“Immediately ¹  after the suffering ²  of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. ³ 

As ¹  he was sitting on the judgment seat, ²  his wife sent a message ³  to him: ⁴  “Have nothing to do with that innocent man; ⁵  I have suffered greatly as a result of a dream ⁶  about him today.”

“If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a huge millstone ¹  tied around his neck and to be thrown into the sea.

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter into life crippled than to have ¹  two hands and go into hell, ²  to the unquenchable fire. ³ 

If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better to enter life lame than to have ¹  two feet and be thrown into hell. ² 

If your eye causes you to sin, tear it out! ¹  It is better to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than to have ²  two eyes and be thrown into hell,

And if the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would be saved. But because of the elect, whom he chose, he has cut them ¹  short.

Those ¹  on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, ²  but ³  in a time of testing ⁴  fall away. ⁵ 

It would be better for him to have a millstone ¹  tied around his neck and be thrown into the sea ²  than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. ³ 

Then ¹  they watched him carefully and sent spies who pretended to be sincere. ²  They wanted to take advantage of what he might say ³  so that they could deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction ⁴  of the governor.

Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing their babies in those days! For there will be great distress ¹  on the earth and wrath against this people.

“And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, ¹  and on the earth nations will be in distress, ²  anxious ³  over the roaring of the sea and the surging waves.

He said to them, “But now, the one who ¹  has a money bag must take it, and likewise a traveler’s bag ²  too. And the one who has no sword must sell his cloak and buy one.

When a woman gives birth, she has distress ¹  because her time ²  has come, but when her child is born, she no longer remembers the suffering because of her joy that a human being ³  has been born into the world. ⁴ 

Now those who had been scattered because of the persecution that took place over Stephen ¹  went as far as ²  Phoenicia, ³  Cyprus, ⁴  and Antioch, ⁵  speaking the message ⁶  to no one but Jews.

But when the Jews from Thessalonica ¹  heard that Paul had also proclaimed the word of God ²  in Berea, ³  they came there too, inciting ⁴  and disturbing ⁵  the crowds.

For ¹  we are in danger of being charged with rioting ²  today, since there is no cause we can give to explain ³  this disorderly gathering.” ⁴ 

For we have found ¹  this man to be a troublemaker, ²  one who stirs up riots ³  among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader ⁴  of the sect of the Nazarenes. ⁵ 

When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ¹  ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? You are hurting yourself ²  by kicking against the goads.’ ³ 

Since many of them had no desire to eat, ¹  Paul ²  stood up ³  among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me ⁴  and not put out to sea ⁵  from Crete, thus avoiding ⁶  this damage and loss.