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David Van

A Daily Bible Reading Podcast.

  1. 10/31/2022

    Paul’s Letter To The Romans: Part 1

    Paul’s Letter To The Romans: Part 1  Subscribe to the Basic Bible Reading podcast, on your mobile device. A Letter to the Romans  Chapter 1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, an Apostle by the selection of God, given authority as a preacher of the good news, Of which God had given word before by his prophets in the holy Writings, About his Son who, in the flesh, came from the family of David, But was marked out as Son of God in power by the Holy Spirit through the coming to life again of the dead; Jesus Christ our Lord, Through whom grace has been given to us, sending us out to make disciples to the faith among all nations, for his name: Among whom you in the same way have been marked out to be disciples of Jesus Christ: To all those who are in Rome, loved by God, marked out as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. First of all, I give praise to my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because news of your faith has gone into all the world. For God is my witness, whose servant I am in spirit in the good news of his Son, that you are at all times in my memory and in my prayers, And that I am ever making prayers that God will give me a good journey to you. For I have a strong desire to see you, and to give you some grace of the spirit, so that you may be made strong; That is to say, that all of us may be comforted together by the faith which is in you and in me. You may be certain, my brothers, that it has frequently been in my mind to come to you (but till now I was kept from it), so that I might have some fruit from you in the same way as I have had it from the other nations. I have a debt to Greeks and to the nations outside; to the wise and to those who have no learning. For which reason I have the desire, as far as I am able, to give the knowledge of the good news to you who are in Rome. For I have no feeling of shame about the good news, because it is the power of God giving salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first, and then to the Greek. For in it there is the revelation of the righteousness of God from faith to faith: as it is said in the holy Writings, The man who does righteousness will be living by his faith. For there is a revelation of the wrath of God from heaven against all the wrongdoing and evil thoughts of men who keep down what is true by wrongdoing; Because the knowledge of God may be seen in them, God having made it clear to them. For from the first making of the world, those things of God which the eye is unable to see, that is, his eternal power and existence, are fully made clear, he having given the knowledge of them through the things which he has made, so that men have no reason for wrongdoing: Because, having the knowledge of God, they did not give glory to God as God, and did not give praise, but their minds were full of foolish things, and their hearts, being without sense, were made dark. Seeming to be wise, they were in fact foolish, And by them the glory of the eternal God was changed and made into the image of man who is not eternal, and of birds and beasts and things which go on the earth. For this reason God gave them up to the evil desires of their hearts, working shame in their bodies with one another: Because by them the true word of God was changed into that which is false, and they gave worship and honour to the thing which is made, and not to him who made it, to whom be blessing for ever. So be it. For this reason God gave them up to evil passions, and their women were changing the natural use into one which is unnatural: And in the same way the men gave up the natural use of the woman and were burning in their desire for one another, men doing shame with men, and getting in their bodies the right reward of their evil-doing. And because they had not the mind to keep God in their knowledge, God gave them up to an evil mind, to do those things which are not right; Being full of all wrongdoing, evil, desire for the goods of others, hate, envy, putting to death, fighting, deceit, cruel ways, evil talk, and false statements about others; Hated by God, full of pride, without respect, full of loud talk, given to evil inventions, not honouring father or mother, Without knowledge, not true to their undertakings, unkind, having no mercy: Who, though they have knowledge of the law of God, that the fate of those who do these things is death, not only go on doing these things themselves, but give approval to those who do them. Chapter 2 So you have no reason, whoever you are, for judging: for in judging another you are judging yourself, for you do the same things. And we are conscious that God is a true judge against those who do such things. But you who are judging another for doing what you do yourself, are you hoping that God’s decision will not take effect against you? Or is it nothing to you that God had pity on you, waiting and putting up with you for so long, not seeing that in his pity God’s desire is to give you a change of heart? But by your hard and unchanged heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of the revelation of God’s judging in righteousness; Who will give to every man his right reward: To those who go on with good works in the hope of glory and honour and salvation from death, he will give eternal life: But to those who, from a love of competition, are not guided by what is true, will come the heat of his wrath, Trouble and sorrow on all whose works are evil, to the Jew first and then to the Greek; But glory and honour and peace to all whose works are good, to the Jew first and then to the Greek: For one man is not different from another before God. All those who have done wrong without the law will get destruction without the law: and those who have done wrong under the law will have their punishment by the law; For it is not the hearers of the law who will be judged as having righteousness before God, but only the doers: For when the Gentiles without the law have a natural desire to do the things in the law, they are a law to themselves; Because the work of the law is seen in their hearts, their sense of right and wrong giving witness to it, while their minds are at one time judging them and at another giving them approval; In the day when God will be a judge of the secrets of men, as it says in the good news of which I am a preacher, through Jesus Christ. But as for you who have the name of Jew, and are resting on the law, and take pride in God, And have knowledge of his desires, and are a judge of the things which are different, having the learning of the law, In the belief that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those in the dark, A teacher of the foolish, having in the law the form of knowledge and of what is true; You who give teaching to others, do you give it to yourself? you who say that a man may not take what is not his, do you take what is not yours? You who say that a man may not be untrue to his wife, are you true to yours? you who are a hater of images, do you do wrong to the house of God? You who take pride in the law, are you doing wrong to the honour of God by behaviour which is against the law? For the name of God is shamed among the Gentiles because of you, as it is said in the holy Writings. It is true that circumcision is of use if you keep the law, but if you go against the law it is as if you had it not. If those who have not circumcision keep the rules of the law, will it not be credited to them as circumcision? And they, by their keeping of the law without circumcision, will be judges of you, by whom the law is broken though you have the letter of the law and circumcision. The true Jew is not one who is only so publicly, and circumcision is not that which may be seen in the flesh: But he is a Jew who is a secret one, whose circumcision is of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God. Chapter 3 How then is the Jew better off? or what profit is there in circumcision? Much in every way: first of all because the words of God were given to them. And if some have no faith, will that make the faith of God without effect? In no way: but let God be true, though every man is seen to be untrue; as it is said in the Writings, That your words may be seen to be true, and you may be seen to be right when you are judged. But if the righteousness of God is supported by our wrongdoing what is to be said? is it wrong for God to be angry (as men may say)? In no way: because if it is so, how is God able to be the judge of all the world? But if, because I am untrue, God being seen to be true gets more glory, why am I to be judged as a sinner? Let us not do evil so that good may come (a statement which we are falsely said by some to have made), because such behaviour will have its right punishment. What then? are we worse off than they? In no way: because we have before made it clear that Jews as well as Greeks are all under the power of sin; As it is said in the holy Writings, There is not one who does righteousness; Not one who has the knowledge of what is right, not one who is a searcher after God; They have all gone out of the way, there is no profit in any of them; there is not one who does good, not so much as one: Their throat is like an open place of death; with their tongues they have said what is not true: the poison of snakes is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of curses and bitter words: Their feet are quick in running after blood; Destruction and trouble are in their ways; And of the way of peace they have no knowledge: There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now, we have knowledge that what the law says is for those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and all men may be judged by God: Because by the works of the law no

