²⁸ Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and had a son. ²⁹ And he called his name ^(A)Noah,^[a] saying, “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground ^(B)which the Lord has cursed.” ³⁰ After he begot Noah, Lamech lived five hundred and ninety-five years, and had sons and daughters. ³¹ So all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years; and he died.

³² And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begot ^(C)Shem, Ham, ^(D)and Japheth.

The Wickedness and Judgment of Man

6 Now it came to pass, ^(E)when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, ² that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they ^(F)took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.

³ And the Lord said, ^(G)“My Spirit shall not ^(H)strive^[b] with man forever, ^(I)for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” ⁴ There were ^[c]giants on the earth in those ^(J)days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

⁵ Then ^[d]the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every ^(K)intent^[e] of the thoughts of his heart was only evil ^[f]continually. ⁶ And ^(L)the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and ^(M)He was grieved in His ^(N)heart. ⁷ So the Lord said, “I will ^(O)destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” ⁸ But Noah ^(P)found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

²⁴ By faith ^(A)Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵ choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the ^[a]passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶ esteeming ^(B)the ^[b]reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures ^[c]in Egypt; for he looked to the ^(C)reward.

²⁷ By faith ^(D)he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. ²⁸ By faith ^(E)he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

²⁹ By faith ^(F)they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.

By Faith They Overcame

³⁰ By faith ^(G)the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. ³¹ By faith ^(H)the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who ^[d]did not believe, when ^(I)she had received the spies with peace.

³² And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of ^(J)Gideon and ^(K)Barak and ^(L)Samson and ^(M)Jephthah, also of ^(N)David and ^(O)Samuel and the prophets: ³³ who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, ^(P)stopped the mouths of lions, ^34 (Q)quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. ^35 (R)Women received their dead raised to life again.

Others were ^(S)tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. ³⁶ Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and ^(T)of chains and imprisonment. ^37 (U)They were stoned, they were sawn in two, ^[e]were tempted, were slain with the sword. ^(V)They wandered about ^(W)in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— ³⁸ of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, ^(X)in dens and caves of the earth.

³⁹ And all these, ^(Y)having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, ⁴⁰ God having provided something better for us, that they should not be ^(Z)made perfect apart from us.

The Race of Faith

12 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, ^(AA)let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and ^(AB)let us run ^(AC)with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking unto Jesus, the ^[f]author and ^[g]finisher of our faith, ^(AD)who for the joy that was set before Him ^(AE)endured the cross, despising the shame, and ^(AF)has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

^8 (A)For by grace you have been saved ^(B)through faith, and that not of yourselves; ^(C)it is the gift of God,

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

^37 (A)On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ^(B)“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. ^38 (C)He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, ^(D)out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” ^39 (E)But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those ^[a]believing in Him would receive; for the ^[b]Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet ^(F)glorified.

Who Is He?

⁴⁰ Therefore ^[c]many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, “Truly this is ^(G)the Prophet.” ⁴¹ Others said, “This is ^(H)the Christ.”

But some said, “Will the Christ come out of Galilee? ^42 (I)Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, ^(J)where David was?” ⁴³ So ^(K)there was a division among the people because of Him. ⁴⁴ Now ^(L)some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.

Rejected by the Authorities

⁴⁵ Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why have you not brought Him?”

⁴⁶ The officers answered, ^(M)“No man ever spoke like this Man!”

⁴⁷ Then the Pharisees answered them, “Are you also deceived? ⁴⁸ Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? ⁴⁹ But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”

⁵⁰ Nicodemus ^(N)(he who came to ^[d]Jesus ^[e]by night, being one of them) said to them, ^51 (O)“Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?”

⁵² They answered and said to him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for ^(P)no prophet ^[f]has arisen out of Galilee.”

An Adulteress Faces the Light of the World

^53 [g]And everyone went to his own house.

Jesus the Light of the World

8 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.