1 Greetings from Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus. God called me to be an apostle. {\cf2\super [1]} I was chosen to tell God’s Good News {\cf2\super [2]} to all people.
1 FROM PAUL, a bond servant of Jesus Christ (the Messiah) called to be an apostle, (a special messenger) set apart to [preach] the Gospel (good news) of and from God,
Amram’s sons were Aaron and Moses. Aaron was chosen to be very special. Aaron and his descendants {\cf2\super [246]} were chosen to be special forever and ever. They were chosen to prepare the holy things for the Lord’s service. Aaron and his descendants were chosen to burn the incense {\cf2\super [247]} before the Lord. They were chosen to serve the Lord as priests. They were chosen to use the Lord’s name and give blessings to the people forever.
All you people in faraway places,\par listen to me!\par Listen all of you people living on earth!\par The Lord called me to serve him\par before I was born.\par The Lord called my name\par while I was still in my mother’s body.\par
“Before I made you in your mother’s body,\par I knew you.\par Before you were born,\par I chose you for a special work.\par I chose you to be a prophet to the nations.”\par
I don’t call you servants now. A servant does not know what his master is doing. But now I call you friends because I have told you everything I heard from my Father.
Remember the lesson I told you: A servant is not greater than his master. If people did wrong to me, then they will do wrong to you too. And if people obeyed my teaching, then they will obey yours too.
I don’t care about my own life. The most important thing is that I finish my work. I want to finish the work that the Lord Jesus gave me to do—to tell people the Good News about God’s grace (kindness).
The commander let Paul speak to the people. So Paul stood on the steps. He waved his hand so that the people would be quiet. The people became quiet and Paul spoke to them. He used the Jewish language. {\cf2\super [432]}
We all fell to the ground. Then I heard a voice talking to me in the Jewish language. {\cf2\super [493]} The voice said, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you doing these bad things to me? You are only hurting yourself by fighting me.’
But the Lord (Jesus) said to Ananias, “Go! I have chosen Saul for an important work. He must tell about me to kings, to the Jewish people, and to other nations.
I am proud of the Good News. The Good News is the power God uses to save every person that believes—to save the Jews first, and also to save the non-Jews.
Through Christ, God gave me the special work of an apostle. {\cf2\super [7]} God gave me this work to lead people of all nations to believe and obey God. And I do this work for Christ.
Now I am speaking to you people that are not Jews. I am an apostle {\cf2\super [123]} to the non-Jews. So while I have that work, I will do the best I can.
to be a minister of Christ Jesus. God made me a minister to help the non-Jewish people. I serve God by teaching his Good News. {\cf2\super [151]} I do this so that the non-Jewish people may be an offering that God will accept. Those people are made holy {\cf2\super [152]} for God by the Holy Spirit. {\cf2\super [153]}
People like that are not serving our Lord Christ. They are only doing things to please themselves. They use fancy talk and say nice things to fool the people that don’t know about evil.
Glory to God. God is the One who can make you strong in faith. God can use the Good News {\cf2\super [163]} that I teach to make you strong. That is the Good News about Jesus Christ that I tell people. That Good News is the secret truth that God has made known. That secret truth was hidden since the beginning.
I have been \{talking like\} a fool. But you made me do it. You people are the ones who should say good things about me. I am worth nothing, but those “great apostles {\cf2\super [46]} ” are not worth any more than I am!
Greetings from Paul, an apostle. {\cf2\super [1]} I was chosen to be an apostle, but not by any group of people. My authority did not come from other people. No! It was Jesus Christ and God the Father who made me an apostle. God is the One who raised Jesus from death.
It is the same with you people. You heard the true teaching—the Good News {\cf2\super [5]} about your salvation. When you heard that Good News, you believed in Christ. And in Christ, God put his special mark on you by giving you the Holy Spirit {\cf2\super [6]} that he promised.
And that same Christ gave gifts to people—he made some people to be apostles, {\cf2\super [31]} some people to be prophets, {\cf2\super [32]} some people to go and tell the Good News, {\cf2\super [33]} and some people to have the work of caring for and teaching God’s people.
At that time the Lord separated the family group of Levi from the other family groups for his special work. They had the work of carrying the Lord’s Box of the Agreement. [58] They also served as priests before the Lord. And they had the work of blessing people in the Lord’s name. They still do this special work today.
Before we came to you, we suffered in Philippi. People there said bad things against us. You know all about that. And when we came to you, many people were against us. But our God helped us to be brave. He helped us to tell you his Good News. {\cf2\super [4]}
We loved you very much. So we were happy to share God’s Good News {\cf2\super [7]} with you; but not only that—we were also happy to share even our own lives with you.
Brothers and sisters, I know that you remember how hard we worked. We worked night and day. We did not want to burden you \{by making you pay us\} while we did the work of telling God’s Good News to you.
That is why I was chosen to tell the Good News. {\cf2\super [6]} That is why I was chosen to be an apostle. {\cf2\super [7]} (I am telling the truth. I am not lying.) I was chosen to be a teacher of the non-Jewish people. I teach them to believe and know the truth.
Greetings from Paul, a servant of God and an apostle {\cf2\super [1]} of Jesus Christ. I was sent to help the faith of God’s chosen people. I was sent to help those people to know the truth. And that truth shows people how to serve God.
To be a high priest {\cf2\super [38]} is an honor. But no person chooses himself for this work. That person must be called by God like Aaron {\cf2\super [39]} was.
So Jesus is the kind of high priest {\cf2\super [73]} that we need. He is holy. {\cf2\super [74]} He has no sin in him. He is pure and not influenced by sinners. And he is raised above the heavens.
It is time for judging to begin. That judging will begin with God’s family. If that judgment begins with us, then what will happen to those people who don’t accept the Good News {\cf2\super [29]} of God?
This is the revelation {\cf2\super [1]} of Jesus Christ. God gave Jesus these things to show his servants what must happen soon. Christ sent his angel to show these things to his servant John.
The angel said to me, “These words are true and can be trusted. The Lord is the God of the spirits of the prophets. {\cf2\super [168]} God sent his angel to show his servants the things that must happen soon.”
But the angel said to me, “Don’t \{worship me\}! I am a servant like you and your brothers the prophets. {\cf2\super [170]} I am a servant like all the people who obey the words in this book. You should worship God!”