They are to work with you and fulfill their responsibilities for all the service in the Tent, but no unqualified person may work with you.

But you and your sons alone shall fulfill all the responsibilities of the priesthood that concern the altar and what is in the Most Holy Place. These things are your responsibility, because I have given you the gift of the priesthood. Any unqualified person who comes near the sacred objects shall be put to death."

"No man who has been castrated or whose penis has been cut off may be included among the LORD's people.

"No Ammonite or Moabite---or any of their descendants, even in the tenth generation---may be included among the LORD's people.

The LORD Almighty says, "The time is coming when people from many cities will come to Jerusalem.

Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to worship the LORD Almighty and to pray for his blessing.

When Jesus heard this, he was surprised and said to the people following him, "I tell you, I have never found anyone in Israel with faith like this.

I assure you that many will come from the east and the west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of heaven.

So Philip got ready and went. Now an Ethiopian eunuch, who was an important official in charge of the treasury of the queen of Ethiopia, was on his way home. He had been to Jerusalem to worship God and was going back home in his carriage. As he rode along, he was reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah.

There was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, who was a captain in the Roman army regiment called "The Italian Regiment."

He was a religious man; he and his whole family worshiped God. He also did much to help the Jewish poor people and was constantly praying to God.

Peter began to speak: "I now realize that it is true that God treats everyone on the same basis.

For this is the commandment that the Lord has given us: 'I have made you a light for the Gentiles, so that all the world may be saved.' "

When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and praised the Lord's message; and those who had been chosen for eternal life became believers.

Some of them were convinced and joined Paul and Silas; so did many of the leading women and a large group of Greeks who worshiped God.

So he left them and went to live in the house of a Gentile named Titius Justus, who worshiped God; his house was next to the synagogue.

But God will give glory, honor, and peace to all who do what is good, to the Jews first and also to the Gentiles.

For God judges everyone by the same standard.

and to enable even the Gentiles to praise God for his mercy. As the scripture says, "And so I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing praises to you."

And again, "Praise the Lord, all Gentiles; praise him, all peoples!"

At that time you were apart from Christ. You were foreigners and did not belong to God's chosen people. You had no part in the covenants, which were based on God's promises to his people, and you lived in this world without hope and without God.

In union with him you too are being built together with all the others into a place where God lives through his Spirit.

From Peter, apostle of Jesus Christ--- To God's chosen people who live as refugees scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.

They will ask the way to Zion and then go in that direction. They will make an eternal covenant with me and never break it.

The LORD will terrify them. He will reduce the gods of the earth to nothing, and then every nation will worship him, each in its own land.

But he who joins himself to the Lord becomes spiritually one with him.

Jesus answered, "It isn't right to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs."

"That's true, sir," she answered, "but even the dogs eat the leftovers that fall from their masters' table."

So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the officer sent friends to tell him, "Sir, don't trouble yourself. I do not deserve to have you come into my house,

I, too, am a man placed under the authority of superior officers, and I have soldiers under me. I order this one, 'Go!' and he goes; I order that one, 'Come!' and he comes; and I order my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it."

then your name will be remembered in my Temple and among my people longer than if you had sons and daughters. You will never be forgotten."

Some of your own direct descendants will be taken away and made eunuchs to serve in the palace of the king of Babylonia."

However, Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, a eunuch who worked in the royal palace, heard that they had put me in the well. At that time the king was holding court at the Benjamin Gate.

"Your Majesty, what these men have done is wrong. They have put Jeremiah in the well, where he is sure to die of starvation, since there is no more food in the city."

So Ebedmelech went with the men to the palace storeroom and got some worn-out clothing which he let down to me by ropes.

and they pulled me up out of the well. After that I was kept in the courtyard.

to tell Ebedmelech the Ethiopian that the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, had said, "Just as I said I would, I am going to bring upon this city destruction and not prosperity. And when this happens, you will be there to see it.

But I, the LORD, will protect you, and you will not be handed over to the people you are afraid of.

The king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief official, to select from among the Israelite exiles some young men of the royal family and of the noble families.

The king also gave orders that every day they were to be given the same food and wine as the members of the royal court. After three years of this training they were to appear before the king.

The chief official gave them new names: Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

and God made Ashpenaz sympathetic to Daniel.

So Daniel went to the guard whom Ashpenaz had placed in charge of him and his three friends.

Then compare us with the young men who are eating the food of the royal court, and base your decision on how we look."

When the time was up, they looked healthier and stronger than all those who had been eating the royal food.

God gave the four young men knowledge and skill in literature and philosophy. In addition, he gave Daniel skill in interpreting visions and dreams.

The king talked with them all, and Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah impressed him more than any of the others. So they became members of the king's court.

Daniel remained at the royal court until Cyrus, the emperor of Persia, conquered Babylonia.

For there are different reasons why men cannot marry: some, because they were born that way; others, because men made them that way; and others do not marry for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven. Let him who can accept this teaching do so."

Jesus said, "Let the children come to me and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

Once a man came to Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what good thing must I do to receive eternal life?"

"What commandments?" he asked. Jesus answered, "Do not commit murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not accuse anyone falsely;

"I have obeyed all these commandments," the young man replied. "What else do I need to do?"

When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he was very rich.

I repeat: it is much harder for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle."

Jesus looked straight at them and answered, "This is impossible for human beings, but for God everything is possible."

Jesus said to them, "You can be sure that when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne in the New Age, then you twelve followers of mine will also sit on thrones, to rule the twelve tribes of Israel.

But many who now are first will be last, and many who now are last will be first.

An angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get ready and go south to the road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This road is not used nowadays.)

(SEE 8:27)

Philip ran over and heard him reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah. He asked him, "Do you understand what you are reading?"

The passage of scripture which he was reading was this: "He was like a sheep that is taken to be slaughtered, like a lamb that makes no sound when its wool is cut off. He did not say a word.

The official asked Philip, "Tell me, of whom is the prophet saying this? Of himself or of someone else?"

As they traveled down the road, they came to a place where there was some water, and the official said, "Here is some water. What is to keep me from being baptized?"

The official ordered the carriage to stop, and both Philip and the official went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.

Philip found himself in Azotus; he went on to Caesarea, and on the way he preached the Good News in every town.