119 KiB
119 KiB
1 | Reference | ID | Tags | SupportReference | Quote | Occurrence | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2 | 1:1 | prf0 | God | 1 | The term **God** refers to the eternal being who created the universe out of nothing. God exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God’s personal name is ‘Yahweh.’ | ||
3 | 1:1 | qs8q | the beginning | 1 | This refers to the time before anything except God existed. | ||
4 | 1:1 | b70w | created | 1 | This term here means that God made it from nothing. | ||
5 | 1:1 | wcjr | God’s Spirit | 1 | This is the Holy Spirit (See: [24:8](24/8), [42:10](42/10)). | ||
6 | 1:2 | t4c6 | light | 1 | This light was different than the sun. God did not create the sun until the fourth day (See: [1:6](1/6)). | ||
7 | 1:2 | gbtt | good | 1 | Each time God created something, it was good. When he finished creating everything, it was very good (See: [1:15](1/15)). | ||
8 | 1:2 | ymc8 | creation | 1 | This refers to the six-day period when God created everything. | ||
9 | 1:3 | bwkg | sky | 1 | This refers to all the space above the earth including, the air we breathe and the heavens. God did not create the sun, moon, and stars until the fourth day (See: [1:6](1/6)). | ||
10 | 1:6 | josd | the sun, the moon, and the stars | 1 | God created these and placed them in the empty sky that he had created on the second day (See: [1:3](1/3)). | ||
11 | 1:9 | dd0h | us & our & us | 1 | God used plural words to speak about himself. Kings sometimes speak about themselves in that way. However, God the Father may have been speaking to the Son and the Spirit, who are all God. | ||
12 | 1:9 | scg4 | in our image | 1 | People are similar to God in many ways, but they are not equal to him, or the same as he is. | ||
13 | 1:9 | rhyu | like us | 1 | Perhaps God was saying that people are like God in ways that animals are not. | ||
14 | 1:10 | l24m | took some soil, formed it | 1 | When God created all the other things, he simply spoke and they appeared. But God formed the man from the soil. | ||
15 | 1:10 | lbs3 | breathed life into him | 1 | When God breathed into the man, he became alive. | ||
16 | 1:12 | mxvf | Adam’s helper | 1 | None of the animals was similar enough to Adam to be able to help Adam do what God wanted him to do. | ||
17 | 1:13 | fasw | one of Adam’s ribs | 1 | God made the woman from a part of Adam, rather than making her from the soil. | ||
18 | 1:14 | moj1 | At last! | 1 | Adam knew there was no one like him. He had been waiting for her. | ||
19 | 1:14 | ixp8 | like me | 1 | The woman was the same kind of being as Adam, even though she was not exactly the same as he was. | ||
20 | 1:14 | knww | Woman | 1 | This is the feminine form of the word ‘man.’ | ||
21 | 1:15 | dqms | in his own image | 1 | God made people to show some of his qualities, but not to be equal to him. | ||
22 | 1:15 | d20j | very good | 1 | As God made each thing, it was good. But, together, everything he created was very good because it was complete. | ||
23 | 1:16 | lmh5 | the seventh day | 1 | In modern calendars, the seventh day is Saturday. | ||
24 | 1:16 | utf7 | finished all the work that he had been doing | 1 | God finished creating the earth and everything in it. He continues to do other work. | ||
25 | 1:16 | gylo | holy | 1 | God set the seventh day apart from the other days. He did not want people to use it the same way as the other six days of the week. | ||
26 | 2:2 | znkt | a snake | 1 | Some scholars think the snake represents Satan. Other scholars think the snake was a real snake, and that Satan was the one who was speaking through it. | ||
27 | 2:2 | bcdo | Did God really tell you not to eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden? | 1 | The snake asked this question to cause the woman to think about the things that God told her not to do, instead of the things he said she could do. | ||
28 | 2:3 | nf95 | good | 1 | Something is **good** if it fits with God’s character, purposes, and will. Good is the opposite of evil. | ||
29 | 2:3 | nvps | evil | 1 | Something is **evil** if it is opposed to God’s holy character and will. Evil is the opposite of good. | ||
30 | 2:3 | ktg6 | or even touch it | 1 | God told the man and the woman not to eat the fruit of that tree, but he did not tell them not to touch it. | ||
31 | 2:4 | tz4v | That is not true! | 1 | The snake now plainly implied that God was a liar. | ||
32 | 2:4 | n3xb | will understand good and evil like he does | 1 | They already understood **good** from what God had done for them. Now the snake says they will also understand evil. The snake spoke as if this was good for them. Instead, understanding evil would cause them to die. | ||
33 | 2:5 | juar | The woman saw | 1 | The woman decide to eat the fruit because of what she saw, instead of rejecting it because of what God had said. | ||
34 | 2:5 | ib6e | he ate it too | 1 | The man also decided to eat the fruit, even though he knew that God had told him not to do that. | ||
35 | 2:6 | il64 | They tried to cover their bodies | 1 | Before this time, people were not ashamed, and did not have any reason to be ashamed. Their shame began when they disobeyed God. | ||
36 | 2:7 | lkns | Where are you? | 1 | God knew where Adam was. He asked this question to make Adam say that he had disobeyed God. | ||
37 | 2:7 | a65t | They both hid from God | 1 | When people sin, they feel shame. They know that they have done wrong and that God is angry with them. | ||
38 | 2:8 | e9oi | Did you eat the fruit I told you not to eat? | 1 | Adam did not answer the question, but instead blamed the woman. He also meant to blame God who gave the woman to him. | ||
39 | 2:8 | c3jj | What have you done? | 1 | The woman also refused to answer God. Instead, she blamed the snake. | ||
40 | 2:9 | qv6g | You are cursed! | 1 | This means that God will cause bad things to happen to the snake because he deceived the woman. | ||
41 | 2:9 | hlcy | You and the woman will hate each other, and your children and her children will hate each other too. | 1 | People and snakes became enemies at this time, and still hate each other. | ||
42 | 2:9 | vpfe | The woman’s descendant | 1 | Most scholars think this refers to the Messiah who would later rescue people from Satan. | ||
43 | 2:9 | qm19 | will crush your head | 1 | Most scholars think this means the woman’s descendant will fatally wound Satan. | ||
44 | 2:9 | bhxx | will wound his heel | 1 | Most scholars think this means Satan will wound the Messiah. | ||
45 | 2:10 | wsa6 | he will rule over you | 1 | God will punish the woman by giving her husband power over her. | ||
46 | 2:11 | i2c9 | work hard to grow food | 1 | Because the man ate the fruit his wife gave him, God would make it hard for him to grow food to eat. | ||
