Reference: Miracles
Fausets
Three distinct New Testament Greek words represent miracles: seemeion, "a sign"; teras, "a prodigy"; dunamis, "a mighty work." Septuagint uses seemeion and teras for Hebrew 'owt and mopheth (Ex 7:9). Seemeion, "sign," views the miracle as evidence of a divine commission: Joh 3:2, "no man can do these signs (Greek) which Thou doest except God be with him" (Joh 9:30,33; 15:24; Lu 7:19-22); teras, "prodigy" or "wonder," expresses the effect on the spectator; dunamis, "mighty work," marks its performance by a superhuman power (Ac 2:22; 2Co 12:12; 2Th 2:9). The "sign" is God's seal, attestation, or proof of a revelation being genuine. Jesus' miracles were not merely wonders but signs; signs not merely of His power, but of the nature of His ministry and of His divine person.
A grand distinction peculiar to Christianity is, it won the world to it in an age of high civilization, through a few preachers of humble position, on the evidence of miracles. Basing its claim on miracles the creed of the slave became eventually the faith of the Caesars. Muhammed on the contrary, even in a half-enlightened age and country, pretended no miracle. Christ and His apostles still less than Mahomet among friends would have dared to allege miracles, in the midst of hostile Jews and skeptical Romans, unless they were true. This claim is the more striking, since John the Baptist, though coming "in the spirit and power of Elias," the great miracle worker of the Old Testament, never claimed miraculous power; so far is Scripture from indiscriminately gratifying men's love of the marvelous at the cost of truth.
Similarly, Abraham, David, and other Old Testament heroes never appear as miracle workers. Early Christian writers, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and Origen, occasionally appeal to miracles in proof of Christianity; but state that their pagan opponents, admitting the facts, attributed them to magic; which accounts for the fewness of their references to miracles. The Jewish writings, as the Sepher Toldoth Jeshu, also the extant fragments of Celsus, Porphyry, and Julian, admit the fact of the miracles, though ascribing them to magic and evil spirits. In the case of the resurrection (Mt 28:11-15) and the cure of the blind man (John 9) the Jews made a self confuted charge of fraud. The early Christian apologists allege in support of Christianity:
(1) the greatness, number, completeness, and publicity of the miracles;
(2) the beneficial tendency of the doctrine;
(3) the connection of the miracles with prophecy and the whole scheme of redemption from Adam to Christ. The miracles must have been altogether different from the wonders of exorcists, magicians, etc.; else they would not have gained for the gospel so wide and permanent an acceptance. The effect of Philip's ministry on the Samaritans, in opposition to Simon Magus (Acts 8), proves this. The holy character of Christ and His apostles, and the tendency of Christianity to promote truth and virtue, are against the origination of the miracles from evil spirits or jugglery. In the fourth century miracles had ceased (Chrysostom on 1 Corinthians 11-13); in the third, miracles are alleged, but are suspicious, as wrought among those already believing and predisposed to accept prodigies credulously. The ecclesiastical miracles are not attested by inspired writers. The apostles alone could transmit the power of working miracles to others. Cornelius was an exception, being the firstfruit of the Gentiles.
But Philip could not impart it; Peter and John must come to confer on his Samaritan converts miraculous gifts, by laying on of hands (Ac 8:15-20; 10:44-46; 19:6; Mr 16:17-18). Christianity being once proved and attested to us, the analogy of God's dealings leads us to expect He would leave it to make its way by ordinary means; the edifice being erected, the scaffolding is taken down; perpetual miracle is contrary to His ways. The ecclesiastical miracles alleged are ambiguous, or tentative, or legendary, i.e. resembling known products of human credulity and imposture. Many are childish, and palpably framed for superstitious believers, rather than as evidences capable of bearing critical scrutiny. Most of them are not told until long after their presumed occurrence. Herein the New Testament miracles wholly differ from them. The Christian miracles are:
(1) Recorded by contemporaries.
(2) In the same country.
(3) Not based on transient rumor, but confirmed by subsequent investigation, and recorded in independent accounts.
(4) Not naked history, but the history combined with the institution and with the religion of our day, as also with the time and place of the miracle recorded and of Christianity's origin.
(5) With particular specification of names, places, dates, and circumstances.
(6) Not requiring merely otiose assent, as the popular superstitions on which nothing depends, but claiming to regulate the opinions and acts of people.
(7) Not like popish miracles in Roman Catholic countries, in affirmation of opinions already formed, but performed amidst enemies, converting men from their most cherished prejudices; there was no anterior persuasion to lay hold of, Jesus' miracles gave birth to the sect; frauds might mix with the progress, but could not have place in the commencement of the religion.
(8) Not an imaginary perception, as Socrates' demon; the giving sight to the blind leaves a lasting effect; in those of a mixed nature the principal miracle is momentary, but some circumstance combined with it is permanent; Peter's vision might be a dream, but the message of Cornelius could not have been; the concurrence could only be supernatural.
(9) Not tentative, where out of many trials some succeed, as the ancient oracles, cures wrought by relics, etc.
(10) Not doubtful miracles, as the liquefaction of Januarius' blood, cures of nervous ailments.
(11) Not stories which can be resolved into exaggerations.
(12) Not gradual, but instantaneous for the most part (Lu 18:43); not incomplete; not merely temporary, but complete and lasting.
(13) Witnessed to at the cost of suffering and death. (Paley, Evidences of Christianity.)
A miracle is not a "violation of the laws of nature" (Hume), but the introduction of a new agent. Such introduction accords with human experience, for we see an intelligent agent often modifying the otherwise uniform laws of nature. "Experience" informs us of human free will counteracting the lower law of gravitation. Infinitely more can the divine will introduce a new element, counteracting, without destroying, lower physical law; the higher law for a time controls and suspends the action of the lower. Or, "law" being simply the expression of God's will, in miracles God's will intervenes, for certain moral ends, to suspend His ordinary mode of working. The wise men following the star, and then receiving further guidance from the Scripture word, illustrate the twofold revelation, God's works, and God's word, the highest guide. Both meet in the Incarnate Word (Matthew 2; 2Pe 1:19-21). As disturbance has entered the world by sin, as nature visibly attests, God must needs miraculously interfere to nullify that disturbance.
Hume alleged against miracles their contrariety to "experience," and that experience shows testimony to be often false. But "experience" is not to be limited to our time and knowledge. The "experience" of the witnesses for Christianity attests the truth of miracles. However improbable miracles are under ordinary circumstances, they are probable, nay necessary, to attest a religious revelation and a divine commission. "In whatever degree it is probable that a revelation should be communicated to mankind at all, in the same degree is it probable that miracles should be wrought" (Paley, Evidences of Christianity). That they are out of the ordinary course of nature, so far from being an objection, is just what they need to be in order to be fit signs to attest a revelation. It is as easy to God to continue the ordinary course of the rest of nature, with the change of one part, as of all the phenomena without any change. It is objected, miracles "interrupt the course of nature."
But as that course really compri
See Verses Found in Dictionary
"When Pharaoh tells you: Perform a miracle, tell Aaron: Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh. It will become a serpent."
This is what the Lord says: Here is how you will know that I am the Lord. Watch. I will strike the water in the Nile with the staff in my hand, and it will turn to blood. The fish in the Nile will die, the river will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable to drink water from it." read more. So the Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron: Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt-over their rivers, canals, ponds, and all their water reservoirs-and they will become blood. There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in wooden and stone [containers]." Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded; in the sight of Pharaoh and his officials, he raised the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile was turned to blood. The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad the Egyptians could not drink water from it. There was blood throughout the land of Egypt.
"Tomorrow," he answered. Moses replied, "As you have said, so you may know there is no one like the Lord our God,
But on that day I will give special treatment to the land of Goshen, where My people are living; no flies will be there. This way you will know that I, the Lord, am in the land. I will make a distinction between My people and your people. This sign will take place tomorrow."
And the Lord set a time, saying, "Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land."
Tomorrow at this time I will rain down the worst hail that has ever occurred in Egypt from the day it was founded until now.
Throughout the land of Egypt, the hail struck down everything in the field, both man and beast. The hail beat down every plant of the field and shattered every tree in the field. The only place it didn't hail was in the land of Goshen where the Israelites were.
But if you refuse to let My people go, then tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory. They will cover the surface of the land so that no one will be able to see the land. They will eat the remainder left to you that escaped the hail; they will eat every tree you have growing in the fields.
The locusts went up over the entire land of Egypt and settled on the whole territory of Egypt. Never before had there been such a large number of locusts, and there will never be again.
So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness throughout the land of Egypt for three days. One person could not see another, and for three days they did not move from where they were. Yet all the Israelites had light where they lived.
Now at midnight the Lord struck every firstborn [male] in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and every firstborn of the livestock.
And the Lord told Moses, "Go to the people and purify them today and tomorrow. They must wash their clothes
All the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain [surrounded by] smoke. When the people saw [it] they trembled and stood at a distance.
For the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and there was a fire inside the cloud by night, visible to the entire house of Israel throughout all the stages of their journey.
As the redemption price for the 273 firstborn Israelites who outnumber the Levites,
"The Lord spoke these commands in a loud voice to your entire assembly from the fire, cloud, and thick darkness on the mountain; He added nothing more. He wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me. All of you approached me with your tribal leaders and elders when you heard the voice from the darkness and while the mountain was blazing with fire.
Your clothing did not wear out, and your feet did not swell these 40 years.
"If a prophet or someone who has dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you, and that sign or wonder he has promised you comes about, but he says, 'Let us follow other gods,' which you have not known, 'and let us worship them,' read more. do not listen to that prophet's words or to that dreamer. For the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul. You must follow the Lord your God and fear Him. You must keep His commands and listen to His voice; you must worship Him and remain faithful to Him. That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he has urged rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the place of slavery, to turn you from the way the Lord your God has commanded you to walk. You must purge the evil from you.
and the water flowing downstream stood still, rising up [in] a mass that extended as far as Adam, a city next to Zarethan. The water flowing downstream into the Sea of the Arabah (the Dead Sea) was completely cut off, and the people crossed opposite Jericho.
Israel worshiped the Lord throughout Joshua's lifetime and during the lifetimes of the elders who outlived Joshua, and who had experienced all the works the Lord had done for Israel.
The people worshiped the Lord throughout Joshua's lifetime and during the lifetimes of the elders who outlived Joshua. They had seen all the Lord's great works He had done for Israel.
"Why do you ask My name," the Angel of the Lord asked him, "since it is wonderful." Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the Lord, and He did a wonderful thing while Manoah and his wife were watching.
He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.
For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on His shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing for joy, for water will gush in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;
in order to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon, [and] those sitting in darkness from the prison house.
Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses, and He carried our pains; but we in turn regarded Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.
"As I kept watching, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took His seat. His clothing was white like snow, and the hair of His head like whitest wool. His throne was flaming fire; its wheels were blazing fire. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from His presence. Thousands upon thousands served Him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was convened, and the books were opened. read more. "I watched, then, because of the sound of the arrogant words the horn was speaking. As I continued watching, the beast was killed and its body destroyed and given over to the burning fire. As for the rest of the beasts, their authority to rule was removed, but an extension of life was granted to them for a certain period of time. I continued watching in the night visions, and I saw One like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was escorted before Him.
After this I will pour out My Spirit on all humanity; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will have dreams, and your young men will see visions. I will even pour out My Spirit on the male and female slaves in those days. read more. I will display wonders in the heavens and on the earth: blood, fire, and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and awe-inspiring Day of the Lord comes.
"Then I will pour out a spiritof grace and prayer on the house of David and the residents of Jerusalem, and they will look at Me whom they pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly for Him as one weeps for a firstborn.