  2. 10/30/2022

    The Gospel According To Luke: part 5

    The Gospel According To Luke: part 5 -  Subscribe to the Basic Bible Reading podcast, on your mobile device. Chapter 16 And another time he said to the disciples, There was a certain man of great wealth who had a servant; and it was said to him that this servant was wasting his goods. And he sent for him and said, What is this which is said about you? give me an account of all you have done, for you will no longer be the manager of my property. And the servant said to himself, What am I to do now that my lord takes away my position? I have not enough strength for working in the fields, and I would be shamed if I made requests for money from people in the streets. I have come to a decision what to do, so that when I am put out of my position they will take me into their houses. And sending for every one who was in debt to his lord he said to the first, What is the amount of your debt to my lord? And he said, A hundred measures of oil. And he said, Take your account straight away and put down fifty. Then he said to another, What is the amount of your debt? And he said, A hundred measures of grain. And he said to him, Take your account and put down eighty. And his lord was pleased with the false servant, because he had been wise; for the sons of this world are wiser in relation to their generation than the sons of light. And I say to you, Make friends for yourselves through the wealth of this life, so that when it comes to an end, you may be taken into the eternal resting-places. He who is true in a little, is true in much; he who is false in small things, is false in great. If, then, you have not been true in your use of the wealth of this life, who will give into your care the true wealth? And if you have not been true in your care of the property of other people, who will give you that which is yours? No man may be a servant to two masters: for he will have hate for the one and love for the other; or he will keep to the one and have no respect for the other. You may not be servants of God and of wealth. And the Pharisees, who had a great love of money, hearing these things, were making sport of him. And he said, You take care to seem right in the eyes of men, but God sees your hearts: and those things which are important in the opinion of men, are evil in the eyes of God. The law and the prophets were till John: but then came the preaching of the kingdom of God, and everyone makes his way into it by force. But heaven and earth will come to an end before the smallest letter of the law may be dropped out. Everyone who puts away his wife and takes another, is a false husband: and he who is married to a woman whose husband has put her away, is no true husband to her. Now there was a certain man of great wealth, who was dressed in fair clothing of purple and delicate linen, and was shining and glad every day. And a certain poor man, named Lazarus, was stretched out at his door, full of wounds, Desiring the broken bits of food which came from the table of the man of wealth; and even the dogs came and put their tongues on his wounds. And in time the poor man came to his end, and angels took him to Abraham’s breast. And the man of wealth came to his end, and was put in the earth. And in hell, being in great pain, lifting up his eyes he saw Abraham, far away, and Lazarus on his breast. And he gave a cry and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, so that he may put the end of his finger in water and put it on my tongue, for I am cruelly burning in this flame. But Abraham said, Keep in mind, my son, that when you were living, you had your good things, while Lazarus had evil things: but now, he is comforted and you are in pain. And in addition, there is a deep division fixed between us and you, so that those who might go from here to you are not able to do so, and no one may come from you to us. And he said, Father, it is my request that you will send him to my father’s house; For I have five brothers; and let him give them an account of these things, so that they may not come to this place of pain. But Abraham said, They have Moses and the prophets; let them give ear to what they say. And he said, No, father Abraham, but if someone went to them from the dead, their hearts would be changed. And he said to him, If they will not give attention to Moses and the prophets, they will not be moved even if someone comes back from the dead. Chapter 17 And he said to his disciples, It is necessary for causes of trouble to come about, but unhappy is he by whom they come. It would be well for him if a great stone was put round his neck and he was dropped into the sea, before he made trouble for any of these little ones. Give attention to yourselves: if your brother does wrong, say a sharp word to him; and if he has sorrow for his sin, let him have forgiveness. And if he does you wrong seven times in a day, and seven times comes to you and says, I have regret for what I have done; let him have forgiveness. And the twelve said to the Lord, Make our faith greater. And the Lord said, If your faith was only as great as a grain of mustard seed, you might say to this tree, Be rooted up and planted in the sea; and it would be done. But which of you, having a servant who is ploughing or keeping sheep, will say to him, when he comes in from the field, Come now and be seated and have a meal, Will he not say, Get a meal for me, and make yourself ready and see to my needs till I have had my food and drink; and after that you may have yours? Does he give praise to the servant because he did what was ordered? In the same way, when you have done all the things which are given you to do, say, There is no profit in us, for we have only done what we were ordered to do. And it came about that when they were on the way to Jerusalem he went through Samaria and Galilee. And when he went into a certain small town he came across ten men who were lepers, and they, keeping themselves at a distance, Said, in loud voices, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them he said, Go, and let the priests see you. And, while they were going, they were made clean. And one of them, when he saw that he was clean, turning back, gave praise to God in a loud voice; And, falling down on his face at the feet of Jesus, he gave the credit to him; and he was a man of Samaria. And Jesus said, Were there not ten men who were made clean? where are the nine? Have not any of them come back to give glory to God, but only this one from a strange land? And he said to him, Get up, and go on your way; your faith has made you well. And when the Pharisees put questions to him about when the kingdom of God would come, he gave them an answer and said, The kingdom of God will not come through observation: And men will not say, See, it is here! or, There! for the kingdom of God is among you. And he said to his disciples, The time will come when you will have a great desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, but you will not see it. And if they say to you, See, it is there! or, It is here! do not go away, or go after them. For as in a thunderstorm the bright light is seen from one end of the sky to the other, so will the Son of man be when his time comes. But first, he will have to undergo much and be put on one side by this generation. And as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the day of the Son of man. They were feasting and taking wives and getting married, till the day of the overflowing of the waters, when Noah went into the ark, and they all came to destruction. In the same way, in the days of Lot; they were feasting and trading, they were planting and building; But on the day when Lot went out of Sodom, fire came down from heaven and destruction came on them all. So will it be in the day of the revelation of the Son of man. On that day, if anyone is on the roof of the house, and his goods are in the house, let him not go down to take them away; and let him who is in the field not go back to his house. Keep in mind Lot’s wife. If anyone makes an attempt to keep his life, it will be taken from him, but if anyone gives up his life, he will keep it. I say to you, In that night there will be two men sleeping in one bed, and one will be taken away and the other let go. Two women will be crushing grain together; one will be taken away and the other let go. [] And they, answering him, said, Where, Lord? And he said to them, Where the body is, there will the eagles come together. Chapter 18 And he made a story for them, the point of which was that men were to go on making prayer and not get tired; Saying, There was a judge in a certain town, who had no fear of God or respect for man: And there was a widow in that town, and she kept on coming to him and saying, Give me my right against the man who has done me wrong. And for a time he would not: but later, he said to himself, Though I have no fear of God or respect for man, Because this widow is a trouble to me, I will give her her right; for if not, I will be completely tired out by her frequent coming. And the Lord said, Give ear to the words of the evil judge. And will not God do right in the cause of his saints, whose cries come day and night to his ears, though he is long in doing it? I say to you that he will quickly do right in their cause. But when the Son of man comes, will there be any faith on earth? And he made this story for some people who were certain that they were good, and had a low opinion of others: Two men went up to the Temple for prayer; one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-farmer. The Pharisee, taking up his position, said to himself these words: God, I give you praise because I am not like other men, who take more than their right, who are evil-doers, who are untrue to their wives, or even like this tax-farmer. T

