He kept his promise to the people of Israel with loyalty and constant love for them. All people everywhere have seen the victory of our God.

A day is coming when the new king from the royal line of David will be a symbol to the nations. They will gather in his royal city and give him honor.

When that time comes, Israel will rank with Egypt and Assyria, and these three nations will be a blessing to all the world.

The LORD Almighty will bless them and say, "I will bless you, Egypt, my people; you, Assyria, whom I created; and you, Israel, my chosen people."

When that day comes, a trumpet will be blown to call back from Assyria and Egypt all the Israelites who are in exile there. They will come and worship the LORD in Jerusalem, on his sacred hill.

Before I was born, the LORD appointed me; he made me his servant to bring back his people, to bring back the scattered people of Israel. The LORD gives me honor; he is the source of my strength.

The LORD said to me, "I have a greater task for you, my servant. Not only will you restore to greatness the people of Israel who have survived, but I will also make you a light to the nations--- so that all the world may be saved."

and will know that I am the one who punishes them. "But I will spare some of them and send them to the nations and the distant lands that have not heard of my fame or seen my greatness and power: to Spain, Libya, and Lydia, with its skilled archers, and to Tubal and Greece. Among these nations they will proclaim my greatness.

They will bring back all your people from the nations as a gift to me. They will bring them to my sacred hill in Jerusalem on horses, mules, and camels, and in chariots and wagons, just as Israelites bring grain offerings to the Temple in ritually clean containers.

When that day comes, fresh water will flow from Jerusalem, half of it to the Dead Sea and the other half to the Mediterranean. It will flow all year long, in the dry season as well as the wet.

Then the LORD will be king over all the earth; everyone will worship him as God and know him by the same name.

People from one end of the world to the other honor me. Everywhere they burn incense to me and offer acceptable sacrifices. All of them honor me!

"And so I tell you," added Jesus, "the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce the proper fruits."

Now go to the main streets and invite to the feast as many people as you find.'

So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, good and bad alike; and the wedding hall was filled with people.

Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, to the end of the age."

The Lord said to him, "Go, because I have chosen him to serve me, to make my name known to Gentiles and kings and to the people of Israel.

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

For they heard them speaking in strange tongues and praising God's greatness. Peter spoke up:

So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay with them for a few days.

When they heard this, they stopped their criticism and praised God, saying, "Then God has given to the Gentiles also the opportunity to repent and live!"

But other believers, who were from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and proclaimed the message to Gentiles also, telling them the Good News about the Lord Jesus.

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.

When they opposed him and said evil things about him, he protested by shaking the dust from his clothes and saying to them, "If you are lost, you yourselves must take the blame for it! I am not responsible. From now on I will go to the Gentiles."

'Go,' the Lord said to me, 'for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.' "

The people listened to Paul until he said this; but then they started shouting at the top of their voices, "Away with him! Kill him! He's not fit to live!"

You are to open their eyes and turn them from the darkness to the light and from the power of Satan to God, so that through their faith in me they will have their sins forgiven and receive their place among God's chosen people.'

First in Damascus and in Jerusalem and then in the whole country of Israel and among the Gentiles, I preached that they must repent of their sins and turn to God and do the things that would show they had repented.

And Paul concluded: "You are to know, then, that God's message of salvation has been sent to the Gentiles. They will listen!"

But I ask: Is it true that they did not hear the message? Of course they did---for as the scripture says: "The sound of their voice went out to all the world; their words reached the ends of the earth."

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!"

You Gentiles by birth---called "the uncircumcised" by the Jews, who call themselves the circumcised (which refers to what men do to their bodies)---remember what you were in the past.

But now, in union with Christ Jesus you, who used to be far away, have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

He abolished the Jewish Law with its commandments and rules, in order to create out of the two races one new people in union with himself, in this way making peace.

So Christ came and preached the Good News of peace to all---to you Gentiles, who were far away from God, and to the Jews, who were near to him.

So then, you Gentiles are not foreigners or strangers any longer; you are now citizens together with God's people and members of the family of God.

He is the one who holds the whole building together and makes it grow into a sacred temple dedicated to the Lord.

You must, of course, continue faithful on a firm and sure foundation, and must not allow yourselves to be shaken from the hope you gained when you heard the gospel. It is of this gospel that I, Paul, became a servant---this gospel which has been preached to everybody in the world.

but they held him back, saying, "Stay with us; the day is almost over and it is getting dark." So he went in to stay with them.

and said, "Sirs, I am here to serve you. Please come to my house. You can wash your feet and spend the night. In the morning you can get up early and go on your way." But they answered, "No, we will spend the night here in the city square."

He kept on urging them, and finally they went with him to his house. Lot ordered his servants to bake some bread and prepare a fine meal for the guests. When it was ready, they ate it.

On the day you fight your enemies, your people will volunteer. Like the dew of early morning your young men will come to you on the sacred hills.

After she and the people of her house had been baptized, she invited us, "Come and stay in my house if you have decided that I am a true believer in the Lord." And she persuaded us to go.

I am speaking now to you Gentiles: As long as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I will take pride in my work.

Perhaps I can make the people of my own race jealous, and so be able to save some of them.

I am a free man, nobody's slave; but I make myself everybody's slave in order to win as many people as possible.

In the same way, when working with Gentiles, I live like a Gentile, outside the Jewish Law, in order to win Gentiles. This does not mean that I don't obey God's law; I am really under Christ's law.

All this I do for the gospel's sake, in order to share in its blessings.

We know what it means to fear the Lord, and so we try to persuade others. God knows us completely, and I hope that in your hearts you know me as well.

Here we are, then, speaking for Christ, as though God himself were making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ's behalf: let God change you from enemies into his friends!

In our work together with God, then, we beg you who have received God's grace not to let it be wasted.

So we preach Christ to everyone. With all possible wisdom we warn and teach them in order to bring each one into God's presence as a mature individual in union with Christ.

to preach the message, to insist upon proclaiming it (whether the time is right or not), to convince, reproach, and encourage, as you teach with all patience.