David said to these leaders, “The Lord your God is with you. He has given you a time of peace. The Lord helped me to defeat the people living around us. The Lord and his people are now in control of this land.
Acts 9:31 - Easy To Read Version The church (believers) everywhere in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had a time of peace. With the help of the Holy Spirit, {\cf2\super [196]} the group became stronger. The believers showed that they respected the Lord by the way they lived. Because of this, the group of believers grew larger and larger. Tuilleadh leaganachaKing James Version (Oxford) 1769 Then had the churches rest throughout all Judæa and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied. Amplified Bible - Classic Edition So the church throughout the whole of Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was edified [growing in wisdom, virtue, and piety] and walking in the respect and reverential fear of the Lord and in the consolation and exhortation of the Holy Spirit, continued to increase and was multiplied. American Standard Version (1901) So the church throughout all Judæa and Galilee and Samaria had peace, being edified; and, walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, was multiplied. Common English Bible Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. God strengthened the church, and its life was marked by reverence for the Lord. Encouraged by the Holy Spirit, the church continued to grow in numbers. Catholic Public Domain Version Certainly, the Church had peace throughout all of Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and it was being built up, while walking in the fear of the Lord, and it was being filled with the consolation of the Holy Spirit. Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version Now the church had peace throughout all Judea, and Galilee, and Samaria; and was edified, walking in the fear of the Lord, and was filled with the consolation of the Holy Ghost. |
David said to these leaders, “The Lord your God is with you. He has given you a time of peace. The Lord helped me to defeat the people living around us. The Lord and his people are now in control of this land.
But you have a son that is a man of peace. I will give your son a time of peace. His enemies around him will not bother him. His name is Solomon. {\cf2\super [236]} And I will give Israel peace and quiet during the time that Solomon is king.
But the governors that ruled before me made life hard for the people. Those governors forced every person to pay 1 pound {\cf2\super [17]} of silver. They also made those people give them food and wine. The leaders under those governors also ruled over the people \{and made life even harder\}. But I respected and feared God, so I didn’t do things like that.
So I continued speaking. I said, “What you people are doing is not right! You know that you should fear and respect God. You should not do the shameful things other people do!
And God said to people,\par “Fear and respect the Lord—\par that is wisdom.\par Don’t do evil things—\par that is understanding.”\par
Wisdom begins with fear and respect\par for God.\par People who obey God are very wise.\par Praises will be sung to God forever.\par
Lord, teach me your ways,\par and I will live and obey your truths.\par Help me make worshiping your name\par the most important thing in my life.\par
God, you will help that person stay calm\par when trouble comes.\par You will help him stay calm\par until the evil people are put in their grave.\par
The first thing a person must learn is to respect and obey the Lord—that leads to true wisdom. But evil people hate discipline and true wisdom.
Don’t be jealous of evil people. But always try as hard as you can to respect the Lord.
If a person respects the Lord,\par then that person will hate evil.\par I (Wisdom) hate pride\par and people who think they are better\par than other people.\par I hate evil ways, and a lying mouth.\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.
Jerusalem, you are rich—you are rich with wisdom and knowledge of God. You are rich with salvation. You respect the Lord and that makes you rich. So you can know that you will continue.
The Lord All-Powerful says,\par “In the future, people from many cities\par will come to Jerusalem.\par
The message {\cf2\super [242]} of God was spreading and influencing more and more people. The group of believers became larger and larger.
So the churches (groups of believers) were becoming stronger in the faith and were growing bigger every day.
The believers praised God, and all the people liked them. More and more people were being saved every day; the Lord was adding those people to the group \{of believers\}.
“Now I am giving you to God. I am depending on the message {\cf2\super [410]} about God’s grace (kindness) to make you strong. That message is able to give you the blessings that God gives to all his holy people. {\cf2\super [411]}
All the believers and all the other people that heard about these things were filled with fear.
The word of God was reaching more and more people. The group of followers in Jerusalem became larger and larger. Even a big group of Jewish priests believed and obeyed.
In the kingdom of God, eating and drinking are not important. In the kingdom of God, the important things are these: living right with God, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. {\cf2\super [143]}
So let us try as hard as we can to do the things that make peace. And let us try to do the things that will help each other.
I pray that the God who gives hope will fill you with much joy and peace while you trust in him. Then you will have more and more hope, and it will flow out of you by the power of the Holy Spirit. {\cf2\super [150]}
And this hope will never disappoint us—\{it will never fail\}. Why? Because God has poured out his love to fill our hearts. God gave us his love through the Holy Spirit. {\cf2\super [48]} That Holy Spirit was a gift to us from God.
It is the same with you. You want spiritual gifts very much. So try most to have those things that help the church grow stronger.
So, brothers and sisters, what should you do? When you meet together, one person has a song, another person has a teaching, another person has a new truth from God, another person speaks in a \{different\} language, and another person interprets that language. The purpose of all these things should be to help \{the church\} grow strong.
It is true that we boast freely about the authority (power) the Lord gave us. But he gave us this power to strengthen you, not to hurt you. So I will not be ashamed of that boasting we do.
Do you think that we have been defending ourselves to you all this time? No. We say these things in Christ. And we say these things before God. You are our dear friends. And everything that we do is to make you stronger.
I’m writing these things while I’m not with you. I’m writing so that when I come I will not have to use my power to punish you. The Lord gave me that power to make you stronger, not to destroy you.
Dear friends, we have these promises \{from God\}. So we should make ourselves pure—free from anything that makes our body or our soul unclean. We should try to become perfect in the way we live, because we respect God.
Christ gave those gifts to prepare God’s holy people {\cf2\super [34]} for the work of serving. He gave those gifts to make the body of Christ stronger.
The whole body depends on Christ. And all the parts of the body are joined and held together. Each part of the body does its own work. And this makes the whole body grow and be strong with love.
But you will go across the Jordan River and live in that land. The Lord is giving that land to you. And the Lord will give you rest from all your enemies. You will be safe.
Is there any way in Christ that I can ask you to do something? Does your love make you want to comfort me? Do we share together in the Spirit {\cf2\super [12]} ? Do you have mercy and kindness?
that you will use these things to live in a way that brings honor to the Lord and pleases him in every way;\par that you will do all kinds of good things and grow in the knowledge of God;\par
So encourage each other and make each other stronger \{in faith\}. And you are doing that now.
Tell those people not to give their time to stories that are not true and to long lists of names in family histories. Those things only bring arguments. Those things don’t help God’s work. God’s work is done by faith.
This shows that the seventh-day rest {\cf2\super [33]} for God’s people is still coming.
And the Lord allowed them to have peace on all sides of their land, just like he had promised their ancestors. [71] None of their enemies defeated them. The Lord allowed the people of Israel to defeat every enemy.
So on that day the people of Israel began to rule over the people of Moab. And there was peace in the land for 80 years.