The Angel and the Small Scroll

¹Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head. His face was like the sun, and his legs were like pillars of fire.

²He held in his hand a small scroll, which lay open. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land.

³Then he cried out in a loud voice like the roar of a lion. And when he cried out, the seven thunders sounded their voices.

⁴When the seven thunders had spoken, I was about to put it in writing. But I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.”

⁵Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven.

⁶And he swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and everything in it, the earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it: “There will be no more delay!

⁷But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he begins to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be fulfilled, just as He proclaimed to His servants the prophets.”

⁸Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the small scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel standing on the sea and on the land.”

⁹And I went to the angel and said, “Give me the small scroll.”“Take it and eat it,” he said. “It will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.”

¹⁰So I took the small scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach turned bitter.

¹¹And they told me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”

James Killed, Peter Imprisoned

¹About that time, King Herodreached out to harmsome who belonged to the church.

²He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.

³And seeing that this pleased the Jews, Herod proceeded to seize Peter during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

⁴He arrested him and put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out to the people after the Passover.

The Rescue of Peter

⁵So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was fervently praying to God for him.

⁶On the night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, with sentries standing guard at the entrance to the prison.

⁷Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his wrists.

⁸“Get dressed and put on your sandals,” said the angel. Peter did so, and the angel told him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.”

⁹So Peter followed him out, but he was unaware that what the angel was doing was real. He thought he was only seeing a vision.

¹⁰They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city, which opened for them by itself. When they had gone outside and walked the length of one block, the angel suddenly left him.

¹¹Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from Herod’s grasp and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.”

¹²And when he had realized this, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered together and were praying.

¹³He knocked at the outer gate, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer it.

¹⁴When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that she forgot to open the gate, but ran inside and announced, “Peter is standing at the gate!”

¹⁵“You are out of your mind,” they told her. But when she kept insisting it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”

¹⁶But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astounded.

¹⁷Peter motioned with his hand for silence, and he described how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. “Send word to James and to the brothers,” he said, and he left for another place.

¹⁸At daybreak there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter.

¹⁹After Herod had searched for him unsuccessfully, he examined the guards and ordered that they be executed. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent some time there.

The Death of Herod

²⁰Now Herod was in a furious disputewith the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they convened before him. Having secured the support of Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their region depended on the king’s country for food.

²¹On the appointed day, Herod donned his royal robes, sat on his throne, and addressed the people.

²²And they began to shout, “This is the voice of a god, not a man!”

²³Immediately, because Herod did not give glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

²⁴But the word of God continued to spread and multiply.

²⁵When Barnabas and Saul had fulfilled their mission to Jerusalem, they returned,bringing with them John, also called Mark.

Servants of Christ

¹So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

²Now it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

³I care very little, however, if I am judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself.

⁴My conscience is clear, but that does not vindicate me. It is the Lord who judges me.

⁵Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

⁶Brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us not to go beyond what is written. Then you will not take pride in one man over another.

⁷For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

⁸Already you have all you want. Already you have become rich. Without us, you have become kings. How I wish you really were kings, so that we might be kings with you!

⁹For it seems to me that God has displayed us apostles at the end of the procession, like prisoners appointed for death. We have become a spectacle to the whole world, to angels as well as to men.

¹⁰We are fools for Christ, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honored, but we are dishonored.

¹¹To this very hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.

¹²We work hard with our own hands. When we are vilified, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;

¹³when we are slandered, we answer gently. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.

Paul’s Fatherly Warning

¹⁴I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you as my beloved children.

¹⁵Even if you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.

¹⁶Therefore I urge you to imitate me.

¹⁷That is why I have sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus,which is exactly what I teach everywhere in every church.

¹⁸Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you.

¹⁹But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only what these arrogant people are saying, but what power they have.

²⁰For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.

²¹Which do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and with a gentle spirit?

Praise the LORD, O My Soul

¹Hallelujah!Praise the LORD, O my soul.

²I will praise the LORD all my life;I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

³Put not your trust in princes,in mortal man, who cannot save.

⁴When his spirit departs, he returns to the ground;on that very day his plans perish.

⁵Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,whose hope is in the LORD his God,

⁶the Maker of heaven and earth,the sea, and everything in them.He remains faithful forever.

⁷He executes justice for the oppressedand gives food to the hungry.The LORD sets the prisoners free,

⁸the LORD opens the eyes of the blind,the LORD lifts those who are weighed down,the LORD loves the righteous.

⁹The LORD protects foreigners;He sustains the fatherless and the widow,but the ways of the wicked He frustrates.

¹⁰The LORD reigns forever,your God, O Zion, for all generations.Hallelujah!