  3. 10/29/2022

    The Gospel According To Luke: Part 4

    The Gospel According To Luke: Part 4 -  Subscribe to the Basic Bible Reading podcast, on your mobile device. Chapter 11 And it came about that he was in prayer in a certain place, and when he came to an end, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, will you give us teaching about prayer, as John did to his disciples? And he said to them, When you say your prayers, say, Father, may your name be kept holy and your kingdom come. Give us every day bread for our needs. May we have forgiveness for our sins, as we make free all those who are in debt to us. And let us not be put to the test. And he said to them, Which of you, having a friend, would go to him in the middle of the night and say to him, Friend, let me have three cakes of bread; Because a friend of mine has come to me on a journey, and I have nothing to put before him; And he, from inside the house, would say in answer, Do not be a trouble to me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; it is not possible for me to get up and give to you? I say to you, Though he will not get up and give to him, because he is his friend, still, if he keeps on making his request, he will get up and give him as much as he has need of. And I say to you, Make requests, and they will be answered; what you are searching for, you will get; when you give the sign, the door will be open to you. For to everyone who makes a request, it will be given; and he who is searching will get his desire; and to him who gives the sign, the door will be open. And which of you, being a father, will give a stone to his son, who makes request for bread? or for a fish, will give him a snake? Or for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If, then, you who are evil are able to give good things to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who make request to him? And he was sending an evil spirit out of a man who was without the power of talking. And it came about that when the spirit had gone the man had the power of talking; and the people were full of wonder. But some of them said, He sends out evil spirits by Beelzebul, the ruler of evil spirits. And others, testing him, were looking for a sign from heaven from him. But he, having knowledge of their thoughts, said to them, Every kingdom in which there is division is made waste; and a house in which there is division comes to destruction. If, then, Satan is at war with himself, how will he keep his kingdom? because you say that I send evil spirits out of men by the help of Beelzebul. And if I, by Beelzebul, send out evil spirits, by whose help do your sons send them out? so let them be your judges. But if I, by the finger of God, send out evil spirits, then the kingdom of God has overtaken you. When the strong man armed keeps watch over his house, then his goods are safe: But when one who is stronger makes an attack on him and overcomes him, he takes away his instruments of war, in which he had put his faith, and makes division of his goods. He who is not with me is against me, and he who will not give me help in getting people together is driving them away. The unclean spirit, when he has gone out of a man, goes through dry places, looking for rest; and when he does not get it, he says, I will go back to my house from which I came. And when he comes, he sees that it has been made fair and clean. Then he goes and gets seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they go in, and take their places there: and the last condition of that man is worse than the first. And it came about that when he said these things, a certain woman among the people said in a loud voice, Happy is the body which gave you birth, and the breasts from which you took milk. But he said, More happy are they who give hearing to the word of God and keep it. And when a great number of people came together to him, he said, This generation is an evil generation: it is looking for a sign and no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah. For even as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of man be to this generation. The queen of the South will come up on the day of judging and give her decision against the men of this generation: for she came from the ends of the earth to give ear to the wisdom of Solomon; and now something greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will come up in the day of judging and give their decision against this generation: for they were turned away from their sins at the preaching of Jonah; but now something greater than Jonah is here. No man, when the light has been lighted, puts it in a secret place, or under a vessel, but on its table, so that those who come in may see the light. The light of the body is the eye: when your eye is true, all your body is full of light; but when it is evil, your body is dark. So take care that the light which is in you is not dark. If, then, all your body is light, with no part of it dark, it will be completely full of light, as when a flame with its bright shining gives you light. Now, while he was talking, a Pharisee made a request that he would come to a meal with him; and he went in and took his seat at the meal. And when the Pharisee saw it, he was surprised because he came to the meal without first washing himself. And the Lord said to him, You Pharisees make the outside of the cup and the plate clean; but inside you are thieves and full of evil. O you foolish ones! did not he who made the outside in the same way make the inside? But if you give to the poor such things as you are able, then all things are clean to you. But a curse is on you, Pharisees! for you make men give a tenth of every sort of plant, and give no thought to right and the love of God; but it is right for you to do these things, and not let the others be undone. A curse is on you, Pharisees! for your desires are for the most important seats in the Synagogues and for words of respect said to you in the market-place. A curse is on you! for you are like the resting-places of dead men, which are not seen, and men go walking over them without knowledge of it. And one of the teachers of the law, answering, said to him, Master, in saying this, you give a bad name to us as to them. And he said, A curse is on you, teachers of the law! for while other men are crushed under the weight of the rules you make for them, you yourselves do not put so much as one finger to them. A curse is on you! for you make resting-places for the bodies of the prophets, but your fathers put them to death. So you are witnesses and give approval to the work of your fathers; for they put them to death and you make their last resting-places. For this reason the wisdom of God has said, I will send them prophets and teachers, and to some of them they will give death and cruel pains; So that punishment may come on this generation for the blood of all the prophets which was given from the earliest days; From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who was put to death between the altar and the Temple. Yes, I say to you, It will come on this generation. A curse is on you, teachers of the law! for you have taken away the key of knowledge: you did not go in yourselves, and you got in the way of those who were going in. And when he had come out of that place, the scribes and the Pharisees came round him angrily, questioning him about more things; And watching him, for a chance to get something from his words which might be used against him. Chapter 12 At that time, when thousands of the people had come together, in such numbers that they were crushing one another, he said first to his disciples, Have nothing to do with the leaven of the Pharisees, which is deceit. But nothing is covered up, which will not come to light, or secret, which will not be made clear. So, whatever you have said in the dark, will come to men’s hearing in the light, and what you have said secretly inside the house, will be made public from the house-tops. And I say to you, my friends, Have no fear of those who may put the body to death, and are able to do no more than that. But I will make clear to you of whom you are to be in fear: of him who after death has power to send you to hell; yes, truly I say, Have fear of him. Are not five sparrows given in exchange for two farthings? and God has every one of them in mind. But even the hairs of your head are numbered. Have no fear: you are of more value than a flock of sparrows. And I say to you that to everyone who gives witness to me before men, the Son of man will give witness before the angels of God. But if anyone says before men that he has no knowledge of me, I will say that I have no knowledge of him before the angels of God. And if anyone says a word against the Son of man, he will have forgiveness: but for him who says evil words against the Holy Spirit, there will be no forgiveness. And when they take you before the Synagogues and the authorities and the rulers, take no thought about what answers you will give, or what you will say: For the Holy Spirit will make clear to you in that very hour what to say. And one of the people said to him, Master, give an order to my brother to make division of the heritage with me. But he said, Man, who made me a judge or a maker of decisions for you? And he said to them, Take care to keep yourselves free from the desire for property; for a man’s life is not made up of the number of things which he has. And he said to them, in a story, The land of a certain man of great wealth was very fertile: And he said to himself, What is to be done? for I have no place in which to put all my fruit. And he said, This I will do: I will take down my store-houses and make greater ones, and there I will put all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have a great amount of goods in stor

