And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;

The Lord's Prayer

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Fasting

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Build Your House on the Rock

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.”

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.

“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates,

Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other.

The Mustard Seed and the Leaven

He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.

He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”

Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

The Parable of the Hidden Treasure

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

The Parable of the Pearl of Great Value

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls,

The Parable of the Net

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind.

And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.

He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Laborers in the Vineyard

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.

And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?”

For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.

The Parable of the Talents

“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property.

His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.

And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.

And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.

“Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth,

But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.”

When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.

And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.”

And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.”

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar's.”

And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise.

For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

Beware of the Scribes

And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces

It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake.

There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that?

And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.”

and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.

Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like:

he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.

But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”

“To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like?

They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’

And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.”

Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.

No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

The Mustard Seed and the Leaven

He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it?

It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”

It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”

But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.

And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building,

On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back.

The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

“Show me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar's.”

and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died.

“Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts,

Watch Yourselves

“But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap.

And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

Jesus Foretells Peter's Denial

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,

He said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one.

And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.

The Authority of the Son

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.

This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!”

But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word.

Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.”

If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”

If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.

Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you.

And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’

Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth.

And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized;

and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth.

“I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me.

And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!”

“Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.

Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.

the tribune ordered him to be brought into the barracks, saying that he should be examined by flogging, to find out why they were shouting against him like this.

Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” said he, “you will hear him.”

and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.

And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.

For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”

And as Isaiah predicted, “If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah.”

According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it.

For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men.

when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.

The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband.

For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ.

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.

not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end.

And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do.

Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death.

But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.

envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.

that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children.

For you know how, like a father with his children,

not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God;

For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.

likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire,

Qualifications for Deacons

Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain.

Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things.

and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,

Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good,

Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled.

they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment,

like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.”

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,

Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek,

He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.

not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.

that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away.

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.

For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.

With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.

Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days.

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.

but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls,

Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—

you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Wives and Husbands

Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives,

Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son.

But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction,

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous.

Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.

I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority.

just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.

But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively.

I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet

and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.

The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,

his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.

In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

To the Church in Thyatira

“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.

Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.

The Throne in Heaven

After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”

and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind:

the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight.

The Seven Seals

Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!”

When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood,

The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood.

The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.

The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.

He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft.

Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth.

They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone.

In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces,

their hair like women's hair, and their teeth like lions' teeth;

they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle.

They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails.

And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions' heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths.

For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound.

The Angel and the Little Scroll

Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire.

and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded.

The Two Witnesses

Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there,

The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood.

And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority.

And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

The Second Beast

Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon.

And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps,

The Harvest of the Earth

Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand.

The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing died that was in the sea.

And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs.

(“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”)

As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning, since in her heart she says, ‘I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and mourning I shall never see.’

and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, “What city was like the great city?”

Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more;

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.

His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.

and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea.

having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.

The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass.

And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.