temple, can destroy a weaker believer.
  • 1 Corinthians 9:1-27, Free, unpaid and in training Paul defends his right as an apostle to be supported and explains why he has never used it, makes himself a slave to all to win more, and pictures his discipline as an athlete's training for a wreath that will not wither.
  • 1 Corinthians 10:1-22, Israel in the desert and the table of demons Paul warns that Israel too had its baptism and its spiritual food in the wilderness, yet fell into idolatry and immorality and was struck down, and tells the Corinthians that they cannot share both the Lord's table and the table of demons.
  • 1 Corinthians 10:23-11:1, Dinner at an unbeliever's house Paul tells believers to eat whatever is sold in the meat market and whatever an unbelieving host serves without asking questions, unless someone points out that it was offered in sacrifice.
  • 1 Corinthians 11:2-16, Heads covered and uncovered Paul tells men who pray or prophesy to keep their heads uncovered and women who do so to cover theirs, arguing from headship, creation, the angels, nature and the custom of the churches.
  • 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, The Lord's Supper in a rich man's house Paul rebukes the church because at the Lord's Supper some go hungry while others eat their fill and get drunk, retells the tradition of the Last Supper, and tells them to wait for one another.
  • 1 Corinthians 12:1-31, Mute idols and one body Paul reminds the Corinthians that as pagans they were led astray to mute idols, describes the many gifts of the one Spirit, and pictures the church as one body whose weaker and less honored members are indispensable.
  • 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, Noisy bronze and a dim mirror Paul says that tongues, prophecy, knowledge, faith and even martyrdom are nothing without love, describes what love is, and sets today's partial knowledge, like a dim reflection in a mirror, against seeing face to face.
  • 1 Corinthians 14:26-40, Order when the church meets Paul regulates a meeting where everyone brings a hymn, a teaching, a revelation or a tongue: speakers take turns, prophets weigh one another's words, women are to be silent and ask at home, and everything is to be done decently and in order.
  • 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, What I received Paul reminds the Corinthians of the good news he handed on to them as he had received it: that Christ died for sins, was buried, was raised on the third day, and appeared to Cephas, the Twelve, more than five hundred, James, all the apostles and last of all to Paul.
  • 1 Corinthians 15:12-34, If the dead are not raised Against some who say there is no resurrection of the dead, Paul argues that then Christ was not raised either, calls Christ the firstfruits, and asks why anyone is baptized for the dead or why he fights wild beasts if the dead are not raised.
  • 1 Corinthians 15:35-58, Seeds, stars and the last trumpet Asked what kind of body the dead will have, Paul answers with the seed that dies and rises as a plant and with the differing glories of sun, moon and stars, sets the first Adam beside the last, and ends with the trumpet and death swallowed up.
  • 1 Corinthians 16:1-24, The collection and final greetings Paul arranges a weekly setting aside of money for the believers in Jerusalem, plans his travels, commends Timothy, Apollos and the household of Stephanas, and closes with greetings, a line in his own hand and the Aramaic prayer Marana tha.
  • 2 Corinthians 1:1-11, The God of all comfort and the sentence of death Paul opens by blessing the God of all comfort and tells the Corinthians that in Asia he was so crushed that he felt he had received the sentence of death, so that he learned to rely on the God who raises the dead.
  • 2 Corinthians 1:12-2:4, Changed plans, the seal and the down payment Accused of fickleness for changing his travel plans, Paul answers that his word is reliable because all God's promises are Yes in Christ, who has anointed and sealed them and given the Spirit as a down payment, and explains that he stayed away to spare them.
  • 2 Corinthians 2:5-13, Forgive the offender; no rest at Troas The man who caused the grief has been punished enough by the majority, so Paul urges the church to forgive him lest Satan outwit them, then tells how he left an open door at Troas because Titus had not come.
  • 2 Corinthians 2:14-17, Led in God's triumph Paul thanks God, who leads him in triumphal procession and spreads the fragrance of Christ through him, a smell of death to some and of life to others, and denies that he peddles God's word for profit.
  • 2 Corinthians 3:1-18, Letters of recommendation and Moses' veil Paul needs no letters of recommendation, since the Corinthians are his letter, written by the Spirit on hearts; he sets the fading glory on Moses' veiled face against the greater glory of the new covenant.
  • 2 Corinthians 4:1-6, The god of this age Paul renounces cunning and tampering with God's word; if his gospel is veiled, it is veiled to the perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, while God has made his light shine in believers' hearts.
  • 2 Corinthians 4:7-18, Treasure in clay jars Paul carries God's treasure in a clay jar, hard pressed but not crushed, carrying Jesus' dying in his body so that Jesus' life may show, while the outer self wastes away and the inner self is renewed day by day.
  • 2 Corinthians 5:1-10, The tent and the judgment seat Paul sets the earthly tent of the body against a building from God, longs to be clothed rather than found naked, names the Spirit as a down payment, and says that all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ.
  • 2 Corinthians 5:11-6:13, New creation, Christ's ambassadors and a list of hardships Because one died for all, anyone in Christ is a new creation; Paul, God's ambassador, appeals to the Corinthians to be reconciled to God and commends his ministry with a long list of hardships and paradoxes.
  • 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1, Unequal yoke, Belial and the temple of God Paul tells the Corinthians not to be yoked with unbelievers, for light has no fellowship with darkness nor Christ with Belial, and calls them the temple of the living God, who must come out and be separate.
  • 2 Corinthians 7:2-16, Titus arrives and the letter that hurt In Macedonia Paul is comforted by Titus's arrival and his news that the Corinthians grieved over Paul's harsh letter in a way that led to repentance, and that they received Titus with fear and trembling.
  • 2 Corinthians 8:1-15, The Macedonians' giving and the manna Paul holds up the generosity of the poor Macedonian churches, appeals to Christ who became poor, and asks the Corinthians to finish their gift so that there may be equality, as there was with the manna in the wilderness.
  • 2 Corinthians 8:16-9:15, Envoys for the collection and the cheerful giver Paul commends Titus and two brothers appointed by the churches to carry the gift, takes care that no one can fault him in handling it, and urges the Corinthians to have their promised gift ready, since God loves a cheerful giver.
  • 2 Corinthians 10:1-18, Weighty letters, a weak presence and the siege of the mind Answering the charge that he is bold in letters but weak in person, Paul describes a war that takes every thought captive and refuses to compare himself with rivals who measure themselves by themselves.
  • 2 Corinthians 11:1-15, The betrothed virgin, the free gospel and the angel of light Jealous as a father who has promised his daughter to one husband, Paul fears the Corinthians will be led astray as Eve was; he defends preaching to them free of charge and calls his rivals false apostles disguised as Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
  • 2 Corinthians 11:16-33, The fool's boast and the basket over the wall Forced to boast like a fool, Paul matches his rivals' Jewish credentials and then lists sufferings instead of achievements: lashes, rods, stoning, shipwreck, the dangers of the road, hunger and cold, and a night escape down the wall of Damascus.
  • 2 Corinthians 12:1-10, Caught up to the third heaven; the thorn Paul tells of a man caught up to the third heaven and into paradise who heard things no one may utter, then of the thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, which God would not remove because his power is made perfect in weakness.
  • 2 Corinthians 12:11-18, Not a burden: parents save for their children Paul says the Corinthians forced him to play the fool; the signs of an apostle were done among them, and his only fault was not to burden them, since parents save up for their children, not children for their parents.