47 | 2:11 | lliv | your body will return to soil | 1 | Adam was made from soil (See: [1:10](1/10)). When he died, his body would become soil again. | ||
48 | 2:11 | gimp | Eve, which means “life-giver,” | 1 | The name **Eve** sounds like the Hebrew word that means ‘living.’ | ||
49 | 2:11 | zghs | God clothed Adam and Eve with animal skins | 1 | Adam and Eve tried to cover themselves with leaves (See: [2:6](2/6)). God did not accept that. Instead, he covered them with the skins of animals. This is the first instance of animals being sacrificed in order to cover the sins of people. | ||
50 | 2:12 | ii5r | they must not be allowed to eat the fruit of the tree of life and live forever | 1 | Adam and Eve were now sinners and ashamed. God did not want them to live forever in that condition. Therefore, he did not allow them to eat from the tree of life. | ||
51 | 2:12 | e8ka | the tree of life | 1 | This is the same tree God planted in the garden (See: [1:11](1/11)). | ||
52 | 2:12 | ov8o | angels | 1 | An angel is a powerful spirit being whom God created. Angels exist to serve God by doing whatever he tells them to do. | ||
53 | 3:2 | t4fk | God was pleased with Noah | 1 | God was pleased with the way that Noah lived. Therefore, God decided to tell Noah to build a boat to protect him and his family from the flood. | ||
54 | 3:2 | gytc | a righteous man | 1 | The term **righteous** describes a person who obeys God and is morally good. However, because all people have sinned, no one except God is completely righteous. | ||
55 | 3:3 | fjpk | the boat | 1 | The boat needed to be big enough to hold eight people, two of every kind of animal, and food for them to eat for about a year. | ||
56 | 3:6 | ihmv | every kind of animal and bird | 1 | Only the animals and birds who could not live on the water came to Noah. Animals that lived in the sea did not need to come to the boat. | ||
57 | 3:8 | cpew | Everything that lived on the dry land died | 1 | The other people and animals could not enter the boat because God had shut the door before the rain started. | ||
58 | 3:9 | o2wr | the boat rested on the top of a mountain | 1 | The boat was stuck on the top of the mountain that was still under the water. | ||
59 | 3:10 | y5vx | it could not find any | 1 | Perhaps the dove was not able to fly far enough to find dry ground, although the tops of the mountains were visible far away. | ||
60 | 3:11 | mvcu | could not find any dry land | 1 | Perhaps the dry land on the mountain tops were too far away for the dove to fly there. | ||
61 | 3:11 | rlrk | an olive branch | 1 | Plants were beginning to grow in the wet ground. | ||
62 | 3:13 | yfe6 | Two months later | 1 | The land was already dry enough for the dove to live. But it took two more months until there was enough dry land for Noah’s family and all of the animals to be able to leave the boat. | ||
63 | 3:14 | k35t | sacrificed some of each kind of animal | 1 | People offered animals as special gifts to God as a way of worshiping him. They normally killed the animals and then burned them in a fire on an altar. | ||
64 | 3:14 | c442 | each kind of animal that could be used for a sacrifice | 1 | These were seven males and females of these animals in the boat (See: [3:6](3/6)). After Noah sacrificed some of them, there were still enough left to fill the earth again. | ||
65 | 3:16 | fggp | his promise | 1 | This refers to God’s promise not to destroy the earth with a flood again (See: [3:15](3/15)). | ||
66 | 4:1 | sl8g | spreading out over the earth as God had commanded | 1 | God told Noah and his family to spread out over the earth after the flood (See: [3:13](3/13)). | ||
67 | 4:3 | tdiu | spread the people out all over the world | 1 | The people did not stay together because they could no longer speak to each other in the same language. | ||
68 | 4:3 | pn31 | confused | 1 | The people were confused by what other people said. They were confused because God changed their language so they could not understand each other. | ||
69 | 4:4 | p84t | Abram | 1 | God would later change Abram’s name to Abraham. | ||
70 | 4:4 | zlhg | Leave your country and family | 1 | God told Abram to leave his relatives and the place he lived, but not to leave his wife. | ||
71 | 4:4 | a965 | bless you | 1 | To **bless** someone or something means to cause good and beneficial things to happen to the person or thing that is being blessed. | ||
72 | 4:4 | idym | All families on earth will be blessed because of you | 1 | When Abram obeyed God, God used him to bless every people group. | ||
73 | 4:6 | gnak | Canaan | 1 | This is the land that is called ‘Israel’ in modern times. | ||
74 | 4:6 | yr5p | your descendants will always possess it | 1 | God promised to give the land of Canaan to Abram and his descendants in the same way a father gives his land to his children. | ||
75 | 4:7 | jgoa | Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything he had won in the battle | 1 | Abram gave this gift to Melchizedek to honor God. Melchizedek was a representative of God in Canaan. | ||
76 | 4:8 | k3pr | Abram and Sarai still did not have a son | 1 | Abram needed to have a son because God had promised to make him a great nation (See: [4:4](4/4)). God also said he would give the land of Canaan to Abram’s descendants (See: [4:6](4/6)). | ||
77 | 4:8 | rrjn | Sarai | 1 | God would later change Sarai’s name to Sarah. | ||
78 | 4:8 | s239 | God declared that Abram was righteous | 1 | Because Abram believed God, God decided to treat Abram as if he had fully obeyed God in everything he had done. | ||
79 | 4:9 | oqmm | God made a covenant with Abram | 1 | God had already said he would give Canaan to Abram’s descendants (See: [4:6](4/6)). Now God stated the same thing again to Abram as an official promise. | ||
80 | 5:1 | gtxi | I am too old to have children | 1 | Sarai did not believe God could cause her to have a child when she was very old. She decided she should find a way to help God keep his promise. | ||
81 | 5:1 | nqkp | Marry her also | 1 | The custom of that time allowed a man to have more than one wife. | ||
82 | 5:1 | e3vp | have a child for me | 1 | Because Hagar was Sarai’s servant, she did not have the same rights as Sarai. Sarai would treat any children she had as if they were Sarai’s children. | ||
83 | 5:2 | peb0 | Sarai became jealous of Hagar | 1 | Even though Sarai told Abram to take Hagar as his wife, she was jealous that Hagar was able to have a child when Sarai was not able. | ||
84 | 5:3 | yfl4 | I will make a covenant with you | 1 | God had already made this covenant with Abram (See: [4:9](4/9)). Now, God added to that covenant by telling Abram to circumcise the males in his family. | ||
85 | 5:3 | if98 | circumcise every male | 1 | The term **circumcise** means to cut off the foreskin of a man or male child. A circumcision ceremony may be performed in connection with this. | ||