  4. 10/28/2022

    The Gospel, according to Luke: Part 3

    The Gospel, according to Luke: Part 3 -  Subscribe to the Basic Bible Reading podcast, on your mobile device. Chapter 8 And it came about, after a short time, that he went through town and country giving the good news of the kingdom of God, and with him were the twelve, And certain women who had been made free from evil spirits and diseases, Mary named Magdalene, from whom seven evil spirits had gone out, And Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s chief house-servant, and Susanna and a number of others, who gave him of their wealth for his needs. And when a great number of people came together, and men from every town went out to him, he gave them teaching in the form of a story: A man went out to put in seed, and while he was doing it, some was dropped by the wayside and it was crushed under foot, and was taken by the birds of heaven. And some went on the rock, and when it came up it became dry and dead because it had no water. And some went among thorns, and the thorns came up with it and it had no room for growth. And some falling on good earth, came up and gave fruit a hundred times as much. And with these words he said in a loud voice, He who has ears, let him give ear. And his disciples put questions to him about the point of the story. And he said, To you is given knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to the others, they are given in stories, so that seeing, they may not see, and though they give hearing, the sense will not be clear to them. Now this is the point of the story: The seed is the word of God. Those by the side of the road are those who have given hearing; then the Evil One comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not have faith and get salvation. And those on the rock are those who with joy give hearing to the word; but having no root, they have faith for a time, and when the test comes they give up. And those which went among thorns are those who have given hearing, and go on their way, but they are overcome by cares and wealth and the pleasures of life, and they give no fruit. And those in the good earth are those who, having given ear to the word, keep it with a good and true heart, and in quiet strength give fruit. No man, when the light is lighted, puts a cover over it, or puts it under a bed, but he puts it on its table, so that those who come in may see the light. For nothing is put out of view which will not be made clear, and nothing is secret of which the knowledge will not come to light. So take care how you give hearing, for to him who has will be given, and from him who has not will be taken even what he seems to have. And his mother and his brothers came to him, and they were not able to get near him because of the great number of people. And someone said to him, Your mother and your brothers are outside desiring to see you. But he said to them in answer, My mother and my brothers are those who have knowledge of the word of God and do it. Now it came about on one of those days that he got into a boat with his disciples; and he said to them, Let us go over to the other side of the water: and they put out the boat. But while they were sailing he went to sleep: and a storm of wind came down on the sea, and the boat became full of water and they were in danger. Then they came to him and, awaking him out of his sleep, said, Master, Master, destruction is near. And he, when he was awake, gave orders to the wind and the rolling waves, and the storm came to an end, and all was calm. And he said to them, Where is your faith? And fear and wonder overcame them, and they said to one another, Who then is this, who gives orders even to the winds and the water and they do what he says? And they came to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. And when he had come to the land, there came to him a certain man from the town who had evil spirits; and for a long time he had had no clothing on, and was not living in a house but in the place of the dead. And when he saw Jesus, he gave a loud cry and went down on the earth before him and in a loud voice said, What have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Do not be cruel to me. For he gave an order to the evil spirit to come out of the man. For frequently it would take a grip of him: and he was kept under control, and prisoned with chains; but parting the chains in two, he would be sent by the driving of the evil spirit into waste places. And Jesus said to him, What is your name? And he said, Legion; for a number of spirits had gone into him. And they made a request to him that he would not give them an order to go away into the deep. Now there was a great herd of pigs in that place, getting food on the mountain: and the evil spirits made a request to him that he would let them go into the pigs, and he let them. And the evil spirits came out of the man and went into the pigs: and the herd went rushing down a sharp slope into the water and came to destruction. And when the men who took care of them saw what had come about, they went quickly and gave news of it in the town and the country. And they went out to see what had taken place, and they came to Jesus and saw the man out of whom the evil spirits had gone, seated, clothed and with full use of his senses, at the feet of Jesus; and fear came on them. And those who had seen it gave them an account of how the man who had the evil spirits was made well. And all the people of the country of the Gerasenes made a request to him to go away from them; for they were in great fear: and he got into a boat and went back. But the man from whom the evil spirits had gone out had a great desire to be with him, but he sent him away, saying, Go back to your house and let them have news of all the great things which God has done for you. And he went away, giving word through all the town of the great things which Jesus had done for him. And when Jesus went back, the people were glad to see him, for they were all waiting for him. Then there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler in the Synagogue: and he went down at the feet of Jesus, desiring him to come to his house; For he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was near to death. But while he was on his way, the people were pushing to be near him. And a woman, who had had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had given all her money to medical men, and not one of them was able to make her well, Came after him and put her hand on the edge of his robe, and straight away the flowing of her blood was stopped. And Jesus said, Who was touching me? And when they all said, It is not I, Peter and those who were with him said, Master, the people are pushing round you on every side. But Jesus said, Someone was touching me, for I had the feeling that power had gone out from me. And when the woman saw that she was not able to keep it secret, she came, shaking with fear, and falling down before him she made clear before all the people the reason for her touching him, and how she was made well straight away. And he said to her, Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace. While he was still talking, someone came from the house of the ruler of the Synagogue, saying, Your daughter is dead; do not go on troubling the Master. But Jesus at these words said to him, Have no fear, only have faith, and she will be made well. And when he came to the house he did not let any man go in with him, but only Peter and John and James, and the father of the girl and her mother. And all the people were weeping and crying for her; but he said, Do not be sad, for she is not dead, but sleeping. And they were laughing at him, being certain that she was dead. But he, taking her hand, said to her, My child, get up. And her spirit came back to her and she got up straight away: and he gave orders that food was to be given to her. And her father and mother were full of wonder, but he gave orders to them to say nothing about it to anyone. Chapter 9 And getting the twelve together, he gave them power and authority over all evil spirits and over diseases, to make them well. And he sent them out to be preachers of the kingdom of God, and to make well those who were ill. And he said to them, Take nothing for your journey, no stick or bag or bread or money, and do not take two coats. And if you go into a house, let that house be your resting-place till you go away. And if any people will not take you in, when you go away from that town, put off its dust from your feet for a witness against them. And they went away, journeying through all the towns, preaching the good news and making people free from diseases in all places. Now Herod the king had news of all these things: and he was in doubt, because it was said by some people that John had come back from the dead; And by some, that Elijah had come; and by others, that one of the old prophets had come back to life. And Herod said, I put John to death: but who is this, of whom such stories are given to me? And he had a desire to see him. And the twelve, when they came back, gave him an account of what they had done. And he took them with him and went away from the people to a town named Beth-saida. But the people, getting news of it, went after him: and he was pleased to see them, and gave them teaching about the kingdom of God, and made those well who were in need of it. And the day went on; and the twelve came to him and said, Send these people away so that they may go into the towns and the country round about and get resting-places and food for themselves, for we are in a waste place. But he said, Give them food yourselves. And they said, We have only five cakes of bread and two fishes, if we do not go and get food for all these people. For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them be sea

