While the voice was speaking, God's spirit entered me and raised me to my feet, and I heard the voice continue,

but God's spirit entered me and raised me to my feet. The LORD said to me, "Go home and shut yourself up in the house.

Then, when I speak to you again and give you back the power of speech, you will tell them what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying. Some of them will listen, but some will ignore you, for they are a nation of rebels."

On the fifth day of the sixth month of the sixth year of our exile, the leaders of the exiles from Judah were sitting in my house with me. Suddenly the power of the Sovereign LORD came on me.

Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him. He took some of the spirit he had given to Moses and gave it to the seventy leaders. When the spirit came on them, they began to shout like prophets, but not for long.

Two of the seventy leaders, Eldad and Medad, had stayed in the camp and had not gone out to the Tent. There in the camp the spirit came on them, and they too began to shout like prophets.

Suddenly the spirit of the LORD will take control of you, and you will join in their religious dancing and shouting and will become a different person.

When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. Suddenly the spirit of God took control of him, and he joined in their ecstatic dancing and shouting.

While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit came down on all those who were listening to his message.

And when I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came down on them just as on us at the beginning.

They are stubborn and do not respect me, so I am sending you to tell them what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying to them.

Whether those rebels listen to you or not, they will know that a prophet has been among them.

You will tell them whatever I tell you to say, whether they listen or not. Remember what rebels they are.

Then go to the people of your nation who are in exile and tell them what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying to them, whether they pay attention to you or not."

The LORD says, "Shout as loud as you can! Tell my people Israel about their sins!

"Mortal man," he said, "tell the ruler of Tyre what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying to him: Puffed up with pride, you claim to be a god. You say that like a god you sit on a throne, surrounded by the seas. You may pretend to be a god, but, no, you are mortal, not divine.

Say that this is what the Sovereign LORD is telling the king of Egypt: I am your enemy, you monster crocodile, lying in the river. You say that the Nile is yours and that you made it.

You will decide to invade a helpless country where the people live in peace and security in unwalled towns that have no defenses.

You have done all this, and I have said nothing, so you thought that I am like you. But now I reprimand you and make the matter plain to you.

You boast that you have made a treaty with death and reached an agreement with the world of the dead. You are certain that disaster will spare you when it comes, because you depend on lies and deceit to keep you safe.

"You have said terrible things about me," says the LORD. "But you ask, 'What have we said about you?'

You have said, 'It's useless to serve God. What's the use of doing what he says or of trying to show the LORD Almighty that we are sorry for what we have done?

Some teachers of the Law who had come from Jerusalem were saying, "He has Beelzebul in him! It is the chief of the demons who gives him the power to drive them out."

If a country divides itself into groups which fight each other, that country will fall apart.

So if Satan's kingdom divides into groups, it cannot last, but will fall apart and come to an end.

"I assure you that people can be forgiven all their sins and all the evil things they may say.

(Jesus said this because some people were saying, "He has an evil spirit in him.")

And the tongue is like a fire. It is a world of wrong, occupying its place in our bodies and spreading evil through our whole being. It sets on fire the entire course of our existence with the fire that comes to it from hell itself.

This is what the Sovereign LORD says to Gog: "When that time comes, you will start thinking up an evil plan.

And to Solomon he said, "My son, I charge you to acknowledge your father's God and to serve him with an undivided heart and a willing mind. He knows all our thoughts and desires. If you go to him, he will accept you; but if you turn away from him, he will abandon you forever.

You are a righteous God and judge our thoughts and desires. Stop the wickedness of evildoers and reward those who are good.

You know everything I do; from far away you understand all my thoughts.

You see me, whether I am working or resting; you know all my actions.

I see everything they do. Nothing is hidden from me; their sins do not escape my sight.

I, the LORD, search the minds and test the hearts of people. I treat each of them according to the way they live, according to what they do."

At once Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he said to them, "Why do you think such things?

But Jesus did not trust himself to them, because he knew them all.

There was no need for anyone to tell him about them, because he himself knew what was in their hearts.

A third time Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter became sad because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" and so he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you!" Jesus said to him, "Take care of my sheep.

There is nothing that can be hid from God; everything in all creation is exposed and lies open before his eyes. And it is to him that we must all give an account of ourselves.

I will also kill her followers, and then all the churches will know that I am the one who knows everyone's thoughts and wishes. I will repay each of you according to what you have done.