86 | 5:4 | r4yt | the son of promise | 1 | Through Isaac, God would keep his promise to make Abram a great nation and to give the land of Canaan to his descendants. | ||
87 | 5:4 | robh | my covenant will be with Isaac | 1 | God would bless Abram’s son, Ishmael. However, God would cause Abram’s other son, Isaac, and his descendants to receive the blessings of God’s covenant with Abram. | ||
88 | 5:5 | kxf5 | Sarah gave birth to Abraham’s son | 1 | Sarai had been wrong to believe that God could not give her a son when she was very old (See: [5:1](5/1)). | ||
89 | 5:6 | cc5j | God tested Abraham’s faith | 1 | God wanted to show that Abram would obey God in whatever he asked. He did not want Abraham to actually kill Isaac. However, Abraham did not yet know that he would not have to kill Isaac. | ||
90 | 5:7 | lfza | wood for the sacrifice | 1 | Abraham planned to kill Isaac and offer him as a burnt offering. He brought the wood to make the fire. | ||
91 | 5:7 | woum | the lamb | 1 | A lamb was the normal sacrifice to God in that day. | ||
92 | 5:8 | dc50 | He was about to kill his son | 1 | Abraham showed that he was willing even to kill Isaac if God told him to do that. | ||
93 | 5:8 | pot4 | Stop! Do not hurt the boy! | 1 | God did not want Abraham to kill Isaac. He only told Abraham to do that so that he could test Abraham’s faith (See: [5:6](5/6)). | ||
94 | 5:9 | flr7 | a ram that was stuck in a bush | 1 | God provided this ram. It would be very unusual for a ram to be stuck in a bush. | ||
95 | 5:10 | w5k1 | all the families of the world | 1 | This refers to the other people groups who are not descendants of Abraham. | ||
96 | 5:10 | m8up | your family | 1 | This refers to the Jews, because they are the descendants of Abraham. | ||
97 | 6:1 | wu6d | a wife for his son | 1 | The people of Canaan did not worship God. Therefore, Abraham did not want Isaac to marry a woman from Canaan. Instead, he sent his servant to bring a wife for Isaac from Abraham’s relatives where Abraham lived before coming to Canaan. | ||
98 | 6:3 | t61e | Rebekah agreed to leave her family | 1 | Although parents arranged marriages in that day, they apparently asked Rebekah if she was willing to go to Canaan and marry Isaac. | ||
99 | 6:4 | z79o | God then blessed Abraham’s son Isaac | 1 | God chose to give to Isaac and his descendants the things he promised in his covenant with Abraham (See: [5:4](5/4)). Ishmael did not receive those blessings, even though he was a son of Abraham. | ||
100 | 6:6 | dm6k | Their descendants will become two different nations | 1 | The descendants of Jacob, the younger son, were the Israelites. The descendants of Esau, the older son, were the Edomites. The Israelites and the Edomites often fought against each other, but the Israelites would eventually become stronger than the Edomites. | ||
101 | 6:7 | w7ik | they named him Jacob | 1 | The name, **Jacob** means “the one who grabs the heel.” They named him Jacob because he was holding Esau’s heel when he was born. | ||
102 | 7:2 | xrqy | everything you should receive because you were born first | 1 | The older son always inherited twice as much of his father’s possessions as the younger son. These things belonged to Esau, but Jacob wanted Esau to trade them to him for food. | ||
103 | 7:3 | prrx | give his blessing | 1 | Isaac loved Esau more than he loved Jacob. Therefore, before he died, Isaac wanted to formally ask God to bless and provide for Esau more than for Jacob. Isaac was following the normal custom of giving the best blessing to the oldest son. | ||
104 | 7:5 | mfdi | had stolen his rights as oldest son | 1 | Jacob did not steal Esau’s rights as the older son. Esau traded them to Jacob for food (See: [7:2](7/2)). But Esau hated Jacob as if Jacob had stolen what belonged to him. | ||
105 | 7:6 | ciq5 | far away to live with her relatives | 1 | Rebekah’s relatives were Abram’s family. They lived in the land that Abram left when he came to Canaan (See: [4:4](4/4), [6:1](6/1), [6:2](6/2)). | ||
106 | 7:10 | rwv5 | The covenant promises God had made to Abraham now passed on from Isaac to Jacob | 1 | The descendants of Jacob would receive the land and blessings that God promised to Abraham and Isaac (See: [5:3](5/3), [6:4](6/4)). Esau did not receive those blessings even though he was a son of Isaac. | ||
107 | 8:1 | fo4x | his favorite son, Joseph | 1 | Jacob had four wives and 12 sons. Joseph was the son of Rachel, whom Jacob loved more than his other wives. Therefore, Jacob loved Joseph more than his other sons. | ||
108 | 8:1 | akkj | taking care of the flocks | 1 | People at that time allowed their animals to go wherever they could find grass to eat. Someone traveled along with the animals to protect them. | ||
109 | 8:2 | x9r6 | slave traders | 1 | Slave traders bought people to be used as slaves. They then sold them to other people for a profit. They often traveled very far to buy and sell slaves. | ||
110 | 8:3 | cn53 | dipped it in goat’s blood | 1 | Joseph’s brothers wanted their father to think the blood on the robe was Joseph’s blood. | ||
111 | 8:5 | qhe1 | She became angry | 1 | The wife of the government official who bought Joseph was angry that Joseph would not sleep with her. She lied about Joseph to her husband so he would be angry with Joseph and put him in prison. | ||
112 | 8:6 | tmaj | the meaning of the dreams | 1 | The Egyptians believed that God spoke to the Pharaoh through his dreams. Pharaoh’s advisors normally helped him understand what his dreams meant. | ||
113 | 8:8 | fmmz | Pharaoh was so impressed with Joseph | 1 | Pharaoh was impressed with Joseph because Joseph was the only person who was able to to tell Pharaoh what God was saying through Pharaoh’s dreams. | ||
114 | 8:10 | ajoa | The famine | 1 | The famine began seven years later, after the seven years of good harvests (See: [8:7](8/7)). | ||
115 | 8:11 | m2qw | The brothers did not recognize Joseph | 1 | The brothers came to Egypt at least ten years after they sold Joseph into slavery. They did not recognize Joseph because he was ten years older and was dressed as an Egyptian official. | ||
116 | 8:12 | y080 | if they had changed | 1 | Joseph’s brothers did evil when they sold him as a slave (See: [8:2](8/2)). He now wanted to know if his brothers would still treat people badly. | ||
117 | 8:12 | lrz7 | God used the evil for good | 1 | Joseph was willing to forgive his brothers because he believed that God had caused their evil action to result in a good thing. By going to Egypt as a slave, Joseph gained the power to save his whole family from the famine. | ||
118 | 8:13 | kfw4 | Joseph’s brothers returned home | 1 | The brothers returned home in order to bring their father and their families from Canaan to Egypt so they would survive the famine. | ||