  5. 10/27/2022

    The Gospel, according to Luke: Part 2

    The Gospel, according to Luke: Part 2 -  Subscribe to the Basic Bible Reading podcast, on your mobile device. Chapter 5 Now it came about that while the people came pushing to be near him, and to have knowledge of the word of God, he was by a wide stretch of water named Gennesaret; And he saw two boats by the edge of the water, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. And he got into one of the boats, the property of Simon, and made a request to him to go a little way out from the land. And being seated he gave the people teaching from the boat. And when his talk was ended, he said to Simon, Go out into deep water, and let down your nets for fish. And Simon, answering, said, Master, we were working all night and we took nothing: but at your word I will let down the nets. And when they had done this, they got such a great number of fish that it seemed as if their nets would be broken; And they made signs to their friends in the other boat to come to their help. And they came, and the two boats were so full that they were going down. But Simon, when he saw it, went down at the knees of Jesus and said, Go away from me, O Lord, for I am a sinner. For he was full of wonder and so were all those who were with him, at the number of fish which they had taken; And so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were working with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Have no fear; from this time forward you will be a fisher of men. And when they had got their boats to the land, they gave up everything and went after him. And it came about that while he was in one of the towns, there was a leper there: and when he saw Jesus he went down on his face in prayer to him, saying, Lord, if it is your pleasure, you have power to make me clean. And he put out his hand to him and said, It is my pleasure; be clean. And straight away his disease went from him. And he gave him orders: Say nothing to any man, but let the priest see you and give an offering so that you may be made clean, as the law of Moses says, and for a witness to them. But news of him went out all the more, in every direction, and great numbers of people came together to give hearing to his words and to be made well from their diseases. But he went away by himself to a waste place for prayer. And it came about that on one of these days he was teaching; and some Pharisees and teachers of the law were seated there, who had come from every town of Galilee and Judaea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was with him, to make those who were ill free from their diseases. And some men had with them, on a bed, a man who was ill, without power of moving; and they made attempts to get him in and put him before Jesus. And because of the mass of people, there was no way to get him in; so they went up on the top of the house and let him down through the roof, on his bed, into the middle in front of Jesus. And seeing their faith he said, Man, you have forgiveness for your sins. And the scribes and Pharisees were having an argument, saying, Who is this, who has no respect for God? who is able to give forgiveness for sins, but God only? But Jesus, who had knowledge of their thoughts, said to them, Why are you reasoning in your hearts? Which is the simpler: to say, You have forgiveness for your sins; or to say, Get up and go? But so that you may see that on earth the Son of man has authority for the forgiveness of sins, (he said to the man who was ill .) I say to you, Get up, and take up your bed, and go into your house. And straight away he got up before them, and took up his bed and went away to his house giving praise to God. And wonder overcame them all, and they gave glory to God; and they were full of fear, saying, We have seen strange things today. And after these things he went out, and saw Levi, a tax-farmer, seated at the place where taxes were taken, and said to him, Come after me. And giving up his business, he got up and went after him. And Levi made a great feast for him in his house: and a great number of tax-farmers and others were seated at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes made protests against his disciples, saying, Why do you take food and drink with tax-farmers and sinners? And Jesus, answering, said to them, Those who are well have no need of a medical man, but those who are ill. I have come, not to get the upright, but sinners, so that they may be turned from their sins. And they said to him, The disciples of John frequently go without food, and make prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees; but your disciples take food and drink. And Jesus said, Are you able to make the friends of the newly-married man go without food when he is with them? But the days will come when he will be taken away from them, and then they will go without food. And he said to them, in a story, No man takes a bit of cloth from a new coat and puts it on to an old coat, for so the new coat would be damaged and the bit from the new would not go well with the old. And no man puts new wine into old wine-skins, for fear that the skins will be burst by the new wine, and the wine be let out, and the skins come to destruction. But new wine has to be put into new wine-skins. And no man, having had old wine, has any desire for new, for he says, The old is better. Chapter 6 Now it came about that on the Sabbath he was going through the fields of grain, and his disciples took the heads of the grain for food, crushing them in their hands. But some of the Pharisees said, Why do you do what it is not right to do on the Sabbath? And Jesus said, Have you not seen in the Writings what David did when he was in need of food, he, and those who were with him; How he went into the house of God and took for food the holy bread, which only the priests may take, and gave it to those who were with him? And he said, The Son of man is lord even of the Sabbath. And it came about, on another Sabbath, that he went into the Synagogue and was teaching there. And a man was there whose right hand was dead. And the scribes and Pharisees were watching him to see if he would make him well on the Sabbath, so that they might be able to say something against him. But he had knowledge of their thoughts; and he said to the man whose hand was dead, Get up and come into the middle. And he got up and came forward. And Jesus said, I put the question to you, Is it right to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil? to give life or to take it away? And looking round on all of them, he said to him, Put out your hand. And he did so: and his hand was made well. But they were full of wrath, and were talking together about what they might do to Jesus. And it came about in those days that he went out to the mountain for prayer; and he was all night in prayer to God. And the day came and, turning to his disciples, he made a selection from among them of twelve, to whom he gave the name of Apostles; Simon, to whom he gave the name of Peter, and Andrew, his brother, and James and John and Philip and Bartholomew And Matthew and Thomas and James, the son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was named the Zealot, And Judas, the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, he who was false to him. And he came down with them to a level place, and a great band of his disciples, and a very great number of people from all Judaea and Jerusalem and from the parts of Tyre and Sidon by the sea, came to give hearing to him, and to be made well from their diseases; And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were made well. And all the people were desiring to be touched by him, for power came from him and made them all well. And turning his eyes to his disciples he said, Happy are you who are poor: for the kingdom of God is yours. Happy are you who are in need of food now: for you will be made full. Happy are you who are weeping now; for you will be glad. Happy are you, when men have hate for you, and put you away from among them and say angry words to you, turning away in disgust at your name, because of the Son of man. Be glad in that day, and be lifted up for joy, for your reward in heaven will be great: for their fathers did these same things to the prophets. But unhappy are you who have wealth: for you have been comforted now. Unhappy are you who are full of food now: for you will be in need. Unhappy are you who are laughing now: for you will be crying in sorrow. Unhappy are you when all men give you their approval: for so their fathers did to the false prophets. But I say to you who give ear to me, Have love for those who are against you, do good to those who have hate for you, Give blessing to those who give you curses, say prayers for those who are cruel to you. If a man gives you a blow on one side of your face, then let the other side be turned to him; from him who takes away your coat, do not keep back your robe. Give to everyone who comes with a request, and if a man takes away your property, make no attempt to get it back again. Do to others as you would have them do to you. If you have love for those who have love for you, what credit is it to you? for even sinners have love for those who have love for them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is it to you? for even sinners do the same. And if you let those have the use of your money, from whom you are hoping to get it back, what credit is it to you? even sinners do so to sinners, hoping to get back as much as they gave. But be loving to those who are against you and do them good, and give them your money, not giving up hope, and your reward will be great and you will be the sons of the Most High: for he is kind to evil men, and to those who have hard hearts. Be full of pity, even as your Father is full of pity. Be not judges of others, and you will not be judged: do not gi