Jesus was going all over Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
Right away a man with a serious skin disease came up and knelt before Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."
When Jesus went into Peter's house, He saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever.
When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. He drove out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick, so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: He Himself took our weaknesses and carried our diseases.
But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, you of little faith?" Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea. And there was a great calm.
Just then some men brought to Him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, "Have courage, son, your sins are forgiven."
As He was telling them these things, suddenly one of the leaders came and knelt down before Him, saying, "My daughter is near death, but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live."
Just then, a woman who had suffered from bleeding for 12 years approached from behind and touched the tassel on His robe,
As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, shouting, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!" When He entered the house, the blind men approached Him, and Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I can do this?" "Yes, Lord," they answered Him. read more. Then He touched their eyes, saying, "Let it be done for you according to your faith!" And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus warned them sternly, "Be sure that no one finds out!"
Just as they were going out, a demon-possessed man who was unable to speak was brought to Him.
Then Jesus went to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness.
When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent [a message] by his disciples and asked Him, "Are You the One who is to come, or should we expect someone else?" read more. Jesus replied to them, "Go and report to John what you hear and see:
There He saw a man who had a paralyzed hand. And in order to accuse Him they asked Him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"
When Jesus became aware of this, He withdrew from there. Huge crowds followed Him, and He healed them all.
And all the crowds were astounded and said, "Perhaps this is the Son of David!"
As He stepped ashore, He saw a huge crowd, felt compassion for them, and healed their sick.
"They don't need to go away," Jesus told them. "You give them something to eat."
When the men of that place recognized Him, they alerted the whole vicinity and brought to Him all who were sick. They were begging Him that they might only touch the tassel on His robe. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well.
Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came and kept crying out, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is cruelly tormented by a demon."
and large crowds came to Him, having with them the lame, the blind, the deformed, those unable to speak, and many others. They put them at His feet, and He healed them.
He took the seven loaves and the fish, and He gave thanks, broke them, and kept on giving them to the disciples, and the disciples [gave them] to the crowds.
An evil and adulterous generation wants a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah." Then He left them and went away.
After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves.
"Lord," he said, "have mercy on my son, because he has seizures and suffers severely. He often falls into the fire and often into the water.
"But, so we won't offend them, go to the sea, cast in a fishhook, and catch the first fish that comes up. When you open its mouth you'll find a coin. Take it and give it to them for Me and you."
Large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there.
Jesus went into the temple complex and drove out all those buying and selling in the temple. He overturned the money changers' tables and the chairs of those selling doves.
The blind and the lame came to Him in the temple complex, and He healed them.
False messiahs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days: The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the celestial powers will be shaken.
As they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. After the priests had assembled with the elders and agreed on a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money read more. and told them, "Say this, 'His disciples came during the night and stole Him while we were sleeping.' If this reaches the governor's ears, we will deal with him and keep you out of trouble." So they took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been spread among Jewish people to this day.
"What do You have to do with us, Jesus-Nazarene? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are-the Holy One of God!"
As soon as He got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met Him.
Then He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this and said that she should be given something to eat.
So He was not able to do any miracles there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He was amazed at their unbelief. Now He was going around the villages in a circuit, teaching.
Then He told her, "Because of this reply, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter."
Then He ordered them to tell no one, but the more He would order them, the more they would proclaim it.
Then they came to Bethsaida. They brought a blind man to Him and begged Him to touch him.
And these signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages; they will pick up snakes; if they should drink anything deadly, it will never harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will get well."
When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch."
Soon afterwards He was on His way to a town called Nain. His disciples and a large crowd were traveling with Him. Just as He neared the gate of the town, a dead man was being carried out. He was his mother's only son, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the city was also with her.
Then He came up and touched the open coffin, and the pallbearers stopped. And He said, "Young man, I tell you, get up!"
and sent them to the Lord, asking, "Are You the One who is to come, or should we look for someone else?" When the men reached Him, they said, "John the Baptist sent us to ask You, 'Are You the One who is to come, or should we look for someone else?' " read more. At that time Jesus healed many people of diseases, plagues, and evil spirits, and He granted sight to many blind people. He replied to them, "Go and report to John the things you have seen and heard: The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with skin diseases are healed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news preached to them.
But some of them said, "He drives out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons!" And others, as a test, were demanding of Him a sign from heaven.
a woman was there who had been disabled by a spirit for over 18 years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.
As He entered a village, 10 men with serious skin diseases met Him. They stood at a distance
Instantly he could see, and he began to follow Him, glorifying God. All the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.
But Jesus responded, "No more of this!" And touching his ear, He healed him.
So the Jews replied to Him, "What sign [of authority] will You show us for doing these things?" Jesus answered, "Destroy this sanctuary, and I will raise it up in three days." read more. Therefore the Jews said, "This sanctuary took 46 years to build, and will You raise it up in three days?" But He was speaking about the sanctuary of His body.
While He was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many trusted in His name when they saw the signs He was doing.
This man came to Him at night and said, "Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher, for no one could perform these signs You do unless God were with him."
When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and pleaded with Him to come down and heal his son, for he was about to die.
One man was there who had been sick for 38 years.
But Jesus responded to them, "My Father is still working, and I am working also."
However, many from the crowd believed in Him and said, "When the Messiah comes, He won't perform more signs than this man has done, will He?"
Then the temple police came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why haven't you brought Him?" The police answered, "No man ever spoke like this!"
As He was passing by, He saw a man blind from birth.
"This is an amazing thing," the man told them. "You don't know where He is from, yet He opened my eyes!
Jesus said, "I came into this world for judgment, in order that those who do not see will see and those who do see will become blind." Some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and asked Him, "We aren't blind too, are we?" read more. "If you were blind," Jesus told them, "you wouldn't have sin. But now that you say, 'We see'-your sin remains.
If I had not done the works among them that no one else has done, they would not have sin. Now they have seen and hated both Me and My Father.
If I had not done the works among them that no one else has done, they would not have sin. Now they have seen and hated both Me and My Father.
When He told them, "I am He," they stepped back and fell to the ground.
Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and by believing you may have life in His name.
"Cast the net on the right side of the boat," He told them, "and you'll find some." So they did, and they were unable to haul it in because of the large number of fish.
"Men of Israel, listen to these words: This Jesus the Nazarene was a man pointed out to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through Him, just as you yourselves know.
"Men of Israel, listen to these words: This Jesus the Nazarene was a man pointed out to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through Him, just as you yourselves know.
But Peter said, "I have neither silver nor gold, but what I have, I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!"
let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene-whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead-by Him this man is standing here before you healthy. This [Jesus] is The stone despised by you builders, who has become the cornerstone. read more. There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved."
After they went down there, they prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For He had not yet come down on any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. read more. Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. When Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, "Give me this power too, so that anyone I lay hands on may receive the Holy Spirit." But Peter told him, "May your silver be destroyed with you, because you thought the gift of God could be obtained with money!
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came down on all those who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. read more. For they heard them speaking in [other] languages and declaring the greatness of God. Then Peter responded,
And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began to speak with [other] languages and to prophesy.
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel other than what we have preached to you, a curse be on him! As we have said before, I now say again: if anyone preaches to you a gospel contrary to what you received, a curse be on him!
The coming [of the lawless one] is based on Satan's working, with all kinds of false miracles, signs, and wonders,
But know this: difficult times will come in the last days. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, read more. unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the form of religion but denying its power. Avoid these people! For among them are those who worm their way into households and capture idle women burdened down with sins, led along by a variety of passions, always learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so these also resist the truth, men who are corrupt in mind, worthless in regard to the faith.
At the same time, God also testified by signs and wonders, various miracles, and distributions [of gifts] from the Holy Spirit according to His will.
So we have the prophetic word strongly confirmed. You will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dismal place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. First of all, you should know this: no prophecy of Scripture comes from one's own interpretation, read more. because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, moved by the Holy Spirit, men spoke from God.
Look! He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, including those who pierced Him. And all the families of the earth will mourn over Him. This is certain. Amen.
Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; he had two horns like a lamb, but he sounded like a dragon. He exercises all the authority of the first beast on his behalf and compels the earth and those who live on it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. read more. He also performs great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth before people. He deceives those who live on the earth because of the signs that he is permitted to perform on behalf of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image of the beast who had the sword wound yet lived. He was permitted to give a spirit to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast could both speak and cause whoever would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
But the beast was taken prisoner, and along with him the false prophet, who had performed signs on his authority, by which he deceived those who accepted the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
Hastings
MIRACLES
1. The narratives
See Verses Found in Dictionary
When the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she crouched down under Balaam. So he became furious and beat the donkey with his stick.
do not listen to that prophet's words or to that dreamer. For the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul.
When a prophet speaks in the Lord's name, and the message does not come true or is not fulfilled, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.
On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the Lord in the presence of Israel: "Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and moon, over the valley of Aijalon." And the sun stood still and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on its enemies. Isn't this written in the Book of Jashar? So the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed its setting almost a full day. read more. There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord listened to the voice of a man, because the Lord fought for Israel.
So Isaiah the prophet called out to the Lord, and He brought the shadow back the 10 steps it had descended on Ahaz's stairway.
and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: He will give His angels orders concerning you , and, they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. " Jesus told him, "It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God. "
Reaching out His hand He touched him, saying, "I am willing; be made clean." Immediately his disease was healed.
Then Jesus told the centurion, "Go. As you have believed, let it be done for you." And his servant was cured that very moment.
So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. Then she got up and began to serve Him.
But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, you of little faith?" Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea. And there was a great calm. The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this?-even the winds and the sea obey Him!" read more. When He had come to the other side, to the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met Him as they came out of the tombs. They were so violent that no one could pass that way.
But so you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" -then He told the paralytic, "Get up, pick up your stretcher, and go home."
But so you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" -then He told the paralytic, "Get up, pick up your stretcher, and go home."
But Jesus turned and saw her. "Have courage, daughter," He said. "Your faith has made you well." And the woman was made well from that moment.
But when the crowd had been put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up.
Then He touched their eyes, saying, "Let it be done for you according to your faith!"
When the demon had been driven out, the man spoke. And the crowds were amazed, saying, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!"
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with skin diseases, drive out demons. You have received free of charge; give free of charge.
Then He proceeded to denounce the towns where most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent:
Then He told the man, "Stretch out your hand." So he stretched it out, and it was restored, as good as the other.
Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and unable to speak was brought to Him. He healed him, so that the man could both speak and see.
And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.
Then He commanded the crowds to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed them. He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples [gave them] to the crowds.
"Lord, if it's You," Peter answered Him, "command me to come to You on the water."
Then Jesus replied to her, "Woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want." And from that moment her daughter was cured.
An evil and adulterous generation wants a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah." Then He left them and went away.
Then Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and from that moment the boy was healed.
"But, so we won't offend them, go to the sea, cast in a fishhook, and catch the first fish that comes up. When you open its mouth you'll find a coin. Take it and give it to them for Me and you."
"But, so we won't offend them, go to the sea, cast in a fishhook, and catch the first fish that comes up. When you open its mouth you'll find a coin. Take it and give it to them for Me and you."
Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they could see, and they followed Him.
Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He went up to it and found nothing on it except leaves. And He said to it, "May no fruit ever come from you again!" At once the fig tree withered.
Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He went up to it and found nothing on it except leaves. And He said to it, "May no fruit ever come from you again!" At once the fig tree withered.
Then Jesus came near and said to them, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
But Jesus rebuked him and said, "Be quiet, and come out of him!"
Immediately his ears were opened, his speech difficulty was removed, and he began to speak clearly.
Again Jesus placed His hands on the man's eyes, and he saw distinctly. He was cured and could see everything clearly.
