1 Now there was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah. 2 And he said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse and also spoke it in my hearing, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the Lord.” 3 He then returned the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, “I wholly consecrate the silver from my hand to the Lord for my son to make a carved image and a cast metal image; so now I will return them to you.” 4 So when he returned the silver to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith, who made them into a carved image and a cast metal image, and they were in the house of Micah. 5 And the man Micah had a shrine and he made an ephod and household idols, and consecrated one of his sons, so that he might become his priest. 6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
7 Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he was staying there. 8 Then the man left the city, Bethlehem in Judah, to stay wherever he would find a place; and as he made his journey, he came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah. 9 Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to stay wherever I may find a place.” 10 Micah then said to him, “Stay with me and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, a supply of clothing, and your sustenance.” So the Levite went in. 11 The Levite agreed to live with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons. 12 So Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in the house of Micah. 13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because I have a Levite as a priest.”
1 Now when we had parted from them and had set sail, we ran a straight course to Cos, and on the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara; 2 and having found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. 3 When we came in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left, we kept sailing to Syria and landed at Tyre; for the ship was to unload its cargo there. 4 After looking up the disciples, we stayed there for seven days; and they kept telling Paul, through the Spirit, not to set foot in Jerusalem. 5 When our days there were ended, we left and started on our journey, while they all, with wives and children, escorted us until we were out of the city. After kneeling down on the beach and praying, we said farewell to one another. 6 Then we boarded the ship, and they returned home.
7 When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and after greeting the brothers and sisters, we stayed with them for a day. 8 On the next day we left and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. 9 Now this man had four virgin daughters who were prophetesses. 10 As we were staying there for some days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 And he came to us and took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and hand him over to the Gentiles.’” 12 When we had heard this, we as well as the local residents began begging him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 And since he would not be persuaded, we became quiet, remarking, “The will of the Lord be done!”
15 After these days we got ready and started on our way up to Jerusalem. 16 Some of the disciples from Caesarea also came with us, taking us to Mnason of Cyprus, a disciple of long standing with whom we were to stay.
17 After we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters received us gladly. 18 And the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. 19 After he had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 And when they heard about them, they began glorifying God; and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law; 21 and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. 22 So what is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. 23 Therefore, do as we tell you: we have four men who have a vow upon themselves; 24 take them along and purify yourself together with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads; and then everyone will know that there is nothing to what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also conform, keeping the Law. 25 But regarding the Gentiles who have believed, we sent a letter, having decided that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and what is strangled, and from sexual immorality.” 26 Then Paul took along the men, and the next day, after purifying himself together with them, he went into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them.
27 When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the crowd and laid hands on him, 28 crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who instructs everyone everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides, he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place!” 29 For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they thought that Paul had brought him into the temple. 30 Then the whole city was provoked and the people rushed together, and taking hold of Paul they dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut. 31 While they were intent on killing him, a report came up to the commander of the Roman cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. 32 He immediately took along some soldiers and centurions and ran down to the crowd; and when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. 33 Then the commander came up and took hold of him, and ordered that he be bound with two chains; and he began asking who he was and what he had done. 34 But among the crowd, some were shouting one thing and some another, and when he could not find out the facts because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks. 35 When Paul got to the stairs, it came about that he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob; 36 for the multitude of people kept following them, shouting, “Away with him!”
37 As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he *said to the commander, “May I say something to you?” And he said, “Do you know Greek? 38 Then you are not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?” 39 But Paul said, “I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.” 40 When he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the stairs, motioned to the people with his hand; and when there was a great silence, he spoke to them in the Hebrew dialect, saying,
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book. 3 For behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah.’ The Lord says, ‘I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers, and they shall take possession of it.’”
4 Now these are the words which the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah:
5 “For this is what the Lord says:
‘I have heard a sound of terror,
Of fear, and there is no peace.
6 Ask now, and see
If a male can give birth.
Why do I see every man
With his hands on his waist, as a woman in childbirth?
