ARKCODEX
Acts
Ch. 9
The Conversion of Saul
1In the meantime Saul kept up his violent threats of murder against the followers of the Lord. He went to the High Priest
2and asked for letters of introduction to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he should find there any followers of the Way of the Lord, he would be able to arrest them, both men and women, and bring them back to Jerusalem.
3As Saul was coming near the city of Damascus, suddenly a light from the sky flashed around him.
4He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute me?”
5“Who are you, Lord?” he asked. “I am Jesus, whom you persecute,” the voice said.
6“But get up and go into the city, where you will be told what you must do.”
7The men who were traveling with Saul had stopped, not saying a word; they heard the voice but could not see anyone.
8Saul got up from the ground and opened his eyes, but could not see a thing. So they took him by the hand and led him into Damascus.
9For three days he was not able to see, and during that time he did not eat or drink anything.
10There was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. He had a vision, in which the Lord said to him, “Ananias!” “Here I am, Lord,” he answered.
11The Lord said to him, “Get ready and go to Straight Street, and at the house of Judas ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying,
12and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come in and place his hands on him so that he might see again.”
13Ananias answered, “Lord, many people have told me about this man and about all the terrible things he has done to your people in Jerusalem.
14And he has come to Damascus with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who worship you.”
15The Lord said to him, “Go, because I have chosen him to serve me, to make my name known to Gentiles and kings and to the people of Israel.
16And I myself will show him all that he must suffer for my sake.”
17So Ananias went, entered the house where Saul was, and placed his hands on him. “Brother Saul,” he said, “the Lord has sent me—Jesus himself, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here. He sent me so that you might see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
18At once something like fish scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he was able to see again. He stood up and was baptized;
Saul Preaches in Damascus
19and after he had eaten, his strength came back. Saul stayed for a few days with the believers in Damascus.
20He went straight to the synagogues and began to preach that Jesus was the Son of God.
21All who heard him were amazed and asked, “Isn't he the one who in Jerusalem was killing those who worship that man Jesus? And didn't he come here for the very purpose of arresting those people and taking them back to the chief priests?”
22But Saul's preaching became even more powerful, and his proofs that Jesus was the Messiah were so convincing that the Jews who lived in Damascus could not answer him.
23After many days had gone by, the Jews met together and made plans to kill Saul,
24but he was told of their plan. Day and night they watched the city gates in order to kill him.
25But one night Saul's followers took him and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.
Saul in Jerusalem
26Saul went to Jerusalem and tried to join the disciples. But they would not believe that he was a disciple, and they were all afraid of him.
27Then Barnabas came to his help and took him to the apostles. He explained to them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road and that the Lord had spoken to him. He also told them how boldly Saul had preached in the name of Jesus in Damascus.
28And so Saul stayed with them and went all over Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord.
29He also talked and disputed with the Greek-speaking Jews, but they tried to kill him.
30When the believers found out about this, they took Saul to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.
31And so it was that the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had a time of peace. Through the help of the Holy Spirit it was strengthened and grew in numbers, as it lived in reverence for the Lord.
Peter in Lydda and Joppa
32Peter traveled everywhere, and on one occasion he went to visit God's people who lived in Lydda.
33There he met a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had not been able to get out of bed for eight years.
34“Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ makes you well. Get up and make your bed.” At once Aeneas got up.
35All the people living in Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.
36In Joppa there was a woman named Tabitha, who was a believer. (Her name in Greek is Dorcas, meaning “a deer.”) She spent all her time doing good and helping the poor.
37At that time she got sick and died. Her body was washed and laid in a room upstairs.
38Joppa was not very far from Lydda, and when the believers in Joppa heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him with the message, “Please hurry and come to us.”
39So Peter got ready and went with them. When he arrived, he was taken to the room upstairs, where all the widows crowded around him, crying and showing him all the shirts and coats that Dorcas had made while she was alive.
40Peter put them all out of the room, and knelt down and prayed; then he turned to the body and said, “Tabitha, get up!” She opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.
41Peter reached over and helped her get up. Then he called all the believers, including the widows, and presented her alive to them.
42The news about this spread all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.
43Peter stayed on in Joppa for many days with a tanner of leather named Simon.
Romans
Ch. 15–16
Please Others, Not Yourselves
1We who are strong in the faith ought to help the weak to carry their burdens. We should not please ourselves.
2Instead, we should all please other believers for their own good, in order to build them up in the faith.
3For Christ did not please himself. Instead, as the scripture says, “The insults which are hurled at you have fallen on me.”
4Everything written in the Scriptures was written to teach us, in order that we might have hope through the patience and encouragement which the Scriptures give us.
5And may God, the source of patience and encouragement, enable you to have the same point of view among yourselves by following the example of Christ Jesus,
6so that all of you together may praise with one voice the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Gospel to the Gentiles
7Accept one another, then, for the glory of God, as Christ has accepted you.
8For I tell you that Christ's life of service was on behalf of the Jews, to show that God is faithful, to make his promises to their ancestors come true,
9and to enable even the Gentiles to praise God for his mercy. As the scripture says, “And so I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing praises to you.”
10Again it says, “Rejoice, Gentiles, with God's people!”
11And again, “Praise the Lord, all Gentiles; praise him, all peoples!”