And these signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages; they will pick up snakes; if they should drink anything deadly, it will never harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will get well."
When they did this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets began to tear.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, because I'm a sinful man, Lord!"
Then John's disciples told him about all these things. So John summoned two of his disciples
When Jesus saw her, He called out to her, "Woman, you are free of your disability."
When the chief servant tasted the water (after it had become wine), he did not know where it came from-though the servants who had drawn the water knew. He called the groom
Jesus performed this first sign in Cana of Galilee. He displayed His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.
Jesus told him, "Unless you [people] see signs and wonders, you will not believe."
Jesus told him, "Unless you [people] see signs and wonders, you will not believe."
"Go," Jesus told him, "your son will live." The man believed what Jesus said to him and departed.
"But I have a greater testimony than John's because of the works that the Father has given Me to accomplish. These very works I am doing testify about Me that the Father has sent Me.
When the people saw the sign He had done, they said, "This really is the Prophet who was to come into the world!"
"Go," He told him, "wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means "Sent"). So he left, washed, and came back seeing.
So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You heard Me. I know that You always hear Me, but because of the crowd standing here I said this, so they may believe You sent Me."
The dead man came out bound hand and foot with linen strips and with his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him and let him go."
Even though He had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in Him.
Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves.
"Cast the net on the right side of the boat," He told them, "and you'll find some." So they did, and they were unable to haul it in because of the large number of fish.
Then fear came over everyone, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles.
Then, taking him by the right hand he raised him up, and at once his feet and ankles became strong.
When he heard these words, Ananias dropped dead, and a great fear came on all who heard.
Instantly she dropped dead at his feet. When the young men came in, they found her dead, carried her out, and buried her beside her husband.
Many signs and wonders were being done among the people through the hands of the apostles. By common consent they would all meet in Solomon's Colonnade.
As a result, they would carry the sick out into the streets and lay them on beds and pallets so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them.
So they arrested the apostles and put them in the city jail.
Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people.
Then even Simon himself believed. And after he was baptized, he went around constantly with Philip and was astounded as he observed the signs and great miracles that were being performed.
Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your own bed," and immediately he got up.
Then Peter sent them all out of the room. He knelt down, prayed, and turning toward the body said, "Tabitha, get up!" She opened her eyes, saw Peter, and sat up.
"Get dressed," the angel told him, "and put on your sandals." And he did so. "Wrap your cloak around you," he told him, "and follow me."
Now, look! The Lord's hand is against you: you are going to be blind, and will not see the sun for a time." Suddenly a mist and darkness fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
and heard Paul speaking. After observing him closely and seeing that he had faith to be healed,
And she did this for many days. But Paul was greatly aggravated, and turning to the spirit, said, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" And it came out right away.
Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the jail were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's chains came loose.
so that even facecloths or work aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them.
But Paul went down, threw himself on him, embraced him, and said, "Don't be alarmed, for his life is in him!"
As Paul gathered a bundle of brushwood and put it on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself to his hand.
It happened that Publius' father was in bed suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went to him, and praying and laying his hands on him, he healed him.
to another, the performing of miracles, to another, prophecy, to another, distinguishing between spirits, to another, different kinds of languages, to another, interpretation of languages.
And God has placed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, next, miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, managing, various kinds of languages.
For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
The coming [of the lawless one] is based on Satan's working, with all kinds of false miracles, signs, and wonders,
Morish
No sincere believer in the inspiration of scripture can have a doubt as to real miracles having been wrought by the power of God both in O.T. and N.T. times. It is philosophy so-called, or scepticism, that mystifies the subject. Much is said about 'the laws of nature;' and it is confidently affirmed that these are irrevocable and cannot be departed from. To which is added that laws of nature previously unknown are frequently being discovered, and if our forefathers could witness the application of some of the more recent discoveries, as the computer, mobile telephone, etc., they would judge that miracles were being performed. So, it is argued, the actions recorded in scripture as miracles, were merely the bringing into use some law of nature which had been hidden up to that time.
All this is based upon a fallacy. There are no laws of nature, as if nature made its own laws: there are laws in nature, which God in His wisdom as Creator was pleased to make; but He who made those laws has surely the same power to suspend them when He pleases. Though laws in nature hitherto unknown are being discovered from time to time, they in no way account for such things as dead persons being raised to life, the blind seeing, the deaf hearing, the lame walking, and demons being cast out of those who were possessed by them. Neither has natural philosophy discovered any law that will account for such a thing as an iron axe-head swimming in water. The simple truth is that God, for wise purposes, allowed some of the natural laws to be suspended, and at times He put forth His almighty power, as in supplying the Israelites with manna from heaven, and in feeding thousands from a few loaves and fishes, or by recalling life that had left the body.
The words translated 'miracle' in the O.T. are
1. oth, 'a sign,' as it is often translated, and in some places 'token.' Nu 14:22; De 11:3.
2. mopheth, 'a wonder,' as it is mostly translated: it is something out of the ordinary course of events. Ex 7:9; De 29:3.
3. pala, 'wonderful, marvellous.' Jg 6:13.
Moses was enabled to work miracles for two distinct objects. One was in order to convince the children of Israel that God had sent him. God gave him three signs to perform before them: his rod became a serpent, and was again a rod; his hand became leprous, and was then restored; and he could turn the water of the Nile into blood. Ex 4:1-9.
The other miracles, wrought by him in Egypt, were to show to Pharaoh the mighty power of God, who said, I will "multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt . . . . and the Egyptians shall know that I am Jehovah, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt." Ex 7:3-5. The ten plagues followed, which were miracles or signs of the power of God
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Then Moses answered, "What if they won't believe me and will not obey me but say, 'The Lord did not appear to you'?" The Lord asked him, "What is that in your hand?" "A staff," he replied. read more. Then He said, "Throw it on the ground." He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake. Moses ran from it, but the Lord told him, "Stretch out your hand and grab it by the tail." So he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand. "This will take place," He continued, "so they will believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you." In addition the Lord said to him, "Put your hand inside your cloak." So he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, his hand was diseased, like snow. Then He said, "Put your hand back inside your cloak." He put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, it had again become like the rest of his skin. "If they will not believe you and will not respond to the evidence of the first sign, they may believe the evidence of the second sign. And if they don't believe even these two signs or listen to what you say, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the Nile will become blood on the ground."
But I will harden Pharaoh's heart and multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. Pharaoh will not listen to you, but I will put My hand on Egypt and bring out the ranks of My people the Israelites, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. read more. The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out My hand against Egypt, and bring out the Israelites from among them."
"When Pharaoh tells you: Perform a miracle, tell Aaron: Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh. It will become a serpent." So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent. read more. But then Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers-the magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same thing by their occult practices. Each one threw down his staff, and it became a serpent. But Aaron's staff swallowed their staffs.
Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded; in the sight of Pharaoh and his officials, he raised the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile was turned to blood. The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad the Egyptians could not drink water from it. There was blood throughout the land of Egypt. read more. But the magicians of Egypt did the same thing by their occult practices. So Pharaoh's heart hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. Pharaoh turned around, went into his palace, and didn't even take this to heart. All the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink because they could not drink the water from the river. Seven days passed after the Lord struck the Nile.
The Lord then said to Moses, "Tell Aaron: Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, canals, and ponds, and cause the frogs to come up onto the land of Egypt." When Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. read more. But the magicians did the same thing by their occult practices and brought frogs up onto the land of Egypt. Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Ask the Lord that He remove the frogs from me and my people. Then I will let the people go and they can sacrifice to the Lord." Moses said to Pharaoh, "Make the choice rather than me [by saying] when I should ask for you, your officials, and your people, that the frogs be taken away from you and your houses, and remain only in the Nile." "Tomorrow," he answered. Moses replied, "As you have said, so you may know there is no one like the Lord our God, the frogs will go away from you, your houses, your officials, and your people. The frogs will remain only in the Nile." After Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the Lord for help concerning the frogs that He had brought against Pharaoh. The Lord did as Moses had said: the frogs in the houses, courtyards, and fields died. They piled them in countless heaps, and there was a terrible odor in the land.
Then the Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron: Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, and it will become gnats throughout the land of Egypt." And they did this. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff, and when he struck the dust of the earth, gnats were on the people and animals. All the dust of the earth became gnats throughout the land of Egypt. read more. The magicians tried to produce gnats using their occult practices, but they could not. The gnats remained on the people and animals.
The Lord said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh when you see him going out to the water. Tell him: This is what the Lord says: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me. But if you will not let My people go, then I will send swarms of flies against you, your officials, your people, and your houses. The Egyptians' houses will swarm with flies, and so will the land where they live. read more. But on that day I will give special treatment to the land of Goshen, where My people are living; no flies will be there. This way you will know that I, the Lord, am in the land. I will make a distinction between My people and your people. This sign will take place tomorrow." And the Lord did this. Thick swarms of flies went into Pharaoh's palace and his officials' houses. Throughout Egypt the land was ruined because of the swarms of flies.
then the Lord's hand will bring a severe plague against your livestock in the field-the horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks. But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that the Israelites own will die." read more. And the Lord set a time, saying, "Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land." The Lord did this the next day. All the Egyptian livestock died, but none among the Israelite livestock died.
Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Take handfuls of furnace soot, and Moses is to throw it toward heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. It will become fine dust over the entire land of Egypt. It will become festering boils on people and animals throughout the land of Egypt." read more. So they took furnace soot and stood before Pharaoh. Moses threw it toward heaven, and it became festering boils on man and beast. The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians as well as on all the Egyptians.
Then the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward heaven and let there be hail throughout the land of Egypt-on man and beast and every plant of the field in the land of Egypt." So Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail. Lightning struck the earth, and the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt. read more. The hail, with lightning flashing through it, was so severe that nothing like it had occurred in the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. Throughout the land of Egypt, the hail struck down everything in the field, both man and beast. The hail beat down every plant of the field and shattered every tree in the field. The only place it didn't hail was in the land of Goshen where the Israelites were.
The Lord then said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt and the locusts will come up over it and eat every plant in the land, everything that the hail left." So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord sent an east wind over the land all that day and through the night. By morning the east wind had brought in the locusts. read more. The locusts went up over the entire land of Egypt and settled on the whole territory of Egypt. Never before had there been such a large number of locusts, and there will never be again. They covered the surface of the whole land so that the land was black, and they consumed all the plants on the ground and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had left. Nothing green was left on the trees or the plants in the field throughout the land of Egypt. Pharaoh urgently sent for Moses and Aaron and said, "I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. Please forgive my sin once more and make an appeal to the Lord your God, so that He will take this death away from me." Moses left Pharaoh's presence and appealed to the Lord. Then the Lord changed the wind to a strong west wind, and it carried off the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea. Not a single locust was left in all the territory of Egypt.
Then the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward heaven, and there will be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness that can be felt." So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness throughout the land of Egypt for three days. read more. One person could not see another, and for three days they did not move from where they were. Yet all the Israelites had light where they lived.
Now at midnight the Lord struck every firstborn [male] in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and every firstborn of the livestock. During the night Pharaoh got up, he along with all his officials and all the Egyptians, and there was a loud wailing throughout Egypt because there wasn't a house without someone dead.
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea [back] with a powerful east wind all that night and turned the sea into dry land. So the waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with the waters [like] a wall to them on their right and their left. read more. The Egyptians set out in pursuit-all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen-and went into the sea after them. Then during the morning watch, the Lord looked down on the Egyptian forces from the pillar of fire and cloud, and threw them into confusion. He caused their chariot wheels to swerve and made them drive with difficulty. "Let's get away from Israel," the Egyptians said, "because the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt!" Then the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back on the Egyptians, on their chariots and horsemen." So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal depth. While the Egyptians were trying to escape from it, the Lord overthrew them in the sea. The waters came back and covered the chariots and horsemen, the entire army of Pharaoh, that had gone after them into the sea. None of them survived. But the Israelites had walked through the sea on dry ground, with the waters [like] a wall to them on their right and their left. That day the Lord saved Israel from the power of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. When Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and believed in Him and in His servant Moses.
