whatwe have seenand heardwe proclaimto you also,sothat you toomay havefellowshipwith us; and indeedour fellowshipis with the Father,and with His SonJesusChrist.
"Behold,my eyehas seenall[this], My earhas heardand understoodit.
"I will surelytellof the decreeof the LORD:He saidto Me, 'You are My Son,TodayI have begottenYou.
I will tellof Your nameto my brethren;In the midstof the assemblyI will praiseYou.
"I will seta signamong them and will sendsurvivorsfrom them to the nations:Tarshish,Put,Lud,Meshech,Rosh,Tubaland Javan,to the distantcoastlandsthat have neitherheardMy famenorseenMy glory.And they will declareMy gloryamong the nations.
"So it will be, ifyou gowith us, that whatevergoodthe LORDdoesfor us, we will dofor you."
"I amno longerin the world;and [yet] they themselvesare in the world,and I cometo You. HolyFather,keepthem in Your name,[the name] whichYou have givenMe, that they may be oneevenas We [are].
that they may allbe one;evenas You, Father,[are] in Me and I in You, that they alsomay be in Us, sothat the worldmay believethat You sentMe.
"O righteousFather,althoughthe worldhas not knownYou, yetI have knownYou; and thesehave knownthat You sentMe;
"Thisis eternallife,that they may knowYou, the onlytrue God,and JesusChristwhomYou have sent.
And he who has seenhas testified, and his testimonyis true;and he knowsthat he is tellingthe truth,sothat you alsomay believe.
"And we preach to you the good newsof the promisemadeto the fathers,
BEHOLD,YOU SCOFFERS,AND MARVEL,AND PERISH;FOR I AM ACCOMPLISHINGA WORKIN YOUR DAYS,A WORKWHICHYOU WILL NEVERBELIEVE,THOUGHSOMEONESHOULD DESCRIBEIT TO YOU.'"
They were continually devoting themselvesto the apostles'teachingand to fellowship,to the breakingof breadand to prayer.
"For I did not shrinkfrom declaringto you the wholepurposeof God.
for we cannotstopspeakingabout whatwe have seenand heard."
Yes,they were pleased[to do so], and they are indebtedto them. For ifthe Gentileshave sharedin their spiritual things,they are indebtedto ministerto them alsoin material things.
But by His doing you are in ChristJesus,whobecameto us wisdomfrom God,and righteousnessand sanctification,and redemption,
Godis faithful,throughwhomyou were calledinto fellowshipwith His Son,JesusChristour Lord.
NowI make knownto you, brethren,the gospelwhichI preachedto you, whichalsoyou received,in whichalsoyou stand,
The graceof the LordJesusChrist,and the loveof God,and the fellowshipof the HolySpirit,be with you all.
[to be specific], that the Gentilesare fellow heirsand fellow members of the body,and fellow partakersof the promisein ChristJesusthroughthe gospel,
For it is onlyrightfor me to feelthis wayaboutyou all,becauseI haveyou in my heart,since bothin my imprisonmentand in the defenseand confirmationof the gospel,you allare partakersof gracewith me.
Thereforeifthere is anyencouragementin Christ,ifthere is anyconsolationof love,ifthere is anyfellowshipof the Spirit,ifanyaffectionand compassion,
that I may knowHim and the powerof His resurrectionand the fellowshipof His sufferings,being conformedto His death;
For He rescuedus from the domainof darkness,and transferredus to the kingdomof His belovedSon,
and to waitfor His Sonfrom heaven,whomHe raisedfrom the dead,[that is] Jesus,who rescuesus from the wrathto come.
Thosewho havebelieversas their mastersmust not be disrespectfulto them becausethey are brethren,but must servethem all the more,becausethosewho partakeof the benefitare believersand beloved.Teachand preachthese[principles].
saying,"I WILL PROCLAIMYOUR NAMETO MY BRETHREN,IN THE MIDSTOF THE CONGREGATIONI WILL SING YOUR PRAISE."
Therefore,holybrethren,partakersof a heavenlycalling,considerJesus,the Apostleand High Priestof our confession;
For we have becomepartakersof Christ,ifwe hold fastthe beginningof our assurancefirmuntilthe end,
Therefore,I exhortthe eldersamongyou, as [your] fellow elderand witnessof the sufferingsof Christ,and a partakeralsoof the glorythat is to be revealed,
For we did not followcleverly devisedtaleswhen we made knownto you the powerand comingof our LordJesusChrist,but we were eyewitnessesof His majesty.
Whatwas from the beginning,whatwe have heard,whatwe have seenwith our eyes,whatwe have lookedat and touchedwith our hands,concerningthe Wordof Life--
Thisis the messagewe have heardfrom Him and announceto you, that Godis Light,and in Him there is nodarknessat all.
but ifwe walkin the Lightas He Himselfis in the Light,we havefellowshipwith one another,and the bloodof JesusHis Soncleansesus from allsin.
