Spiritual Warfare

¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand. ¹⁴Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed, ¹⁵and with your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ¹⁸Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints. ¹⁹Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will boldly make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it fearlessly, as I should.

³For though we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh. ⁴The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the flesh. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵We demolish arguments and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. ⁶And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, as soon as your obedience is complete.

¹What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you? ²You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask. ³And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures. ⁴You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God. ⁵Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy? ⁶But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” ⁷Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

⁸Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. ⁹Resist him, standing firm in your faith and in the knowledge that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.

¹³When you were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our trespasses, ¹⁴having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross! ¹⁵And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

¹Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ²After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. ³The tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” ⁴But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” ⁵Then the devil took Him to the holy city and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple. ⁶“If You are the Son of God,” he said, “throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command His angels concerning You, and they will lift You up in their hands, so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’” ⁷Jesus replied, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” ⁸Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹“All this I will give You,” he said, “if You will fall down and worship me.” ¹⁰“Away from Me, Satan!” Jesus told him. “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’” ¹¹Then the devil left Him, and angels came and ministered to Him.

¹⁷The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in Your name.” ¹⁸So He told them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹Behold, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you. ²⁰Nevertheless, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

¹Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world. ²By this you will know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and which is already in the world at this time. ⁴You, little children, are from God and have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. ⁵They are of the world. That is why they speak from the world’s perspective, and the world listens to them. ⁶We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. That is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.

²⁰The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

¹⁰And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down—he who accuses them day and night before our God. ¹¹They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives so as to shy away from death.

⁴In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. ⁵The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

⁹When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. ¹⁰Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery, ¹¹casts spells, consults a medium or spiritist, or inquires of the dead. ¹²For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD. And because of these detestable things, the LORD your God is driving out the nations before you. ¹³You must be blameless before the LORD your God. ¹⁴Though these nations, which you will dispossess, listen to conjurers and diviners, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so.

¹Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field that the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’” ²The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, ³but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You must not eat of it or touch it, or you will die.’” ⁴“You will not surely die,” the serpent told the woman. ⁵“For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ⁶When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. ⁷And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed together fig leaves and made coverings for themselves. ⁸Then the man and his wife heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the breeze of the day, and they hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. ⁹But the LORD God called out to the man, “Where are you?” ¹⁰“I heard Your voice in the garden,” he replied, “and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” ¹¹“Who told you that you were naked?” asked the LORD God. “Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” ¹²And the man answered, “The woman whom You gave me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” ¹³Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied, “and I ate.” ¹⁴So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and every beast of the field! On your belly will you go, and dust you will eat, all the days of your life. ¹⁵And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

⁶One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. ⁷“Where have you come from?” said the LORD to Satan. “From roaming through the earth,” he replied, “and walking back and forth in it.” ⁸Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil.” ⁹Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing? ¹⁰Have You not placed a hedge on every side around him and his household and all that he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. ¹¹But stretch out Your hand and strike all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.” ¹²“Very well,” said the LORD to Satan. “Everything he has is in your hands, but you must not lay a hand on the man himself.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

¹On another day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them to present himself before Him. ²“Where have you come from?” said the LORD to Satan. “From roaming through the earth,” he replied, “and walking back and forth in it.” ³Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil. He still retains his integrity, even though you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.” ⁴“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give up all he owns in exchange for his life. ⁵But stretch out Your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse You to Your face.” ⁶“Very well,” said the LORD to Satan. “He is in your hands, but you must spare his life.” ⁷So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and infected Job with terrible boils from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.

⁴⁵But David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand. This day I will strike you down, cut off your head, and give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the creatures of the earth. Then the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷And all those assembled here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and He will give all of you into our hands.”

¹⁵When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early in the morning, behold, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. So he asked Elisha, “Oh, my master, what are we to do?” ¹⁶“Do not be afraid,” Elisha answered, “for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” ¹⁷Then Elisha prayed, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw that the hills were full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

¹⁵And he said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the LORD says: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army, for the battle does not belong to you, but to God. ¹⁶Tomorrow you are to march down against them. You will see them coming up the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley facing the Wilderness of Jeruel. ¹⁷You need not fight this battle. Take up your positions, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out and face them tomorrow, for the LORD is with you.’” ²⁰Early in the morning they got up and left for the Wilderness of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood up and said, “Hear me, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be upheld; believe in His prophets, and you will succeed.” ²¹Then Jehoshaphat consulted with the people and appointed those who would sing to the LORD and praise the splendor of His holiness. As they went out before the army, they were singing: “Give thanks to the LORD, for His loving devotion endures forever.” ²²The moment they began their shouts and praises, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir who had come against Judah, and they were defeated.

