This content from Berean Standard Bible (public domain)
(Mark 2:1–12; Luke 5:17–26)
Jesus got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own town. Just then some men brought [Literally And behold, they brought ]to Him a paralytic lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.”
On seeing this, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming!”
But Jesus knew [NA, BYZ, and TR saw ]what they were thinking and said, “Why do you harbor evil in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk?’ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...” Then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your mat, and go home.” And the man got up and went home.
When the crowds saw this, they were filled with awe and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
(Mark 2:13–17; Luke 5:27–32)
As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Matthew got up and followed Him.
Later, as Jesus was dining at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with Him and His disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ [Hosea 6:6 ]For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners. [BYZ and TR but sinners, to repentance; see Luke 5:32. ]”
(Mark 2:18–20; Luke 5:33–35)
At that time John’s disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast so often, [NE and WH do not include so often. ]but Your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus replied, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while He is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.
(Mark 2:21–22; Luke 5:36–39)
No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. For the patch will pull away from the garment, and a worse tear will result.
Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will spill, and the wineskins will be ruined. Instead, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
(Mark 5:21–43; Luke 8:40–56)
While Jesus was saying these things, a synagogue leader came and knelt before Him. “My daughter has just died,” he said. “But come and place Your hand on her, and she will live.”
So Jesus got up and went with him, along with His disciples. Suddenly a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak. She said to herself, “If only I touch His cloak, I will be healed.”
Jesus turned and saw her. “Take courage, daughter,” He said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was cured from that very hour.
When Jesus entered the house of the synagogue leader, He saw the flute players and the noisy crowd. “Go away,” He told them. “The girl is not dead, but asleep.” And they laughed at Him.
After the crowd had been put outside, Jesus went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. And the news about this spread throughout that region.
(Mark 7:31–37)
As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”
After Jesus had entered the house, the blind men came to Him. “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” He asked.
“Yes, Lord,” they answered.
Then He touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith will it be done to you.” And their eyes were opened. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one finds out about this!” But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout the land.
As they were leaving, a demon-possessed man who was mute was brought to Jesus. And when the demon had been driven out, the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!”
But the Pharisees said, “It is by the prince of demons that He drives out demons.”
(Luke 10:1–12)
Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness. When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest.” (BSB)
This content from World English Bible (public domain)
Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her. He took her, lay with her, and humbled her. His soul joined to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young lady, and spoke kindly to the young lady. Shechem spoke to his father, Hamor, saying, “Get me this young lady as a wife.”
Now Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah, his daughter; and his sons were with his livestock in the field. Jacob held his peace until they came. Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to talk with him. The sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it. The men were grieved, and they were very angry, because he had done folly in Israel in lying with Jacob’s daughter, a thing that ought not to be done. Hamor talked with them, saying, “The soul of my son, Shechem, longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. You shall dwell with us, and the land will be before you. Live and trade in it, and get possessions in it.”
Shechem said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you will tell me I will give. Ask me a great amount for a dowry, and I will give whatever you ask of me, but give me the young lady as a wife.”
The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father with deceit when they spoke, because he had defiled Dinah their sister, and said to them, “We can’t do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised; for that is a reproach to us. Only on this condition will we consent to you. If you will be as we are, that every male of you be circumcised, then will we give our daughters to you; and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our sister, [Hebrew has, literally, “daughter” ]and we will be gone.”
Their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son. The young man didn’t wait to do this thing, because he had delight in Jacob’s daughter, and he was honored above all the house of his father. Hamor and Shechem, his son, came to the gate of their city, and talked with the men of their city, saying, “These men are peaceful with us. Therefore let them live in the land and trade in it. For behold, the land is large enough for them. Let’s take their daughters to us for wives, and let’s give them our daughters. Only on this condition will the men consent to us to live with us, to become one people, if every male among us is circumcised, as they are circumcised. Won’t their livestock and their possessions and all their animals be ours? Only let’s give our consent to them, and they will dwell with us.”
All who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor, and to Shechem his son; and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city. On the third day, when they were sore, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword, came upon the unsuspecting city, and killed all the males. They killed Hamor and Shechem, his son, with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went away. Jacob’s sons came on the dead, and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. They took their flocks, their herds, their donkeys, that which was in the city, that which was in the field, and all their wealth. They took captive all their little ones and their wives, and took as plunder everything that was in the house. Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have troubled me, to make me odious to the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I am few in number. They will gather themselves together against me and strike me, and I will be destroyed, I and my house.”
