Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

²⁶ Now ^(A)an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south^[a] to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. ²⁷ And he rose and went. And there was an ^(B)Ethiopian, a ^(C)eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, ^(D)who was in charge of all her treasure. ^(E)He had come to Jerusalem to worship ²⁸ and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. ²⁹ And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” ³⁰ So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” ³¹ And he said, ^(F)“How can I, unless someone ^(G)guides me?” And ^(H)he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. ³² Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

³⁴ And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” ³⁵ Then Philip opened his mouth, and ^(K)beginning with this Scripture ^(L)he told him the good news about Jesus. ³⁶ And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! ^(M)What prevents me from being baptized?”^{[b] 38} And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. ³⁹ And when they came up out of the water, ^(N)the Spirit of the Lord ^(O)carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰ But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

The Lord Alone Is God

³² “For ^(A)ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. ^33 (B)Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? ³⁴ Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, ^(C)by signs, by wonders, and ^(D)by war, ^(E)by a mighty hand and ^(F)an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? ³⁵ To you it was shown, ^(G)that you might know that the Lord is God; ^(H)there is no other besides him. ^36 (I)Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you. And on earth he let you see his great fire, and ^(J)you heard his words out of the midst of the fire. ³⁷ And because ^(K)he loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them^[a] and brought you out of Egypt ^(L)with his own presence, by his great power, ^38 (M)driving out before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day, ³⁹ know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that ^(N)the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; ^(O)there is no other. ^40 (P)Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, ^(Q)that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”

How Awesome Are Your Deeds

To the choirmaster. A Song. A Psalm.

Love One Another

¹¹ For ^(A)this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, ^(B)that we should love one another. ¹² We should not be like ^(C)Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? ^(D)Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. ¹³ Do not be surprised, brothers,^{[a] (E)}that the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that ^(F)we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. ^15 (G)Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that ^(H)no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

¹⁶ By this we know love, that ^(I)he laid down his life for us, and ^(J)we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. ¹⁷ But ^(K)if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet ^(L)closes his heart against him, ^(M)how does God's love abide in him?

¹⁸ Little children, let us not ^(A)love in word or talk but in deed and ^(B)in truth.

¹⁹ By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; ²⁰ for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. ²¹ Beloved, ^(C)if our heart does not condemn us, ^(D)we have confidence before God; ²² and ^(E)whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and ^(F)do what pleases him. ²³ And this is his commandment, ^(G)that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and ^(H)love one another, ^(I)just as he has commanded us. ^24 (J)Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God,^[a] and God^[b] in him. And ^(K)by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

^15 (A)“If you love me, you will ^(B)keep my commandments. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another ^(C)Helper,^[a] to be with you forever, ¹⁷ even ^(D)the Spirit of truth, ^(E)whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and ^(F)will be^[b] in you.

¹⁸ “I will not leave you as orphans; ^(G)I will come to you. ^19 (H)Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but ^(I)you will see me. ^(J)Because I live, you also will live. ^20 (K)In that day you will know that ^(L)I am in my Father, and ^(M)you in me, and ^(N)I in you. ^21 (O)Whoever has my commandments and ^(P)keeps them, he it is who loves me. And ^(Q)he who loves me ^(R)will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and ^(S)manifest myself to him.”