Jews

In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down and killed Gedaliah, along with the Judeans and Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.

Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came from you to us have returned to Jerusalem and are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are restoring its walls and repairing its foundations.

When the text of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their associates, they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and forcibly stopped them.

Later, the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them.

But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, so that they were not stopped until a report was sent to Darius and written instructions about this matter were returned.

Leave this work on the house of God alone. Let the governor and elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its original site.

I hereby decree what you must do for these elders of the Jews who are rebuilding this house of God: The cost is to be paid in full to these men from the royal treasury out of the taxes of the provinces west of the Euphrates, so that the work will not be hindered.

So the Jewish elders built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia.

Hanani, one of my brothers, arrived with men from Judah. So I questioned them about the remnant of the Jews who had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.

The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, for I had not yet told the Jews or priests or nobles or officials or any other workers.

So we rebuilt the wall until all of it was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.

About that time there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their fellow Jews.

and said, “We have done our best to buy back our Jewish brothers who were sold to foreigners, but now you are selling your own brothers, that they may be sold back to us!” But they remained silent, for they could find nothing to say.

There were 150 Jews and officials at my table, besides the guests from the surrounding nations.

that read: “It is reported among the nations—and Geshem agrees—that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt, and this is why you are building the wall. According to these reports, you are to become their king,

In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.

Now there was at the citadel of Susa a Jewish man from the tribe of Benjamin named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish.

Day after day they warned him, but he would not comply. So they reported it to Haman to see whether Mordecai’s behavior would be tolerated, since he had told them he was a Jew.

And when he learned the identity of Mordecai’s people, he scorned the notion of laying hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he sought to destroy all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the kingdom of Xerxes.

So the king removed the signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.

And the letters were sent by couriers to each of the royal provinces with the order to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—and to plunder their possessions on a single day, the thirteenth day of Adar, the twelfth month.

In every province to which the king’s command and edict came, there was great mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and lamented, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money that Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury in order to destroy the Jews.

he sent back to her this reply: “Do not imagine that because you are in the king’s palace you alone will escape the fate of all the Jews.

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows if perhaps you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

“Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day, and I and my maidens will fast as you do. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish!”

Yet none of this satisfies me as long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”

“Hurry,” said the king to Haman, “and do just as you proposed. Take the robe and the horse to Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king’s gate. Do not neglect anything that you have suggested.”

Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened. His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has begun, is Jewish, you will not prevail against him—for surely you will fall before him.”

That same day King Xerxes awarded Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai entered the king’s presence because Esther had revealed his relation to her.

And once again, Esther addressed the king. She fell at his feet weeping and begged him to revoke the evil scheme of Haman the Agagite, which he had devised against the Jews.

“If it pleases the king,” she said, “and if I have found favor in his sight, and the matter seems proper to the king, and I am pleasing in his sight, may an order be written to revoke the letters that the scheming Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces.

So King Xerxes said to Esther the Queen and Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given Haman’s estate to Esther, and he was hanged on the gallows because he attacked the Jews.

Now you may write in the king’s name as you please regarding the Jews, and seal it with the royal signet ring. For a decree that is written in the name of the king and sealed with the royal signet ring cannot be revoked.”

At once the royal scribes were summoned, and on the twenty-third day of the third month (the month of Sivan), they recorded all of Mordecai’s orders to the Jews and to the satraps, governors, and princes of the 127 provinces from India to Cush—writing to each province in its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language.

By these letters the king permitted the Jews in each and every city the right to assemble and defend themselves, to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province hostile to them, including women and children, and to plunder their possessions.

A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued in every province and published to all the people, so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.

For the Jews it was a time of light and gladness, of joy and honor.

In every province and every city, wherever the king’s edict and decree reached, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many of the people of the land themselves became Jews, because the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.

On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the king’s command and edict were to be executed. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but their plan was overturned and the Jews overpowered those who hated them.

In each of the provinces of King Xerxes, the Jews assembled in their cities to attack those who sought to harm them. No man could withstand them, because the fear of them had fallen upon all peoples.

And all the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and the king’s administrators helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen upon them.

The Jews put all their enemies to the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did as they pleased to those who hated them.

In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men,

They killed these ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

who said to Queen Esther, “In the citadel of Susa the Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men, including Haman’s ten sons. What have they done in the rest of the royal provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given to you. And what further do you request? It will be fulfilled.”

Esther replied, “If it pleases the king, may the Jews in Susa also have tomorrow to carry out today’s edict, and may the bodies of Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.”