They came to Marah, but they could not drink the water at Marah because it was bitter-that is why it was named Marah. The people grumbled to Moses, "What are we going to drink?" read more. So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he threw it into the water, the water became drinkable. He made a statute and ordinance for them at Marah and He tested them there.
When the layer of dew evaporated, there on the desert surface were fine flakes, as fine as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they asked one another, "What is it?" because they didn't know what it was. Moses told them, "It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. read more. This is what the Lord has commanded: 'Gather as much of it as each person needs to eat. You may take two quarts per individual, according to the number of people each of you has in his tent.' " So the Israelites did this. Some gathered a lot, some a little. When they measured it by quarts, the person who gathered a lot had no surplus, and the person who gathered a little had no shortage. Each gathered as much as he needed to eat. Moses said to them, "No one is to let any of it remain until morning." But they didn't listen to Moses; some people left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and smelled. Therefore Moses was angry with them. They gathered it every morning. Each gathered as much as he needed to eat, but when the sun grew hot, it melted. On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, four quarts apiece, and all the leaders of the community came and reported [this] to Moses. He told them, "This is what the Lord has said: 'Tomorrow is a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil, and everything left over set aside to be kept until morning.' " So they set it aside until morning as Moses commanded, and it didn't smell or have any maggots in it. "Eat it today," Moses said, "because today is a Sabbath to the Lord. Today you won't find any in the field. For six days you may gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none." Yet on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they did not find any. Then the Lord said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep My commands and instructions? Understand that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day He will give you two days' worth of bread. Each of you stay where you are; no one is to leave his place on the seventh day." So the people rested on the seventh day. The house of Israel named the substance manna. It resembled coriander seed, was white, and tasted like wafers [made] with honey. Moses said, "This is what the Lord has commanded: 'Two quarts of it are to be preserved throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.' " Moses told Aaron, "Take a container and put two quarts of manna in it. Then place it before the Lord to be preserved throughout your generations." As the Lord commanded Moses, Aaron placed it before the testimony to be preserved. The Israelites ate manna for 40 years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate manna until they reached the border of the land of Canaan.
The Lord answered Moses, "Go on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Take the rod you struck the Nile with in your hand and go. I am going to stand there in front of you on the rock at Horeb; when you hit the rock, water will come out of it and the people will drink." Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. read more. He named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites complained, and because they tested the Lord, saying, "Is the Lord among us or not?"
Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu each took his own firepan, put fire in it, placed incense on it, and presented unauthorized fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them [to do]. Then flames leaped from the Lord's presence and burned them to death before the Lord.
none of the men who have seen My glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tested Me these 10 times and did not obey Me,
none of the men who have seen My glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tested Me these 10 times and did not obey Me,
Just as he finished speaking all these words, the ground beneath them split open. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, all Korah's people, and all [their] possessions. read more. They went down alive into Sheol with all that belonged to them. The earth closed over them, and they vanished from the assembly. At their cries, all [the people of Israel] who were around them fled because they thought, "The earth may swallow us too!" Fire also came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were presenting the incense. Then the Lord spoke to Moses: "Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to remove the firepans from the burning debris, because they are holy, and scatter the fire far away. As for the firepans of those who sinned at the cost of their own lives, make them into hammered sheets as plating for the altar, for they presented them before the Lord, and the firepans are holy. They will be a sign to the Israelites." So Eleazar the priest took the bronze firepans that those who were burned had presented, and they were hammered into plating for the altar, just as the Lord commanded him through Moses. It was to be a reminder for the Israelites that no unauthorized person outside the lineage of Aaron should approach to offer incense before the Lord and become like Korah and his followers.
The next day Moses entered the tent of the testimony and saw that Aaron's staff, representing the house of Levi, had sprouted, formed buds, blossomed, and produced almonds!
The Lord spoke to Moses, "Take the staff and assemble the community. You and your brother Aaron are to speak to the rock while they watch, and it will yield its water. You will bring out water for them from the rock and provide drink for the community and their livestock." read more. So Moses took the staff from the Lord's presence just as He had commanded him. Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly in front of the rock, and Moses said to them, "Listen, you rebels! Must we bring water out of this rock for you?" Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that a great amount of water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.
Then the Lord said to Moses, "Make a snake [image] and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will recover." So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. Whenever someone was bitten, and he looked at the bronze snake, he recovered.
When he got up in the morning, Balaam saddled his donkey and went with the officials of Moab. But God was incensed that Balaam was going, and the Angel of the Lord took His stand on the path to oppose him. Balaam was riding his donkey, and his two servants were with him. read more. When the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord standing on the path with a drawn sword in His hand, she turned off the path and went into the field. So Balaam hit her to return her to the path. Then the Angel of the Lord stood in a narrow passage between the vineyards, with a stone wall on either side. The donkey saw the Angel of the Lord and pressed herself against the wall, squeezing Balaam's foot against it. So he hit her once again. The Angel of the Lord went ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn to the right or the left. When the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she crouched down under Balaam. So he became furious and beat the donkey with his stick. Then the Lord opened the donkey's mouth, and she asked Balaam, "What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?" Balaam answered the donkey, "You made me look like a fool. If I had a sword in my hand, I'd kill you now!" But the donkey said, "Am I not the donkey you've ridden all your life until today? Have I ever treated you this way before?" "No," he replied. Then the Lord opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the path with a drawn sword in His hand. Balaam knelt and bowed with his face [to the ground]. The Angel of the Lord asked him, "Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? Look, I came out to oppose you, because what you are doing is evil in My sight. The donkey saw Me and turned away from Me these three times. If she had not turned away from Me, I would have killed you by now and let her live." Balaam said to the Angel of the Lord, "I have sinned, for I did not know that You were standing in the path to confront me. And now, if it is evil in Your sight, I will go back." Then the Angel of the Lord said to Balaam, "Go with the men, but you are to say only what I tell you." So Balaam went with Balak's officials.
His signs and the works He did in Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt and all his land;
When the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant ahead of the people. Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season. But as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan, their feet touched the water at its edge read more. and the water flowing downstream stood still, rising up [in] a mass that extended as far as Adam, a city next to Zarethan. The water flowing downstream into the Sea of the Arabah (the Dead Sea) was completely cut off, and the people crossed opposite Jericho. The priests carrying the ark of the Lord's covenant stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel crossed on dry ground until the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan.
So Joshua son of Nun summoned the priests and said to them, "Take up the ark of the covenant and have seven priests carry seven trumpets in front of the ark of the Lord." He said to the people, "Move forward, march around the city, and have the armed troops go ahead of the ark of the Lord." read more. After Joshua had spoken to the people, seven priests carrying seven trumpets before the Lord moved forward and blew the trumpets; the ark of the Lord's covenant followed them. While the trumpets were blowing, the armed troops went in front of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard went behind the ark. But Joshua had commanded the people: "Do not shout or let your voice be heard. Don't let one word come out of your mouth until the time I say, 'Shout!' Then you are to shout." So the ark of the Lord was carried around the city, circling it once. They returned to the camp and spent the night there. Joshua got up early the next morning. The priests took the ark of the Lord, and the seven priests carrying seven trumpets marched in front of the ark of the Lord. While the trumpets were blowing, the armed troops went in front of them, and the rear guard went behind the ark of the Lord. On the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days. Early on the seventh day, they started at dawn and marched around the city seven times in the same way. That was the only day they marched around the city seven times. After the seventh time, the priests blew the trumpets, and Joshua said to the people, "Shout! For the Lord has given you the city. But the city and everything in it are set apart to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and everyone with her in the house will live, because she hid the men we sent. But keep yourselves from the things set apart, or you will be set apart for destruction. If you take any of those things, you will set apart the camp of Israel for destruction and bring disaster on it. For all the silver and gold, and the articles of bronze and iron, are dedicated to the Lord and must go into the Lord's treasury." So the people shouted, and the trumpets sounded. When they heard the blast of the trumpet, the people gave a great shout, and the wall collapsed. The people advanced into the city, each man straight ahead, and they captured the city. They completely destroyed everything in the city with the sword-every man and woman, both young and old, and every ox, sheep, and donkey. Joshua said to the two men who had scouted the land, "Go to the prostitute's house and bring the woman out of there, and all who are with her, just as you promised her." So the young men who had scouted went in and brought out Rahab and her father, mother, brothers, and all who belonged to her. They brought out her whole family and settled them outside the camp of Israel. They burned up the city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the Lord's house. But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, her father's household, and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent to spy on Jericho, and she lives in Israel to this day.
On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the Lord in the presence of Israel: "Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and moon, over the valley of Aijalon." And the sun stood still and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on its enemies. Isn't this written in the Book of Jashar? So the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed its setting almost a full day. read more. There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord listened to the voice of a man, because the Lord fought for Israel.
Gideon said to Him, "Please Sir, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened? And where are all His wonders that our fathers told us about? They said, 'Hasn't the Lord brought us out of Egypt?' But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian."
Gideon said to Him, "Please Sir, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened? And where are all His wonders that our fathers told us about? They said, 'Hasn't the Lord brought us out of Egypt?' But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian."
When the king heard the word that the man of God had cried out against the altar at Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar and said, "Arrest him!" But the hand he stretched out against him withered, and he could not pull it back to himself. The altar was ripped apart, and the ashes spilled off the altar, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. read more. Then the king responded to the man of God, "Please plead for the favor of the Lord your God and pray for me so that my hand may be restored to me." So the man of God pleaded for the favor of the Lord, and the king's hand was restored to him and became as it had been at first.
for this is what the Lord God of Israel says: 'The flour jar will not become empty and the oil jug will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the surface of the land.' " So she proceeded to do according to the word of Elijah. She and he and her household ate for many days. read more. The flour jar did not become empty, and the oil jug did not run dry, according to the word of the Lord He had spoken through Elijah. After this, the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. His illness became very severe until no breath remained in him. She said to Elijah, "Man of God, what do we have in common? Have you come to remind me of my guilt and to kill my son?" But Elijah said to her, "Give me your son." So he took him from her arms, brought him up to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. Then he cried out to the Lord and said, "My Lord God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow I am staying with by killing her son?" Then he stretched himself out over the boy three times. He cried out to the Lord and said, "My Lord God, please let this boy's life return to him!" So the Lord listened to Elijah's voice, and the boy's life returned to him, and he lived. Then Elijah took the boy, brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. Elijah said, "Look, your son is alive." Then the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know you are a man of God and the Lord's word in your mouth is the truth."
Fifty men from the sons of the prophets came and stood facing them from a distance while the two of them stood by the Jordan. Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up, and struck the waters, which parted to the right and left. Then the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire with horses of fire suddenly appeared and separated the two of them. Then Elijah went up into heaven in the whirlwind.
Then he took the mantle Elijah had dropped and struck the waters. "Where is the Lord God of Elijah?" he asked. He struck the waters himself, and they parted to the right and the left, and Elisha crossed over.
Then the men of the city said to Elisha, "Even though our lord can see that the city's location is good, the water is bad and the land unfruitful." He replied, "Bring me a new bowl and put salt in it." After they had brought him one, read more. Elisha went out to the spring of water, threw salt in it, and said, "This is what the Lord says: 'I have healed this water. No longer will death or unfruitfulness result from it.' " Therefore, the water remains healthy to this very day according to the word that Elisha spoke.
