¹Then the Lord said to Noah, p“Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that qyou are righteous before me in this generation. ²Take with you seven pairs of all rclean animals,1 the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, ³and seven pairs2 of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. ⁴For in seven days sI will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, tand every living thing3 that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” ⁵uAnd Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.

⁶Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. ⁷And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. ⁸Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, ⁹two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. ¹⁰And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.

¹¹In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the vfountains of the great deep burst forth, and wthe windows of the heavens were opened. ¹²And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. ¹³On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, ¹⁴they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. ¹⁵They xwent into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. ¹⁶And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in yas God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in.

¹⁷The flood zcontinued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. ¹⁸The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. ¹⁹And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. ²⁰The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits4 deep. ²¹And aall flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. ²²Everything on the dry land bin whose nostrils was the breath of life died. ²³He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only cNoah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. ²⁴And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.

Judging Others

¹r“Judge not, that you be not judged. ²sFor with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and twith the measure you use it will be measured to you. ³Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but udo not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? ⁵You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

⁶v“Do not give wdogs what is holy, and do not throw your xpearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.

Ask, and It Will Be Given

⁷y“Ask, zand it will be given to you; aseek, and you will find; bknock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. ⁹Or which one of you, if his son asks him for cbread, will give him ca stone? ¹⁰Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? ¹¹If you then, dwho are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will zyour Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

The Golden Rule

¹²“So ewhatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is fthe Law and the Prophets.

¹³g“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy1 that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. ¹⁴For the gate is narrow and hthe way is hard that leads to life, and ithose who find it are few.

A Tree and Its Fruit

¹⁵j“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are kravenous wolves. ¹⁶You will recognize them lby their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷So, mevery healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹nEvery tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰Thus you will recognize them lby their fruits.

I Never Knew You

²¹o“Not everyone who psays to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will qenter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who rdoes the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²sOn that day tmany will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not uprophesy in your name, and cast out demons vin your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ ²³tAnd then will I declare to them, ‘I wnever knew you; xdepart from me, yyou workers of lawlessness.’

Build Your House on the Rock

²⁴z“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like aa wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. ²⁶And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like aa foolish man who built his house on the sand. ²⁷And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

The Authority of Jesus

²⁸And when Jesus finished these sayings, bthe crowds were astonished at his teaching, ²⁹cfor he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

Ezra Sent to Teach the People

¹Now after this, vin the reign of vArtaxerxes king of Persia, wEzra the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, ²son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub, ³son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth, ⁴son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, ⁵son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the chief priest— ⁶this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe xskilled in the Law of Moses that the Lord, the God of Israel, had given, and the king granted him all that he asked, yfor the hand of the Lord his God was on him.

⁷And there went up also to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king, some of the people of Israel, and zsome of the priests and aLevites, the singers and gatekeepers, and the temple bservants. ⁸And Ezra1 came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. ⁹For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylonia, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, cfor the good hand of his God was on him. ¹⁰For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it dand to eteach his statutes and rules in Israel.

¹¹This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a man learned in matters of the commandments of the Lord and his statutes for Israel: ¹²“Artaxerxes, fking of kings, to Ezra the priest, the gscribe of the Law of the God of heaven. Peace.2 hAnd now ¹³iI make a decree that anyone of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom, who freely offers to go to Jerusalem, may go with you. ¹⁴For you are sent by the king jand his seven counselors to make inquiries about Judah and Jerusalem according to the Law of your God, which is in your hand, ¹⁵and also to carry the silver and gold that the king jand his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, kwhose dwelling is in Jerusalem, ¹⁶lwith all the silver and gold that you shall find in the whole province of Babylonia, and mwith the freewill offerings of the people and the priests, vowed willingly for the house of their God that is in Jerusalem. ¹⁷With this money, then, you shall with all diligence buy bulls, rams, and lambs, with their grain offerings and their drink offerings, and nyou shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God that is in Jerusalem. ¹⁸Whatever seems good to you and your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do, according to the will of your God. ¹⁹The vessels that have been given you for the service of the house of your God, you shall deliver before the God of Jerusalem. ²⁰And whatever else is required for the house of your God, which it falls to you to provide, you may provide it out of the king's treasury.

²¹“And I, Artaxerxes the king, make a decree to all the treasurers in the province Beyond the River: Whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, requires of you, let it be done with all diligence, ²²up to 100 talents3 of silver, 100 cors4 of wheat, 100 baths5 of wine, 100 baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much. ²³Whatever is decreed by the God of heaven, let it be done in full for the house of the God of heaven, lest his wrath be against the realm of the king and his sons. ²⁴We also notify you that it shall not be lawful to impose otribute, custom, or toll on anyone of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the doorkeepers, the temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.

