¹⁴ So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a bottle of water and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulders, and he sent her and the ^[a]youth away. And she wandered on [aimlessly] and lost her way in the wilderness of Beersheba.

¹⁵ When the water in the bottle was all gone, Hagar caused the youth to lie down under one of the shrubs.

¹⁶ Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about a bowshot, for she said, Let me not see the death of the lad. And as she sat down opposite him, ^[b]he lifted up his voice and wept and she raised her voice and wept.

¹⁷ And God heard the voice of the youth, and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven and said to her, What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the youth where he is.

¹⁸ Arise, raise up the youth and support him with your hand, for I intend to make him a great nation.

¹⁹ Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the [empty] bottle with water and caused the youth to drink.

¹³ Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine and all the hills shall melt [that is, everything heretofore barren and unfruitful shall overflow with spiritual blessing].^(A)

¹⁴ And I will bring back the exiles of My people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards and drink the wine from them; they shall also make gardens and eat the fruit of them.

¹⁵ And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be torn up out of their land which I gave them, says the Lord your God.

1 In the former account [which I prepared], O Theophilus, I made [a continuous report] dealing with all the things which Jesus began to do and to teach^(A)

² Until the day when He ascended, after He through the Holy Spirit had instructed and commanded the apostles (special messengers) whom He had chosen.

³ To them also He showed Himself alive after His passion (His suffering in the garden and on the cross) by [a series of] many convincing demonstrations [unquestionable evidences and infallible proofs], appearing to them during forty days and talking [to them] about the things of the kingdom of God.

⁴ And while being in their company and eating with them, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for what the Father had promised, Of which [He said] you have heard Me speak.^(B)

⁵ For John baptized with water, but not many days from now you shall be baptized with (^[a]placed in, introduced into) the Holy Spirit.

⁶ So when they were assembled, they asked Him, Lord, is this the time when You will reestablish the kingdom and restore it to Israel?

⁷ He said to them, It is not for you to become acquainted with and know ^[b]what time brings [the things and events of time and their definite periods] or fixed ^[c]years and seasons (their critical niche in time), which the Father has appointed (fixed and reserved) by His own choice and authority and personal power.

⁸ But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth.

¹⁰ Jabez cried to the God of Israel, saying, Oh, that You would bless me and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and You would keep me from evil so it might not hurt me! And God granted his request.

2 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.

² Jesus also was invited with His disciples to the wedding.

³ And when the wine was all gone, the mother of Jesus said to Him, They have no more wine!

⁴ Jesus said to her, [^[a]Dear] woman, what is that to you and to Me? [What do we have in common? Leave it to Me.] My time (hour to act) has not yet come.^(A)

⁵ His mother said to the servants, Whatever He says to you, do it.

⁶ Now there were six waterpots of stone standing there, as the Jewish custom of purification (ceremonial washing) demanded, holding twenty to thirty gallons apiece.

⁷ Jesus said to them, Fill the waterpots with water. So they filled them up to the brim.

⁸ Then He said to them, Draw some out now and take it to the manager of the feast [to the one presiding, the superintendent of the banquet]. So they took him some.

⁹ And when the manager tasted the water just now turned into wine, not knowing where it came from—though the servants who had drawn the water knew—he called the bridegroom

¹⁰ And said to him, Everyone else serves his best wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then he serves that which is not so good; but you have kept back the good wine until now!

¹¹ This, the first of His signs (miracles, wonderworks), Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory [by it He displayed His greatness and His power openly], and His disciples believed in Him [adhered to, trusted in, and relied on Him].^(B)

³⁸ How God anointed and consecrated Jesus of Nazareth with the [Holy] Spirit and with strength and ability and power; how He went about doing good and, ^[a]in particular, curing all who were harassed and oppressed by [the power of] the devil, for God was with Him.