Then he said, "This is what the Lord says: 'Dig ditch after ditch in this wadi.' For the Lord says, 'You will not see wind or rain, but the wadi will be filled with water, and you will drink-you and your cattle and your animals.' read more. This is easy in the Lord's sight. He will also hand Moab over to you. Then you must attack every fortified city and every choice city. You must cut down every good tree and stop up every spring of water. You must ruin every good piece of land with stones." About the time for the grain offering the [next] morning, water suddenly came from the direction of Edom and filled the land.
Elisha asked her, "What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?" She said, "Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil." Then he said, "Go and borrow empty containers from everyone-from all your neighbors. Do not get just a few. read more. Then go in and shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour oil into all these containers. Set the full ones to one side." So she left. After she had shut the door behind her and her sons, they kept bringing her [containers], and she kept pouring. When they were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another container." But he replied, "There aren't any more." Then the oil stopped. She went and told the man of God, and he said, "Go sell the oil and pay your debt; you and your sons can live on the rest."
When Elisha got to the house, he discovered the boy lying dead on his bed. So he went in, closed the door behind the two of them, and prayed to the Lord. read more. Then he went up and lay on the boy: he put mouth to mouth, eye to eye, hand to hand. While he bent down over him, the boy's flesh became warm. Elisha got up, went into the house, and paced back and forth. Then he went up and bent down over him again. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. Elisha called Gehazi and said, "Call the Shunammite woman." He called her and she came. Then Elisha said, "Pick up your son." She came, fell at his feet, and bowed to the ground; she picked up her son and left. When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. The sons of the prophets were sitting at his feet. He said to his attendant, "Put on the large pot and make stew for the sons of the prophets." One went out to the field to gather herbs and found a wild vine from which he gathered as many wild gourds as his garment would hold. Then he came back and cut them up into the pot of stew, but they were unaware [of what they were]. They served some for the men to eat, but when they ate the stew they cried out, "There's death in the pot, man of God!" And they were unable to eat it. Then Elisha said, "Get some meal." He threw it into the pot and said, "Serve it for the people to eat." And there was nothing bad in the pot. A man from Baal-shalishah came to the man of God with his sack full of 20 loaves of barley bread from the first bread of the harvest. Elisha said, "Give it to the people to eat." But Elisha's attendant asked, "What? Am I to set 20 loaves before 100 men?" "Give it to the people to eat," Elisha said, "for this is what the Lord says: 'They will eat, and they will have some left over.' " So he gave it to them, and as the Lord had promised, they ate and had some left over.
Then Elisha sent him a messenger, who said, "Go wash seven times in the Jordan and your flesh will be restored and you will be clean." But Naaman got angry and left, saying, "I was telling myself: He will surely come out, stand and call on the name of Yahweh his God, and will wave his hand over the spot and cure the skin disease. read more. Aren't Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?" So he turned and left in a rage. But his servants approached and said to him, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more [should you do it] when he tells you, 'Wash and be clean'?" So Naaman went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, according to the command of the man of God. Then his skin was restored [and became] like the skin of a small boy, and he was clean.
As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron [ax head] fell into the water, and he cried out: "Oh, my master, it was borrowed!" Then the man of God asked, "Where did it fall?" When he showed him the place, the man of God cut a stick, threw it there, and made the iron float. read more. Then he said, "Pick it up." So he reached out and took it.
Once, as the Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a marauding band, so they threw the man into Elisha's tomb. When he touched Elisha's bones, the man revived and stood up!
Isaiah said, "This is the sign to you from the Lord that He will do what He has promised: Should the shadow go ahead 10 steps or go back 10 steps?" Then Hezekiah answered, "It's easy for the shadow to lengthen 10 steps. No, let the shadow go back 10 steps." read more. So Isaiah the prophet called out to the Lord, and He brought the shadow back the 10 steps it had descended on Ahaz's stairway.
Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders to heat the furnace seven times more than was customary, and he commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the furnace of blazing fire. read more. So these men, in their trousers, robes, head coverings, and other clothes, were tied up and thrown into the furnace of blazing fire. Since the king's command was so urgent and the furnace extremely hot, the raging flames killed those men who carried Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego up. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego fell, bound, into the furnace of blazing fire. Then King Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in alarm. He said to his advisers, "Didn't we throw three men, bound, into the fire?" "Yes, of course, Your Majesty," they replied to the king. He exclaimed, "Look! I see four men, not tied, walking around in the fire unharmed; and the fourth looks like a son of the gods." Nebuchadnezzar then approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire and called: "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you servants of the Most High God-come out!" So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fire. When the satraps, prefects, governors, and the king's advisers gathered around, they saw that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men: not a hair of their heads was singed, their robes were unaffected, and there was no smell of fire on them.
So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions' den. The king said to Daniel, "May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!" A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den. The king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signet rings of his nobles, so that nothing in regard to Daniel could be changed. read more. Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting. No diversions were brought to him, and he could not sleep. At the first light of dawn the king got up and hurried to the lions' den. When he reached the den, he cried out in anguish to Daniel. "Daniel, servant of the living God," the king said, "has your God whom you serve continually been able to rescue you from the lions?" Then Daniel spoke with the king: "May the king live forever. My God sent His angel and shut the lions' mouths. They haven't hurt me, for I was found innocent before Him. Also, I have not committed a crime against you my king." The king was overjoyed and gave orders to take Daniel out of the den. So Daniel was taken out of the den, uninjured, for he trusted in his God.
Right away a man with a serious skin disease came up and knelt before Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." Reaching out His hand He touched him, saying, "I am willing; be made clean." Immediately his disease was healed. read more. Then Jesus told him, "See that you don't tell anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses prescribed, as a testimony to them." When He entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible agony!" "I will come and heal him," He told him. "Lord," the centurion replied, "I am not worthy to have You come under my roof. But only say the word, and my servant will be cured. For I too am a man under authority, having soldiers under my command. I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes; and to another, 'Come!' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it." Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and said to those following Him, "I assure you: I have not found anyone in Israel with so great a faith! I tell you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Then Jesus told the centurion, "Go. As you have believed, let it be done for you." And his servant was cured that very moment. When Jesus went into Peter's house, He saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. Then she got up and began to serve Him.
As He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. Suddenly, a violent storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves. But He was sleeping. read more. So the disciples came and woke Him up, saying, "Lord, save [us]! We're going to die!" But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, you of little faith?" Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea. And there was a great calm. The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this?-even the winds and the sea obey Him!" When He had come to the other side, to the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met Him as they came out of the tombs. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. Suddenly they shouted, "What do You have to do with us, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?" Now a long way off from them, a large herd of pigs was feeding. "If You drive us out," the demons begged Him, "send us into the herd of pigs." "Go!" He told them. So when they had come out, they entered the pigs. And suddenly the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the water. Then the men who tended them fled. They went into the city and reported everything-especially what had happened to those who were demon-possessed. At that, the whole town went out to meet Jesus. When they saw Him, they begged Him to leave their region.
Just then some men brought to Him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, "Have courage, son, your sins are forgiven." At this, some of the scribes said among themselves, "He's blaspheming!" read more. But perceiving their thoughts, Jesus said, "Why are you thinking evil things in your hearts? For which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? But so you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" -then He told the paralytic, "Get up, pick up your stretcher, and go home." And he got up and went home.
As He was telling them these things, suddenly one of the leaders came and knelt down before Him, saying, "My daughter is near death, but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live." So Jesus and His disciples got up and followed him. read more. Just then, a woman who had suffered from bleeding for 12 years approached from behind and touched the tassel on His robe,
Just then, a woman who had suffered from bleeding for 12 years approached from behind and touched the tassel on His robe, for she said to herself, "If I can just touch His robe, I'll be made well!"
for she said to herself, "If I can just touch His robe, I'll be made well!" But Jesus turned and saw her. "Have courage, daughter," He said. "Your faith has made you well." And the woman was made well from that moment.
But Jesus turned and saw her. "Have courage, daughter," He said. "Your faith has made you well." And the woman was made well from that moment. When Jesus came to the leader's house, He saw the flute players and a crowd lamenting loudly. read more. "Leave," He said, "because the girl isn't dead, but sleeping." And they started laughing at Him. But when the crowd had been put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. And this news spread throughout that whole area. As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, shouting, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!" When He entered the house, the blind men approached Him, and Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I can do this?" "Yes, Lord," they answered Him. Then He touched their eyes, saying, "Let it be done for you according to your faith!" And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus warned them sternly, "Be sure that no one finds out!" But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout that whole area. Just as they were going out, a demon-possessed man who was unable to speak was brought to Him. When the demon had been driven out, the man spoke. And the crowds were amazed, saying, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!"
There He saw a man who had a paralyzed hand. And in order to accuse Him they asked Him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" But He said to them, "What man among you, if he had a sheep that fell into a pit on the Sabbath, wouldn't take hold of it and lift it out? read more. A man is worth far more than a sheep, so it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." Then He told the man, "Stretch out your hand." So he stretched it out, and it was restored, as good as the other.
Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and unable to speak was brought to Him. He healed him, so that the man could both speak and see.
When evening came, the disciples approached Him and said, "This place is a wilderness, and it is already late. Send the crowds away so they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves." "They don't need to go away," Jesus told them. "You give them something to eat." read more. "But we only have five loaves and two fish here," they said to Him. "Bring them here to Me," He said. Then He commanded the crowds to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed them. He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples [gave them] to the crowds. Everyone ate and was filled. Then they picked up 12 baskets full of leftover pieces! Now those who ate were about 5,000 men, besides women and children.
But the boat was already over a mile from land, battered by the waves, because the wind was against them. Around three in the morning, He came toward them walking on the sea. read more. When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified. "It's a ghost!" they said, and cried out in fear. Immediately Jesus spoke to them. "Have courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." "Lord, if it's You," Peter answered Him, "command me to come to You on the water." "Come!" He said. And climbing out of the boat, Peter started walking on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid. And beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out His hand, caught hold of him, and said to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those in the boat worshiped Him and said, "Truly You are the Son of God!"
When Jesus left there, He withdrew to the area of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came and kept crying out, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is cruelly tormented by a demon." read more. Yet He did not say a word to her. So His disciples approached Him and urged Him, "Send her away because she cries out after us." He replied, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But she came, knelt before Him, and said, "Lord, help me!" He answered, "It isn't right to take the children's bread and throw it to their dogs." "Yes, Lord," she said, "yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table!" Then Jesus replied to her, "Woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want." And from that moment her daughter was cured.
Now Jesus summoned His disciples and said, "I have compassion on the crowd, because they've already stayed with Me three days and have nothing to eat. I don't want to send them away hungry; otherwise they might collapse on the way." The disciples said to Him, "Where could we get enough bread in this desolate place to fill such a crowd?" read more. "How many loaves do you have?" Jesus asked them. "Seven," they said, "and a few small fish." After commanding the crowd to sit down on the ground, He took the seven loaves and the fish, and He gave thanks, broke them, and kept on giving them to the disciples, and the disciples [gave them] to the crowds. They all ate and were filled. Then they collected the leftover pieces-seven large baskets full. Now those who ate were 4,000 men, besides women and children.
When they reached the crowd, a man approached and knelt down before Him. "Lord," he said, "have mercy on my son, because he has seizures and suffers severely. He often falls into the fire and often into the water. read more. I brought him to Your disciples, but they couldn't heal him." Jesus replied, "You unbelieving and rebellious generation! How long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to Me." Then Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and from that moment the boy was healed.