And why have all faces turned pale?
7 Woe, for that day is great,
There is none like it;
And it is the time of Jacob’s distress,
Yet he will be saved from it.
8 ‘It shall come about on that day,’ declares the Lord of armies, ‘that I will break his yoke from their necks and will tear to pieces their restraints; and strangers will no longer make them their slaves. 9 But they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.
10 And do not fear, Jacob My servant,’ declares the Lord,
‘And do not be dismayed, Israel;
For behold, I am going to save you from far away,
And your descendants from the land of their captivity.
And Jacob will return and be at peace, without anxiety,
And no one will make him afraid.
11 For I am with you,’ declares the Lord, ‘to save you;
For I will completely destroy all the nations where I have scattered you,
Only I will not destroy you completely.
But I will discipline you fairly
And will by no means leave you unpunished.’
12 “For this is what the Lord says:
‘Your broken limb is irreparable,
And your wound is incurable.
13 There is no one to plead your cause;
No healing for your sore,
No recovery for you.
14 All your lovers have forgotten you,
They do not seek you;
For I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy,
With the punishment of a cruel one,
Because your wrongdoing is great,
And your sins are numerous.
15 Why do you cry out over your injury?
Your pain is incurable.
Because your wrongdoing is great
And your sins are numerous,
I have done these things to you.
16 Therefore all who devour you will be devoured;
And all your adversaries, every one of them, will go into captivity;
And those who plunder you will become plunder,
And all who plunder you I will turn into plunder.
17 For I will restore you to health
And I will heal you of your wounds,’ declares the Lord,
‘Because they have called you an outcast, saying:
“It is Zion; no one cares for her.”’
18 “This is what the Lord says:
‘Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob
And have compassion on his dwellings;
And the city will be rebuilt on its ruins,
And the palace will stand on its rightful place.
19 From them will come a song of thanksgiving
And the voices of those who celebrate;
And I will multiply them and they will not decrease;
I will honor them and they will not be insignificant.
20 Their children also will be as before,
And their congregation will be established before Me;
And I will punish all their oppressors.
21 Their leader shall be one of them,
And their ruler will come out from their midst;
And I will bring him near and he shall approach Me;
For who would dare to risk his life to approach Me?’ declares the Lord.
22 ‘You shall be My people,
And I will be your God.’”
23 Behold, the tempest of the Lord!
Wrath has gone forth,
A sweeping tempest;
It will whirl upon the head of the wicked.
24 The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back
Until He has performed and accomplished
The intent of His heart.
In the latter days you will understand this.
1 “At that time,” declares the Lord, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.”
2 This is what the Lord says:
“The people who survived the sword
Found grace in the wilderness—
Israel, when it went to find its rest.”
3 The Lord appeared to him long ago, saying,
“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore I have drawn you out with kindness.
4 I will build you again and you will be rebuilt,
Virgin of Israel!
You will take up your tambourines again,
And go out to the dances of the revelers.
5 Again you will plant vineyards
On the hills of Samaria;
The planters will plant
And will enjoy the fruit.
6 For there will be a day when watchmen
On the hills of Ephraim call out,
‘Arise, and let’s go up to Zion,
To the Lord our God.’”
7 For this is what the Lord says:
“Sing aloud with joy for Jacob,
And be joyful with the chief of the nations;
Proclaim, give praise, and say,
‘Lord, save Your people,
The remnant of Israel!’
8 Behold, I am bringing them from the north country,
And I will gather them from the remote parts of the earth,
Among them those who are blind and those who limp,
The pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;
They will return here as a great assembly.
9 They will come with weeping,
And by pleading I will bring them;
I will lead them by streams of waters,
On a straight path on which they will not stumble;
For I am a father to Israel,
And Ephraim is My firstborn.”
10 Hear the word of the Lord, you nations,
And declare it in the coastlands far away,
And say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him,
And He will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.”
11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob
And redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he.
