So Ananias went, entered the house where Saul was, and placed his hands on him. "Brother Saul," he said, "the Lord has sent me---Jesus himself, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here. He sent me so that you might see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

At once something like fish scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he was able to see again. He stood up and was baptized;

Open my eyes, so that I may see the wonderful truths in your law.

and gives sight to the blind. He lifts those who have fallen; he loves his righteous people.

When that day comes, the deaf will be able to hear a book being read aloud, and the blind, who have been living in darkness, will open their eyes and see.

Their eyes and ears will be open to the needs of the people.

The blind will be able to see, and the deaf will hear.

You will open the eyes of the blind and set free those who sit in dark prisons.

God says, "Summon my people to court. They have eyes, but they are blind; they have ears, but they are deaf !

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed

Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,

Jesus said, "I came to this world to judge, so that the blind should see and those who see should become blind."

They do not believe, because their minds have been kept in the dark by the evil god of this world. He keeps them from seeing the light shining on them, the light that comes from the Good News about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

The God who said, "Out of darkness the light shall shine!" is the same God who made his light shine in our hearts, to bring us the knowledge of God's glory shining in the face of Christ.

I ask that your minds may be opened to see his light, so that you will know what is the hope to which he has called you, how rich are the wonderful blessings he promises his people,

that the Messiah must suffer and be the first one to rise from death, to announce the light of salvation to the Jews and to the Gentiles."

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.' "

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. They lived in a land of shadows, but now light is shining on them.

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."

Arise, Jerusalem, and shine like the sun; The glory of the LORD is shining on you!

Nations will be drawn to your light, And kings to the dawning of your new day.

But for you who obey me, my saving power will rise on you like the sun and bring healing like the sun's rays. You will be as free and happy as calves let out of a stall.

The people who live in darkness will see a great light. On those who live in the dark land of death the light will shine."

"The eyes are like a lamp for the body. If your eyes are sound, your whole body will be full of light;

but if your eyes are no good, your body will be in darkness. So if the light in you is darkness, how terribly dark it will be!

and to shine from heaven on all those who live in the dark shadow of death, to guide our steps into the path of peace."

A light to reveal your will to the Gentiles and bring glory to your people Israel."

The Word was the source of life, and this life brought light to people.

God sent his messenger, a man named John,

He himself was not the light; he came to tell about the light.

This is how the judgment works: the light has come into the world, but people love the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds are evil.

Jesus spoke to the Pharisees again. "I am the light of the world," he said. "Whoever follows me will have the light of life and will never walk in darkness."

While I am in the world, I am the light for the world."

Jesus answered, "The light will be among you a little longer. Continue on your way while you have the light, so that the darkness will not come upon you; for the one who walks in the dark does not know where he is going.

Believe in the light, then, while you have it, so that you will be the people of the light." After Jesus said this, he went off and hid himself from them.

The God who said, "Out of darkness the light shall shine!" is the same God who made his light shine in our hearts, to bring us the knowledge of God's glory shining in the face of Christ.

Do not try to work together as equals with unbelievers, for it cannot be done. How can right and wrong be partners? How can light and darkness live together?

I ask that your minds may be opened to see his light, so that you will know what is the hope to which he has called you, how rich are the wonderful blessings he promises his people,

and whose minds are in the dark. They have no part in the life that God gives, for they are completely ignorant and stubborn.

You yourselves used to be in the darkness, but since you have become the Lord's people, you are in the light. So you must live like people who belong to the light,

for anything that is clearly revealed becomes light. That is why it is said, "Wake up, sleeper, and rise from death, and Christ will shine on you."

But you, friends, are not in the darkness, and the Day should not take you by surprise like a thief.

So then, we should not be sleeping like the others; we should be awake and sober.

But we belong to the day, and we should be sober. We must wear faith and love as a breastplate, and our hope of salvation as a helmet.

But you are the chosen race, the King's priests, the holy nation, God's own people, chosen to proclaim the wonderful acts of God, who called you out of darkness into his own marvelous light.

You were like sheep that had lost their way, but now you have been brought back to follow the Shepherd and Keeper of your souls.

However, the command I now write you is new, because its truth is seen in Christ and also in you. For the darkness is passing away, and the real light is already shining.

If we say that we are in the light, yet hate others, we are in the darkness to this very hour.

Can you take away a soldier's loot? Can you rescue the prisoners of a tyrant?

The LORD replies, "That is just what is going to happen. The soldier's prisoners will be taken away, and the tyrant's loot will be seized. I will fight against whoever fights you, and I will rescue your children.

He was arrested and sentenced and led off to die, and no one cared about his fate. He was put to death for the sins of our people.

The LORD says, "It was my will that he should suffer; his death was a sacrifice to bring forgiveness. And so he will see his descendants; he will live a long life, and through him my purpose will succeed.

And so I will give him a place of honor, a place among the great and powerful. He willingly gave his life and shared the fate of evil men. He took the place of many sinners and prayed that they might be forgiven."

"When a strong man, with all his weapons ready, guards his own house, all his belongings are safe.

But when a stronger man attacks him and defeats him, he carries away all the weapons the owner was depending on and divides up what he stole.

He rescued us from the power of darkness and brought us safe into the kingdom of his dear Son,

And then they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the Devil, who had caught them and made them obey his will.

Since the children, as he calls them, are people of flesh and blood, Jesus himself became like them and shared their human nature. He did this so that through his death he might destroy the Devil, who has the power over death,

and in this way set free those who were slaves all their lives because of their fear of death.