When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the double-drachma tax approached Peter and said, "Doesn't your Teacher pay the double-drachma tax?" "Yes," he said. When he went into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, "What do you think, Simon? Who do earthly kings collect tariffs or taxes from? From their sons or from strangers?" read more. "From strangers," he said. "Then the sons are free," Jesus told him. "But, so we won't offend them, go to the sea, cast in a fishhook, and catch the first fish that comes up. When you open its mouth you'll find a coin. Take it and give it to them for Me and you."
There were two blind men sitting by the road. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!" The crowd told them to keep quiet, but they cried out all the more, "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!" read more. Jesus stopped, called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?" "Lord," they said to Him, "open our eyes!" Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they could see, and they followed Him.
Early in the morning, as He was returning to the city, He was hungry. Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He went up to it and found nothing on it except leaves. And He said to it, "May no fruit ever come from you again!" At once the fig tree withered. read more. When the disciples saw it, they were amazed and said, "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" Jesus answered them, "I assure you: If you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you tell this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' it will be done. And if you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
False messiahs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
Just then a man with an unclean spirit was in their synagogue. He cried out, "What do You have to do with us, Jesus-Nazarene? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are-the Holy One of God!" read more. But Jesus rebuked him and said, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" And the unclean spirit convulsed him, shouted with a loud voice, and came out of him. Then they were all amazed, so they began to argue with one another, saying, "What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him." His fame then spread throughout the entire vicinity of Galilee.
Simon's mother-in-law was lying in bed with a fever, and they told Him about her at once. So He went to her, took her by the hand, and raised her up. The fever left her, and she began to serve them.
Then a man with a serious skin disease came to Him and, on his knees, begged Him: "If You are willing, You can make me clean." Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out His hand and touched him. "I am willing," He told him. "Be made clean." read more. Immediately the disease left him, and he was healed. Then He sternly warned him and sent him away at once, telling him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go and show yourself to the priest, and offer what Moses prescribed for your cleansing, as a testimony to them." Yet he went out and began to proclaim it widely and to spread the news, with the result that Jesus could no longer enter a town openly. But He was out in deserted places, and they would come to Him from everywhere.
Then they came to Him bringing a paralytic, carried by four men. Since they were not able to bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above where He was. And when they had broken through, they lowered the stretcher on which the paralytic was lying. read more. Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven." But some of the scribes were sitting there, thinking to themselves: "Why does He speak like this? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" Right away Jesus understood in His spirit that they were reasoning like this within themselves and said to them, "Why are you reasoning these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, pick up your stretcher, and walk'? But so you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins," He told the paralytic, "I tell you: get up, pick up your stretcher, and go home." Immediately he got up, picked up the stretcher, and went out in front of everyone. As a result, they were all astounded and gave glory to God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"
So they left the crowd and took Him along since He was [already] in the boat. And other boats were with Him. A fierce windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. read more. But He was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke Him up and said to Him, "Teacher! Don't you care that we're going to die?" He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Silence! Be still!" The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Then He said to them, "Why are you fearful? Do you still have no faith?" And they were terrified and asked one another, "Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey Him!"
Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes. As soon as He got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met Him. read more. He lived in the tombs. No one was able to restrain him any more-even with chains- because he often had been bound with shackles and chains, but had snapped off the chains and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. And always, night and day, he was crying out among the tombs and in the mountains and cutting himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and knelt down before Him. And he cried out with a loud voice, "What do You have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You before God, don't torment me!" For He had told him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!" "What is your name?" He asked him. "My name is Legion," he answered Him, "because we are many." And he kept begging Him not to send them out of the region. Now a large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside. The demons begged Him, "Send us to the pigs, so we may enter them." And He gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs, and the herd of about 2,000 rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned there. The men who tended them ran off and reported it in the town and the countryside, and people went to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon-possessed by the legion, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. The eyewitnesses described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and [told] about the pigs. Then they began to beg Him to leave their region. As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed kept begging Him to be with Him. But He would not let him; instead, He told him, "Go back home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord has done for you and how He has had mercy on you." So he went out and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and they were all amazed.
One of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at His feet and kept begging Him, "My little daughter is at death's door. Come and lay Your hands on her so she can get well and live." read more. So Jesus went with him, and a large crowd was following and pressing against Him. A woman suffering from bleeding for 12 years
A woman suffering from bleeding for 12 years had endured much under many doctors. She had spent everything she had and was not helped at all. On the contrary, she became worse.
had endured much under many doctors. She had spent everything she had and was not helped at all. On the contrary, she became worse. Having heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His robe.
Having heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His robe. For she said, "If I can just touch His robes, I'll be made well!"
For she said, "If I can just touch His robes, I'll be made well!" Instantly her flow of blood ceased, and she sensed in her body that she was cured of her affliction.
Instantly her flow of blood ceased, and she sensed in her body that she was cured of her affliction. At once Jesus realized in Himself that power had gone out from Him. He turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My robes?"
At once Jesus realized in Himself that power had gone out from Him. He turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My robes?" His disciples said to Him, "You see the crowd pressing against You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?' "
His disciples said to Him, "You see the crowd pressing against You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?' " So He was looking around to see who had done this.
So He was looking around to see who had done this. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came with fear and trembling, fell down before Him, and told Him the whole truth.
Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came with fear and trembling, fell down before Him, and told Him the whole truth. "Daughter," He said to her, "your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be free from your affliction."
"Daughter," He said to her, "your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be free from your affliction." While He was still speaking, people came from the synagogue leader's house and said, "Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher any more?" read more. But when Jesus overheard what was said, He told the synagogue leader, "Don't be afraid. Only believe." He did not let anyone accompany Him except Peter, James, and John, James' brother. They came to the leader's house, and He saw a commotion-people weeping and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, "Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep." They started laughing at Him, but He put them all outside. He took the child's father, mother, and those who were with Him, and entered the place where the child was. Then He took the child by the hand and said to her, " Talitha koum !" (which is translated, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!" ). Immediately the girl got up and began to walk. (She was 12 years old.) At this they were utterly astounded. Then He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this and said that she should be given something to eat.
When it was already late, His disciples approached Him and said, "This place is a wilderness, and it is already late! Send them away, so they can go into the surrounding countryside and villages to buy themselves something to eat." read more. "You give them something to eat," He responded. They said to Him, "Should we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?" And He asked them, "How many loaves do you have? Go look." When they found out they said, "Five, and two fish." Then He instructed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in ranks of hundreds and fifties. Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke the loaves. He kept giving them to His disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. Everyone ate and was filled. Then they picked up 12 baskets full of pieces of bread and fish. Now those who ate the loaves were 5,000 men.
When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. He saw them being battered as they rowed, because the wind was against them. Around three in the morning He came toward them walking on the sea and wanted to pass by them. read more. When they saw Him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out; for they all saw Him and were terrified. Immediately He spoke with them and said, "Have courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. They were completely astounded,
They hurried throughout that vicinity and began to carry the sick on stretchers to wherever they heard He was. Wherever He would go, into villages, towns, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged Him that they might touch just the tassel of His robe. And everyone who touched it was made well.
He got up and departed from there to the region of Tyre and Sidon. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it, but He could not escape notice. Instead, immediately after hearing about Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit came and fell at His feet. read more. Now the woman was Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to drive the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, "Allow the children to be satisfied first, because it isn't right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." But she replied to Him, "Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." Then He told her, "Because of this reply, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter." When she went back to her home, she found her child lying on the bed, and the demon was gone. Again, leaving the region of Tyre, He went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of the Decapolis. They brought to Him a deaf man who also had a speech difficulty, and begged Jesus to lay His hand on him. So He took him away from the crowd privately. After putting His fingers in the man's ears and spitting, He touched his tongue. Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed deeply and said to him, " Ephphatha !" (that is, "Be opened!" ). Immediately his ears were opened, his speech difficulty was removed, and he began to speak clearly. Then He ordered them to tell no one, but the more He would order them, the more they would proclaim it. They were extremely astonished and said, "He has done everything well! He even makes deaf people hear, and people unable to speak, talk!"
Then they came to Bethsaida. They brought a blind man to Him and begged Him to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and brought him out of the village. Spitting on his eyes and laying His hands on him, He asked him, "Do you see anything?" read more. He looked up and said, "I see people-they look to me like trees walking." Again Jesus placed His hands on the man's eyes, and he saw distinctly. He was cured and could see everything clearly. Then He sent him home, saying, "Don't even go into the village."
When they came to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes disputing with them. All of a sudden, when the whole crowd saw Him, they were amazed and ran to greet Him. read more. Then He asked them, "What are you arguing with them about?" Out of the crowd, one man answered Him, "Teacher, I brought my son to You. He has a spirit that makes him unable to speak. Wherever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I asked Your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn't." He replied to them, "You unbelieving generation! How long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to Me." So they brought him to Him. When the spirit saw Him, it immediately convulsed the boy. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. "How long has this been happening to him?" Jesus asked his father. "From childhood," he said. "And many times it has thrown him into fire or water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." Then Jesus said to him, " 'If You can?' Everything is possible to the one who believes." Immediately the father of the boy cried out, "I do believe! Help my unbelief." When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly coming together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "You mute and deaf spirit, I command you: come out of him and never enter him again!" Then it came out, shrieking and convulsing him violently. The boy became like a corpse, so that many said, "He's dead." But Jesus, taking him by the hand, raised him, and he stood up.
They came to Jericho. And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, Bartimaeus (the son of Timaeus), a blind beggar, was sitting by the road. When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out, "Son of David, Jesus, have mercy on me!" read more. Many people told him to keep quiet, but he was crying out all the more, "Have mercy on me, Son of David!" Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called the blind man and said to him, "Have courage! Get up; He's calling for you." He threw off his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus. Then Jesus answered him, "What do you want Me to do for you?" "Rabbouni," the blind man told Him, "I want to see!" "Go your way," Jesus told him. "Your faith has healed you." Immediately he could see and began to follow Him on the road.
The next day when they came out from Bethany, He was hungry. After seeing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, He went to find out if there was anything on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. read more. He said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again!" And His disciples heard it. They came to Jerusalem, and He went into the temple complex and began to throw out those buying and selling in the temple. He overturned the money changers' tables and the chairs of those selling doves, and would not permit anyone to carry goods through the temple complex. Then He began to teach them: "Is it not written, My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations ? But you have made it a den of thieves !" Then the chief priests and the scribes heard it and started looking for a way to destroy Him. For they were afraid of Him, because the whole crowd was astonished by His teaching. And whenever evening came, they would go out of the city. Early in the morning, as they were passing by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. Then Peter remembered and said to Him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree that You cursed is withered." Jesus replied to them, "Have faith in God. I assure you: If anyone says to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, all the things you pray and ask for-believe that you have received them, and you will have them.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages; read more. they will pick up snakes; if they should drink anything deadly, it will never harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will get well."
In the synagogue there was a man with an unclean demonic spirit who cried out with a loud voice, "Leave us alone! What do You have to do with us, Jesus-Nazarene? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are-the Holy One of God!" read more. But Jesus rebuked him and said, "Be quiet and come out of him!" And throwing him down before them, the demon came out of him without hurting him at all. They were all struck with amazement and kept saying to one another, "What is this message? For He commands the unclean spirits with authority and power, and they come out!" And news about Him began to go out to every place in the vicinity. After He left the synagogue, He entered Simon's house. Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Him about her. So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up immediately and began to serve them.