On the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, the Jews in Susa came together again and put to death three hundred men there, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

The rest of the Jews in the royal provinces also assembled to defend themselves and rid themselves of their enemies. They killed 75,000 who hated them, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.

The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and the fourteenth days of the month. So they rested on the fifteenth day, making it a day of feasting and joy.

This is why the rural Jews, who live in the villages, observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting. It is a holiday for sending gifts to one another.

Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews in all the provinces of King Xerxes, both near and far,

as the days on which the Jews gained rest from their enemies and the month in which their sorrow turned to joy and their mourning into a holiday. He wrote that these were to be days of feasting and joy, of sending gifts to one another and to the poor.

So the Jews agreed to continue the custom they had started, as Mordecai had written to them.

For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the Pur (that is, the lot) to crush and destroy them.

But when it came before the king, he commanded by letter that the wicked scheme which Haman had devised against the Jews should come back upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

the Jews bound themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should not fail to celebrate these two days at the appointed time each and every year, according to their regulation.

These days should be remembered and celebrated by every generation, family, province, and city, so that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, nor should the memory of them fade from their descendants.

So Queen Esther daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim.

And Mordecai sent letters with words of peace and truth to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Xerxes,

in order to confirm these days of Purim at their appointed time, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established them and had committed themselves and their descendants to the times of fasting and lamentation.

For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews and highly favored by his many kinsmen, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his countrymen.

that each man should free his Hebrew slaves, both male and female, and no one should hold his fellow Jew in bondage.

At this time some astrologers came forward and maliciously accused the Jews,

But there are some Jews you have appointed to manage the province of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—who have ignored you, O king, and have refused to serve your gods or worship the golden statue you have set up.”

This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue will tightly grasp the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”

asking, “Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, who questioned Him: “Are You the King of the Jews?” “You have said so,” Jesus replied.

And they twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on His head. They put a staff in His right hand, knelt down before Him, and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

Above His head they posted the written charge against Him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

So the guards took the money and did as they were instructed. And this account has been circulated among the Jews to this very day.

Now in holding to the tradition of the elders, the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat until they wash their hands ceremonially.

So Pilate questioned Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” “You have said so,” Jesus replied.

“Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” Pilate asked.

So Pilate asked them again, “What then do you want me to do with the One you call the King of the Jews?”

And they began to salute Him: “Hail, King of the Jews!”

And the charge inscribed against Him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS.

When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to ask Him to come and heal his servant.

So Pilate asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” “You have said so,” Jesus replied.

“If You are the King of the Jews,” they said, “save Yourself!”

Above Him was posted an inscription: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Now there was a Council member named Joseph, a good and righteous man,

who had not consented to their decision or action. He was from the Judean town of Arimathea and was waiting for the kingdom of God.

And this was John’s testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?”

Now six stone water jars had been set there for the Jewish rites of purification. Each could hold from twenty to thirty gallons.

When the Jewish Passover was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

On account of this, the Jews demanded, “What sign can You show us to prove Your authority to do these things?”

“This temple took forty-six years to build,” the Jews replied, “and You are going to raise it up in three days?”

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.

After this, Jesus and His disciples went into the Judean countryside, where He spent some time with them and baptized.

Then a dispute arose between John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the issue of ceremonial washing.

“You are a Jew,” said the woman. “How can You ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.

Some time later there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath! It is unlawful for you to carry your mat.”

And the man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews began to persecute Him.

Because of this, the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him. Not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.

Now the Jewish Feast of the Passover was near.

At this, the Jews began to grumble about Jesus because He had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”

At this, the Jews began to argue among themselves, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”

After this, Jesus traveled throughout Galilee. He did not want to travel in Judea, because the Jews there were trying to kill Him.

However, the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near.

So the Jews were looking for Him at the feast and asking, “Where is He?”

Yet no one would speak publicly about Him for fear of the Jews.

The Jews were amazed and asked, “How did this man attain such learning without having studied?”

At this, the Jews said to one another, “Where does He intend to go that we will not find Him? Will He go where the Jews are dispersed among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?

So the Jews began to ask, “Will He kill Himself, since He says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?”

So He said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples.

The Jews answered Him, “Are we not right to say that You are a Samaritan and You have a demon?”

“Now we know that You have a demon!” declared the Jews. “Abraham died, and so did the prophets, yet You say that anyone who keeps Your word will never taste death.

Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and You have seen Abraham?”