119 | 8:15 | rqmr | The covenant promises that God gave to Abraham were passed on to Isaac, then to Jacob, and then to Jacob’s 12 sons and their families | 1 | All the descendants of Jacob would receive the land and blessings that God promised to Abraham and Isaac (See: [5:3](5/3), [6:4](6/4), [7:10](7/10)). | ||
120 | 8:15 | u2ux | the 12 tribes of Israel | 1 | God changed Jacob’s name to Israel. Therefore, the descendants of his 12 sons were called the 12 tribes of Israel. | ||
121 | 9:1 | x4l7 | the Israelites | 1 | God changed Jacob’s name to Israel. Therefore, Jacob’s descendants were called the Israelites. | ||
122 | 9:2 | y3pa | Joseph had done so much to help them | 1 | Joseph warned the Egyptians about the famine so they could store up grain in advance (See: [8:8](8/8)). In this way, he saved the Egyptians. | ||
123 | 9:3 | pelq | God blessed them | 1 | The Egyptians made the Israelites slaves so they would become weaker. But God blessed the Israelites so they became stronger instead. | ||
124 | 9:7 | l69h | she took him as her own son | 1 | Pharaoh’s daughter treated Moses as if he were her own Egyptian son. For that reason, the Egyptians did not kill him as they killed the other Israelite baby boys (See: [9:4](9/4)). | ||
125 | 9:9 | py1u | buried his body | 1 | Moses buried the Egyptian’s body to hide it. Moses did not want anyone to know that he had killed an Egyptian. | ||
126 | 9:10 | slz7 | He tried to kill him | 1 | Pharaoh realized that Moses was helping the Israelites and was against the Egyptians. That is why he wanted to kill Moses. | ||
127 | 9:10 | maeh | the wilderness | 1 | The wilderness where Moses fled was a desert area that was east of Egypt. This area today is called the Sinai. | ||
128 | 9:12 | jx9c | take off your shoes | 1 | God told Moses to take off his shoes to show his respect for God. The ground around the burning bush was a special place because God was there. | ||
129 | 9:12 | gyis | holy ground | 1 | The term **holy** refers to the character of God. He is totally set apart and separated from everything that is sinful and imperfect. The place where Moses stood was also set apart for God. | ||
130 | 9:13 | nzso | my people | 1 | God said the descendants of Abraham were his people. God wanted to say that the Israelites were special to him. He would treat them better than other people because Abraham honored him (See: [5:10](5/10)). | ||
131 | 9:13 | flo2 | I will give them the land of Canaan | 1 | God was going to keep his promise to give the land of Canaan to Abraham’s descendants, even though they were slaves at that time (See: [8:15](8/15), [9:2](9/2)). | ||
132 | 9:14 | vyox | I AM WHO I AM | 1 | God wanted to say that he has always existed as God, and was not created by anyone else. | ||
133 | 9:14 | i7fi | Yahweh | 1 | This is the name that God has chosen for himself. Hebrew was originally written without vowels, so the letters written for this name were YHWH, which would be spoken as **Yahweh**. | ||
134 | 9:15 | jlo8 | did not want to go to Pharaoh | 1 | Moses knew that Pharaoh wanted to kill him (See: [9:10](9/10)). | ||
135 | 9:15 | c1or | he thought he could not speak well | 1 | Moses said this was why he did not want to go to Pharaoh, but the real reason was that Moses was afraid of Pharaoh. | ||
136 | 10:1 | oiuh | the God of Israel | 1 | Pharaoh may have thought that this **God of Israel** only ruled over the Israelites. He did not yet understand that the God who ruled over Israel also ruled over the entire world. | ||
137 | 10:1 | dgz4 | Let my people go! | 1 | God told Moses to bring the Israelites out of Egypt (See: [9:13](9/13)). | ||
138 | 10:1 | izv3 | Pharaoh did not listen to them | 1 | Pharaoh heard what Moses and Aaron said, but did not do what they told him to do. | ||
139 | 10:1 | cav9 | he forced them to work even harder | 1 | Pharaoh was angry that the Israelites wanted to leave Egypt. He made them work harder as a way to punish them for that desire. | ||
140 | 10:2 | hdd6 | ten terrible plagues | 1 | Plagues are events which cause suffering or death to a large number of people. Often a plague is a disease that spreads quickly and causes many people to die before it can be stopped. | ||
141 | 10:2 | pcav | he is more powerful than Pharaoh and all of Egypt’s gods | 1 | Pharaoh asked the false gods of Egypt to stop the plagues, but the plagues continued. This proved to Pharaoh and the Egyptians that the God of Israel also ruled over Egypt. | ||
142 | 10:4 | g9sr | Pharaoh hardened his heart | 1 | Pharaoh became stubborn and decided not to believe and obey God. Pharaoh did this after most of the plagues. | ||
143 | 10:7 | r1aa | but not on the Israelites | 1 | God caused the sores to affect only the Egyptians in order to show that he was against the Egyptians, but not against the Israelites. | ||
144 | 10:8 | oqod | hail | 1 | Hail is chunks of ice that fall from the sky. These chunks are often large enough to destroy plants, and can even kill people or animals. | ||
145 | 10:8 | xc7l | I have sinned | 1 | Pharaoh finally realized that he had disobeyed God and that the plagues were God’s punishment for not letting the Israelites leave Egypt. | ||
146 | 10:11 | lmnj | there was light where the Israelites lived | 1 | This was not a normal darkness. The parts of Egypt where the Egyptians lived was completely dark even during the daytime. But the places in Egypt where the Israelites lived had sunshine in the daytime as they normally did. | ||
147 | 10:12 | qmqm | one last plague | 1 | This final plague would be much worse than the previous ones. It would be so terrible that it would force Pharaoh to finally agree to let the Israelites leave Egypt. | ||
148 | 11:2 | r9j1 | Each family | 1 | Every Egyptian and Israelite family had to select and kill a lamb in the way that God told them to do it. If any family obeyed and did this, God would not kill their firstborn son. | ||
149 | 11:3 | d2qn | to put the blood of this lamb around the door of their houses | 1 | The Israelites put the blood on the frame of the door of their houses to show that they had killed the lamb just as God told them to do. | ||
150 | 11:3 | b7dk | unleavened bread | 1 | Unleavened bread is bread that is prepared without yeast. People can make unleavened bread very quickly because they do not need to wait for the dough to rise before they bake it. The unleavened bread shows that this meal was urgent and the people needed to do it quickly. | ||
151 | 11:5 | vdye | God passed over those houses | 1 | God did not enter into the houses with blood on the doors to kill the firstborn sons in those houses. | ||
152 | 11:5 | s7nw | passed over | 1 | God later told the Israelites to remember this day in a festival called the Passover. In this way, they would always remember that he passed over their houses on that day and did not kill their firstborn sons. | ||