As the crowd was pressing in on Jesus to hear God's word, He was standing by Lake Gennesaret. He saw two boats at the edge of the lake; the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. read more. He got into one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from the land. Then He sat down and was teaching the crowds from the boat. When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch." "Master," Simon replied, "we've worked hard all night long and caught nothing! But at Your word, I'll let down the nets." When they did this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets began to tear. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them; they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, because I'm a sinful man, Lord!" For he and all those with him were amazed at the catch of fish they took, and so were James and John, Zebedee's sons, who were Simon's partners. "Don't be afraid," Jesus told Simon. "From now on you will be catching people!" Then they brought the boats to land, left everything, and followed Him. While He was in one of the towns, a man was there who had a serious skin disease all over him. He saw Jesus, fell facedown, and begged Him: "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." Reaching out His hand, He touched him, saying, "I am willing; be made clean," and immediately the disease left him. Then He ordered him to tell no one: "But go and show yourself to the priest, and offer what Moses prescribed for your cleansing as a testimony to them." But the news about Him spread even more, and large crowds would come together to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses.
Just then some men came, carrying on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed. They tried to bring him in and set him down before Him. Since they could not find a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the roof tiles into the middle of the crowd before Jesus. read more. Seeing their faith He said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven you." Then the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason: "Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?" But perceiving their thoughts, Jesus replied to them, "Why are you reasoning this in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? But so you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" -He told the paralyzed man, "I tell you: get up, pick up your stretcher, and go home." Immediately he got up before them, picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God. Then everyone was astounded, and they were giving glory to God. And they were filled with awe and said, "We have seen incredible things today!"
On another Sabbath He entered the synagogue and was teaching. A man was there whose right hand was paralyzed. The scribes and Pharisees were watching Him closely, to see if He would heal on the Sabbath, so that they could find a charge against Him. read more. But He knew their thoughts and told the man with the paralyzed hand, "Get up and stand here." So he got up and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you: is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?" After looking around at them all, He told him, "Stretch out your hand." He did so, and his hand was restored. They, however, were filled with rage and started discussing with one another what they might do to Jesus.
When He had concluded all His sayings in the hearing of the people, He entered Capernaum. A centurion's slave, who was highly valued by him, was sick and about to die. read more. When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to Him, requesting Him to come and save the life of his slave. When they reached Jesus, they pleaded with Him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy for You to grant this, because he loves our nation and has built us a synagogue." Jesus went with them, and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to tell Him, "Lord, don't trouble Yourself, since I am not worthy to have You come under my roof. That is why I didn't even consider myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be cured. For I too am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under my command. I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes; and to another, 'Come!' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it." Jesus heard this and was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following Him, He said, "I tell you, I have not found so great a faith even in Israel!" When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health. Soon afterwards He was on His way to a town called Nain. His disciples and a large crowd were traveling with Him. Just as He neared the gate of the town, a dead man was being carried out. He was his mother's only son, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the city was also with her. When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said, "Don't cry." Then He came up and touched the open coffin, and the pallbearers stopped. And He said, "Young man, I tell you, get up!" The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Then fear came over everyone, and they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet has risen among us," and "God has visited His people." This report about Him went throughout Judea and all the vicinity.
One day He and His disciples got into a boat, and He told them, "Let's cross over to the other side of the lake." So they set out, and as they were sailing He fell asleep. Then a fierce windstorm came down on the lake; they were being swamped and were in danger. read more. They came and woke Him up, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to die!" Then He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves. So they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, "Where is your faith?" They were fearful and amazed, asking one another, "Who can this be? He commands even the winds and the waves, and they obey Him!" Then they sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. When He got out on land, a demon-possessed man from the town met Him. For a long time he had worn no clothes and did not stay in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and said in a loud voice, "What do You have to do with me, Jesus, You Son of the Most High God? I beg You, don't torment me!" For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and although he was guarded, bound by chains and shackles, he would snap the restraints and be driven by the demon into deserted places. "What is your name?" Jesus asked him. "Legion," he said-because many demons had entered him. And they begged Him not to banish them to the abyss. A large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside. The demons begged Him to permit them to enter the pigs, and He gave them permission. The demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned. When the men who tended them saw what had happened, they ran off and reported it in the town and in the countryside. Then people went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man the demons had departed from, sitting at Jesus' feet, dressed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. Meanwhile the eyewitnesses reported to them how the demon-possessed man was delivered. Then all the people of the Gerasene region asked Him to leave them, because they were gripped by great fear. So getting into the boat, He returned. The man from whom the demons had departed kept begging Him to be with Him. But He sent him away and said, "Go back to your home, and tell all that God has done for you." And off he went, proclaiming throughout the town all that Jesus had done for him.
Just then, a man named Jairus came. He was a leader of the synagogue. He fell down at Jesus' feet and pleaded with Him to come to his house, because he had an only daughter about 12 years old, and she was at death's door. While He was going, the crowds were nearly crushing Him. read more. A woman suffering from bleeding for 12 years, who had spent all she had on doctors yet could not be healed by any,
A woman suffering from bleeding for 12 years, who had spent all she had on doctors yet could not be healed by any, approached from behind and touched the tassel of His robe. Instantly her bleeding stopped.
approached from behind and touched the tassel of His robe. Instantly her bleeding stopped. "Who touched Me?" Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the crowds are hemming You in and pressing against You."
"Who touched Me?" Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the crowds are hemming You in and pressing against You." "Somebody did touch Me," said Jesus. "I know that power has gone out from Me."
"Somebody did touch Me," said Jesus. "I know that power has gone out from Me." When the woman saw that she was discovered, she came trembling and fell down before Him. In the presence of all the people, she declared the reason she had touched Him and how she was instantly cured.
When the woman saw that she was discovered, she came trembling and fell down before Him. In the presence of all the people, she declared the reason she had touched Him and how she was instantly cured. "Daughter," He said to her, "your faith has made you well. Go in peace."
"Daughter," He said to her, "your faith has made you well. Go in peace." While He was still speaking, someone came from the synagogue leader's [house], saying, "Your daughter is dead. Don't bother the Teacher anymore." read more. When Jesus heard it, He answered him, "Don't be afraid. Only believe, and she will be made well." After He came to the house, He let no one enter with Him except Peter, John, James, and the child's father and mother. Everyone was crying and mourning for her. But He said, "Stop crying, for she is not dead but asleep." They started laughing at Him, because they knew she was dead. So He took her by the hand and called out, "Child, get up!" Her spirit returned, and she got up at once. Then He gave orders that she be given something to eat. Her parents were astounded, but He instructed them to tell no one what had happened.
Late in the day, the Twelve approached and said to Him, "Send the crowd away, so they can go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find food and lodging, because we are in a deserted place here." "You give them something to eat," He told them. "We have no more than five loaves and two fish," they said, "unless we go and buy food for all these people." read more. (For about 5,000 men were there.) Then He told His disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about 50 each." They did so, and had them all sit down. Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them. He kept giving them to the disciples to set before the crowd. Everyone ate and was filled. Then they picked up 12 baskets of leftover pieces.
The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Him. Just then a man from the crowd cried out, "Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, because he's my only [child]. read more. Often a spirit seizes him; suddenly he shrieks, and it throws him into convulsions until he foams at the mouth; wounding him, it hardly ever leaves him. I begged Your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn't." Jesus replied, "You unbelieving and rebellious generation! How long will I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here." As the boy was still approaching, the demon knocked him down and threw him into severe convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, cured the boy, and gave him back to his father.
Now He was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon came out, the man who had been mute, spoke, and the crowds were amazed.
a woman was there who had been disabled by a spirit for over 18 years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, He called out to her, "Woman, you are free of your disability." read more. Then He laid His hands on her, and instantly she was restored and began to glorify God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, responded by telling the crowd, "There are six days when work should be done; therefore come on those days and be healed and not on the Sabbath day." But the Lord answered him and said, "Hypocrites! Doesn't each one of you untie his ox or donkey from the feeding trough on the Sabbath and lead it to water? Satan has bound this woman, a daughter of Abraham, for 18 years-shouldn't she be untied from this bondage on the Sabbath day?" When He had said these things, all His adversaries were humiliated, but the whole crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things He was doing.
While traveling to Jerusalem, He passed between Samaria and Galilee. As He entered a village, 10 men with serious skin diseases met Him. They stood at a distance read more. and raised their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" When He saw them, He told them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And while they were going, they were healed. But one of them, seeing that he was healed, returned and, with a loud voice, gave glory to God. He fell facedown at His feet, thanking Him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus said, "Were not 10 cleansed? Where are the nine? Didn't any return to give glory to God except this foreigner?" And He told him, "Get up and go on your way. Your faith has made you well."
As He drew near Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging. Hearing a crowd passing by, he inquired what this meant. read more. "Jesus the Nazarene is passing by," they told him. So he called out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Then those in front told him to keep quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him. When he drew near, He asked him, "What do you want Me to do for you?" "Lord," he said, "I want to see!" "Receive your sight!" Jesus told him. "Your faith has healed you." Instantly he could see, and he began to follow Him, glorifying God. All the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.
Then one of them struck the high priest's slave and cut off his right ear. But Jesus responded, "No more of this!" And touching his ear, He healed him.
On the third day a wedding took place in Cana of Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding as well. read more. When the wine ran out, Jesus' mother told Him, "They don't have any wine." "What has this concern of yours to do with Me, woman?" Jesus asked. "My hour has not yet come." "Do whatever He tells you," His mother told the servants. Now six stone water jars had been set there for Jewish purification. Each contained 20 or 30 gallons. "Fill the jars with water," Jesus told them. So they filled them to the brim. Then He said to them, "Now draw some out and take it to the chief servant." And they did. When the chief servant tasted the water (after it had become wine), he did not know where it came from-though the servants who had drawn the water knew. He called the groom and told him, "Everybody sets out the fine wine first, then, after people have drunk freely, the inferior. But you have kept the fine wine until now." Jesus performed this first sign in Cana of Galilee. He displayed His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.
Then He went again to Cana of Galilee, where He had turned the water into wine. There was a certain royal official whose son was ill at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and pleaded with Him to come down and heal his son, for he was about to die. read more. Jesus told him, "Unless you [people] see signs and wonders, you will not believe." "Sir," the official said to Him, "come down before my boy dies!" "Go," Jesus told him, "your son will live." The man believed what Jesus said to him and departed. While he was still going down, his slaves met him saying that his boy was alive. He asked them at what time he got better. "Yesterday at seven in the morning the fever left him," they answered. The father realized this was the very hour at which Jesus had told him, "Your son will live." Then he himself believed, along with his whole household. This therefore was the second sign Jesus performed after He came from Judea to Galilee.
Therefore, when Jesus looked up and noticed a huge crowd coming toward Him, He asked Philip, "Where will we buy bread so these people can eat?" He asked this to test him, for He Himself knew what He was going to do. read more. Philip answered, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread wouldn't be enough for each of them to have a little." One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, "There's a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish-but what are they for so many?" Then Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, so they sat down. The men numbered about 5,000. Then Jesus took the loaves, and after giving thanks He distributed them to those who were seated-so also with the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were full, He told His disciples, "Collect the leftovers so that nothing is wasted." So they collected them and filled 12 baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign He had done, they said, "This really is the Prophet who was to come into the world!"
When evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. Darkness had already set in, but Jesus had not yet come to them. read more. Then a high wind arose, and the sea began to churn. After they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea. He was coming near the boat, and they were afraid. But He said to them, "It is I. Don't be afraid!" Then they were willing to take Him on board, and at once the boat was at the shore where they were heading.
Then Jesus, angry in Himself again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. "Remove the stone," Jesus said. Martha, the dead man's sister, told Him, "Lord, he already stinks. It's been four days." read more. Jesus said to her, "Didn't I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You heard Me. I know that You always hear Me, but because of the crowd standing here I said this, so they may believe You sent Me." After He said this, He shouted with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out bound hand and foot with linen strips and with his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him and let him go."
