²³ This is what the Lord says: “^(A)Let no wise man boast of his wisdom, nor let the ^(B)mighty man boast of his might, nor a ^(C)rich man boast of his riches; ²⁴ but let the one who boasts ^(D)boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who ^(E)exercises ^[a]mercy, justice, and righteousness on the earth; for I ^(F)delight in these things,” declares the Lord.

The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah

1 The ^[a]record of the genealogy of ^[b]Jesus the ^[c]Messiah, ^(A)the son of David, ^(B)the son of Abraham:

² Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob fathered ^[d]Judah and his brothers. ³ Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar, ^(C)Perez fathered Hezron, and Hezron fathered ^[e]Ram. ⁴ Ram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, and Nahshon fathered Salmon. ⁵ Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, and Obed fathered Jesse. ⁶ Jesse fathered David the king.

David ^(D)fathered Solomon by ^[f]her who had been the wife of Uriah. ⁷ Solomon ^(E)fathered Rehoboam, Rehoboam fathered Abijah, and Abijah fathered ^[g]Asa. ⁸ Asa fathered Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat fathered ^[h]Joram, and Joram fathered Uzziah. ⁹ Uzziah fathered ^[i]Jotham, Jotham fathered Ahaz, and Ahaz fathered Hezekiah. ¹⁰ Hezekiah fathered Manasseh, Manasseh fathered ^[j]Amon, and Amon ^(F)fathered Josiah. ¹¹ Josiah fathered ^[k]Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the ^(G)deportation to Babylon.

¹² After the ^(H)deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah fathered ^[l]Shealtiel, and Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel. ¹³ Zerubbabel fathered ^[m]Abihud, Abihud fathered Eliakim, and Eliakim fathered Azor. ¹⁴ Azor fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Achim, and Achim fathered Eliud. ¹⁵ Eliud fathered Eleazar, Eleazar fathered Matthan, and Matthan fathered Jacob. ¹⁶ Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, ^(I)who is called the ^[n]Messiah.

¹⁷ So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the ^(J)deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the ^(K)deportation to Babylon to the ^[o]Messiah, fourteen generations.

The Macedonian Vision

16 Now Paul also came to ^(A)Derbe and to ^(B)Lystra. And a disciple was there, named ^(C)Timothy, the son of a ^(D)Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek,

²² They listened to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, “^(A)Away with such a man from the earth, for ^(B)he should not be allowed to live!” ²³ And as they were shouting and ^(C)throwing off their cloaks and ^(D)tossing dust into the air, ²⁴ the commander ordered that he be brought into ^(E)the barracks, saying that he was to be ^(F)interrogated by flogging so that he would find out the reason why they were shouting against him that way. ²⁵ But when they stretched him out ^[a]with straps, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it ^[b]lawful for you to flog ^(G)a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?” ²⁶ When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and told him, saying, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman.” ²⁷ The commander came and said to ^[c]Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And he said, “Yes.” ²⁸ The commander answered, “I acquired this citizenship for a large sum of money.” And Paul said, “But I was actually born a citizen.” ²⁹ Therefore, those who were about to ^(H)interrogate him immediately backed away from him; and the commander also ^(I)was afraid when he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had ^[d](J)put him in chains.