  6. 10/26/2022

    The Gospel, according to Luke: Part 1

    The Gospel, according to Luke: Part 1 - Subscribe to the BasicBibleReading podcast, on your mobile device. Chapter 1 As a number of attempts have been made to put together in order an account of those events which took place among us, As they were handed down to us by those who saw them from the first and were preachers of the word, It seemed good to me, having made observation, with great care, of the direction of events in their order, to put the facts in writing for you, most noble Theophilus; So that you might have certain knowledge of those things about which you were given teaching. In the days of Herod, king of Judaea, there was a certain priest, by name Zacharias, of the order of Abijah; and he had a wife of the family of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. They were upright in the eyes of God, keeping all the rules and orders of God, and doing no wrong. And they were without children, because Elisabeth had never given birth, and they were at that time very old. Now it came about that in his turn he was acting as priest before God, And as was the way of the priests, he had to go into the Temple to see to the burning of perfumes. And all the people were offering prayers outside, at the time of the burning of perfumes. And he saw an angel of the Lord in his place on the right side of the altar. And Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear came on him. But the angel said, Have no fear, Zacharias, for your prayer has come to the ears of God, and your wife Elisabeth will have a son, and his name will be John. And you will be glad and have great delight; and numbers of people will have joy at his birth. For he will be great in the eyes of the Lord; he will not take wine or strong drink; and he will be full of the Spirit of God from his birth. And through him great numbers of the children of Israel will be turned to the Lord their God. And he will go before his face in the spirit and power of Elijah, turning the hearts of fathers to their children, and wrongdoers to the way of righteousness; to make ready a people whose hearts have been turned to the Lord. And Zacharias said to the angel, How may I be certain of this? For I am an old man, and my wife is far on in years. And the angel, answering, said, I am Gabriel, whose place is before God; I have been sent to say these words to you and to give you this good news. Now, see, you will be without voice or language till the day when these things come about, because you had not faith in my words, which will have effect at the right time. And the people were waiting for Zacharias and were surprised because he was in the Temple for such a long time. And when he came out he was not able to say anything, and they saw that he had seen a vision in the Temple; and he was making signs to them without words. And when the days of his work in the Temple were ended, he went back to his house. After that time, Elisabeth, being certain that she was to become a mother, kept herself from men’s eyes for five months, saying, The Lord has done this to me, for his eyes were on me, to take away my shame in the eyes of men. Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town in Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin who was to be married to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the name of the virgin was Mary. And the angel came in to her and said, Peace be with you, to whom special grace has been given; the Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at his words, and said to herself, What may be the purpose of these words? And the angel said to her, Have no fear, Mary, for you have God’s approval. And see, you will give birth to a son, and his name will be Jesus. He will be great, and will be named the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God will give him the kingdom of David, his father: He will have rule over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. And Mary said to the angel, How may this be, because I have had no knowledge of a man? And the angel in answer said to her, The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will come to rest on you, and so that which will come to birth will be named holy, Son of God. Even now Elisabeth, who is of your family, is to be a mother, though she is old: and this is the sixth month with her who was without children. For there is nothing which God is not able to do. And Mary said: I am the servant of the Lord; may it be to me as you say. And the angel went away. Then Mary got up and went quickly into the high lands, to a town of Judah; And went into the house of Zacharias and took Elisabeth in her arms. And when the voice of Mary came to the ears of Elisabeth, the baby made a sudden move inside her; then Elisabeth was full of the Holy Spirit, And she said with a loud voice: May blessing be on you among women, and a blessing on the child of your body. How is it that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For, truly, when the sound of your voice came to my ears, the baby in my body made a sudden move for joy. Happy will she be who had faith that the things which the Lord has said to her will be done. And Mary said: My soul gives glory to God; My spirit is glad in God my Saviour. For he has had pity on his servant, though she is poor and lowly placed: and from this hour will all generations give witness to the blessing which has come to me. For he who is strong has done great things for me; and holy is his name. His mercy is for all generations in whom is the fear of him. With his arm he has done acts of power; he has put to flight those who have pride in their hearts. He has put down kings from their seats, lifting up on high the men of low degree. Those who had no food he made full of good things; the men of wealth he sent away with nothing in their hands; His help he has given to Israel, his servant, so that he might keep in mind his mercy to Abraham and his seed for ever, As he gave his word to our fathers. And Mary was with her for about three months and then went back to her house. Now it was time for Elisabeth to give birth, and she had a son. And it came to the ears of her neighbours and relations that the Lord had been very good to her, and they took part in her joy. And on the eighth day they came to see to the circumcision of the child, and they would have given him the name of Zacharias, his father’s name; But his mother made answer and said, No, his name is John. And they said, Not one of your relations has that name. And they made signs to his father, to say what name was to be given to him. And he sent for writing materials and put down: His name is John; and they were all surprised. And straight away his mouth was open and his tongue was free and he gave praise to God. And fear came on all those who were living round about them: and there was much talk about all these things in all the hill-country of Judaea. And all who had word of them kept them in their minds and said, What will this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him. And his father, Zacharias, was full of the Holy Spirit, and with the voice of a prophet said these words: Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has come to his people and made them free, Lifting up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, (As he said, by the mouth of his holy prophets, from the earliest times .) Salvation from those who are against us, and from the hands of those who have hate for us; To do acts of mercy to our fathers and to keep in mind his holy word, The oath which he made to Abraham, our father, That we, being made free from the fear of those who are against us, might give him worship, In righteousness and holy living before him all our days. And you, child, will be named the prophet of the Most High: you will go before the face of the Lord, to make ready his ways; To give knowledge of salvation to his people, through the forgiveness of sins, Because of the loving mercies of our God, by which the dawn from heaven has come to us, To give light to those in dark places, and in the shade of death, so that our feet may be guided into the way of peace. And the child became tall, and strong in spirit; and he was living in the waste land till the day when he came before the eyes of Israel. Chapter 2 Now it came about in those days that an order went out from Caesar Augustus that there was to be a numbering of all the world. This was the first numbering, which was made when Quirinius was ruler of Syria. And all men went to be numbered, everyone to his town. And Joseph went up from Galilee, out of the town of Nazareth, into Judaea, to Beth-lehem, the town of David, because he was of the house and family of David, To be put on the list with Mary, his future wife, who was about to become a mother. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she had her first son; and folding him in linen, she put him to rest in the place where the cattle had their food, because there was no room for them in the house. And in the same country there were keepers of sheep in the fields, watching over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord came to them, and the glory of the Lord was shining round about them: and fear came on them. And the angel said, Have no fear; for truly, I give you good news of great joy which will be for all the people: For on this day, in the town of David, a Saviour has come to birth, who is Christ the Lord. And this is the sign to you: you will see a young child folded in linen, in the place where the cattle have their food. And suddenly there was with the angel a great band of spirits from heaven, giving praise to God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on the earth peace among men with whom he is well pleased. And when the angels had gone away

