What disaster is coming to this useless shepherd who abandons the flock! The sword will strike his arm and his right eye. His arm will wither away and his right eye will become completely blind.
Those who buy them kill them and don't feel guilty; those who sell them say, “Praise the Lord! Now I'm rich!” Even their shepherds don't care about them.
I will come down and talk with you there. I will take some of the Spirit you have and give it to them. They will take some of the responsibility for the people so you won't have to bear it alone.
“Are you jealous for my reputation?” Moses replied. “I wish that every one of the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would give his Spirit to all of them!”
It's like a man who went away on a journey. He left his house, and gave each of his servants the authority to do what he told them. He told the doorkeeper to stay awake.
The disciples went out and spread the good news everywhere, and the Lord worked with them, confirming the message through miraculous signs that accompanied it.
Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that happened when Stephen was killed, traveled all the way to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch. They only spread the good news among the Jews.
Take care of yourselves and of all the flock, which the Holy Spirit has given to you to supervise. Feed the Lord's church which he bought with his own blood.
In the church, God has arranged first for some to be apostles, secondly for some to be prophets, thirdly teachers. Then there are those who perform miracles, those with healing gifts, those who can help others, those good at administration, and those who can speak different languages.
But by God's grace I am what I am, and his grace given to me wasn't wasted. On the contrary I've worked harder than all of them—though not me, but God's grace working through me.
But I thought it was important to send Epaphroditus to you. He's a brother to me, a co-worker and fellow-soldier. He's the one you sent to look after me,
Epaphras who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends his greetings. He's always passionate in his prayers on your behalf, praying that you'll stand firm as grown-up Christians, totally convinced about everything as God would want.
Don't you remember, brothers and sisters, all our hard work—working day and night so we wouldn't be a burden to any of you as we shared God's good news with you?
The reason we work and do the best we can is because our hope is in the living God. He is the Savior of all people, especially of those who trust in him.
“Write this to the angel of the Ephesus church: This is what the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand says, the one who walks among the seven golden candlesticks: