¹⁹ saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Take the Lowly Place

⁷ So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them: ⁸ “When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; ⁹ and he who invited you and him come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. ^10 (A)But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. ^11 (B)For whoever exalts himself will be ^[a]humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Diotrephes and Demetrius

⁹ I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us.

^44 (A)How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek ^(B)the honor that comes from the only God?

Who Is the Greatest?^(A)

18 At ^(B)that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

² Then Jesus called a little ^(C)child to Him, set him in the midst of them, ³ and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, ^(D)unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

^8 (A)Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.

⁹ For I am ^(B)the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because ^(C)I persecuted the church of God.

¹⁷ Then ^(A)they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

The Sorcerer’s Profession of Faith

⁹ But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously ^(A)practiced ^[a]sorcery in the city and ^(B)astonished the ^[b]people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, ¹⁰ to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God.” ¹¹ And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his ^[c]sorceries for a long time.