Whoever continues to sin belongs to the Devil, because the Devil has sinned from the very beginning. The Son of God appeared for this very reason, to destroy what the Devil had done.

We know that we belong to God even though the whole world is under the rule of the Evil One.

But you are the chosen race, the King's priests, the holy nation, God's own people, chosen to proclaim the wonderful acts of God, who called you out of darkness into his own marvelous light.

He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent---that is, the Devil, or Satan---and chained him up for a thousand years.

The angel threw him into the abyss, locked it, and sealed it, so that he could not deceive the nations any more until the thousand years were over. After that he must be set loose for a little while.

Peter said to them, "Each one of you must turn away from your sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins will be forgiven; and you will receive God's gift, the Holy Spirit.

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that he will forgive your sins. If you do,

God raised him to his right side as Leader and Savior, to give the people of Israel the opportunity to repent and have their sins forgiven.

All the prophets spoke about him, saying that all who believe in him will have their sins forgiven through the power of his name."

All of you, my fellow Israelites, are to know for sure that it is through Jesus that the message about forgiveness of sins is preached to you; you are to know that everyone who believes in him is set free from all the sins from which the Law of Moses could not set you free.

(SEE 13:38)

Happy are those whose sins are forgiven, whose wrongs are pardoned.

Happy is the one whom the LORD does not accuse of doing wrong and who is free from all deceit.

to tell his people that they will be saved by having their sins forgiven.

and in his name the message about repentance and the forgiveness of sins must be preached to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.

This is what David meant when he spoke of the happiness of the person whom God accepts as righteous, apart from anything that person does:

Happy is the person whose sins the Lord will not keep account of !"

or who steal or are greedy or are drunkards or who slander others or are thieves---none of these will possess God's Kingdom.

Some of you were like that. But you have been purified from sin; you have been dedicated to God; you have been put right with God by the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

For by the blood of Christ we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven. How great is the grace of God,

by whom we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven.

But if we confess our sins to God, he will keep his promise and do what is right: he will forgive us our sins and purify us from all our wrongdoing.

I write to you, my children, because your sins are forgiven for the sake of Christ.

"And now I commend you to the care of God and to the message of his grace, which is able to build you up and give you the blessings God has for all his people.

Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings he keeps for his people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for him; for if we share Christ's suffering, we will also share his glory.

All things are done according to God's plan and decision; and God chose us to be his own people in union with Christ because of his own purpose, based on what he had decided from the very beginning.

The Spirit is the guarantee that we shall receive what God has promised his people, and this assures us that God will give complete freedom to those who are his. Let us praise his glory!

(SEE 1:11)

For this reason Christ is the one who arranges a new covenant, so that those who have been called by God may receive the eternal blessings that God has promised. This can be done because there has been a death which sets people free from the wrongs they did while the first covenant was in effect.

Listen, my dear friends! God chose the poor people of this world to be rich in faith and to possess the kingdom which he promised to those who love him.

and so we look forward to possessing the rich blessings that God keeps for his people. He keeps them for you in heaven, where they cannot decay or spoil or fade away.

"And now I commend you to the care of God and to the message of his grace, which is able to build you up and give you the blessings God has for all his people.

Dedicate them to yourself by means of the truth; your word is truth.

To the church of God which is in Corinth, to all who are called to be God's holy people, who belong to him in union with Christ Jesus, together with all people everywhere who worship our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

But God has brought you into union with Christ Jesus, and God has made Christ to be our wisdom. By him we are put right with God; we become God's holy people and are set free.

Some of you were like that. But you have been purified from sin; you have been dedicated to God; you have been put right with God by the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

he saved us. It was not because of any good deeds that we ourselves had done, but because of his own mercy that he saved us, through the Holy Spirit, who gives us new birth and new life by washing us.

God poured out the Holy Spirit abundantly on us through Jesus Christ our Savior,

Because Jesus Christ did what God wanted him to do, we are all purified from sin by the offering that he made of his own body once and for all.

With one sacrifice, then, he has made perfect forever those who are purified from sin.

From Jude, servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James--- To those who have been called by God, who live in the love of God the Father and the protection of Jesus Christ:

But nothing that is impure will enter the city, nor anyone who does shameful things or tells lies. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of the living will enter the city.

He made no difference between us and them; he forgave their sins because they believed.

Jesus answered, "If you only knew what God gives and who it is that is asking you for a drink, you would ask him, and he would give you life-giving water."

but those who drink the water that I will give them will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give them will become in them a spring which will provide them with life-giving water and give them eternal life."

whoever believes in me should drink. As the scripture says, 'Streams of life-giving water will pour out from his side.' "

Jesus said this about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were going to receive. At that time the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not been raised to glory.

Now that we have been put right with God through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

He has brought us by faith into this experience of God's grace, in which we now live. And so we boast of the hope we have of sharing God's glory!

so that it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. This life that I live now, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave his life for me.

Tell me this one thing: did you receive God's Spirit by doing what the Law requires or by hearing the gospel and believing it?

Christ did this in order that the blessing which God promised to Abraham might be given to the Gentiles by means of Christ Jesus, so that through faith we might receive the Spirit promised by God.

For it is by God's grace that you have been saved through faith. It is not the result of your own efforts, but God's gift, so that no one can boast about it.

No one can please God without faith, for whoever comes to God must have faith that God exists and rewards those who seek him.