  • 2 Corinthians 12:19-13:14, Two or three witnesses Paul warns that on his third visit every charge will be established by two or three witnesses and that he will not spare the unrepentant, then closes with a call to restoration, the holy kiss and a threefold blessing.
  • Galatians 1:1-10, A letter with no thanksgiving, and a curse Paul opens by insisting that his commission came from God and not from people, skips the thanksgiving his letters usually give, and pronounces a curse on anyone, even an angel, who preaches a different gospel.
  • Galatians 1:11-24, Saul the zealot, Arabia, and fifteen days with Cephas Paul insists that his gospel came by revelation and not from human teachers, and tells of his zeal as a persecutor, his call, his time in Arabia and Damascus, and a short first visit to Jerusalem to get to know Cephas.
  • Galatians 2:1-10, Titus, the pillars and the right hand of fellowship Fourteen years later Paul goes up to Jerusalem with Barnabas and the uncircumcised Titus; Titus is not made to be circumcised, and the leaders reputed to be pillars give Paul the right hand of fellowship, asking only that he remember the poor.
  • Galatians 2:11-21, Peter leaves the table at Antioch At Antioch Peter, who had been eating with Gentile believers, draws back when people come from James, and Paul rebukes him in front of everyone, arguing that Jews and Gentiles alike are put right with God through Christ and faith, not by doing what the law requires.
  • Galatians 3:1-14, Who bewitched you? Abraham's blessing and the law's curse Paul asks the Galatians who has bewitched them, since they received the Spirit by believing, then argues from Abraham that those who believe share his blessing, while Christ took the law's curse by being hung on a tree.
  • Galatians 3:15-22, A will no one can change, and a law given through angels Paul argues from the way a ratified will cannot be altered that the law, coming 430 years after the promise to Abraham and his seed, cannot cancel it, and says the law was added because of transgressions, put in place through angels by a mediator.
  • Galatians 3:23-29, The law as a guardian until faith came Before faith came, Paul says, we were held in custody under the law, which served as a guardian until Christ; now all who have been baptized into Christ are God's children, one in him, Abraham's seed and heirs.
  • Galatians 4:1-11, Heirs, slaves and the elements of the world An heir who is still a child is no better off than a slave, Paul says; so we were enslaved under the elements of the world until God sent his Son to redeem us and his Spirit to cry Abba, and he asks why the Galatians want to go back to observing special days, months, seasons and years.
  • Galatians 4:12-20, Welcomed as an angel of God Paul appeals to the Galatians as friends, reminding them that when he first preached to them in bodily weakness they did not scorn him but welcomed him as an angel of God, and asks whether he has now become their enemy by telling them the truth.
  • Galatians 4:21-5:1, Hagar, Sarah and Sinai in Arabia Paul reads the story of Abraham's two sons as a figure of two covenants: Hagar the slave stands for Sinai and the present Jerusalem, Sarah the free woman for the Jerusalem above, and he calls the Galatians to stand firm in freedom.
  • Galatians 5:2-12, Circumcision, the whole law and the knife Paul warns that a man who accepts circumcision is bound to keep the whole law and is cut off from Christ, asks who cut in on their race, and wishes that the agitators would go further with the knife.
  • Galatians 5:13-6:10, Flesh and Spirit, burdens and teachers Called to freedom, the Galatians are to serve one another in love, which fulfills the law; Paul sets the works of the flesh against the fruit of the Spirit and urges them to restore the fallen gently, carry each other's burdens, share with their teachers and keep doing good.
  • Galatians 6:11-18, Large letters in his own hand, and the marks of Jesus Taking the pen himself, Paul writes in large letters that the rivals want the Galatians circumcised so they can boast in their flesh and avoid persecution, while he boasts only in the cross; he blesses those who follow this rule and the Israel of God, and says he bears the marks of Jesus.
  • Ephesians 1:1-14, A circular letter opens with praise, a seal and a down payment Paul greets God's holy people and launches one long blessing of God for choosing, adopting, redeeming and sealing a mixed people, with the Spirit as the down payment of their inheritance.
  • Ephesians 1:15-23, Far above every name that is invoked Paul prays that the believers will know the hope, the inheritance and the power God showed when he raised Christ and seated him above every ruler, authority, power and name, in this age and the next.
  • Ephesians 2:1-10, The ruler of the kingdom of the air Paul reminds his readers that they were once dead in sins, following the ruler of the kingdom of the air, until God in his mercy made them alive and seated them with Christ in the heavenly realms, saved by grace.
  • Ephesians 2:11-22, The dividing wall torn down, and a new temple Paul reminds Gentile believers that they were once far off, shut out of Israel's citizenship and covenants, and tells them Christ has broken down the dividing wall and built Jews and Gentiles into one household and one temple.
  • Ephesians 3:1-13, The prisoner, the steward and the mystery shown to the powers Paul, a prisoner for the sake of the Gentiles, breaks off to explain the stewardship of grace given him: the mystery, now revealed, that Gentiles are co-heirs, made known through the church even to the rulers in the heavenly realms.
  • Ephesians 3:14-21, Kneeling before the Father of every family Paul kneels in prayer before the Father of every family, heavenly and earthly, and asks that they be strengthened by the Spirit and grasp the vast dimensions of Christ's love, closing with praise.
  • Ephesians 4:1-16, The conqueror goes up and gives gifts Paul urges unity, one body and one Spirit, then reads Psalm 68 as Christ ascending in victory and handing out gifts: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, to equip the church to grow up into him.
  • Ephesians 4:17-32, No longer as the Gentiles live Paul tells Gentile believers to stop living as the Gentiles do, to put off the old self and put on the new, to give the devil no foothold, to work with their hands and share, and not to grieve the Spirit who sealed them.
  • Ephesians 5:1-20, Children of light, and wine or the Spirit Paul calls believers to imitate God, to have nothing to do with sexual immorality, coarse joking or deeds done in the dark, and, instead of getting drunk on wine, to be filled with the Spirit, singing and giving thanks for everything.
  • Ephesians 5:21-33, Wives and husbands in the household code Paul opens the household code with submitting to one another, asks wives to submit to their husbands as to the Lord, and asks husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church, washing her and presenting her radiant.
  • Ephesians 6:1-9, Children, fathers, slaves and masters The household code goes on to children and fathers, then to slaves and masters, asking something of each side and reminding masters that they and their slaves have the same Master in heaven.
  • Ephesians 6:10-17, The armor of God Paul calls the believers to stand firm in God's armor, because their struggle is not against flesh and blood but against rulers, authorities and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
  • Ephesians 6:18-24, An ambassador in chains, and the man who carried the letter Paul asks for prayer that he may speak boldly, calling himself an ambassador in chains, and sends Tychicus to carry the letter and tell them his news.
  • Philippians 1:1-11, A letter between friends, and a partnership in the gospel Paul and Timothy greet the believers at Philippi with their overseers and deacons, thank God for their partnership in the gospel from the first day, and pray that their love will grow until the day of Christ.
  • Philippians 1:12-26, Chains known to the whole palace guard Paul tells how his imprisonment has carried the gospel through the palace guard and made other preachers bolder, some from rivalry, then weighs living against dying and expects to stay on for their sake.
  • Philippians 1:27-30, Live as citizens, contend like athletes Paul tells a church in a Roman colony to conduct itself as citizens worthy of the gospel, standing firm and striving together, unafraid of opponents, in the same struggle they once saw him face.
  • Philippians 2:1-11, The form of a slave, a cross, and every knee Paul urges humility and concern for others, then sets out Christ, who did not exploit his equality with God but took the form of a slave and died on a cross, and whom God exalted so that every knee will bow.