  7. 10/25/2022

    The Revelation of Jesus Christ: part 2

    The Revelation of Jesus Christ: part 2 -  Subscribe to the Basic Bible Reading podcast, on your mobile device. Chapter 12 And a great sign was seen in heaven: a A woman clothed with the sun, and with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. And she was with child; and she gave a cry, in the pains of childbirth. And there was seen another sign in heaven; a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven crowns. And his tail was pulling a third part of the stars of heaven down to the earth, and the dragon took his place before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when the birth had taken place he might put an end to her child. And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who was to have rule over all the nations with a rod of iron: and her child was taken up to God and to his high seat. And the woman went in flight to the waste land, where she has a place made ready by God, so that there they may give her food a thousand, two hundred and sixty days. And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels going out to the fight with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels made war, And they were overcome, and there was no more place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was forced down, the old snake, who is named the Evil One and Satan, by whom all the earth is turned from the right way; he was forced down to the earth, and his angels were forced down with him. And a great voice in heaven came to my ears, saying, Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ: because he who says evil against our brothers before our God day and night is forced down. And they overcame him through the blood of the Lamb and the word of their witness; and loving not their lives they freely gave themselves up to death. Be glad then, O heavens, and you who are in them. But there is trouble for the earth and the sea: because the Evil One has come down to you, being very angry, having the knowledge that he has but a short time. And when the dragon saw that he was forced down to the earth, he made cruel attacks on the woman who gave birth to the male child. And there were given to the woman two wings of a great eagle, so that she might go in flight into the waste land, to her place, where she is given food for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the snake. And the snake sent out of his mouth after the woman a river of water, so that she might be taken away by the stream. And the earth gave help to the woman, and with open mouth took up the river which the dragon sent out of his mouth. And the dragon was angry with the woman and went away to make war on the rest of her seed, who keep the orders of God, and the witness of Jesus: Chapter 13 And he took his place on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads unholy names. And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power and his seat and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as if it had been given a death-wound; and his death-wound was made well: and all the earth was wondering at the beast. And they gave worship to the dragon, because he gave authority to the beast; and worshipping the beast, they said, Who is like the beast? and who is able to go to war with him? And there was given to him a mouth to say words of pride against God; and there was given to him authority to go on for forty-two months. And his mouth was open to say evil against God, and against his name and his Tent, even against those who are in heaven. And it was given to him to make war on the saints and to overcome them: and there was given to him authority over every tribe and people and language and nation. And all who are on the earth will give him worship, everyone whose name has not been from the first in the book of life of the Lamb who was put to death. If any man has ears, let him give ear. If any man sends others into prison, into prison he will go: if any man puts to death with the sword, with the sword will he be put to death. Here is the quiet strength and the faith of the saints. And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and his voice was like that of a dragon. And he makes use of all the authority of the first beast before his eyes. And he makes the earth and those who are in it give worship to the first beast, whose death-wound was made well. And he does great signs, even making fire come down from heaven on the earth before the eyes of men. And those who are on the earth are turned from the true way by him through the signs which he was given power to do before the beast; giving orders to those who are on the earth to make an image to the beast, who was wounded by the sword, and came to life. And he had power to give breath to the image of the beast, so that words might come from the image of the beast, and that he might have all those who did not give worship to the image of the beast put to death. And he gives to all, small and great, the poor and those who have wealth, the free and those who are not free, a mark on their right hand or on their brows; So that no man might be able to do trade but he who has the mark, even the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. He who has knowledge let him get the number of the beast; because it is the number of a man: and his number is Six hundred and sixty-six. Chapter 14 And I saw the Lamb on the mountain of Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand, marked on their brows with his name and the name of his Father. And a voice from heaven came to my ears, like the sound of great waters, and the sound of loud thunder: and the voice which came to me was like the sound of players, playing on instruments of music. And they made as it seemed a new song before the high seat, and before the four beasts and the rulers: and no man might have knowledge of the song but the hundred and forty-four thousand, even those from the earth whom God has made his for a price. These are they who have not made themselves unclean with women; for they are virgins. These are they who go after the Lamb wherever he goes. These were taken from among men to be the first fruits to God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth there was no false word, for they are untouched by evil. And I saw another angel in flight between heaven and earth, having eternal good news to give to those who are on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and language and people, Saying with a loud voice, Have fear of God and give him glory; because the hour of his judging is come; and give worship to him who made heaven and earth and the sea and the fountains of water. And a second angel came after, saying, Destruction has come to Babylon the great, which gave to all the nations the wine of the wrath of her evil ways. And a third angel came after them, saying with a loud voice, If any man gives worship to the beast and his image, and has his mark on his brow or on his hand, To him will be given of the wine of God’s wrath which is ready unmixed in the cup of his wrath and he will have cruel pain, burning with fire before the holy angels and before the Lamb: And the smoke of their pain goes up for ever and ever; and they have no rest day and night, who give worship to the beast and his image, and have on them the mark of his name. Here is the quiet strength of the saints, who keep the orders of God, and the faith of Jesus. And a voice from heaven came to my ears, saying, Put in writing, There is a blessing on the dead who from now on come to their end in the Lord: yes, says the Spirit, that they may have rest from their troubles; for their works go with them. And I saw a white cloud, and on the cloud I saw one seated, like a son of man, having on his head a crown of gold, and in his hand a sharp curved blade. And another angel came out from the house of God, crying with a loud voice to him who was seated on the cloud, Put in your blade, and let the grain be cut: because the hour for cutting it is come; for the grain of the earth is over-ready. And he who was seated on the cloud sent in his blade on the earth; and the grain of the earth was cut. And another angel came out from the house of God which is in heaven, having a sharp curved blade. And another angel came out from the altar, who has power over fire; and he gave a loud cry to him who had the sharp curved blade, saying, Put in your sharp blade, and let the grapes of the vine of the earth be cut; for her grapes are fully ready. And the angel sent his blade into the earth, and the vine of the earth was cut, and he put it into the great wine-crusher of the wrath of God. And the grapes were crushed under foot outside the town, and blood came out from them, even to the head-bands of the horses, two hundred miles. Chapter 15 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and strange; seven angels having the seven last punishments, for in them the wrath of God is complete. And I saw a sea which seemed like glass mixed with fire; and those who had overcome the beast and his image and the number of his name, were in their places by the sea of glass, with God’s instruments of music in their hands. And they give the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and full of wonder are your works, O Lord God, Ruler of all; true and full of righteousness are your ways, eternal King. What man is there who will not have fear before you, O Lord, and give glory to your name? because you only are holy; for all the nations will come and give worship before you; for your righteousness has been made clear. And after these

