³¹ “But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”

³ If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing.

We Are God’s Ambassadors

¹¹ Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too.

²³ So a time was set, and on that day a large number of people came to Paul’s lodging. He explained and testified about the Kingdom of God and tried to persuade them about Jesus from the Scriptures. Using the law of Moses and the books of the prophets, he spoke to them from morning until evening.

²⁸ Agrippa interrupted him. “Do you think you can persuade me to become a Christian so quickly?”^[a]

Paul Ministers in Ephesus

⁸ Then Paul went to the synagogue and preached boldly for the next three months, arguing persuasively about the Kingdom of God.

¹⁰ Then the leading priests decided to kill Lazarus, too, ¹¹ for it was because of him that many of the people had deserted them^[a] and believed in Jesus.

⁴³ Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴ And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”

The Plot to Kill Jesus

⁴⁵ Many of the people who were with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw this happen. ⁴⁶ But some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. ⁴⁷ Then the leading priests and Pharisees called the high council^[a] together. “What are we going to do?” they asked each other. “This man certainly performs many miraculous signs. ⁴⁸ If we allow him to go on like this, soon everyone will believe in him. Then the Roman army will come and destroy both our Temple^[b] and our nation.”

⁴⁹ Caiaphas, who was high priest at that time,^[c] said, “You don’t know what you’re talking about! ⁵⁰ You don’t realize that it’s better for you that one man should die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.”

⁵¹ He did not say this on his own; as high priest at that time he was led to prophesy that Jesus would die for the entire nation. ⁵² And not only for that nation, but to bring together and unite all the children of God scattered around the world.

⁵³ So from that time on, the Jewish leaders began to plot Jesus’ death.