²⁵“And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, pappoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province Beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God. qAnd those who do not know them, you shall teach. ²⁶Whoever will not obey the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be strictly executed on him, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of his goods or for imprisonment.”

²⁷rBlessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, swho put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem, ²⁸tand who extended to me his steadfast love before the king and his counselors, and before all the king's mighty officers. I took courage, for the hand of the Lord my God was on me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.

Stephen's Speech

¹And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” ²And Stephen said:

j“Brothers and fathers, hear me. kThe God lof glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, mbefore he lived in Haran, ³and said to him, n‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ ⁴mThen he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And oafter his father died, pGod removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. ⁵Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot's length, but promised qto give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, rthough he had no child. ⁶And God spoke to this effect—that shis offspring would tbe sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them ufour hundred years. ⁷‘But vI will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out wand worship me in this place.’ ⁸And xhe gave him the covenant of circumcision. And yso Abraham became the father of Isaac, and zcircumcised him on the eighth day, and aIsaac became the father of Jacob, and bJacob of the twelve patriarchs.

⁹“And the patriarchs, cjealous of Joseph, dsold him into Egypt; but eGod was with him ¹⁰and rescued him out of all his afflictions and fgave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, gwho made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. ¹¹Now hthere came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. ¹²iBut when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. ¹³And jon the second visit kJoseph made himself known to his brothers, and lJoseph's family became known to Pharaoh. ¹⁴And mJoseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, nseventy-five persons in all. ¹⁵And oJacob went down into Egypt, and phe died, he qand our fathers, ¹⁶and rthey were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that sAbraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

¹⁷“But tas the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, uthe people increased and multiplied in Egypt ¹⁸until there arose over Egypt another king vwho did not know Joseph. ¹⁹wHe dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, xso that they would not be kept alive. ²⁰yAt this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God's sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father's house, ²¹and zwhen he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. ²²And Moses awas instructed in ball the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was cmighty in his words and deeds.

²³“When he was forty years old, it came into his heart dto visit his brothers, the children of Israel. ²⁴And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. ²⁵He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. ²⁶eAnd on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ ²⁷But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, f‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? ²⁸Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ ²⁹At this retort gMoses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, hwhere he became the father of two sons.

³⁰“Now when forty years had passed, ian angel appeared to him jin the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. ³¹When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: ³²k‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. ³³Then the Lord said to him, l‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. ³⁴mI have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and nhave heard their groaning, and oI have come down to deliver them. pAnd now come, I will send you to Egypt.’

³⁵“This Moses, whom they rejected, qsaying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer rby the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ³⁶sThis man led them out, performing twonders and signs uin Egypt and vat the Red Sea and win the wilderness for xforty years. ³⁷This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you ya prophet like me from your brothers.’ ³⁸This is the one zwho was in the congregation in the wilderness with athe angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. bHe received cliving doracles to give to us. ³⁹Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and ein their hearts they turned to Egypt, ⁴⁰saying to Aaron, f‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ ⁴¹And gthey made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and hwere rejoicing in ithe works of their hands. ⁴²But jGod turned away and kgave them over to worship lthe host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:

m“‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices,

nduring the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

⁴³You took up the tent of oMoloch

and the star of your god Rephan,

the images that you made to worship;

and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’

⁴⁴“Our fathers had pthe tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses qdirected him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. ⁴⁵Our fathers in turn rbrought it in with Joshua when they sdispossessed the nations tthat God drove out before our fathers. So it was uuntil the days of David, ⁴⁶vwho found favor in the sight of God and wasked to find a dwelling place for xthe God of Jacob.1 ⁴⁷But it was ySolomon who built a house for him. ⁴⁸zYet the Most High does not dwell ain houses made by hands, as the prophet says,

⁴⁹b“‘Heaven is my throne,

cand the earth is my footstool.

What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,

or what is the place of my rest?

⁵⁰Did not my hand make all these things?’

⁵¹d“You stiff-necked people, euncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. fAs your fathers did, so do you. ⁵²gWhich of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of hthe Righteous One, iwhom you have now betrayed and murdered, ⁵³you who received the law jas delivered by angels and kdid not keep it.”

The Stoning of Stephen

⁵⁴Now when they heard these things lthey were enraged, and they mground their teeth at him. ⁵⁵But he, nfull of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw othe glory of God, and Jesus standing pat the right hand of God. ⁵⁶And he said, “Behold, I see qthe heavens opened, and rthe Son of Man standing pat the right hand of God.” ⁵⁷But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together2 at him. ⁵⁸Then sthey cast him out of the city and tstoned him. And uthe witnesses laid down their garments vat the feet of a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹And as they were stoning Stephen, whe called out, “Lord Jesus, xreceive my spirit.” ⁶⁰And yfalling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, z“Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, ahe fell asleep.