The Jews still did not believe that the man had been blind and had received his sight until they summoned his parents

His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews. For the Jews had already determined that anyone who confessed Jesus as the Christ would be put out of the synagogue.

Again there was division among the Jews because of Jesus’ message.

So the Jews gathered around Him and demanded, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

At this, the Jews again picked up stones to stone Him.

“We are not stoning You for any good work,” said the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because You, who are a man, declare Yourself to be God.”

“Rabbi,” they replied, “the Jews just tried to stone You, and You are going back there?”

and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them in the loss of their brother.

When the Jews who were in the house consoling Mary saw how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.

Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”

Therefore many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in Him.

As a result, Jesus no longer went about publicly among the Jews, but He withdrew to a town called Ephraim in an area near the wilderness. And He stayed there with the disciples.

Now the Jewish Passover was near, and many people went up from the country to Jerusalem to purify themselves before the Passover.

Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews learned that Jesus was there. And they came not only because of Him, but also to see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.

for on account of him many of the Jews were deserting them and believing in Jesus.

Little children, I am with you only a little while longer. You will look for Me, and as I said to the Jews, so now I say to you: ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’

Then the band of soldiers, with its commander and the officers of the Jews, arrested Jesus and bound Him.

Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be better if one man died for the people.

“I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus answered. “I always taught in the synagogues and at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret.

“You take Him and judge Him by your own law,” Pilate told them. “We are not permitted to execute anyone,” the Jews replied.

Pilate went back into the Praetorium, summoned Jesus, and asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”

“Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed You over to me. What have You done?”

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world; if it were, My servants would fight to prevent My arrest by the Jews. But now My kingdom is not of this realm.”

“What is truth?” Pilate asked. And having said this, he went out again to the Jews and told them, “I find no basis for a charge against Him.

But it is your custom that I release to you one prisoner at the Passover. So then, do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”

And they went up to Him again and again, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and slapping Him in the face.

“We have a law,” answered the Jews, “and according to that law He must die, because He declared Himself to be the Son of God.”

From then on, Pilate tried to release Him, but the Jews kept shouting, “If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who declares himself a king is defying Caesar.”

It was the day of Preparation for the Passover, about the sixth hour. And Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your King!”

Pilate also had a notice posted on the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Many of the Jews read this sign, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.

So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but only that He said, ‘I am the King of the Jews.’”

It was the day of Preparation, and the next day was a High Sabbath. In order that the bodies would not remain on the cross during the Sabbath, the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies removed.

Afterward, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus (but secretly for fear of the Jews), asked Pilate to let him remove the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission, so he came and removed His body.

So they took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in linen cloths with the spices, according to the Jewish burial custom.

And because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they placed Jesus there.

It was the first day of the week, and that very evening, while the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you!” He said to them.

Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.

Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome,

both Jews and converts to Judaism; Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”

But Saul was empowered all the more, and he confounded the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.

After many days had passed, the Jews conspired to kill him,

“Cornelius the centurion has sent us,” they said. “He is a righteous and God-fearing man with a good reputation among the whole Jewish nation. A holy angel instructed him to request your presence in his home so he could hear a message from you.”

He said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with a foreigner or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean.

We are witnesses of all that He did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. And although they put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree,

Meanwhile those scattered by the persecution that began with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the message only to Jews.

And seeing that this pleased the Jews, Herod proceeded to seize Peter during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from Herod’s grasp and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.”

When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. And John was with them as their helper.

They traveled through the whole island as far as Paphos, where they found a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus,

As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people urged them to continue this message on the next Sabbath.

After the synagogue was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.

But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and they blasphemously contradicted what Paul was saying.

The Jews, however, incited the religious women of prominence and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their district.

At Iconium, Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue, where they spoke so well that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed.

But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.

The people of the city were divided. Some sided with the Jews, and others with the apostles.

But when the Gentiles and Jews, together with their rulers, set out to mistreat and stone them,

Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, presuming he was dead.

Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where he found a disciple named Timothy, the son of a believing Jewish woman and a Greek father.

Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, so he took him and circumcised him on account of the Jews in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

They brought them to the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews and are throwing our city into turmoil

When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.

The Jews, however, became jealous. So they brought in some troublemakers from the marketplace, formed a mob, and sent the city into an uproar. They raided Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas, hoping to bring them out to the people.

As soon as night had fallen, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went into the Jewish synagogue.

But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that Paul was also proclaiming the word of God in Berea, they went there themselves to incite and agitate the crowds.