They said, “Should he deal with our sister as with a prostitute?” (WEB)
This content from World English Bible (public domain)
It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast, but I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who was caught up into the third heaven fourteen years ago — whether in the body, I don’ t know, or whether out of the body, I don’ t know; God knows. I know such a man (whether in the body, or outside of the body, I don’ t know; God knows), how he was caught up into Paradise and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in my weaknesses. For if I would desire to boast, I will not be foolish; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, so that no man may think more of me than that which he sees in me or hears from me. By reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelations, that I should not be exalted excessively, a thorn in the flesh was given to me: a messenger of Satan to torment me, that I should not be exalted excessively. Concerning this thing, I begged the Lord three times that it might depart from me. He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest on me.
Therefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, and in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong. I have become foolish in boasting. You compelled me, for I ought to have been commended by you, for I am in no way inferior to the very best apostles, though I am nothing. Truly the signs of an apostle were worked among you in all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty works. For what is there in which you were made inferior to the rest of the assemblies, unless it is that I myself was not a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong!
Behold, this is the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden to you; for I seek not your possessions, but you. For the children ought not to save up for the parents, but the parents for the children. I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more abundantly, am I loved the less? Even so, I myself didn’t burden you. But you might say that being crafty, I caught you with deception. Did I take advantage of you by anyone of those whom I have sent to you? I exhorted Titus, and I sent the brother with him. Did Titus take any advantage of you? Didn’ t we walk in the same spirit? Didn’ t we walk in the same steps?
Again, do you think that we are excusing ourselves to you? In the sight of God we speak in Christ. But all things, beloved, are for your edifying. For I am afraid that perhaps when I come, I might find you not the way I want to, and that I might be found by you as you don’t desire, that perhaps there would be strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, whisperings, proud thoughts, or riots, that again when I come my God would humble me before you, and I would mourn for many of those who have sinned before now, and not repented of the uncleanness, sexual immorality, and lustfulness which they committed. (WEB)
Genesis 22:14; 2 Corinthians 12:9; Philippians 4:19; Psalm 91:11: Jehovah Jireh
This content from World English Bible (public domain)
Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind; for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that you no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For we have spent enough of our past time doing the desire of the Gentiles, and having walked in lewdness, lusts, drunken binges, orgies, carousings, and abominable idolatries. They think it is strange that you don’ t run with them into the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you. They will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For to this end the Good News was preached even to the dead, that they might be judged indeed as men in the flesh, but live as to God in the spirit.
But the end of all things is near. Therefore be of sound mind, self-controlled, and sober in prayer. And above all things be earnest in your love among yourselves, for love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, employ it in serving one another, as good managers of the grace of God in its various forms. If anyone speaks, let it be as it were the very words of God. If anyone serves, let it be as of the strength which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Beloved, don’ t be astonished at the fiery trial which has come upon you to test you, as though a strange thing happened to you. But because you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings, rejoice, that at the revelation of his glory you also may rejoice with exceeding joy. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. On their part he is blasphemed, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evil doer, or a meddler in other men’s matters. But if one of you suffers for being a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God in this matter. For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God. If it begins first with us, what will happen to those who don’ t obey the Good News of God? “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will happen to the ungodly and the sinner?” (Proverbs 11:31 ) Therefore let them also who suffer according to the will of God in doing good entrust their souls to him, as to a faithful Creator. (WEB)
This content from World English Bible (public domain)
Then Job answered,
“I have heard many such things.
You are all miserable comforters!
Shall vain words have an end?
Or what provokes you that you answer?
I also could speak as you do.
If your soul were in my soul’s place,
I could join words together against you,
and shake my head at you,
but I would strengthen you with my mouth.
The solace of my lips would relieve you.
“Though I speak, my grief is not subsided.
Though I forbear, what am I eased?
But now, God, you have surely worn me out.
You have made all my company desolate.
You have shriveled me up. This is a witness against me.
My leanness rises up against me.
It testifies to my face.
He has torn me in his wrath and persecuted me.
He has gnashed on me with his teeth.
My adversary sharpens his eyes on me.
They have gaped on me with their mouth.
They have struck me on the cheek reproachfully.
They gather themselves together against me.
God delivers me to the ungodly,
and casts me into the hands of the wicked.