  • Philippians 2:12-18, Lights in a crooked generation, poured out like a drink offering Paul urges the Philippians to work out their salvation without grumbling, shining like stars in a crooked generation, and pictures himself poured out like a drink offering on their sacrifice.
  • Philippians 2:19-30, Timothy and Epaphroditus, commended and sent Paul commends Timothy as a son who serves with him and plans to send him soon, and sends home Epaphroditus, the church's messenger, who nearly died on their errand.
  • Philippians 3:1-11, Dogs, mutilators, and a pedigree counted as loss Paul warns against teachers who press circumcision, calling them dogs and mutilators, lists his own credentials as a born Jew, a Pharisee and a zealous persecutor, and counts them all loss for the sake of knowing Christ.
  • Philippians 3:12-4:1, The race, citizens of heaven, and a Savior from there Paul pictures himself as a runner straining toward the prize, warns against those whose god is their stomach, and reminds a Roman colony that its citizenship is in heaven, from where it awaits a Savior who will transform its lowly bodies.
  • Philippians 4:2-9, Two women at odds, names in the book of life, and whatever is true Paul pleads with two women who worked beside him to agree, asks a companion to help them, notes that their names are in the book of life, and urges joy, prayer instead of worry, and thoughts fixed on whatever is true and excellent.
  • Philippians 4:10-23, A thank-you without a thank you, and Caesar's household Paul acknowledges the Philippians' gift in the language of contentment and of business receipts and sacrifice, without a direct thank you, and closes with greetings from the saints of Caesar's household.
  • Colossians 1:1-14, Epaphras's report and a change of kingdoms Paul and Timothy greet the believers at Colossae, a church Paul has never visited, thank God for what Epaphras has told them, and pray that they grow in knowledge, having been rescued out of darkness into the kingdom of God's Son.
  • Colossians 1:15-20, Firstborn over creation, over thrones and powers Paul describes the Son as the image of the unseen God and firstborn over all creation, through whom and for whom everything was made, thrones and powers included, and through whose cross God makes peace with all things.
  • Colossians 1:24-2:5, Sufferings for the body, and a steward of the mystery Paul rejoices to suffer for the church, fills up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions, calls himself the servant entrusted with God's long hidden mystery, and tells churches he has never met how hard he struggles for them.
  • Colossians 2:8-15, The philosophy, a cancelled IOU and a triumph Paul warns against a philosophy built on human tradition and the elements of the world, tells Gentile believers they have already been circumcised in Christ, and pictures God cancelling their debt at the cross and leading the powers captive.
  • Colossians 2:16-23, Food, new moons, Sabbaths and the worship of angels Paul tells the believers not to let anyone judge them over food, drink, festivals, new moons or Sabbaths, or disqualify them with self-denial, the worship of angels and visions, and calls rules about what not to touch or taste human commands with no power over the flesh.
  • Colossians 3:1-17, Things above, and no Greek, Jew, barbarian or Scythian Raised with Christ, the believers are to set their minds on things above, put to death the old ways, take off the old self and put on the new, in which there is no Greek or Jew, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, and above all put on love.
  • Colossians 3:18-4:1, The household code Paul addresses wives and husbands, children and fathers, slaves and masters in the form of an ancient household code, tells husbands to love and fathers not to embitter, and reminds masters that they too have a Master in heaven.
  • Colossians 4:7-18, Tychicus, Onesimus, Nympha's house and the letter from Laodicea Paul sends the letter with Tychicus and Onesimus, passes on greetings from Jewish and Gentile co-workers, greets Nympha and the church in her house, asks for this letter to be read at Laodicea and the Laodicean letter at Colossae, and signs off in his own hand.
  • 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10, Turned to God from idols Paul, Silas and Timothy thank God for a young church that received the message in the middle of suffering, whose story is now told everywhere: they turned to God from idols to serve him and to wait for his Son from heaven.
  • 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12, Gentle as a nurse, firm as a father Paul reminds the church how he and his companions came to them after being mistreated in Philippi: no deceit, flattery or greed, gentle among them like a nursing mother, working night and day so as not to burden anyone, and urging each of them like a father.
  • 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13, Orphaned, blocked by Satan, crowned Torn away from the church, Paul tells how he longed to come back but Satan blocked the way, how he sent Timothy from Athens, how Timothy's good news has revived him, and prays that the Lord will make them blameless at his coming with all his holy ones.
  • 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8, Holiness in the body Paul reminds the church of the instructions he passed on from the Lord Jesus: God's will is that they be holy, avoid sexual immorality, control their own bodies in holiness and honor, and not wrong a brother in this matter.
  • 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12, A quiet life and your own hands Paul praises the church's love for the whole family of believers in Macedonia and urges them to love more, to live quietly, mind their own business and work with their hands, so that outsiders respect them and they depend on no one.
  • 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Grief with hope, and the welcoming party Paul tells a grieving church that believers who have died are not lost: when the Lord comes down from heaven with a shout, the archangel's voice and God's trumpet, the dead in Christ will rise first, and the living will be caught up with them to meet the Lord in the air.
  • 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, A thief in the night, and peace and security Paul reminds the church that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night: while people say peace and security, sudden destruction comes like labor pains, but they are children of the day who keep awake and sober, armed with faith, love and hope.
  • 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28, Leaders, prophets, a holy kiss and a letter read to all Paul asks the church to honor those who work hard over them, to warn the idle and help the weak, to rejoice, pray and give thanks, not to quench the Spirit or despise prophecy but test everything, and to have the letter read to all.
  • 2 Thessalonians 1:3-12, Suffering now, and the Lord revealed in blazing fire Paul thanks God for a church whose faith and love keep growing under persecution, and promises that God will repay their persecutors and give them relief when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his powerful angels in blazing fire.
  • 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, The man of lawlessness and the restrainer Paul tells a church unsettled by claims that the day of the Lord has already come that the rebellion must come first and the man of lawlessness be revealed, who sets himself up in God's temple claiming to be God; something holds him back for now, and the Lord Jesus will destroy him by the breath of his mouth.
  • 2 Thessalonians 2:13-3:5, Hold to the traditions, and let the word run Paul thanks God for choosing the Thessalonians, urges them to stand firm and hold to the traditions they were taught by word or by letter, prays for them, and asks them to pray that the Lord's message will run swiftly.
  • 2 Thessalonians 3:6-18, The idle, the busybodies, and a greeting in Paul's own hand Paul tells the church to keep away from believers who are idle and will not work, recalls how he worked night and day to set an example, lays down that anyone unwilling to work should not eat, and signs the letter in his own hand.
  • 1 Timothy 1:1-11, Myths, endless genealogies and would-be teachers of the law Paul greets Timothy, whom he left in Ephesus, and tells him to stop certain people teaching strange doctrines and spending themselves on myths and endless genealogies; they want to be teachers of the law without understanding it, while the law is meant for the lawless.
  • 1 Timothy 1:12-20, A blasphemer shown mercy, and two men handed over to Satan Paul thanks Christ for taking a former blasphemer and persecutor into his service as an example of mercy, then charges Timothy to fight the battle well, as the prophecies about him foretold, unlike Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom Paul has handed over to Satan.
  • 1 Timothy 2:1-7, Prayers for kings and all in authority Paul asks for prayers for everyone, kings and all in authority included, so that believers may live peaceful and quiet lives, because God our Savior wants all to be saved and there is one God and one mediator.