  8. 10/24/2022

    The Revelation of Jesus Christ: part 1 -

    The Revelation of Jesus Christ: part 1 -  Subscribe to the Basic Bible Reading podcast, on your mobile device. Chapter 1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him so that his servants might have knowledge of the things which will quickly take place: and he sent and made it clear by his angel to his servant John; Who gave witness of the word of God, and of the witness of Jesus Christ, even of all the things which he saw. A blessing be on the reader, and on those who give ear to the prophet’s words, and keep the things which he has put in the book: for the time is near. John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from him who is and was and is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his high seat; And from Jesus Christ, the true witness, the first to come back from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who had love for us and has made us clean from our sins by his blood; And has made us to be a kingdom and priests to his God and Father; to him let glory and power be given for ever and ever. So be it. See, he comes with the clouds, and every eye will see him, and those by whom he was wounded; and all the tribes of the earth will be sorrowing because of him. Yes, so be it. I am the First and the Last, says the Lord God who is and was and is to come, the Ruler of all. I, John, your brother, who have a part with you in the trouble and the kingdom and the quiet strength of Jesus, was in the island which is named Patmos, for the word of God and the witness of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and a great voice at my back, as of a horn, came to my ears, Saying, What you see, put in a book, and send it to the seven churches; to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamos and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea. And turning to see the voice which said these words to me, I saw seven gold vessels with lights burning in them; And in the middle of them one like a son of man, clothed with a robe down to his feet, and with a band of gold round his breasts. And his head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like polished brass, as if it had been burned in a fire; and his voice was as the sound of great waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword: and his face was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw him, I went down on my face at his feet as one dead. And he put his right hand on me, saying, Have no fear; I am the first and the last and the Living one; And I was dead, and see, I am living for ever, and I have the keys of death and of Hell. Put in writing, then, the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will be after these; The secret of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and of the seven gold vessels with burning lights. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven lights are the seven churches. Chapter 2 To the angel of the church in Ephesus say: These things says he who has the seven stars in his right hand, who is walking in the middle of the seven gold lights: I have knowledge of your doings, and of your hard work and long waiting, and that you will not put up with evil men, and have put to the test those who say they are Apostles and are not, and have seen that they are false; And you have the power of waiting, and have undergone trouble because of my name, without weariness. But I have this against you, that you are turned away from your first love. So keep in mind where you were at first, and be changed in heart and do the first works; or I will come to you, and will take away your light from its place, if your hearts are not changed. But at least you have the credit of hating the works of the Nicolaitans, as I do. He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give of the fruit of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God. And to the angel of the church in Smyrna say: These things says the first and the last, who was dead and is living: I have knowledge of your troubles and how poor you are (but you have true wealth), and the evil words of those who say they are Jews, and are not, but are a Synagogue of Satan. Have no fear of the things which you will have to undergo: see, the Evil One will send some of you into prison, so that you may be put to the test; and you will have great trouble for ten days. Be true till death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not come under the power of the second death. And to the angel of the church in Pergamos say: These things says he who has the sharp two-edged sword: I have knowledge that your living-place is where Satan has his seat: and you are true to my name, and were not turned away from your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my true witness, who was put to death among you, where Satan has his place. But I have some things against you, because you have with you those who keep the teaching of Balaam, by whose suggestion Balak made the children of Israel go out of the right way, taking food which was offered to false gods, and going after the desires of the flesh. And you have those who keep the teaching of the Nicolaitans. See, then, that you have a change of heart; or I will come to you quickly, and will make war against them with the sword of my mouth. He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give of the secret manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name, of which no one has knowledge but he to whom it is given. And to the angel of the church in Thyatira say: These things says the Son of God, whose eyes are like a flame of fire, and his feet like polished brass: I have knowledge of your works, and your love and faith and help and strength in trouble, and that your last works are more than the first. But I have this against you, that you let the woman Jezebel say she is a prophet and give false teaching, making my servants go after the desires of the flesh and take food offered to false gods. And I gave her time for a change of heart, but she has no mind to give up her unclean ways. See, I will put her into a bed, and those who make themselves unclean with her, into great trouble, if they go on with her works. And I will put her children to death; and all the churches will see that I am he who makes search into the secret thoughts and hearts of men: and I will give to every one of you the reward of your works. But to you I say, to the rest in Thyatira, even to those who have not this teaching, and have no knowledge of the secrets of Satan, as they say; I put on you no other weight. But what you have, keep safe till I come. He who overcomes, and keeps my works to the end, to him I will give rule over the nations, And he will be ruling them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of the potter they will be broken, even as I have power from my Father: And I will give him the morning star. He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches. Chapter 3 And to the angel of the church in Sardis say: These things says he who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: I have knowledge of your works, that you seem to be living but are dead. Be on the watch, and make strong the rest of the things which are near to death; because as judged by me your works have not come up to God’s measure. Keep in mind, then, the teaching which was given to you, and be ruled by it and have a change of heart. If then you do not keep watch, I will come like a thief, and you will have no knowledge of the hour when I will come on you. But you have some names in Sardis who have kept clean their robes; and as a reward they will go in white with me. He who overcomes will be dressed in white, and I will not take his name from the book of life, and I will give witness to his name before my Father, and before his angels. He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia say: These things says he who is holy, he who is true, he who has the key of David, opening the door so that it may be shut by no one, and shutting it so that it may be open to no one. I have knowledge of your works (see, I have put before you an open door which may be shut by no one), and that you have a little strength, and have kept my word, and have been true to my name. See, I will make those of the Synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews, and are not, but say what is false; I will make them come and give worship before your feet, and see my love for you. Because you have kept my word in quiet strength, I will keep you from the hour of testing which is coming on all the world, to put to the test those who are on earth. I come quickly: keep that which you have, so that no one may take your crown. Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the house of my God, and he will go out no more: and I will put on him the name of my God, and the name of the town of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and my new name. He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches. And to the angel of the church in Laodicea say: These things says the true and certain witness, the head of God’s new order: I have knowledge of your works, that you are not cold or warm: it would be better if you were cold or warm. So because you are not one thing or the other, I will have no more to do with you. For you say, I have wealth, and have got together goods and land, and have need of nothing; and you are not conscious of y

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