²The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. ³I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies. ²⁹For in You I can charge an army, and with my God I can scale a wall. ³⁰As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him. ³¹For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God? ³²It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way clear. ³³He makes my feet like those of a deer and stations me upon the heights. ³⁴He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. ³⁵You have given me Your shield of salvation; Your right hand upholds me, and Your gentleness exalts me. ³⁶You broaden the path beneath me so that my ankles do not give way. ³⁷I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back until they were consumed. ³⁸I crushed them so they could not rise; they have fallen under my feet. ³⁹You have armed me with strength for battle; You have subdued my foes beneath me.

¹Of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life—whom shall I dread? ²When the wicked came upon me to devour my flesh, my enemies and foes stumbled and fell. ³Though an army encamps around me, my heart will not fear; though a war breaks out against me, I will keep my trust.

¹He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. ²I will say to the LORD, “You are my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” ³Surely He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly plague. ⁴He will cover you with His feathers; under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and rampart. ⁵You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, ⁶nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the calamity that destroys at noon. ⁷Though a thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, no harm will come near you. ⁸You will only see it with your eyes and witness the punishment of the wicked. ⁹Because you have made the LORD your dwelling—my refuge, the Most High— ¹⁰no evil will befall you, no plague will approach your tent. ¹¹For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. ¹²They will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. ¹³You will tread on the lion and cobra; you will trample the young lion and serpent.

¹Of David. Blessed be the LORD, my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. ²He is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer. He is my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.

¹⁷No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the LORD.

¹²“Do not be afraid, Daniel,” he said, “for from the first day that you purposed to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. ¹³However, the prince of the kingdom of Persia opposed me for twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia. ¹⁴Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision concerns those days.” ²⁰“Do you know why I have come to you?” he said. “I must return at once to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I have gone forth, behold, the prince of Greece will come. ²¹But first I will tell you what is inscribed in the Book of Truth. Yet no one has the courage to support me against these, except Michael your prince.

¹Then the angel showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, with Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. ²And the LORD said to Satan: “The LORD rebukes you, Satan! Indeed, the LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you! Is not this man a firebrand snatched from the fire?” ³Now Joshua was dressed in filthy garments as he stood before the angel. ⁴So the angel said to those standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes!” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have removed your iniquity, and I will clothe you with splendid robes.” ⁵Then I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So a clean turban was placed on his head, and they clothed him, as the angel of the LORD stood by.

⁶So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of Hosts.

²²Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed the man so that he could speak and see. ²³The crowds were astounded and asked, “Could this be the Son of David?” ²⁴But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “Only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, does this man drive out demons.” ²⁵Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. ²⁶If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? ²⁷And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. ²⁸But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. ²⁹Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and steal his possessions, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house. ³⁰He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

¹⁸And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. ¹⁹I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

⁴⁰Then Jesus returned to the disciples and found them sleeping. “Were you not able to keep watch with Me for one hour?” He asked Peter. ⁴¹“Watch and pray so that you will not enter into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

²²And the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and, “By the prince of the demons He drives out demons.” ²³So Jesus called them together and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? ²⁴If a kingdom is divided against itself, it cannot stand. ²⁵If a house is divided against itself, it cannot stand. ²⁶And if Satan is divided and rises against himself, he cannot stand; his end has come. ²⁷Indeed, no one can enter a strong man’s house to steal his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house.

¹On the other side of the sea, they arrived in the region of the Gerasenes. ²As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, He was met by a man with an unclean spirit, who was coming from the tombs. ³This man had been living in the tombs and could no longer be restrained, even with chains. ⁴Though he was often bound with chains and shackles, he had broken the chains and shattered the shackles. Now there was no one with the strength to subdue him. ⁵Night and day in the tombs and in the mountains he kept crying out and cutting himself with stones. ⁶When the man saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees before Him. ⁷And he shouted in a loud voice, “What do You want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You before God not to torture me!” ⁸For Jesus had already declared, “Come out of this man, you unclean spirit!” ⁹“What is your name?” Jesus asked. “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” ¹⁰And he begged Jesus repeatedly not to send them out of that region. ¹¹There on the nearby hillside a large herd of pigs was feeding. ¹²So the demons begged Jesus, “Send us to the pigs, so that we may enter them.” ¹³He gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and went into the pigs, and the herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the water. ¹⁴Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. ¹⁵When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons sitting there, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. ¹⁶Those who had seen it described what had happened to the demon-possessed man and also to the pigs. ¹⁷And the people began to beg Jesus to leave their region. ¹⁸As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by the demons begged to go with Him. ¹⁹But Jesus would not allow him. “Go home to your own people,” He said, “and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy He has shown you.” ²⁰So the man went away and began to proclaim throughout the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And everyone was amazed.

