I am he – Day 7

₁₂God looked at the world and saw that it was evil, for the people were all living evil lives.

₁₃God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to the whole human race. I will destroy them completely, because the world is full of their violent deeds. ₁₄Build a boat for yourself out of good timber; make rooms in it and cover it with tar inside and out.

₂₂Noah did everything that God commanded.

₁From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by order of God our Saviour and Christ Jesus our hope —

₂To Timothy, my true son in the faith:

May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy, and peace.

₁₈Timothy, my child, I entrust to you this command, which is in accordance with the words of prophecy spoken in the past about you. Use those words as weapons in order to fight well, ₁₉and keep your faith and a clear conscience. Some people have not listened to their conscience and have made a ruin of their faith. ₂₀Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have punished by handing them over to the power of Satan; this will teach them to stop their blasphemy.

₁₁But when Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him in public, because he was clearly wrong. ₁₂Before some men who had been sent by James arrived there, Peter had been eating with the Gentile brothers and sisters. But after these men arrived, he drew back and would not eat with the Gentiles, because he was afraid of those who were in favour of circumcising them. ₁₃The other Jewish brothers and sisters also started acting like cowards along with Peter; and even Barnabas was swept along by their cowardly action. ₁₄When I saw that they were not walking a straight path in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you have been living like a Gentile, not like a Jew. How, then, can you try to force Gentiles to live like Jews?”

₂₄At that time a Jew named Apollos, who had been born in Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent speaker and had a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. ₂₅He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord, and with great enthusiasm he proclaimed and taught correctly the facts about Jesus. However, he knew only the baptism of John. ₂₆He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him home with them and explained to him more correctly the Way of God.

₁₄“Now then,” Joshua continued, “honour the LORD and serve him sincerely and faithfully. Get rid of the gods which your ancestors used to worship in Mesopotamia and in Egypt, and serve only the LORD. ₁₅If you are not willing to serve him, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your ancestors worshipped in Mesopotamia or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are now living. As for my family and me, we will serve the LORD.”

₆As for me, the hour has come for me to be sacrificed; the time is here for me to leave this life. ₇I have done my best in the race, I have run the full distance, and I have kept the faith. ₈And now there is waiting for me the victory prize of being put right with God, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that Day — and not only to me, but to all those who wait with love for him to appear.

₁₀But you have followed my teaching, my conduct, and my purpose in life; you have observed my faith, my patience, my love, my endurance, ₁₁my persecutions, and my sufferings. You know all that happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, the terrible persecutions I endured! But the Lord rescued me from them all. ₁₂Everyone who wants to live a godly life in union with Christ Jesus will be persecuted; ₁₃and evil persons and impostors will keep on going from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived themselves. ₁₄But as for you, continue in the truths that you were taught and firmly believe. You know who your teachers were, ₁₅and you remember that ever since you were a child, you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.