12 “They will come and shout for joy on the height of Zion,
And they will be radiant over the bounty of the Lord—
Over the grain, the new wine, the oil,
And over the young of the flock and the herd.
And their life will be like a watered garden,
And they will never languish again.
13 Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance,
And the young men and the old together;
For I will turn their mourning into joy
And comfort them, and give them joy for their sorrow.
14 I will refresh the soul of the priests with abundance,
And My people will be satisfied with My goodness,” declares the Lord.
15 This is what the Lord says:
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
Lamenting and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
She refuses to be comforted for her children,
Because they are no more.”
16 This is what the Lord says:
“Restrain your voice from weeping
And your eyes from tears;
For your work will be rewarded,” declares the Lord,
“And they will return from the land of the enemy.
17 There is hope for your future,” declares the Lord,
“And your children will return to their own territory.
18 I have certainly heard Ephraim grieving,
‘You have disciplined me, and I was corrected,
Like an untrained calf;
Bring me back that I may be restored,
For You are the Lord my God.
19 For after I turned back, I repented;
And after I was instructed, I slapped my thigh;
I was ashamed and also humiliated
Because I bore the shame of my youth.’
20 Is Ephraim My dear son?
Is he a delightful child?
Indeed, as often as I have spoken against him,
I certainly still remember him;
Therefore My heart yearns for him;
I will certainly have mercy on him,” declares the Lord.
21 “Set up roadmarks for yourself,
Place guideposts for yourself;
Direct your mind to the highway,
The way by which you went.
Return, O virgin of Israel,
Return to these your cities.
22 How long will you waver,
You rebellious daughter?
For the Lord has created a new thing on the earth:
A woman will shelter a man.”
23 This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Once again they will speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities when I restore their fortunes,
‘The Lord bless you, O place of righteousness,
O holy hill!’
24 Judah and all its cities will live together in it, the farmers and those who travel with flocks. 25 For I give plenty of water to the weary ones, and refresh everyone who languishes.” 26 At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep had been pleasant to me.
27 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of mankind and the seed of animals. 28 And just as I have watched over them to uproot them, tear them down, ruin, destroy, and bring disaster on them, so I will watch over them to build and to plant them,” declares the Lord.
29 “In those days they will no longer say,
‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
But it is the children’s teeth that have become blunt.’
30 But everyone will die for his own wrongdoing; each person who eats the sour grapes, his own teeth will become blunt.
31 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. 33 “For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord: “I will put My law within them and write it on their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 They will not teach again, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their wrongdoing, and their sin I will no longer remember.”
35 This is what the Lord says,
He who gives the sun for light by day
And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
The Lord of armies is His name:
36 “If this fixed order departs
From Me,” declares the Lord,
“Then the descendants of Israel also will cease
To be a nation before Me forever.”
37 This is what the Lord says:
“If the heavens above can be measured
And the foundations of the earth searched out below,
Then I will also reject all the descendants of Israel
For everything that they have done,” declares the Lord.
38 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the city will be rebuilt for the Lord from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39 The measuring line will go out farther straight ahead, to the hill Gareb; then it will turn to Goah. 40 And the entire valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the Lord; it will not be uprooted or overthrown ever again.”
1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might come and anoint Him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, they *came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 3 They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb for us?” 4 And looking up, they *noticed that the stone had been rolled away; for it was extremely large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed. 6 But he *said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; see, here is the place where they laid Him. 7 But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’” 8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
9 [[Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons. 10 She went and reported to those who had been with Him, while they were mourning and weeping. 11 And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they refused to believe it.
12 Now after that, He appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking along on their way to the country. 13 And they went away and reported it to the rest, but they did not believe them, either.
14 Later He appeared to the eleven disciples themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reprimanded them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen from the dead. 15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 The one who has believed and has been baptized will be saved; but the one who has not believed will be condemned. 17 These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
19 So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.]]
[[And they promptly reported all these instructions to Peter and his companions. And after that, Jesus Himself also sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.]]