  • 1 Timothy 2:8-15, Lifted hands, braided hair, women learning, Eve and childbearing Paul wants men to pray without anger or arguing and women to dress modestly; women are to learn quietly, and he does not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man, arguing from Adam and Eve, before a hard saying about being saved through childbearing.
  • 1 Timothy 3:1-13, Overseers, deacons and the women Paul lists what is required of an overseer, above reproach, faithful in marriage, hospitable, able to teach, managing his household well, and then of deacons and of the women, who must also be worthy of respect.
  • 1 Timothy 3:14-16, God's household and the hymn Paul writes so that, if he is delayed, Timothy will know how people ought to behave in God's household, the church of the living God, and quotes what seems to be a hymn about Christ.
  • 1 Timothy 4:1-5, Deceiving spirits, no marriage, no foods The Spirit warns that later on some will desert the faith for deceiving spirits and demonic teaching, banning marriage and certain foods, though God made food to be eaten with thanks.
  • 1 Timothy 4:6-16, Training for godliness, and a young leader Timothy is to train himself for godliness as an athlete trains his body, set an example despite his youth, devote himself to the public reading of Scripture and teaching, and not neglect the gift given when the elders laid hands on him.
  • 1 Timothy 5:1-16, Older men as fathers, and the widows' list Timothy is to treat older and younger believers as family; the church is to honor widows who are truly in need, families are to support their own, and only older widows of proven character are to be put on the list.
  • 1 Timothy 5:17-25, Double honor, two witnesses, the elect angels and a little wine Elders who lead well deserve double honor and pay; charges against them need two or three witnesses; Paul charges Timothy before God, Christ and the elect angels to act without favoritism, to lay hands on no one hastily, and to take a little wine.
  • 1 Timothy 6:1-10, Slaves under the yoke, and godliness as gain Slaves are to respect their masters so that the faith is not slandered, and those with believing masters are to serve them all the more; then Paul turns on teachers who treat godliness as a way to get rich, and warns that the craving for money breeds every kind of harm.
  • 1 Timothy 6:11-21, Fight the good fight, the King of kings, the rich, and the deposit Timothy, as a man of God, is to flee greed and fight the good fight of the faith, keeping his charge until the appearing of the Lord, the King of kings; the rich are to be generous, and Timothy is to guard what has been entrusted to him.
  • 2 Timothy 1:1-7, Lois, Eunice and the laying on of hands Writing from custody, Paul greets Timothy as his dear son, thanks God as he remembers him in prayer night and day, recalls the faith of Timothy's grandmother Lois and mother Eunice, and urges him to fan into flame the gift given when Paul laid hands on him.
  • 2 Timothy 1:8-18, Not ashamed of my chains, the deposit, and Onesiphorus Paul tells Timothy not to be ashamed of the Lord's testimony or of him as a prisoner, but to share his suffering and guard the good deposit; everyone in Asia has deserted him except Onesiphorus, who searched Rome until he found him.
  • 2 Timothy 2:1-13, Soldier, athlete and farmer, and a prisoner in chains Timothy is to pass on what he heard to reliable people who will teach others, and to endure hardship like a soldier, compete by the rules like an athlete and work like a farmer, remembering Jesus Christ, raised from the dead and descended from David, for whom Paul is chained like a criminal.
  • 2 Timothy 2:14-26, Gangrene, a resurrection already past, and vessels in a great house Timothy is to warn the church against quarreling about words and to handle the word of truth correctly; the teaching of Hymenaeus and Philetus, who say the resurrection has already happened, spreads like gangrene, but God's foundation stands sealed, and in a great house some vessels are for honor and some for dishonor.
  • 2 Timothy 3:1-9, Terrible times, homes entered, and Jannes and Jambres Paul warns that the last days will bring terrible times and people who love themselves, money and pleasure, having a form of godliness but denying its power; some worm their way into homes and win over gullible women, opposing the truth as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses.
  • 2 Timothy 3:10-17, Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, and the sacred writings Timothy has followed Paul's teaching, life and sufferings, as in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra; he is to continue in what he learned, knowing from whom he learned it and how from infancy he has known the sacred writings, for all Scripture is God-breathed.
  • 2 Timothy 4:1-8, Itching ears, a drink offering, and the crown Paul charges Timothy before God and Christ Jesus to preach the word in season and out of season, because people will gather teachers to suit their itching ears; he himself is already being poured out like a drink offering, has fought the good fight and finished the race, and awaits the crown.
  • 2 Timothy 4:9-22, The cloak, the scrolls, the first defense, and before winter Paul asks Timothy to come quickly and bring Mark, the cloak he left at Troas and his scrolls; Alexander the metalworker did him great harm, no one stood with him at his first defense, but the Lord rescued him from the lion's mouth, and Timothy must come before winter.
  • Titus 1:1-9, Elders in every town, and God's steward Paul greets Titus, whom he left in Crete to put in order what was unfinished and to appoint elders in every town, and lists what an elder must be: blameless, faithful to his wife, with believing children, a steward of God's household, hospitable and able to hold to sound teaching.
  • Titus 1:10-16, The circumcision group, and Cretans always liars Many rebellious talkers and deceivers, especially of the circumcision group, are upsetting whole households for dishonest gain; Paul quotes a Cretan prophet who called Cretans always liars, and warns against Jewish myths and human commands, for to the pure all things are pure.
  • Titus 2:1-10, Older men, older women, young wives and slaves Titus is to teach what fits sound doctrine to each group in the household of faith, older men, older women, younger women, younger men and slaves, so that outsiders have no cause to speak against God's message and the teaching about God is made attractive.
  • Titus 2:11-3:8, Grace has appeared, be subject to rulers, and the washing of rebirth God's grace has appeared, training believers to live with self-control now while they wait for Christ's glorious appearing; they are to respect rulers and be gentle to all, because God saved them by his mercy, giving them new birth and new life by the Holy Spirit.
  • Titus 3:9-15, A divisive person, winter at Nicopolis, and Zenas and Apollos Titus is to avoid foolish controversies, genealogies and quarrels about the law, and to warn a divisive person twice before having nothing more to do with him; Paul plans to winter at Nicopolis and asks Titus to send Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way with everything they need.
  • Philemon 1-7, The church in Philemon's house Paul, a prisoner, and Timothy write to Philemon, to Apphia and Archippus, and to the church that meets in Philemon's house, and Paul thanks God for Philemon's love and faith, his partnership, and the way he has refreshed the hearts of God's people.
  • Philemon 8-25, Onesimus sent home with a letter Paul appeals to Philemon, on the basis of love, for Onesimus, the slave who became Paul's son in prison: he sends him back to be received as a beloved brother rather than as a slave, asks Philemon to welcome him as he would Paul, offers to repay anything he owes, and asks for a guest room.
  • Hebrews 1:1-14, The Son above the angels God, who spoke in many ways through the prophets, has now spoken through a Son, heir of all things, who made purification for sins and sat down at the right hand of the Majesty. A chain of Scripture quotations sets the Son above the angels, who worship him and are sent to serve those who will inherit salvation.
  • Hebrews 2:1-4, The message spoken through angels The readers must hold to what they have heard, or drift away. If the message spoken through angels was binding and every breach was punished, there is no escape for those who neglect the greater salvation announced by the Lord and confirmed by God with signs.
  • Hebrews 2:5-18, The world to come is not for angels God did not put the world to come under angels. Psalm 8 promised rule to human beings; it is not yet seen, but Jesus, made a little lower than the angels for a while, is crowned with glory, and he shared flesh and blood to break the devil's power and become a merciful and faithful high priest.