¹⁷Someone in the crowd replied, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a spirit that makes him mute. ¹⁸Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked Your disciples to drive it out, but they were unable.” ¹⁹“O unbelieving generation!” Jesus replied. “How long must I remain with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to Me.” ²⁰So they brought him, and seeing Jesus, the spirit immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. ²¹Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has this been with him?” “From childhood,” he said. ²²“It often throws him into the fire or into the water, trying to kill him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” ²³“If You can?” echoed Jesus. “All things are possible to him who believes!” ²⁴Immediately the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe; help my unbelief!” ²⁵When Jesus saw that a crowd had come running, He rebuked the unclean spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” He said, “I command you to come out and never enter him again.” ²⁶After shrieking and convulsing him violently, the spirit came out. The boy became like a corpse, so that many said, “He is dead.” ²⁷But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and he stood up. ²⁸After Jesus had gone into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” ²⁹Jesus answered, “This kind cannot come out, except by prayer.”

¹Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, ²where for forty days He was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He was hungry. ³The devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” ⁴But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’” ⁵Then the devil led Him up to a high place and showed Him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. ⁶“I will give You authority over all these kingdoms and all their glory,” he said. “For it has been relinquished to me, and I can give it to anyone I wish. ⁷So if You worship me, it will all be Yours.” ⁸But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’” ⁹Then the devil led Him to Jerusalem and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple. “If You are the Son of God,” he said, “throw Yourself down from here. ¹⁰For it is written: ‘He will command His angels concerning You to guard You carefully, ¹¹and they will lift You up in their hands, so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’” ¹²But Jesus answered, “It also says, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” ¹³When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.

²⁰But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. ²¹When a strong man, fully armed, guards his house, his possessions are secure. ²²But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted, and then he divides up his plunder.

³¹Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you like wheat. ³²But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

⁴⁴You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies.

¹⁰The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.

³¹Now judgment is upon this world; now the prince of this world will be cast out. ³²And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw everyone to Myself.”

¹¹and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world has been condemned. ³³I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”

¹⁵I am not asking that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one.

¹⁶One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl with a spirit of divination, who earned a large income for her masters by fortune-telling. ¹⁷This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation!” ¹⁸She continued this for many days. Eventually Paul grew so aggravated that he turned and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” And the spirit left her at that very moment.

¹¹God did extraordinary miracles through the hands of Paul, ¹²so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and the diseases and evil spirits left them. ¹³Now 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.” ¹⁴Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. ¹⁵But one day the evil spirit responded, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” ¹⁶Then the man with the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. The attack was so violent that they ran out of the house naked and wounded. ¹⁷This 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. ¹⁸Many who had believed now came forward, confessing and disclosing their deeds. ¹⁹And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books and burned them in front of everyone. When the value of the books was calculated, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. ²⁰So the word of the Lord powerfully continued to spread and prevail.

¹⁷I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them ¹⁸to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.’

³¹What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³²He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things? ³³Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴Who is there to condemn us? For Christ Jesus, who died, and more than that was raised to life, is at the right hand of God—and He is interceding for us. ³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶As it is written: “For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” ³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

¹¹And do this, understanding the occasion. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. ¹²The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. ¹³Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. ¹⁴Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.

¹²So the one who thinks he is standing firm should be careful not to fall. ¹³No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide an escape, so that you can stand up under it.

⁵⁷But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! ⁵⁸Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

¹⁰If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And if I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven it in the presence of Christ for your sake, ¹¹in order that Satan should not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.

³And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

³I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ. ¹³For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. ¹⁵It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their actions.

¹⁶So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want. ¹⁸But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. ¹⁹The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; ²⁰idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions, ²¹and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit.