After this, Jesus revealed Himself again to His disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed Himself in this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (called "Twin"), Nathanael from Cana of Galilee, Zebedee's sons, and two others of His disciples were together. read more. "I'm going fishing," Simon Peter said to them. "We're coming with you," they told him. They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. When daybreak came, Jesus stood on the shore. However, the disciples did not know it was Jesus. "Men," Jesus called to them, "you don't have any fish, do you?" "No," they answered. "Cast the net on the right side of the boat," He told them, "and you'll find some." So they did, and they were unable to haul it in because of the large number of fish. Therefore the disciple, the one Jesus loved, said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tied his outer garment around him (for he was stripped) and plunged into the sea. But since they were not far from land (about 100 yards away), the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish. When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread. "Bring some of the fish you've just caught," Jesus told them. So Simon Peter got up and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish-153 of them. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn. "Come and have breakfast," Jesus told them. None of the disciples dared ask Him, "Who are You?" because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread, and gave it to them. He did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to the disciples after He was raised from the dead.
And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which, if they were written one by one, I suppose not even the world itself could contain the books that would be written.
"Men of Israel, listen to these words: This Jesus the Nazarene was a man pointed out to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through Him, just as you yourselves know.
A man named Simon had previously practiced sorcery in that city and astounded the Samaritan people, while claiming to be somebody great.
When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came across a sorcerer, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and desired to hear God's message. read more. But Elymas, the sorcerer, which is how his name is translated, opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith.
while many of those who had practiced magic collected their books and burned them in front of everyone. So they calculated their value, and found it to be 50,000 pieces of silver.
The signs of an apostle were performed among you in all endurance-not only signs but also wonders and miracles.
The coming [of the lawless one] is based on Satan's working, with all kinds of false miracles, signs, and wonders,
This greeting is in my own hand-Paul. This is a sign in every letter; this is how I write.
He also performs great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth before people. He deceives those who live on the earth because of the signs that he is permitted to perform on behalf of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image of the beast who had the sword wound yet lived.
Smith
Miracles.
A miracle may be defined to be a plain and manifest exercise by a man, or by God at the call of a man, of those powers which belong only to the Creator and Lord of nature; and this for the declared object of attesting that a divine mission is given to that man. It is not, therefore, the wonder, the exception to common experience, that constitutes the miracle, as is assumed both in the popular use of the word and by most objectors against miracles. No phenomenon in nature, however unusual, no event in the course of God's providence, however unexpected, is a miracle unless it can be traced to the agency of man (including prayer under the term agency), and unless it be put forth as a proof of divine mission. Prodigies and special providences are not miracles. (A miracle is not a violation of the laws of nature. It is God's acting upon nature in a degree far beyond our powers, but the same king of act as our wills are continually exerting upon nature. We do not in lifting a stone interfere with any law of nature, but exert a higher force among the laws. Prof. Tyndall says that "science does assert that without a disturbance of natural law quite as serious as the stoppage of an eclipse, or the rolling of the St. Lawrence up the falls of Niagara, no act of humiliation, individual or nation, could call one shower from heaven." And yet men by firing cannon during battle can cause a shower: does that cause such a commotion among the laws of nature? The exertion of a will upon the laws does not make a disturbance of natural law; and a miracle is simply the exertion of God's will upon nature. --ED.) Again, the term "nature" suggests to many persons the idea of a great system of things endowed with powers and forces of its own --a sort of machine, set a-going originally by a first cause, but continuing its motions of itself. Hence we are apt to imagine that a change in the motion or operation of any part of it by God would produce the same disturbance of the other parts as such a change would be likely to produce in them if made by us or by any other natural agent. But if the motions and operations of material things be produced really by the divine will, then his choosing to change, for a special purpose, the ordinary motion of one part does not necessarily or probably imply his choosing to change the ordinary motions of other parts in a way not at all requisite for the accomplishment of that special purpose. It is as easy for him to continue the ordinary course of the rest, with the change of one part, as of all the phenomena without any change at all. Thus, though the stoppage of the motion of the earth in the ordinary course of nature would be attended with terrible convulsions, the stoppage of the earth miraculously, for a special purpose to be served by that only, would not of itself be followed by any such consequences. (Indeed, by the action of gravitation it could be stopped, as a stone thrown up is stopped, in less than two minutes, and yet so gently as not to stir the smallest feather or mote on its surface. --ED.) From the same conception of nature as a machine, we are apt to think of interferences with the ordinary course of nature as implying some imperfection in it. But it is manifest that this is a false analogy; for the reason why machines are made is to save us trouble; and, therefore, they are more perfect in proportion as they answer this purpose. But no one can seriously imagine that the universe is a machine for the purpose of saving trouble to the Almighty. Again, when miracles are described as "interferences with the law of nature," this description makes them appear improbable to many minds, from their not sufficiently considering that the laws of nature interfere with one another, and that we cannot get rid of "interferences" upon any hypothesis consistent with experience. The circumstances of the Christian miracles are utterly unlike those of any pretended instances of magical wonders. This difference consists in -- (1) The greatness, number, completeness and publicity of the miracles. (2) In the character of the miracles. They were all beneficial, helpful, instructive, and worthy of God as their author. (3) The natural beneficial tendency of the doctrine they attested. (4) The connection of them with a whole scheme of revelation extending from the origin of the human race to the time of Christ.
Watsons
MIRACLES. A miracle, in the popular sense, is a prodigy, or an extraordinary event, which surprises us by its novelty. In a more accurate and philosophic sense, a miracle is an effect which does not follow from any of the regular laws of nature, or which is inconsistent with some known law of it, or contrary to the settled constitution and course of things. Accordingly, all miracles presuppose an established system of nature, within the limits of which they operate, and with the order of which they disagree. Of a miracle in the theological sense many definitions have been given. That of Dr. Samuel Clarke is: "A miracle is a work effected in a manner unusual, or different from the common and regular method of providence, by the interposition of God himself, or of some intelligent agent superior to man, for the proof or evidence of some particular doctrine, or in attestation of the authority of some particular person." Mr. Hume has insidiously or erroneously maintained that a miracle is contrary to experience; but in reality it is only different from experience. Experience informs us that one event has happened often; testimony informs us that another event has happened once or more. That diseases should be generally cured by the application of external causes, and sometimes at the mere word of a prophet, and without the visible application of causes, are facts not inconsistent with each other in the nature of things themselves, nor irreconcilable according to our ideas. Each fact may arise from its own proper cause; each may exist independently of the other; and each is known by its own proper proof, whether of sense or testimony. As secret causes often produce events contrary to those we do expect from experience, it is equally conceivable that events should sometimes be produced which we do not expect. To pronounce, therefore, a miracle to be false, because it is different from experience, is only to conclude against its general existence from the very circumstance which constitutes its particular nature; for if it were not different from experience, where would be its singularity? or what particular proof could be drawn from it, if it happened according to the ordinary train of human events, or was included in the operation of the general laws of nature? We grant that it does differ from experience; but we do not presume to make our experience the standard of the divine conduct. He that acknowledges a God must, at least, admit the possibility of a miracle. The atheist, that makes him inseparable from what is called nature, and binds him to its laws by an insurmountable necessity; that deprives him of will, and wisdom, and power, as a distinct and independent Being; may deny even the very possibility of a miraculous interposition, which can in any instance suspend or counteract those general laws by which the world is governed. But he who allows of a First Cause in itself perfect and intelligent, abstractedly from those effects which his wisdom and power have produced, must at the same time allow that this cause can be under no such restraints as to be debarred the liberty of controlling its laws as often as it sees fit. Surely, the Being that made the world can govern it, or any part of it, in such a manner as he pleases; and he that constituted the very laws by which it is in general conducted, may suspend the operation of those laws in any given instance, or impress new powers on matter, in order to produce new and extraordinary effects.
In judging of miracles there are certain criteria, peculiar to the subject, sufficient to conduct our inquiries, and warrant our determination. Assuredly they do not appeal to our ignorance, for they presuppose not only the existence of a general order of things, but our actual knowledge of the appearance which that order exhibits, and of the secondary material causes from which it, in most cases, proceeds. If a miraculous event were effected by the immediate hand of God, and yet bore no mark of distinction from the ordinary effects of his agency, it would impress no conviction, and probably awaken no attention. Our knowledge of the ordinary course of things, though limited, is real; and therefore it is essential to a miracle, both that it differ from that course, and be accompanied with peculiar and unequivocal signs of such difference. We have been told that the course of nature is fixed and unalterable, and therefore it is not consistent with the immutability of God to perform miracles. But, surely, they who reason in this manner beg the point in question. We have no right to assume that the Deity has ordained such general laws as will exclude his interposition; and we cannot suppose that he would forbear to interfere where any important end could be answered. This interposition, though it controls, in particular cases, the energy, does not diminish the utility, of those laws. It leaves them to fulfil their own proper purposes, and affects only a distinct purpose, for which they were not calculated. If the course of nature implies the general laws of matter and motion, into which the most opposite phenomena may be resolved, it is certain that we do not yet know them in their full extent; and, therefore, that events, which are related by judicious and disinterested persons, and at the same time imply no gross contradiction, are possible in themselves, and capable of a certain degree of proof. If the course of nature implies the whole order of events which God has ordained for the government of the world, it includes both his ordinary and extraordinary dispensations, and among them miracles may have their place, as a part of the universal plan. It is, indeed, consistent with sound philosophy, and not inconsistent with pure religion, to acknowledge that they might be disposed by the supreme Being at the same time with the more ordinary effects of his power; that their causes and occasions might be arranged with the same regularity; and that, in reference chiefly to their concomitant circumstances of persons and times, to the specific ends for which they were employed, and to our idea of the immediate necessity there is for a divine agent, miracles would differ from common events, in which the hand of God acts as efficaciously, though less visibly. On this consideration of the subject, miracles, instead of contradicting nature, might form a part of it. But what our limited reason and scanty experience may comprehend should never be represented as a full and exact view of the possible or actual varieties which exist in the works of God.
2. If we be asked whether miracles are credible, we reply, that, abstractedly considered, they are not incredible; that they are capable of indirect proof from analogy, and of direct, from testimony; that in the common and daily course of worldly affairs, events, the improbability of which, antecedently to all testimony, was very great, are proved to have happened, by the authority of competent and honest witnesses; that the Christian miracles were objects of real and proper experience to those who saw them; and that whatsoever the senses of mankind can perceive, their report may substantiate. Should it be asked whether miracles were necessary, and whether the end proposed to be effected by them could warrant so immediate and extraordinary an interference of the Almighty, as such extraordinary operations suppose; to this we might answer, that, if the fact be established, all reasonings a priori concerning their necessity must be frivolous, and may be false. We are not capable of deciding on a question which, however simple in appearance, is yet too complex in its parts, and too extensive in its object, to be fully comprehended by the human understanding. Whether God could or could not have effected all the ends designed to be promoted by the Gospel, without deviating from the common course of his providence, and interfering with its general laws, is a speculation that a modest inquirer would carefully avoid; for it carries on the very face of it a degree of presumption totally unbecoming the state of a mortal being. Infinitely safer is it for us to acquiesce in what the Almighty has done, than
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Jesus replied to them, "Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind see, the lame walk, those with skin diseases are healed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news.
When the Pharisees heard this, they said, "The man drives out demons only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons." Knowing their thoughts, He told them: "Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. read more. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?
We know that God doesn't listen to sinners, but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He listens to him. Throughout history no one has ever heard of someone opening the eyes of a person born blind. read more. If this man were not from God, He wouldn't be able to do anything."
"I did tell you and you don't believe," Jesus answered them. "The works that I do in My Father's name testify about Me.
If I am not doing My Father's works, don't believe Me.
So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, "What are we going to do since this man does many signs? If we let Him continue in this way, everybody will believe in Him! Then the Romans will come and remove both our place and our nation."