153 | 11:6 | d4t3 | did not believe God or obey his commands | 1 | The Egyptians did not believe God would kill their firstborn sons, and therefore did not obey his commands to kill a lamb and put its blood around their doors. | ||
154 | 11:8 | mdl9 | leave Egypt immediately | 1 | God had promised that he would send one last plague to Pharaoh to let the Israelites leave Egypt (See: [4:9](4/9)). After God killed every firstborn son of the Egyptians in this final, terrible plague, Pharaoh and all the Egyptians urged the Israelites to leave Egypt. | ||
155 | 12:1 | tk6l | the Promised Land | 1 | God had promised Abraham to give the land of Canaan to Abraham’s descendants. The Israelites were finally going there to possess that land. | ||
156 | 12:1 | jril | The Egyptians gave the Israelites whatever they asked for | 1 | The Egyptian had suffered greatly during the plagues. They very much wanted the Israelites to leave Egypt and the plagues to stop. Therefore, they gave the Israelites anything they asked for in order to encourage them to leave Egypt quickly. | ||
157 | 12:1 | rnfz | Some people from other nations believed in God | 1 | God chose the descendants of Abraham for his own people, but he was always willing to accept people from other nations if they would believe in him and obey him. | ||
158 | 12:2 | t6fn | A tall pillar | 1 | The people could not see God, but they could see the pillar and know that he was going before them as they traveled from Egypt to the Promised Land. | ||
159 | 12:3 | mdvh | It was God who made them change their minds | 1 | Pharaoh and the Egyptians had already learned that God was powerful. However, God also wanted the other nations to know that he is the only God who rules the earth. Therefore, God caused Pharaoh to chase after the Israelites so that God could destroy the Egyptian army. This would show the other nations how powerful God is. | ||
160 | 12:4 | hmxv | they were trapped between Pharaoh’s army and the Red Sea | 1 | God had led the Israelites to the shore of the Red Sea without a way to cross the deep water of the sea. God also allowed the Egyptians to catch up with the Israelites there. He did this so that he could show the Israelites the he could protect them even in that hopeless situation. | ||
161 | 12:4 | m7lw | We are going to die! | 1 | The Israelites thought they would either be killed by the Egyptian army or would go into the sea and drown. | ||
162 | 12:6 | v0ty | The Egyptians were not able to come near the Israelites all night | 1 | The Egyptians were not able to go through the pillar. In this way, God protected the Israelites from the Egyptians. | ||
163 | 12:8 | nc8i | on dry ground | 1 | God not only moved the water away from the path of the Israelites, but also dried up the ground at the bottom of the sea so they could walk on it. | ||
164 | 12:10 | hukp | caused their chariots to get stuck | 1 | God made the ground at the bottom of the sea to be dry for the Israelites. But when the Egyptians followed them, God caused the bottom of the sea to become muddy again so the heavy chariots of the Egyptian became stuck in it and could not move. | ||
165 | 12:10 | e6xt | Run away! | 1 | The Egyptians realized they were in danger, and tried to escape from the path through the sea. | ||
166 | 12:11 | fwv8 | the water fell on the Egyptian army | 1 | The Red Sea is very wide. The Egyptians had followed the Israelites too far into the sea and were not able to escape before the water closed back over them and they drowned. | ||
167 | 12:12 | i4dh | They believed that Moses was a prophet of God | 1 | God had told Moses to stretch out his arm over the sea when God made a path through it, and when he closed the water again over the Egyptians. In this way, God showed the Israelites that he was speaking to them through Moses. | ||
168 | 12:12 | zlhj | a prophet of God | 1 | A prophet is a person through whom God speaks to the people. | ||
169 | 12:14 | axom | the Passover | 1 | The festival was called the Passover because God “passed over” the houses of the Israelites that had the blood of a lamb around their doors. He did not enter into those houses to kill their firstborn sons. God told the Israelites to celebrate this festival every year so they would remember how he had save them. | ||
170 | 12:14 | iujm | bread made without yeast | 1 | **Yeast** is a specific kind of leaven. **Yeast** is a general term for a substance that causes bread dough to expand and rise. | ||
171 | 13:1 | qjxj | a mountain called Sinai | 1 | Mount Sinai is a mountain that was probably located in the southern part of what is now called the Sinai Peninsula. It was also known as ‘Mount Horeb.’ | ||
172 | 13:1 | or90 | where Moses had seen the burning bush | 1 | God spoke to Moses from a bush that was on fire, but did not burn up (See: [9:12](9/12)). | ||
173 | 13:1 | yjqn | set up their tents | 1 | The Israelites had to travel a great distance from Egypt to the Promised Land. So they took tents with them so that they could set them up as shelters and sleep in them along the way. | ||
174 | 13:2 | q472 | the covenant I am making with you | 1 | God was going to make a new covenant with the Israelites (See: [13:4](13/4)). | ||
175 | 13:2 | x8q9 | my prized possession | 1 | The Israelites would belong to God and he would value them more than any other people group. | ||
176 | 13:2 | s7eb | a kingdom of priests | 1 | The Israelites were supposed to teach the other nations about God and be a mediator between God and the nations just as there were priests in the nation of Israel to go between God and the Israelites. | ||
177 | 13:3 | huli | the people made themselves ready | 1 | The Israelites did three days of ceremonial cleansing in preparation to meet with God. | ||
178 | 13:4 | d7nj | God made a covenant with the people | 1 | This was a new covenant between God and the Israelites. This covenant told the Israelites how they should worship God. This covenant was in addition to the covenant that God made with Abraham, the ancestor of the Israelites (See: [4:9](4/9)). | ||
179 | 13:5 | wgm9 | the Sabbath day | 1 | The Sabbath day was the seventh day of the week. This is Saturday in a modern calendar. God had said that the Sabbath should be holy because that was the day that he finished creating the earth and everything in it (See: [1:16](1/16)). | ||
180 | 13:5 | g8vw | a day for you to rest and to remember me | 1 | The two reasons for the Sabbath were for people to rest from their work and to think about God and what he had done for them. | ||
181 | 13:8 | w53o | the Tent of Meeting | 1 | The **Tent of Meeting** was called by that name because it was the place where God would come to meet with Moses or the high priest of the Israelites. | ||
182 | 13:8 | rcnc | God would come into the room behind the curtain | 1 | God is spirit and is everywhere, all the time. However, he appeared to Moses in a special way in the Tent of Meeting. | ||
