By his sovereign plan he gave us birth ¹  through the message of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

who by God’s power are protected through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Through him you now trust ¹  in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

I want you to recall ¹  both ²  the predictions ³  foretold by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles. ⁴ 

to the only God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time, and now, and for all eternity. Amen.

Did that which is good, then, become death to me? Absolutely not! But sin, so that it would be shown to be sin, produced death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.

Now the birth of Jesus Christ happened this way. While his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came together, ¹  she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

Whenever ¹  they persecute you in one place, ²  flee to another. I tell you the truth, ³  you will not finish going through all the towns ⁴  of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

Again I say, ¹  it is easier for a camel ²  to go through the eye of a needle ³  than for a rich person to enter into the kingdom of God.”

But ¹  since they found ²  no way to carry him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof ³  and let him down on the stretcher ⁴  through the roof tiles ⁵  right ⁶  in front of Jesus. ⁷ 

“When an unclean spirit ¹  goes out of a person, ²  it passes through waterless places ³  looking for rest but ⁴  not finding any. Then ⁵  it says, ‘I will return to the home I left.’ ⁶ 

When Jesus heard this, he said, “This sickness will not lead to death, ¹  but to God’s glory, ²  so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” ³ 

“Men of Israel, ¹  listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man clearly attested to you by God with powerful deeds, ²  wonders, and miraculous signs ³  that God performed among you through him, just as you yourselves know –

And on the basis of faith in Jesus’ ¹  name, ²  his very name has made this man – whom you see and know – strong. The ³  faith that is through Jesus ⁴  has given him this complete health in the presence ⁵  of you all.

saying, “What should we do with these men? For it is plain ¹  to all who live in Jerusalem that a notable miraculous sign ²  has come about through them, ³  and we cannot deny it.

Now many miraculous signs ¹  and wonders came about among the people through the hands of the apostles. By ²  common consent ³  they were all meeting together in Solomon’s Portico. ⁴ 

This same ¹  Moses they had rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge?’ ²  God sent as both ruler and deliverer ³  through the hand of the angel ⁴  who appeared to him in the bush.

So they stayed there ¹  for a considerable time, speaking out courageously for the Lord, who testified ²  to the message ³  of his grace, granting miraculous signs ⁴  and wonders to be performed through their hands.

So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia ¹  and Samaria, they were relating at length ²  the conversion of the Gentiles and bringing great joy ³  to all the brothers.

As they went through the towns, ¹  they passed on ²  the decrees that had been decided on by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem ³  for the Gentile believers ⁴  to obey. ⁵