¹⁸I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹and the surpassing greatness of His power to us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of His mighty strength, ²⁰which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²²And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church, ²³which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

²⁶“Be angry, yet do not sin.” Do not let the sun set upon your anger, ²⁷and do not give the devil a foothold.

⁹Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names, ¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

¹³He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, ¹⁴in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

³But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.

¹¹But you, O man of God, flee from these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. ¹²Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession before many witnesses.

²²Flee from youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, together with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. ²³But reject foolish and ignorant speculation, for you know that it breeds quarreling. ²⁴And a servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome, but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, and forbearing. ²⁵He must gently reprove those who oppose him, in the hope that God may grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth. ²⁶Then they will come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, who has taken them captive to his will.

¹⁴Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

¹²For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart. ¹³Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. ¹⁴Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess. ¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin. ¹⁶Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

¹³I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. ¹⁴I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

⁸The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.

⁴because everyone born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith. ⁵Who then overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. ¹⁸We know that anyone born of God does not keep on sinning; the One who was born of God protects him, and the evil one cannot touch him. ¹⁹We know that we are of God, and that the whole world is under the power of the evil one.

²⁰But you, beloved, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹keep yourselves in the love of God as you await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you eternal life. ²²And indeed, have mercy on those who doubt; ²³save others by snatching them from the fire; and to still others show mercy tempered with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh.

¹¹Then I saw heaven standing open, and there before me was a white horse. And its rider is called Faithful and True. With righteousness He judges and wages war. ¹²He has eyes like blazing fire, and many royal crowns on His head. He has a name written on Him that only He Himself knows. ¹³He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His name is The Word of God. ¹⁴The armies of heaven, dressed in fine linen, white and pure, follow Him on white horses. ¹⁵And from His mouth proceeds a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. ¹⁶And He has a name written on His robe and on His thigh: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

¹⁰And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, into which the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

⁷Then a war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. ⁸But the dragon was not strong enough, and no longer was any place found in heaven for him and his angels. ⁹And the great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

¹⁶He saw that there was no man; He was amazed that there was no one to intercede. So His own arm brought salvation, and His own righteousness sustained Him. ¹⁷He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on His head; He put on garments of vengeance and wrapped Himself in a cloak of zeal.

⁴But you, brothers, are not in the darkness so that this day should overtake you like a thief. ⁵For you are all sons of the light and sons of the day; we do not belong to the night or to the darkness. ⁶So then, let us not sleep as the others do, but let us remain awake and sober. ⁷For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. ⁸But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and the helmet of our hope of salvation.

¹³And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

¹And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, ²in which you used to walk when you conformed to the ways of this world and of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience. ³All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath. ⁴But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved! ⁶And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

⁸For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, ⁹for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. ¹⁰Test and prove what pleases the Lord. ¹¹Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.

¹Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, ²influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron.

²⁰No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be participants with demons. ²¹You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot partake in the table of the Lord and the table of demons too.

³⁸how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him.

¹²Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him. ¹³When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone. ¹⁴But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed. ¹⁵Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

¹⁰Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

³⁰I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming, and he has no claim on Me. ³¹But I do exactly what the Father has commanded Me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Get up! Let us go on from here.

⁷Lift up your heads, O gates! Be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of Glory may enter! ⁸Who is this King of Glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. ⁹Lift up your heads, O gates! Be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of Glory may enter! ¹⁰Who is He, this King of Glory? The LORD of Hosts—He is the King of Glory. Selah

¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

¹And God spoke all these words: ²“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ³You shall have no other gods before Me. ⁴You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath. ⁵You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, ⁶but showing loving devotion to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.

¹¹So you too must count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹²Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires. ¹³Do not present the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and present the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. ¹⁴For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

¹⁹God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill? ²⁰I have indeed received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot change it. ²¹He considers no disaster for Jacob; He sees no trouble for Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of the King is among them. ²²God brought them out of Egypt with strength like a wild ox. ²³For there is no spell against Jacob and no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘What great things God has done!’

⁷The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and he delivers them.

⁵For I will be a wall of fire around it, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory within it.’”

⁸Yet in the same way these dreamers defile their bodies, reject authority, and slander glorious beings. ⁹But even the archangel Michael, when he disputed with the devil over the body of Moses, did not presume to bring a slanderous charge against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

⁷or because of these surpassingly great revelations. So to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. ¹⁰That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

⁷I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who crave His appearing.

¹³But Moses told the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the LORD’s salvation, which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. ¹⁴The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”