183 | 13:8 | bdzj | the high priest | 1 | The term **high priest** refers to a special priest who was appointed to serve for one year as the leader of all the other Israelite priests. | ||
184 | 13:9 | aqtz | disobeyed God’s law | 1 | This refers to all of the laws that God gave to the Israelites—not only to the Ten Commandments. | ||
185 | 13:9 | ev0r | the animal’s blood would cover that person’s sin | 1 | The sin of the person would still exist, but the blood would cover it. This is like hiding something that is ugly or dirty by covering it. | ||
186 | 13:9 | zuav | God would not see that sin any longer | 1 | This does not mean that God was not able to see the person’s sin. Rather, it means that God would choose not to look at the person’s sin. Because that person had offered the sacrifice, God would not punish them for that sin. In this way, they would be clean. | ||
187 | 13:10 | hqga | these Ten Commandments | 1 | The Ten Commandments were main commands that God gave to Moses for the Israelites to obey. They are listed in [13:5](13/5) and [13:6](13/6). | ||
188 | 13:10 | tgvw | two stone tablets | 1 | The stone tablets were two flat pieces of stone on which God wrote the Ten Commandments. | ||
189 | 13:12 | bsex | to wildly worship the idol | 1 | The people were sinning by worshiping the idol and also by doing sinful things as they worshiped it. | ||
190 | 13:12 | s1rg | God was very angry with them | 1 | God knew what the people had done and told Moses about it while Moses was still the mountain with God. Moses prayed for the people before he came down from the mountain. | ||
191 | 13:13 | u07u | he smashed the tablets | 1 | Moses threw the stone tablets down on the ground and they broke into little pieces. Moses did that to show that the Israelites had broken the Ten Commandments that God had written on the tablets. | ||
192 | 13:14 | anpy | Moses burned the idol and ground it into powder | 1 | Moses was so angry that they had made the idol that he ground it into fine particles. | ||
193 | 13:14 | ny4d | made the people drink the water | 1 | Moses made the people drink the water with the particles of the idol in it as a symbol that they were guilty for making that idol. | ||
194 | 13:14 | qgq0 | God sent a plague on the people | 1 | God sent ten plagues on the Egyptians to force Pharaoh to set the people free from being slaves in Egypt. But now, the Israelites sinned so terribly that God sent a plague on them to punish them. | ||
195 | 14:1 | a1h0 | all the laws | 1 | These laws included many more commands in addition to the Ten Commandments. (See: [13:7](13/7)). | ||
196 | 14:1 | t8xp | the pillar of cloud | 1 | This was the same pillar of cloud which led the Israelites out of Egypt. (See: [12:2](12/2)). | ||
197 | 14:2 | syaj | God had promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would give the Promised Land to their descendants | 1 | God made this promise to Abraham (See: [4:6](4/6)). That promise was later passed on to Isaac and Jacob. | ||
198 | 14:3 | d8rw | you will end up worshiping their idols | 1 | God wanted the Israelites to be completely separate from the other people groups who worshiped idols. Otherwise, the Israelites might also start worshiping the false gods of the Canaanites. | ||
199 | 14:4 | om5f | to see if they were strong or weak | 1 | Moses wanted to know how difficult it would be to defeat the Canaanites and to take their land. He also wanted to know the best way to attack the Canaanites. | ||
200 | 14:6 | hk6r | Caleb and Joshua, the other two spies | 1 | Moses sent 12 men to spy on the Canaanites. Ten of those men said the Israelites could not defeat them. Only Caleb and Joshua believed that God was powerful enough to help them defeat the Canaanites. The 12 men saw the same things, but Caleb and Joshua were not afraid as the other ten men were. | ||
201 | 14:6 | osa3 | God will fight for us! | 1 | Caleb and Joshua knew that the Israelites alone could not defeat the Canaanites, but with God's help, they could win against them. | ||
202 | 14:8 | gqax | you will have to wander in the wilderness | 1 | God would lead the people around in the wilderness with no specific destination until all of the adults who rebelled against him died. | ||
203 | 14:8 | nx24 | Everyone who is 20 years or older will die | 1 | God would allow only the children to enter the Promised Land after their parents had died. | ||
204 | 14:10 | qlpt | they would wander through the wilderness | 1 | They lived in the wilderness, and together they moved from place to place in that large, dry land, looking for food and water for themselves and their animals. | ||
205 | 14:11 | oeu5 | bread from heaven, called manna | 1 | Overnight, this thin, bread-like food fell onto the grass like dew from the sky. They called it **manna**. Almost every day the people gathered this manna and cooked it as their food. | ||
206 | 14:11 | o7ez | their camp | 1 | The place where the Israelites set up their tents to sleep in was called a **camp**. It was like a city with tents instead of buildings, and it could be moved around. | ||
207 | 14:12 | m0ht | the people of Israel complained and grumbled against God and against Moses | 1 | The people had refused to go into the Promised Land. Now they continued to complain against God and Moses until they died in the wilderness. | ||
208 | 14:12 | o25v | God was still faithful | 1 | Even though all of the adult Israelites disobeyed God and complained against him, God did not forget his promise to Abraham. He continued to take care of the people in the wilderness so that he could lead their children into the Promised Land. | ||
209 | 14:13 | q4aa | he dishonored God | 1 | God had a specific way He wanted Moses to show the people God’s power to provide for them. When Moses disobeyed God by doing it in a different way, he showed a lack of respect for God. Because of that, Moses would die before the Israelites would enter the Promised Land. | ||
210 | 14:14 | e4ud | all of those who had rebelled against God | 1 | The people who died were the ones who were over 20 years old at the time when they rebelled (See: [14:8](14/8)). Their children lived and entered the Promised Land. | ||
211 | 14:14 | an6p | another prophet like Moses | 1 | Like Moses, this man would be an Israelite, he would speak God’s words to the people, and he would lead the people. | ||
212 | 14:15 | sgea | he could see the Promised Land | 1 | The mountain was just across the Jordan River from Canaan. Moses was able to see the land from that high place. | ||
213 | 14:15 | c5jb | Joshua became their new leader | 1 | This was the same Joshua who was one of the 12 who spied on the land when Israel first arrived at Canaan (See: [14:6](14/6)). Joshua and Caleb wanted the people to go into the land at that time. Because they trusted God, he said they would enter the land after the other people died (See: [14:8](14/8)). | ||