  • Hebrews 3:1-4:13, Moses the servant, and the rest still open Moses was faithful in God's house as a servant; Jesus is faithful over it as the Son. Psalm 95's warning not to harden hearts as in the wilderness still speaks today, because the rest God promised was never reached under Joshua and remains open for God's people.
  • Hebrews 4:14-5:10, A high priest who can sympathize Jesus is a great high priest who has passed through the heavens and was tested in every way, yet without sin, so his people can approach the throne of grace with confidence. Like every high priest he was appointed by God, not self-chosen, and God named him a priest for ever in the order of Melchizedek.
  • Hebrews 5:11-6:12, Milk, solid food and no way back The readers should be teachers by now but still need milk, so the writer urges them past the elementary teachings. Those who have been enlightened and shared in the Holy Spirit and then fall away cannot be brought back to repentance, though he is confident of better things for his readers.
  • Hebrews 6:13-20, God's oath and the anchor behind the curtain When God promised Abraham, he swore by himself, since there was no one greater. Promise and oath, two things in which God cannot lie, give a hope that holds like an anchor and reaches behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone ahead as high priest for ever.
  • Hebrews 7:1-10, Melchizedek, priest-king of Salem Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High, met Abraham, blessed him and received a tenth of the spoil. With no father, mother or genealogy recorded, he resembles the Son of God, and because Levi was still in Abraham's body when Abraham paid him, his priesthood ranks above Levi's.
  • Hebrews 7:11-28, A priest from Judah, by oath, for ever If the Levitical priesthood had brought perfection, no other priest would have been promised. Jesus comes from Judah, a priest by the power of an indestructible life and by God's oath, the guarantee of a better covenant; Levitical priests died and offered daily for their own sins, but he lives for ever and offered himself once for all.
  • Hebrews 8:1-13, Copy and shadow, and a new covenant The high priest believers have is seated in heaven and serves in the true tabernacle set up by the Lord. The earthly sanctuary was a copy and shadow built to the pattern shown to Moses, and Jeremiah's promise of a new covenant shows that the first was growing old and ready to disappear.
  • Hebrews 9:1-10, The two rooms and their furniture The first covenant had a sanctuary on earth: an outer room with the lampstand, the table and the bread, and behind the second curtain the most holy place with the golden altar of incense, the ark and the cherubim. Priests entered the first room daily and the high priest the second once a year with blood, a sign that access to the holy place had not yet been opened.
  • Hebrews 9:11-22, Blood, ashes and a will Christ entered the greater tent once for all with his own blood, not the blood of goats and calves. If the ashes of a heifer could make the unclean outwardly clean, how much more will his blood cleanse the conscience; and as a will takes effect only at a death, the new covenant was put in force by his.
  • Hebrews 9:23-10:18, Once for all, and a seated priest Christ entered heaven itself, not a copy, and offered himself once at the climax of the ages; as people die once and then face judgment, he will appear a second time to save. The yearly sacrifices only reminded people of sin, but his body offered once has made his people holy, and he has sat down, his offering finished.
  • Hebrews 10:19-25, Through the curtain, bodies washed, meeting together Because Jesus' blood has opened a new and living way through the curtain, believers may enter the most holy place with confidence. With hearts sprinkled and bodies washed with pure water, they are to hold fast, spur one another on, and not give up meeting together.
  • Hebrews 10:26-39, No sacrifice left; prison and plunder For anyone who goes on sinning deliberately after knowing the truth, no sacrifice for sins remains. The readers once endured a hard contest: public insult, prison and the seizure of their property, which they accepted with joy. They must not throw away their confidence now.
  • Hebrews 11:8-16, Strangers looking for a city By faith Abraham left home without knowing where he was going and lived in tents in the promised land as a foreigner, waiting for a city with lasting foundations that God himself designed and built. He and Sarah and their family died still waiting, admitting they were strangers on earth and longing for a better, heavenly country.
  • Hebrews 11:32-40, Sawn in two, dressed in skins Time fails to tell of the judges, David, Samuel and the prophets, who conquered kingdoms and escaped the sword. Others were tortured and refused release to gain a better resurrection; they were mocked, flogged, chained, stoned, sawn in two, and wandered in skins and caves, people the world was not worthy of.
  • Hebrews 12:1-13, The race, the shame and the Father's discipline Surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, believers are to throw off every weight and run with endurance, eyes fixed on Jesus, who endured the cross and scorned its shame. Their hardships are a father's discipline, which only legitimate children receive.
  • Hebrews 12:18-29, Sinai, Zion and the unshakable kingdom Believers have not come to the burning, quaking mountain of Sinai but to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, with myriads of angels, the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, God the judge, the spirits of the righteous, and Jesus, whose blood speaks better than Abel's. Since God will shake heaven and earth once more, they are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken.
  • Hebrews 13:1-6, Strangers, angels, prisoners The writer turns to everyday duties: brotherly love, hospitality to strangers, since some have entertained angels without knowing it, care for prisoners as if in prison with them, honor for marriage, and freedom from the love of money.
  • Hebrews 13:7-17, Foods, an altar and outside the camp Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and for ever, so the readers must not be carried away by strange teachings about foods. Believers have an altar the tabernacle priests may not eat from; as the bodies of the sin offerings were burned outside the camp, Jesus suffered outside the gate, and they must go out to him, bearing his disgrace, seeking the city to come.
  • Hebrews 13:18-25, Timothy released, greetings from Italy The writer asks for prayer so that he may be restored to his readers soon, blesses them in the name of the God of peace who brought back from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep, calls the letter a brief word of exhortation, and reports that Timothy has been released. Those from Italy send greetings.
  • James 1:1-18, To the twelve tribes scattered James greets the twelve tribes scattered among the nations, tells them to count their trials as joy and to ask God for wisdom, warns that the rich will wither like a wildflower, and insists that God tempts no one but gives every good gift from above, as the Father of lights.
  • James 1:19-27, Slow to anger, and the widows and orphans James tells his readers to be quick to listen and slow to speak and to anger, to do the word and not merely hear it, and names the religion God accepts: care for orphans and widows in their distress and a life kept unstained by the world.
  • James 2:1-13, The gold ring and the good seat James forbids favoritism in the assembly. A rich man with a gold ring is given a good seat and a poor man in dirty clothes is told to stand, though it is the rich who drag believers into court and slander the noble name; the royal law of love rules out partiality, and mercy triumphs over judgment.
  • James 2:14-26, Faith that shudders, Abraham and Rahab Faith without deeds is dead, James argues. Wishing a hungry brother well helps no one, the demons believe that God is one and shudder, and Abraham and Rahab were counted righteous by what they did.
  • James 3:1-4:10, The tongue on fire, zeal and wars James warns would-be teachers that the tongue is a small fire set alight by hell, contrasts bitter envy and selfish ambition with the peaceable wisdom from above, traces fights and quarrels to desires at war within, calls friendship with the world enmity with God, and tells his readers to resist the devil.
  • James 4:13-5:6, Merchants, landowners and the wages that cry out James rebukes traders who plan a year of business without God, then turns on rich landowners whose hoarded wealth is rotting, whose withheld wages cry out to the Lord of hosts, and who have fattened themselves for a day of slaughter and condemned the righteous one.
  • James 5:7-12, Early and late rains, Job, and no oaths James tells the oppressed to be patient until the Lord comes, as a farmer waits for the autumn and spring rains, to stop grumbling, to remember the prophets and Job, and above all not to swear.