I was at ease, and he broke me apart.
Yes, he has taken me by the neck, and dashed me to pieces.
He has also set me up for his target.
His archers surround me.
He splits my kidneys apart, and does not spare.
He pours out my bile on the ground.
He breaks me with breach on breach.
He runs at me like a giant.
I have sewed sackcloth on my skin,
and have thrust my horn in the dust.
My face is red with weeping.
Deep darkness is on my eyelids,
although there is no violence in my hands,
and my prayer is pure.
“Earth, don’t cover my blood.
Let my cry have no place to rest.
Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven.
He who vouches for me is on high.
My friends scoff at me.
My eyes pour out tears to God,
that he would maintain the right of a man with God,
of a son of man with his neighbor!
For when a few years have come,
I will go the way of no return.
(WEB)
This content from World English Bible (public domain)
Be merciful to me, God, for man wants to swallow me up.
All day long, he attacks and oppresses me.
My enemies want to swallow me up all day long,
for they are many who fight proudly against me.
When I am afraid,
I will put my trust in you.
In God, I praise his word.
In God, I put my trust.
I will not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?
All day long they twist my words.
All their thoughts are against me for evil.
They conspire and lurk,
watching my steps.
They are eager to take my life.
Shall they escape by iniquity?
In anger cast down the peoples, God.
You count my wanderings.
You put my tears into your container.
Aren’t they in your book?
Then my enemies shall turn back in the day that I call.
I know this: that God is for me.
In God, I will praise his word.
In Yahweh, I will praise his word.
I have put my trust in God.
I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
Your vows are on me, God.
I will give thank offerings to you.
For you have delivered my soul from death,
and prevented my feet from falling,
that I may walk before God in the light of the living. (WEB)
This content pulled from bible.org.
The intentions of the heart belong to a man,but the answer of the tongue comes from the Lord. All a person’s ways seem right in his own opinion, but the Lord evaluates the motives. Commit your works to the Lord,and your plans will be established. The Lord has worked everything for his own ends—even the wicked for the day of disaster. The Lord abhors every arrogant person; rest assured that they will not go unpunished. Through loyal love and truth iniquity is appeased; through fearing the Lord one avoids evil. When a person’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, he even reconciles his enemies to himself. Better to have a little with righteousness than to have abundant income without justice. A person plans his course, but the Lord directs his steps. The divine verdict is in the words of the king;his pronouncements must not act treacherously against justice. Honest scales and balances are from the Lord;all the weights in the bag are his handiwork. Doing wickedness is an abomination to kings,because a throne is established in righteousness. The delight of a king is righteous counsel, and he will love the one who speaks uprightly. A king’s wrath is like a messenger of death, but a wise person appeases it. In the light of the king’s face there is life,and his favor is like the clouds of the spring rain. How much better it is to acquire wisdom than gold;to acquire understanding is more desirable than silver. The highway of the upright is to turn away from evil;the one who guards his way safeguards his life. Pride goes before destructionand a haughty spirit before a fall. It is better to be lowly in spirit with the afflictedthan to share the spoils with the proud. The one who deals wisely in a matter will find success, and blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord. The one who is wise in heart is called discerning,and kind speech increases persuasiveness. Insight is like a life-giving fountain to the one who possesses it,but folly leads to the discipline of fools. A wise person’s heart makes his speech wise, and it adds persuasiveness to his words. Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way that leads to death. A laborer’s appetite has labored for him,for his hunger has pressed him to work. A wicked scoundrel digs up evil,and his slander is like a scorching fire. A perverse person spreads dissension,and a gossip separates the closest friends. A violent person entices his neighbor,and then leads him down a path that is terrible. The one who winks his eyes devises perverse things, and one who compresses his lips has accomplished evil. Gray hair is like a crown of glory; it is attained in the path of righteousness. Better to be slow to anger than to be a mighty warrior,and one who controls his temper is better than one who captures a city. The dice are thrown into the lap, but their every decision is from the Lord.
(NET)
This content from World English Bible (public domain)
Thus all the work that Solomon did for Yahweh’s house was finished. Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, even the silver, the gold, and all the vessels, and put them in the treasuries of God’s house.
Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers’ households of the children of Israel, to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of Yahweh’s covenant out of David’s city, which is Zion. So all the men of Israel assembled themselves to the king at the feast, which was in the seventh month. All the elders of Israel came. The Levites took up the ark. They brought up the ark, the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent. The Levitical priests brought these up. King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled to him were before the ark, sacrificing sheep and cattle that could not be counted or numbered for multitude. The priests brought in the ark of Yahweh’s covenant to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubim. For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and its poles above. The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the ark in front of the inner sanctuary, but they were not seen outside; and it is there to this day. There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, when Yahweh made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.
When the priests had come out of the holy place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, and didn’t keep their divisions; also the Levites who were the singers, all of them, even Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and their brothers, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals and stringed instruments and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them one hundred twenty priests sounding with trumpets); when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking Yahweh; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised Yahweh, saying,
“For he is good,
for his loving kindness endures forever!”
then the house was filled with a cloud, even Yahweh’s house, so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud; for Yahweh’s glory filled God’s house. (WEB)
This content from World English Bible (public domain)
The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were carried away captive to Babylon. The captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him, “Yahweh your God pronounced this evil on this place; and Yahweh has brought it, and done according as he spoke. Because you have sinned against Yahweh, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing has come on you. Now, behold, I release you today from the chains which are on your hand. If it seems good to you to come with me into Babylon, come, and I will take care of you; but if it seems bad to you to come with me into Babylon, don’t. Behold, all the land is before you. Where it seems good and right to you to go, go there.” Now while he had not yet gone back, “Go back then,” he said, “to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people; or go wherever it seems right to you to go.”
So the captain of the guard gave him food and a present, and let him go. Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah, and lived with him among the people who were left in the land.
Now when all the captains of the forces who were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed to him men, women, children, and of the poorest of the land, of those who were not carried away captive to Babylon, then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men came to Gedaliah to Mizpah. Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan swore to them and to their men, saying, “Don’t be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you. As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah, to stand before the Chaldeans who will come to us; but you, gather wine and summer fruits and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken.”
Likewise when all the Jews who were in Moab, and among the children of Ammon, and in Edom, and who were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, then all the Jews returned out of all places where they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, to Mizpah, and gathered very much wine and summer fruits.
Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, and said to him, “Do you know that Baalis the king of the children of Ammon has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take your life?”
But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam didn’t believe them.
Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, “Please let me go, and I will kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man will know it. Why should he take your life, that all the Jews who are gathered to you should be scattered, and the remnant of Judah perish?”
But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, “You shall not do this thing, for you speak falsely of Ishmael.” (WEB)
This content from Berean Standard Bible (public domain)
While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, greatly disturbed that they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in custody until the next day. But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.
The next day the rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, along with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and many others from the high priest’s family. They had Peter and John brought in and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being examined today about a kind service to a man who was lame, to determine how he was healed, then let this be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. This Jesus is
‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.’ [Psalm 118:22 ]
Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they marveled and took note that these men had been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been healed standing there with them, they had nothing to say in response. So they ordered them to leave the Sanhedrin [Or the Council ]and then conferred together.
“What shall we do with these men?” they asked. “It is clear to everyone living in Jerusalem that a remarkable miracle has occurred through them, and we cannot deny it. But to keep this message from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in this name.”
Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than God. For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
After further threats they let them go. They could not find a way to punish them, because all the people were glorifying God for what had happened. For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.
(Psalm 2:1–12)
On their release, Peter and John returned to their own people and reported everything that the chief priests and elders had said to them. When the believers heard this, they lifted up their voices to God with one accord. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “You made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of Your servant, [Or child; also in verses 27 and 30 ]our father David:
‘Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth take their stand
and the rulers gather together
against the Lord
and against His Anointed One.’ [Or His Christ or His Messiah; Psalm 2:1–2 ]
In fact, this is the very city where Herod and Pontius Pilate conspired with the Gentiles and the people of Israel against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed. They carried out what Your hand and will had decided beforehand would happen. And now, Lord, consider their threats, and enable Your servants to speak Your word with complete boldness, as You stretch out Your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.”
After they had prayed, their meeting place was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
(Acts 2:42–47)
The multitude of believers was one in heart and soul. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they owned. With great power the apostles continued to give their testimony about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And abundant grace was upon them all.
There were no needy ones among them, because those who owned lands or houses would sell their property, bring the proceeds from the sales, and lay them at the apostles’ feet for distribution to anyone as he had need.
Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (meaning Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned, brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet. (BSB)