214 | 15:1 | ilje | Joshua sent two spies to that city | 1 | Joseph sent the spies to find out information about the city so the Israelites could attack it. | ||
215 | 15:2 | cwyf | the Jordan River | 1 | The Jordan River is a river that flows from north to south, and forms the eastern boundary of the land that was called Canaan. It flows through the Sea of Galilee and then empties into the Dead Sea. | ||
216 | 15:2 | kzm6 | on dry ground | 1 | God not only stopped the river from flowing, but also dried up the ground on the bottom of the river so the people could walk across it easily. | ||
217 | 15:5 | d0lv | the walls around Jericho fell down | 1 | The walls around Jericho were made of stone and were very strong. They did not fall down on their own. God caused them to fall down when the Israelites shouted and blew the trumpets as he told them to do. | ||
218 | 15:6 | abt7 | Joshua and the other leaders of the Israelites did not ask God what they should do. | 1 | Joshua and the other leaders acted very foolishly. The peace treaty was a very important decision. They should have asked God what to do, but they did not think they needed to do that. | ||
219 | 15:7 | ox95 | they combined their armies into one large army and attacked Gibeon | 1 | The Amorites were angry with the Gibeonites because they made a peace treaty with the Israelites instead of helping the Amorites to fight against them. They may also have been afraid that the Gibeonites would help Israel fight against the Amorites. Therefore, they decided to destroy the Gibeonites. | ||
220 | 15:9 | ajv5 | he sent large hailstones that killed many of the Amorites | 1 | The hailstones were large balls of ice that fell from the sky. God also killed many Egyptians with hail during one of the plagues in Egypt (See: [10:10](10/10)). | ||
221 | 15:10 | ndm0 | caused the sun to stay in one place in the sky | 1 | God caused the sun to stay in one place in order to make the day longer. That gave the Israelites more time to defeat the Amorites before nighttime when they might escape in the dark. | ||
222 | 15:13 | lh9v | Joshua was an old man | 1 | Joshua was over 100 years old when the Israelites finished taking control of the land. | ||
223 | 15:13 | jhz8 | the covenant | 1 | This was the covenant that God made with the Israelites through Moses after they left Egypt (See: [13:4](13/4)). | ||
224 | 16:1 | ppy2 | After Joshua died, the Israelites disobeyed God | 1 | Joshua led the people well, so they obeyed God as Joshua did until he died. But when he was no longer alive to lead them, they began to disobey God. | ||
225 | 16:1 | yj19 | they did not drive out the rest of the Canaanites | 1 | While Joshua was alive, the Israelites defeated all the large Canaanite armies. However, many Canaanite people and cities remained in the land. The Israelites did not finish driving them out of the Promised Land. | ||
226 | 16:1 | sjse | The Israelites began to worship the Canaanite gods | 1 | Before the Israelites came to the Promised Land, God had warned them that they would begin to worship false gods if they did not drive out the Canaanites (See: [14:3](14/3)). | ||
227 | 16:1 | uegj | everyone did what they thought was right for themselves | 1 | The people did what they thought was right, instead of doing what God told them was right. Unfortunately, many of the things that they wanted to do were actually sinful. | ||
228 | 16:2 | kofg | a pattern that repeated many times | 1 | Each time the Israelites asked God to help them, he rescued them from their enemies. But their children would not remember that God had saved their parents. So they would sin against God just as their parents had done. This same thing happened with every generation. | ||
229 | 16:3 | w4tc | a deliverer | 1 | God sent many of these deliverers. After each one defeated Israel’s enemies, the deliverer ruled over Israel until they died. | ||
230 | 16:5 | pgjy | threshing grain | 1 | The grain was wheat, which has a head of many small grains, or seeds, on the top of a thin stalk. **Grain** is separating the seeds of the plant from the stalks by beating the heads of grain. The seeds are food, but the stalks are not. | ||
231 | 16:5 | o6ew | in a hidden place | 1 | People normally thresh grain on a high, open place where the wind can blow away the chaff of the wheat that people cannot eat. However, Gideon was so afraid of the Midiantes that he was in a secluded place where it would be difficult to separate out the grain. | ||
232 | 16:6 | b4mb | Gideon’s father had an altar dedicated to an idol | 1 | Gideon’s own father worshiped false gods rather than Yahweh, the true God. | ||
233 | 16:6 | u1au | The first thing God told Gideon to do was to tear down that altar | 1 | God would not help Gideon rescue Israel until he destroyed the altar of the idol that his family worshiped. | ||
234 | 16:6 | rscb | Gideon was afraid of the people | 1 | The Israelites who lived around Gideon also worshiped idols. Gideon was afraid that they would be angry with him if he destroyed the altar where his father worshiped idols. | ||
235 | 16:6 | whe8 | he waited until nighttime | 1 | Because Gideon was afraid of the people, he tore the altar down at night when no one would see him do it and try to stop him. | ||
236 | 16:6 | x47a | He built a new altar to God | 1 | Gideon not only destroyed his father’s altar so he could not worship the false gods, but he also built an altar to God and worshiped God by sacrificing an animal on it. | ||
237 | 16:8 | uatk | came again to steal from the Israelites | 1 | The Midianites would come to Israel at harvest time when there would be a lot of food for them to steal. | ||
238 | 16:9 | gwz2 | a sheepskin | 1 | This is the skin of a sheep that has all of the wool on it. Wool is a very thick and curly hair that would hold a lot of water. | ||
239 | 16:9 | zer3 | the ground be wet but the sheepskin dry | 1 | Gideon did not yet trust God enough to believe the first sign. So he asked God to do the opposite thing—make the ground wet instead of the skin, and the skin dry instead of the ground. He wanted to be sure that the first sign did not happen by itself. | ||
240 | 16:10 | u5sq | God told him this was too many | 1 | This was more soldiers than God wanted for this fight. If that many soldiers fought and won, they would think that they won the battle with their own strength, and they would not know that God did it. | ||
241 | 16:10 | e315 | 300 soldiers | 1 | The Midianite army was **so many of them that they could not be counted** (See: [16:8](16/8)). God planned to cause Gideon to defeat all of them with only 300 soldiers. | ||
242 | 16:11 | u67p | you will no longer be afraid to attack them | 1 | Even after God gave Gideon the two miraculous signs, he was still afraid of the Midianites. | ||