  • James 5:13-20, Elders, oil and Elijah's prayer The suffering should pray and the cheerful sing; the sick should call the church's elders to pray over them and anoint them with oil. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful, as Elijah's was, and whoever turns a sinner back covers a multitude of sins.
  • 1 Peter 1:1-12, To the exiles of the dispersion Peter writes to God's chosen exiles scattered through five provinces of Asia Minor, blesses God for a new birth into a living hope and an inheritance kept in heaven, and tells them their trials test their faith as fire tests gold. The prophets searched for this salvation, and angels long to look into it.
  • 1 Peter 1:13-25, Minds girded, foreigners, and the lamb Peter calls his readers to be ready and sober, holy as God is holy, and to live as foreigners in reverent fear, since they were ransomed not with silver or gold but with the blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish. Born again of imperishable seed, the living word, they must love one another deeply.
  • 1 Peter 2:1-10, Living stones and a royal priesthood Like newborn babies the readers should crave pure milk. Coming to Christ, the living stone rejected by people but chosen by God, they are being built into a spiritual house and a holy priesthood; Peter strings together Scripture's stone texts and calls them a chosen people, a royal priesthood and a holy nation.
  • 1 Peter 2:11-17, Foreigners among the nations; honor the emperor As foreigners and exiles the readers must keep their conduct good among the Gentiles, who slander them as wrongdoers. They are to submit to every human authority, the emperor and his governors, and so silence ignorant talk; they are free people, but slaves of God. Honor everyone, love the believers, fear God, honor the emperor.
  • 1 Peter 2:18-25, Household slaves and a harsh master Peter tells household slaves to submit to their masters, the harsh as well as the kind, because suffering unjustly while doing good is commendable before God. Christ suffered for them, leaving an example: insulted, he did not insult in return, and by his wounds they have been healed.
  • 1 Peter 3:1-7, A wife who does not share her husband's gods Wives are to submit to their husbands so that husbands who do not believe may be won without a word, by their conduct. Their beauty should be a gentle and quiet spirit rather than braided hair and gold, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him lord. Husbands must be considerate and honor their wives as co-heirs of the gracious gift of life.
  • 1 Peter 3:8-22, A defense, and the spirits in prison Peter calls for harmony and for blessing in return for insult, and tells his readers to be ready to make a defense of their hope. Christ suffered once for sins, was put to death in the body and made alive in the Spirit, and went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison who disobeyed in Noah's day; the flood that saved eight people prefigures baptism, and Christ has gone into heaven, where every angelic authority and power is subject to him.
  • 1 Peter 4:1-11, The neighbors' parties and their abuse Armed with Christ's attitude, the readers have done with the life of the Gentiles, its debauchery, drinking parties and idolatry, and their old companions are surprised and heap abuse on them; they will give account to God. The end of all things is near, so they must be sober, love one another, be hospitable without grumbling, and use their gifts as stewards of God's grace.
  • 1 Peter 4:12-19, The fiery ordeal and the name Christian The readers should not be surprised at the fiery ordeal, but rejoice to share Christ's sufferings. No one should suffer as a murderer, a thief or a meddler, but anyone who suffers as a Christian should not be ashamed; judgment begins with God's household, so those who suffer should commit themselves to their faithful Creator.
  • 1 Peter 5:1-14, Elders, the roaring lion, and greetings from Babylon As a fellow elder Peter urges the elders to shepherd God's flock willingly, not for gain, until the Chief Shepherd gives them an unfading crown. All must be humble, for their adversary the devil prowls like a roaring lion. Peter writes through Silvanus and sends greetings from she who is in Babylon and from his son Mark.
  • 2 Peter 1:1-21, A reminder before the tent is folded Simeon Peter writes to those who share a faith as precious as his, through whom they may share in the divine nature, and urges them to add virtue to virtue. Knowing his death is near, he means to remind them, for he was an eyewitness of Christ's majesty on the holy mountain, and the prophetic word is a lamp in a dark place until the morning star rises.
  • 2 Peter 2:1-10, Angels in Tartarus, Noah, Sodom and Lot As there were false prophets in Israel, so false teachers will come, greedy and denying the Master who bought them. God punished the angels who sinned, keeping them bound in darkness in Tartarus for judgment; he swept away the ancient world but kept Noah; he burned Sodom and Gomorrah but rescued righteous Lot. So the Lord knows how to rescue the godly and keep the unrighteous for judgment.
  • 2 Peter 2:10-22, The glorious ones, the way of Balaam, a dog and a sow The false teachers slander the glorious ones, which even angels do not dare to do. Like unreasoning animals they carouse in daylight, with eyes full of adultery; they have followed Balaam, who loved profit gained by wrongdoing and was rebuked by a donkey. They promise freedom while slaves of corruption, and they are like a dog returning to its vomit and a washed sow to the mud.
  • 2 Peter 3:1-18, Scoffers, the flood and the day of fire Scoffers will ask where the promised coming is, since everything goes on as it has since creation. Peter answers that the world once made by God's word was destroyed by water and is now kept for fire on the day of judgment; the Lord does not count time as people do, and he delays out of patience. The day will come like a thief, and the readers wait for new heavens and a new earth, as Paul too wrote in letters some twist like the other Scriptures.
  • 1 John 1:1-4, What our hands have touched The letter opens with the Word of life, which was from the beginning and which the writer and those with him heard, saw and touched. They announce the eternal life that was with the Father and appeared to them, so that the readers may share their fellowship with the Father and the Son.
  • 1 John 1:5-2:17, God is light, an advocate, and a world passing away God is light with no darkness in him, so to claim fellowship with him while walking in darkness is a lie; the blood of Jesus cleanses, and those who confess are forgiven. Anyone who sins has an advocate with the Father, the atoning sacrifice for the whole world. The old command of love is new, the darkness is passing, and the world is passing away.
  • 1 John 2:18-27, The last hour and many antichrists It is the last hour: the readers heard that antichrist is coming, and many antichrists have already come. They went out from the community, which shows they never belonged; whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ is the liar and the antichrist. The readers have an anointing from the Holy One and need no one else to teach them.
  • 1 John 2:28-3:24, Children of God, Cain, and love in deed Those who do right are born of God, whose love makes them his children, and when he appears they will be like him. Whoever keeps on sinning belongs to the devil, who has sinned from the beginning, and the Son came to undo his work. The readers are not to be like Cain, who murdered his brother, but to love in deed and in truth, as Christ laid down his life.
  • 1 John 4:1-6, Test the spirits The readers must test every spirit instead of trusting each one, since many false prophets are now abroad. A spirit that confesses Jesus Christ as truly come in the flesh is from God, and one that refuses is the spirit of the antichrist. God in them is greater than the power in the world, and this is how the Spirit of truth is told from the spirit of error.
  • 1 John 5:1-12, Water, blood and three witnesses Whoever believes Jesus is the Christ is God's child, and loving the parent means loving the child. Faith overcomes the world. Jesus Christ came by water and blood, not by water only, and three testify, the Spirit, the water and the blood; God's testimony is that he has given eternal life in his Son.
  • 1 John 5:13-21, The sin that leads to death, the evil one and idols John writes so that believers may know they have eternal life, and that God hears them. They are to pray for a brother or sister whose sin does not lead to death, though there is a sin that does. Those born of God are kept from the evil one, while the whole world lies under his power; the letter ends with a warning to keep away from idols.
  • 2 John 1-6, The elder to the chosen lady The elder writes to the chosen lady and her children, whom he loves in the truth. He is glad that some of her children walk in the truth, and he asks for no new command but the old one, that they love one another, which means walking in God's commands.
