11 Many people will come from the east and from the west. Those people will sit and eat with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob {\cf2\super [92]} in the kingdom of heaven.
11 And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven:
11 For I say to you, that many shall come from the east and the west, and they shall sit at table with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
This is that secret truth: that the non-Jews will get the things God has for his people, the same as the Jews. The non-Jews are together with the Jews in the same body. And they share together in the promise that God made in Christ Jesus. The non-Jews have all these things because of the Good News. {\cf2\super [23]}
“People all around the world respect my name. All around the world people bring good gifts to me. They burn good incense {\cf2\super [7]} as a gift to me. Why? Because my name is important to all those people.” The Lord All-Powerful said these things.
Those servants will be blessed when their master comes home, because he sees that his servants are ready and waiting for him. I tell you the truth. The master will dress himself for work and tell the servants to sit at the table. Then the master will serve them.
In the new life there is no difference between Greeks and Jews. There is no difference between people that are circumcised {\cf2\super [16]} and people that are not circumcised, or people that are from some foreign country, or Scythians. {\cf2\super [17]} There is no difference between slaves and free people. But Christ is in all those believers. And Christ is all that is important.
When the Jewish believers heard these things, they stopped arguing. They praised God and said, “So God is allowing the non-Jewish people to change their hearts and have life the same as us!”
Then people in the west\par will fear and respect the Lord’s name.\par People in the east\par will fear and respect His Glory. {\cf2\super [449]} \par The Lord will come quickly like\par a fast flowing river blown by\par a powerful wind from the Lord.\par
When Paul and Barnabas arrived, they gathered the church (group of believers) together. Paul and Barnabas told them about all the things God had done with them. They said, “God opened a door so that the people of other nations (non-Jews) could also believe!”
In those cities Paul and Barnabas made the followers \{of Jesus\} stronger. They helped them to stay in the faith. Paul and Barnabas said, “We must suffer many things on our way into God’s kingdom.”
“During the time of the kings \{of the fourth kingdom\}, the God of heaven will set up another kingdom. This kingdom will continue forever! It will never be destroyed! And it will be the kind of kingdom that can’t be passed on to another group of people. This kingdom will crush all those other kingdoms. It will bring those kingdoms to an end. But that kingdom itself will continue forever.
Lord, you are my strength\par and my protection.\par You are a safe place to run to\par in time of trouble.\par The nations will come to you\par from all around the world.\par They will say,\par “Our fathers had false gods.\par They worshiped those worthless idols,\par but those idols did not help them at all.”\par
“You are a very important servant to me.\par The people of Israel are prisoners,\par but they will be brought back to me.\par Jacob’s family groups will come back to me.\par But, you have another job;\par it is even more important than this!\par I will make you a light for all nations.\par You will be my way to save\par all the people on earth.”\par
At that time, there will be a special person from Jesse’s {\cf2\super [135]} family. This person will be like a flag. This “flag” will show all the nations that they should come together around him. The nations will ask him the things they should do. And the place where he is will be filled with glory.
May the people in all the faraway countries\par remember the Lord and come back to him!\par May the people in all the foreign countries\par worship the Lord.\par
Men from Judah’s family will be kings.
The sign that his family rules
will not leave his family,
before the real king comes. [257] Then many people will obey
and serve him.
You will have many, many descendants. [163] They will be as many as the pieces of dust on earth. They will spread east and west, north and south. All the families on earth will be blessed because of you and your descendants.
“Look! People are coming to me\par from faraway places.\par People are coming to me\par from the north and from the west.\par People are coming to me\par from Aswan in Egypt.”\par
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Jesus said to those people that were with him, “I tell you the truth. This man has more faith than any person I have found, even in Israel. {\cf2\super [91]}
The Jewish priests and leaders said, “He will surely kill those evil men. Then he will lease the land to some other farmers. He will lease it to farmers that will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”