12And again, Isaiah says, “A descendant of Jesse will appear; he will come to rule the Gentiles, and they will put their hope in him.”
13May God, the source of hope, fill you with all joy and peace by means of your faith in him, so that your hope will continue to grow by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Paul's Reason for Writing So Boldly
14My friends: I myself feel sure that you are full of goodness, that you have all knowledge, and that you are able to teach one another.
15But in this letter I have been quite bold about certain subjects of which I have reminded you. I have been bold because of the privilege God has given me
16of being a servant of Christ Jesus to work for the Gentiles. I serve like a priest in preaching the Good News from God, in order that the Gentiles may be an offering acceptable to God, dedicated to him by the Holy Spirit.
17In union with Christ Jesus, then, I can be proud of my service for God.
18I will be bold and speak only about what Christ has done through me to lead the Gentiles to obey God. He has done this by means of words and deeds,
19by the power of miracles and wonders, and by the power of the Spirit of God. And so, in traveling all the way from Jerusalem to Illyricum, I have proclaimed fully the Good News about Christ.
20My ambition has always been to proclaim the Good News in places where Christ has not been heard of, so as not to build on a foundation laid by someone else.
21As the scripture says, “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.”
Paul's Plan to Visit Rome
22And so I have been prevented many times from coming to you.
23But now that I have finished my work in these regions and since I have been wanting for so many years to come to see you,
24I hope to do so now. I would like to see you on my way to Spain, and be helped by you to go there, after I have enjoyed visiting you for a while.
25Right now, however, I am going to Jerusalem in the service of God's people there.
26For the churches in Macedonia and Achaia have freely decided to give an offering to help the poor among God's people in Jerusalem.
27That decision was their own; but, as a matter of fact, they have an obligation to help them. Since the Jews shared their spiritual blessings with the Gentiles, the Gentiles ought to use their material blessings to help the Jews.
28When I have finished this task and have turned over to them all the money that has been raised for them, I shall leave for Spain and visit you on my way there.
29When I come to you, I know that I shall come with a full measure of the blessing of Christ.
30I urge you, friends, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love that the Spirit gives: join me in praying fervently to God for me.
31Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that my service in Jerusalem may be acceptable to God's people there.
32And so I will come to you full of joy, if it is God's will, and enjoy a refreshing visit with you.
33May God, our source of peace, be with all of you. Amen.
Romans 16
Personal Greetings
1I recommend to you our sister Phoebe, who serves the church at Cenchreae.
2Receive her in the Lord's name, as God's people should, and give her any help she may need from you; for she herself has been a good friend to many people and also to me.
3I send greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in the service of Christ Jesus;
4they risked their lives for me. I am grateful to them—not only I, but all the Gentile churches as well.
5Greetings also to the church that meets in their house. Greetings to my dear friend Epaenetus, who was the first in the province of Asia to believe in Christ.
6Greetings to Mary, who has worked so hard for you.
7Greetings also to Andronicus and Junia, fellow Jews who were in prison with me; they are well known among the apostles, and they became Christians before I did.
8My greetings to Ampliatus, my dear friend in the fellowship of the Lord.
9Greetings also to Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ's service, and to Stachys, my dear friend.
10Greetings to Apelles, whose loyalty to Christ has been proved. Greetings to those who belong to the family of Aristobulus.
11Greetings to Herodion, a fellow Jew, and to the Christians in the family of Narcissus.
12My greetings to Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who work in the Lord's service, and to my dear friend Persis, who has done so much work for the Lord.
13I send greetings to Rufus, that outstanding worker in the Lord's service, and to his mother, who has always treated me like a son.
14My greetings to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and all the other Christians with them.
15Greetings to Philologus and Julia, to Nereus and his sister, to Olympas and to all of God's people who are with them.
16Greet one another with the kiss of peace. All the churches of Christ send you their greetings.
Final Instructions
17I urge you, my friends: watch out for those who cause divisions and upset people's faith and go against the teaching which you have received. Keep away from them!
18For those who do such things are not serving Christ our Lord, but their own appetites. By their fine words and flattering speech they deceive innocent people.
19Everyone has heard of your loyalty to the gospel, and for this reason I am happy about you. I want you to be wise about what is good, but innocent in what is evil.
20And God, our source of peace, will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
21Timothy, my fellow worker, sends you his greetings; and so do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, fellow Jews.
22I, Tertius, the writer of this letter, send you Christian greetings.
23My host Gaius, in whose house the church meets, sends you his greetings; Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus send you their greetings.
24[The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.] (Vulgate/DR Patch)
Concluding Prayer of Praise
25Let us give glory to God! He is able to make you stand firm in your faith, according to the Good News I preach about Jesus Christ and according to the revelation of the secret truth which was hidden for long ages in the past.
26Now, however, that truth has been brought out into the open through the writings of the prophets; and by the command of the eternal God it is made known to all nations, so that all may believe and obey.
27To the only God, who alone is all-wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever! Amen.
Proverbs
Ch. 27
18Take care of a fig tree and you will have figs to eat. Servants who take care of their master will be honored.
19It is your own face that you see reflected in the water and it is your own self that you see in your heart.
20Human desires are like the world of the dead—there is always room for more.