  • 2 John 7-13, Deceivers at the door, paper and ink Many deceivers who refuse to confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh are abroad in the world; such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. Whoever runs ahead and does not keep to Christ's teaching does not have God, and the readers are not to take such a person into the house or greet him. The elder would rather not use paper and ink, and hopes to talk face to face.
  • 3 John 1-8, Gaius and the traveling brothers The elder writes to his dear friend Gaius, praying that he is in good health and glad to hear that he walks in the truth. Gaius has been faithful in what he does for the brothers, strangers though they are; he should supply them for the next stage of their journey in a way that honors God, since they went out for the sake of the Name and took nothing from the pagans.
  • 3 John 9-15, Diotrephes and Demetrius The elder wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, eager to be first, refuses to receive him; he spreads malicious talk, refuses to welcome the brothers and puts out of the church those who do. Gaius is not to imitate evil. Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone, and the elder adds his own testimony; he hopes to come soon and talk face to face.
  • Jude 5-7, Israel in the desert, the angels who left their place, and Sodom Jude reminds his readers that the Lord who saved a people out of Egypt later destroyed those who did not believe; that the angels who did not keep their position are held in darkness, bound in everlasting chains, for the judgment of the great day; and that Sodom and Gomorrah serve as an example of the punishment of eternal fire.
  • Jude 8-13, Michael and the body of Moses, and hidden reefs at the love feasts The intruders claim dream visions, defile the body, despise authority and slander the glorious ones, though the archangel Michael, disputing with the devil over the body of Moses, did not dare to slander him but left the rebuke to the Lord. They have taken the way of Cain, Balaam and Korah; they are hidden reefs at the love feasts, waterless clouds, wild waves and wandering stars.
  • Jude 14-25, Enoch's prophecy, scoffers, and a closing doxology Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about such people that the Lord comes with his countless holy ones to judge all and convict the ungodly. The apostles foretold scoffers in the last times; the readers are to build themselves up, pray in the Holy Spirit, keep themselves in God's love and show mercy, snatching some from the fire. Jude closes with praise to the one able to keep them from stumbling.
  • Revelation 1:1-8, a revelation sent as a letter The book opens as a revelation God gave Jesus, sent by his angel to his servant John, with a blessing on the one who reads it aloud and on those who hear. It then greets seven churches in Asia like a letter, from the one who is, was and is to come, and from Jesus, ruler of the kings of the earth, who is coming with the clouds.
  • Revelation 1:9-20, Patmos, the Lord's day, lampstands and stars On the island of Patmos, in the Spirit on the Lord's day, John hears a voice like a trumpet telling him to write to seven churches. He turns and sees one like a son of man among seven golden lampstands, holding seven stars, who holds the keys of death and Hades and explains what the stars and lampstands mean.
  • Revelation 2:1-7, Ephesus and the Nicolaitans To Ephesus the one who holds the seven stars praises a church that tested false apostles and hates the works of the Nicolaitans, but warns that it has abandoned its first love and may lose its lampstand. The one who conquers will eat from the tree of life in God's paradise.
  • Revelation 2:8-11, Smyrna, poor and slandered To Smyrna the risen Jesus says he sees their hardship and poverty and the abuse they suffer from local opponents claiming to be the true Jews, whom he condemns in harsh terms. Some will be jailed for a short time; if they stay loyal even to death he will reward them with life.
  • Revelation 2:12-17, Pergamum, where Satan's throne is To Pergamum Jesus, who wields the sword of judgment, says they have stayed loyal in a city he calls Satan's seat, even after the martyrdom of Antipas. But some follow teaching like Balaam's that leads to idol meals and immorality. The faithful are promised hidden heavenly food and a white stone carrying a new name.
  • Revelation 2:18-29, Thyatira, the guilds and Jezebel To Thyatira the Son of God, with eyes like fire and feet like bronze, praises a growing church but rebukes it for tolerating Jezebel, a self-styled prophetess who leads his servants into immorality and idol food. Those who hold fast are promised authority over the nations and the morning star.
  • Revelation 3:1-6, Sardis, alive in name only To Sardis the one who holds the seven spirits and seven stars says the church has a reputation for being alive but is dead, and warns that he will come like a thief if it does not wake up. A few have not soiled their clothes; the one who conquers will walk with him in white and will not be blotted out of the book of life.
  • Revelation 3:7-13, Philadelphia and the key of David To Philadelphia the one who holds the key of David sets before a weak but faithful church an open door no one can shut. Those of the synagogue of Satan will bow at their feet, and the one who conquers will be a pillar in God's temple, bearing the name of the new Jerusalem.
  • Revelation 3:14-22, Laodicea, lukewarm and rich To Laodicea the faithful and true witness says the church is neither cold nor hot but lukewarm, and he will spit it out. It thinks itself rich but is poor, blind and naked; he counsels it to buy gold, white clothes and eye salve, and stands at the door and knocks.
  • Revelation 4:1-11, the throne room and the twenty-four elders Through an open door John is called up to heaven and sees God on a throne, ringed by a rainbow, with twenty-four elders on thrones, four living creatures and a sea of glass. The creatures cry holy, holy, holy, and the elders lay down their crowns, saying the Lord and God is worthy because he created all things.
  • Revelation 5:1-14, the sealed scroll and the Lamb In God's right hand is a scroll written on both sides and sealed with seven seals, and no one is worthy to open it until the Lion of Judah, the Root of David, appears as a Lamb that looks slain. The living creatures, the elders, countless angels and all creation worship him.
  • Revelation 6:1-8, four horsemen As the Lamb opens the first four seals, four riders go out: a crowned archer on a white horse bent on conquest, a rider on a red horse who takes peace from the earth, a rider with scales on a black horse while wheat sells at famine prices, and Death on a pale horse with Hades following.
  • Revelation 6:9-17, souls under the altar and the great day of wrath At the fifth seal the souls of those killed for God's word cry out from under the altar, how long, and are given white robes and told to wait. At the sixth a great earthquake shakes the world, the sky rolls up like a scroll, and kings and slaves alike hide in the caves from the wrath of the Lamb.
  • Revelation 7:1-17, the sealing of the 144,000 and the crowd in white Four angels hold back the winds until God's servants are sealed on their foreheads, 144,000 from the tribes of Israel. Then John sees a crowd no one can count, from every nation, in white robes with palm branches, who have come out of the great tribulation and whom the Lamb will shepherd.
  • Revelation 8:1-13, silence, incense and the first four trumpets The seventh seal brings half an hour of silence in heaven. Seven angels receive trumpets, an angel offers incense with the prayers of God's people at the golden altar and hurls fire to the earth, and the first four trumpets bring hail and fire, a burning mountain into the sea, the star Wormwood and a darkening of sun, moon and stars.
  • Revelation 9:1-21, the Abyss opened and the armies from the Euphrates At the fifth trumpet a fallen star is given the key to the Abyss, and from its smoke come locusts like horses with human faces, women's hair and scorpions' stings, under a king called Abaddon and Apollyon. At the sixth, four angels bound at the Euphrates are released with a cavalry of two hundred million that kills a third of humanity, yet the survivors do not repent.
  • Revelation 10:1-11, the mighty angel and the little scroll A mighty angel robed in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, plants one foot on the sea and one on the land, swears by the one who lives for ever that there will be no more delay, and gives John a little scroll to eat, sweet in his mouth and bitter in his stomach.