So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles, and in the marketplace with those he met each day.

There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to visit them,

Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks alike.

And when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself fully to the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.

While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews coordinated an attack on Paul and brought him before the judgment seat.

But just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio told the Jews, “If this matter involved a wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to hear your complaint.

When they reached Ephesus, Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue there and reasoned with the Jews.

Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, well versed in the Scriptures.

For he powerfully refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.

This continued for two years, so that everyone who lived in the province of Asia, Jews and Greeks alike, heard the word of the Lord.

Now there were some itinerant Jewish exorcists who tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those with evil spirits. They would say, “I command you by Jesus, whom Paul proclaims.”

Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.

This became known to all the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, and fear came over all of them. So the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor.

The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander forward to explain himself, and he motioned for silence so he could make his defense to the people.

But when they realized that he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

where he stayed three months. And when the Jews formed a plot against him as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go back through Macedonia.

I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, especially in the trials that came upon me through the plots of the Jews.

testifying to Jews and Greeks alike about repentance to God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own feet and hands, and said, “The Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and hand him over to the Gentiles.’”

When they heard this, they glorified God. Then they said to Paul, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law.

But they are under the impression that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or observe our customs.

When the seven days were almost over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him,

But Paul answered, “I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Now I beg you to allow me to speak to the people.”

“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but raised in this city. I was educated at the feet of Gamaliel in strict conformity to the law of our fathers. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.

There a man named Ananias, a devout observer of the law who was highly regarded by all the Jews living there,

The next day the commander, wanting to learn the real reason Paul was accused by the Jews, released him and ordered the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul down and had him stand before them.

When daylight came, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.

He answered, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul to the Sanhedrin tomorrow on the pretext of acquiring more information about him.

This man was seized by the Jews, and they were about to kill him when I came with my troops to rescue him. For I had learned that he is a Roman citizen,

When I was informed that there was a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once. I also instructed his accusers to present their case against him before you.

We have found this man to be a pestilence, stirring up dissension among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes,

The Jews concurred, asserting that these charges were true.

At the time they found me in the temple, I was ceremonially clean and was not inciting a crowd or an uproar. But there are some Jews from the province of Asia

who ought to appear before you and bring charges, if they have anything against me.

After several days, Felix returned with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess. He sent for Paul and listened to him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.

After two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And wishing to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.

where the chief priests and Jewish leaders presented their case against Paul. They urged Festus

When Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many serious charges that they could not prove.

Then Paul made his defense: “I have committed no offense against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.”

But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem to stand trial before me on these charges?”

Paul replied, “I am standing before the judgment seat of Caesar, where I ought to be tried. I have done nothing wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well.

While I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and elders of the Jews presented their case and requested a judgment against him.

Then Festus said, “King Agrippa and all who are present with us, you see this man. The whole Jewish community has petitioned me about him, both here and in Jerusalem, crying out that he ought not to live any longer.

“King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today to defend myself against all the accusations of the Jews,

especially since you are acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. I beg you, therefore, to listen to me patiently.

Surely all the Jews know how I have lived from my earliest childhood among my own people, and also in Jerusalem.

the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. It is because of this hope, O king, that I am accused by the Jews.

For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me.

After three days, he called together the leaders of the Jews. When they had gathered, he said to them, “Brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, I was taken prisoner in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans.

But when the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar, even though I have no charge to bring against my nation.

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek.

There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil, first for the Jew, then for the Greek;

but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, first for the Jew, then for the Greek.

Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God;

A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical.

No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise does not come from men, but from God.

What, then, is the advantage of being a Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?

What then? Are we any better? Not at all. For we have already made the charge that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin.

Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too,

including us, whom He has called not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles?

For there is no difference between Jew and Greek: The same Lord is Lord of all, and gives richly to all who call on Him,

Jews demand signs and Greeks search for wisdom,

but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,

but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), to win those under the law.

Do not become a stumbling block, whether to Jews or Greeks or the church of God—

For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink.

Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.

The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

When I saw that they were not walking in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

We who are Jews by birth and not Gentile “sinners”

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all.

For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Judea that are in Christ Jesus. You suffered from your own countrymen the very things they suffered from the Jews,

and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of men who have rejected the truth.

I know your affliction and your poverty—though you are rich! And I am aware of the slander of those who falsely claim to be Jews, but are in fact a synagogue of Satan.

As for those who belong to the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews but are liars instead, I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I love you.