Jesus replied, ¹  “If anyone loves me, he will obey ²  my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and take up residence with him. ³ 

Remember what ¹  I told you, ‘A slave ²  is not greater than his master.’ ³  If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they obeyed ⁴  my word, they will obey ⁵  yours too.

“I have revealed ¹  your name to the men ²  you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, ³  and you gave them to me, and they have obeyed ⁴  your word.

I have given them your word, ¹  and the world has hated them, because they do not belong to the world, ²  just as I do not belong to the world. ³ 

When ¹  they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, ²  and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak ³  the word of God ⁴  courageously. ⁵ 

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.

After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s return ¹  and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord ²  to see how they are doing.” ³ 

These Jews ¹  were more open-minded ²  than those in Thessalonica, ³  for they eagerly ⁴  received ⁵  the message, examining ⁶  the scriptures carefully every day ⁷  to see if these things were so.

But just as Paul was about to speak, ¹  Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of some crime or serious piece of villainy, ²  I would have been justified in accepting the complaint ³  of you Jews, ⁴ 

On the first day ¹  of the week, when we met ²  to break bread, Paul began to speak ³  to the people, and because he intended ⁴  to leave the next day, he extended ⁵  his message until midnight.

But we have rejected ¹  shameful hidden deeds, ²  not behaving ³  with deceptiveness ⁴  or distorting the word of God, but by open proclamation of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience before God.

In other words, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting people’s trespasses against them, and he has given us ¹  the message of reconciliation.

And when ¹  you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation) – when you believed in Christ ²  – you were marked with the seal ³  of the promised Holy Spirit, ⁴ 

And as you Philippians know, at the beginning of my gospel ministry, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in this matter of giving and receiving except you alone.

Therefore we must progress beyond ¹  the elementary ²  instructions about Christ ³  and move on ⁴  to maturity, not laying this foundation again: repentance from dead works and faith in God,

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls and will give an account for their work. ¹  Let them do this ²  with joy and not with complaints, for this would be no advantage for you.

But set Christ ¹  apart ²  as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess. ³ 

Moreover, ¹  we ²  possess the prophetic word as an altogether reliable thing. ³  You do well if you pay attention ⁴  to this ⁵  as you would ⁶  to a light shining in a murky place, until the day dawns and the morning star ⁷  rises in your hearts. ⁸ 

I, John, your brother and the one who shares ¹  with you in the persecution, kingdom, and endurance that ²  are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony about Jesus. ³ 

Because you have kept ¹  my admonition ²  to endure steadfastly, ³  I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come on the whole world to test those who live on the earth.