  • Revelation 11:1-14, the measured temple and the two witnesses John is told to measure God's temple and its worshipers but to leave out the outer court, given to the nations to trample for forty-two months. Two witnesses in sackcloth prophesy with the powers of Elijah and Moses, are killed by the beast from the Abyss and left unburied in the great city, then raised and taken up to heaven.
  • Revelation 11:15-19, the seventh trumpet and the ark At the seventh trumpet heaven announces that rule over the world now belongs to God and his Messiah for ever. The elders worship, the angry nations meet God's judgment, and the heavenly temple opens to reveal the ark of the covenant.
  • Revelation 12:1-6, the woman, the child and the dragon A radiant woman, crowned with twelve stars and standing on the moon, labors to give birth while a great red dragon waits to devour her child. The child, destined to rule the nations, is caught up to God's throne, and the woman escapes to the wilderness, where she is kept safe for 1,260 days.
  • Revelation 12:7-17, war in heaven and the accuser thrown down Michael and his angels fight the dragon and throw him out of heaven, and a voice celebrates the fall of the accuser of the brothers, defeated by the Lamb's blood and the witnesses' testimony. On earth the dragon chases the woman, who is given eagle's wings, and when the earth swallows the river he spews after her, he turns to make war on her other children.
  • Revelation 13:1-10, the beast from the sea A beast with ten horns and seven heads rises from the sea, built from Daniel's leopard, bear and lion, and the dragon gives it his power. One head seems to have had a fatal wound that healed, the whole earth follows it in awe, and it is allowed to blaspheme and to make war on God's people for forty-two months.
  • Revelation 13:11-18, the beast from the earth, the mark and 666 A second beast, harmless-looking like a lamb but speaking like the dragon, rises from the earth and drives everyone to worship the first beast, working wonders and making its statue speak. Trade is barred to anyone without its mark on hand or forehead, a mark tied to the beast's name and number, 666.
  • Revelation 14:1-5, the Lamb and the 144,000 on Mount Zion The Lamb stands on Mount Zion with 144,000 who bear his name and his Father's on their foreheads, singing a new song only they can learn. They have kept themselves pure, follow the Lamb wherever he goes, and are offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb.
  • Revelation 14:6-20, Babylon fallen, the harvest and the winepress Three angels announce an eternal gospel, the fall of Babylon and the undiluted cup of God's wrath for those who worship the beast, and a voice blesses those who die in the Lord. Then one like a son of man reaps the earth's grain with a sickle, and an angel gathers its grapes into the great winepress, from which blood flows as high as the horses' bridles.
  • Revelation 15:1-16:11, the song of Moses and the first bowls Those who have overcome the beast stand beside a sea of glass mixed with fire and sing the song of Moses and of the Lamb. Seven angels dressed like priests come out of the heavenly temple with seven golden bowls of God's wrath, and the first five bring sores, seas and rivers turned to blood, scorching sun and darkness on the beast's throne.
  • Revelation 16:12-21, the Euphrates dried and Armageddon The sixth bowl dries up the Euphrates to make way for the kings from the east, and three frog-like spirits from the dragon, the beast and the false prophet gather the kings of the world to battle at the place called Armageddon. The seventh bowl brings a voice saying it is done, the greatest earthquake ever, the splitting of the great city and hundred-pound hailstones.
  • Revelation 17:1-6, the woman on the scarlet beast An angel carries John into a wilderness to see the great prostitute who sits on many waters, riding a scarlet beast full of blasphemous names. Dressed in purple and scarlet and glittering with gold and pearls, she holds a golden cup of filth, bears the name Babylon the great on her forehead and is drunk with the blood of God's people.
  • Revelation 17:7-18, seven hills and seven kings The angel explains the woman and the beast: the beast once was, now is not and will come up from the Abyss; its seven heads are seven hills and also seven kings, five fallen, one living and one still to come, and the beast is an eighth who belongs to the seven. Its ten horns are ten kings who will make war on the Lamb, and in the end the beast and the horns turn on the woman, the great city that rules the kings of the earth, and burn her.
  • Revelation 18:1-8, come out of her, my people A shining angel announces that Babylon the great has fallen and become a haunt of demons and unclean birds, because the nations drank her wine and the merchants grew rich on her luxury. A voice calls God's people to come out of her, and to pay her back double, since she boasts that she sits as a queen and will never be a widow.
  • Revelation 18:9-24, kings, merchants and the cargo list The kings, the merchants and the sea captains stand far off and mourn as Babylon burns, because no one buys their cargoes any more, a long list of luxuries that ends with human beings. An angel hurls a great millstone into the sea, and the sounds of music, craftsmen, the mill, the lamp and the wedding fall silent in the city where the blood of prophets and saints was found.
  • Revelation 19:1-10, the marriage supper of the Lamb A vast heavenly crowd shouts hallelujah because God has judged the great prostitute, and again because the Lamb's wedding day has arrived and his bride stands ready in fine linen. The angel declares those invited to the wedding feast blessed, and when John bows to him, tells him to worship God alone.
  • Revelation 19:11-21, the rider on the white horse Heaven opens and a rider on a white horse, named Faithful and True and the Word of God, leads heaven's armies, his robe stained with blood and a sword coming from his mouth, his title King of kings. Birds are summoned to feast on the fallen, the beast and the false prophet are seized and cast into the fiery lake, and their armies fall to the rider's sword.
  • Revelation 20:1-6, Satan bound and the thousand years An angel with the key to the Abyss and a great chain seizes the dragon, binds him for a thousand years and seals him in the Abyss so that he cannot deceive the nations. Those beheaded for their witness, who refused the beast and its mark, come to life and reign with Christ for the thousand years, the first resurrection, over which the second death has no power.
  • Revelation 20:7-15, Gog and Magog and the great white throne Released at the end of the thousand years, Satan gathers Gog and Magog, the nations from the four corners of the earth, around the camp of God's people, but fire from heaven consumes them and the devil is thrown into the lake of fire. Before a great white throne the dead, given up by the sea, death and Hades, are judged from the books, and anyone not found in the book of life is thrown into the lake of fire, the second death.
  • Revelation 21:1-8, new heaven, new earth, no more sea John sees a new heaven and a new earth, with no more sea, and the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God like a bride dressed for her husband. A voice announces that God's dwelling is now with people, that he will wipe away every tear, and that he makes all things new; the thirsty will drink freely, while the cowardly, the faithless, murderers, sorcerers, idolaters and liars have their place in the lake of fire.
  • Revelation 21:9-27, the city of gold and twelve stones An angel carries John to a high mountain to show him the bride, the holy city Jerusalem, shining with God's glory, with twelve gates named for Israel's tribes and twelve foundations named for the Lamb's apostles. The city is a cube of pure gold, its foundations set with twelve precious stones and its gates each a single pearl; it has no temple, since God and the Lamb are its temple, and its gates never shut as the nations bring their glory into it.
  • Revelation 22:1-5, river and tree of life The angel shows John a clear, life-giving river running from God's throne through the middle of the city, with the tree of life on both banks, fruiting every month and healing the nations with its leaves. Nothing cursed remains; God's servants will see him face to face, carry his name and reign for ever in his light.
  • Revelation 22:6-21, I am coming soon The angel confirms that the words are trustworthy, and Jesus says he is coming soon. John is told not to seal up the prophecy, since the time is near; those who wash their robes may enter the city while dogs, sorcerers and liars stay outside. The book closes with the Spirit and the bride saying come, a warning against adding to or taking from it, and the prayer, come, Lord Jesus.
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