243 | 16:11 | egb7 | Gideon went down to the camp | 1 | Gideon secretly went down near the enemy camp in the dark. He found a place where he could hear them, but they could not see him. | ||
244 | 16:11 | jm5o | something he had dreamed | 1 | God had caused one of the Midianites to have a strange dream. He also caused another Midianite soldier to understand that the dream meant that Gideon would defeat them. God did this so that Gideon would hear them and trust God enough to attack the Midianites. | ||
245 | 16:13 | d6ya | A sword for Yahweh and for Gideon! | 1 | This was the battle cry of Gideon’s soldiers. This means: ‘We fight for Yahweh and for Gideon!’ They yelled this out to encourage themselves, and to scare the Midianites. | ||
246 | 16:14 | ghrp | they started attacking and killing each other | 1 | The Midianites wanted to attack the Israelites, but because God caused them to be confused, they attacked each other instead. | ||
247 | 16:14 | ad0x | many other Israelites | 1 | This refers to the other Israelite soldiers that Gideon previously sent home (See: [16:10](16/10)). | ||
248 | 16:15 | fua2 | wanted to make Gideon their king | 1 | The Israelites had not yet had a king. Instead, God was their king. Gideon knew that they should not have a human king. | ||
249 | 16:15 | hppj | a large amount of gold | 1 | Even though each person gave Gideon only a small piece of gold, there were so many Israelites that the total amount of gold was very large. | ||
250 | 16:16 | dqmv | the people started worshiping it as if it were an idol | 1 | Gideon made the garment to honor God, but it became a problem for him. He and the people soon began to worship the garment as an idol. In this way, the Israelites followed the same pattern as before. They worshiped idols instead of God, and God, therefore, allowed their enemies to defeat them. | ||
251 | 16:18 | ztm2 | a king like all the other nations had | 1 | Other nations had a king. Israel wanted to be like them and have a king too. | ||
252 | 16:18 | h5bg | God did not like this request | 1 | God knew that they were rejecting him as their ruler and were choosing to follow a human leader instead. | ||
253 | 17:1 | ny1d | would one day be king in his place | 1 | God did not immediately remove Saul from being king. Instead, he allowed Saul to continue to rule for several more years while God prepared a man to replace him as king. | ||
254 | 17:3 | ce5l | a giant named Goliath | 1 | The word **giant** here describes a person who is unusually tall and powerful. Goliath was a huge soldier in an army that was fighting against Israel. | ||
255 | 17:3 | l627 | he led Israel’s army | 1 | David led the army, but Saul was still the king of Israel at this time. | ||
256 | 17:4 | a55m | David shouted to him to look at the cloth he was holding | 1 | David cut off the piece of Saul’s clothing to show Saul that David was close enough to kill Saul, but did not do it. In this way, David wanted to prove to Saul that he, David, was not trying to kill him. | ||
257 | 17:4 | l7lj | David refused to kill him | 1 | David would not dishonor God by killing Saul, whom God had placed as king over Israel. Instead, he waited until God was ready to make David king. | ||
258 | 17:6 | wfbf | to build a temple | 1 | David wanted to construct a permanent building for worshiping God that would replace the portable Tent of Meeting (See: [13:8](13/8)). | ||
259 | 17:7 | bbai | The only descendant of David who could rule forever was the Messiah | 1 | All of the normal descendants of David eventually died. The Messiah, however, would live forever and continue to rule. | ||
260 | 17:7 | ojjb | the Messiah | 1 | The term **Messiah** means ‘Anointed One.’ It refers to the person that God would send to save his people and to rule over his kingdom forever. In the New Testament, **Messiah** is translated as ‘Christ.’ | ||
261 | 17:10 | a9s1 | saw a beautiful woman bathing | 1 | Bathsheba may have been bathing at her own house, but David’s palace was very high and he was able to see over walls that were lower. | ||
262 | 17:11 | asi7 | He slept with her | 1 | This is a polite way to say that David had sexual relations with Bathsheba. David was married and so was Bathsheba. Therefore, when he slept with her, he not only sinned against God, but also against his wives and her husband. | ||
263 | 17:12 | qa57 | He was one of David’s best soldiers | 1 | David knew Uriah well, because he was one of the best soldiers in Israel. For that reason, it was especially evil that David slept with Uriah’s wife. | ||
264 | 17:12 | l0g1 | told him to go be with his wife | 1 | This could mean ‘go home to be intimate with his wife.’ David wanted people, especially Uriah, to believe that Bathsheba was pregnant with Uriah’s child. | ||
265 | 17:12 | ux57 | so that he would be killed | 1 | When David told his general to place Uriah where the enemies would kill him, David became guilty of murdering Uriah. | ||
266 | 17:14 | uxpm | God punished David | 1 | When David repented about sleeping with Bathsheba and murdering Uriah, God forgave him and was no longer angry with him. However, God still needed to punish David so that the Israelites would know that they should not disobey God. Therefore, God caused David’s baby to die, and also caused David’s children to fight against him and against each other. | ||
267 | 18:2 | ibbv | was present in the Temple | 1 | This could mean ‘was present in the Temple in a special way.’ Even though God was also present everywhere else at the same time, he made himself especially available to the people at the Temple. | ||
268 | 18:3 | kyge | brought their gods with them | 1 | His wives brought their idols and their methods of worshiping idols with them to Israel. As a result, Solomon himself also began to worship those idols. | ||
269 | 18:4 | kzbx | because of this | 1 | God was angry with Solomon for worshiping idols. | ||
270 | 18:6 | w0p3 | I will make you suffer worse | 1 | Rehoboah was a very selfish person. The people asked him to treat them better than Solomon treated them, but he said he would treat them even worse. | ||
271 | 18:7 | r39y | tribes | 1 | The descendants of each of Jacob’s 12 sons had become a **tribe** or very large family group in the nation of Israel. Everyone in Israel belonged to one of the 12 tribes. | ||
272 | 18:7 | v336 | the kingdom of Judah | 1 | The tribe of Judah was the largest of the 12 tribes of Israel. The kingdom of Judah was made up of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. They were called by the name of Judah, a larger tribe than Benjamin. | ||
273 | 18:8 | jypq | the kingdom of Israel | 1 | The ten tribes were the majority of Israel. Therefore, they called themselves the kingdom of Israel. | ||
274 | 18:9 | lqj8 | They no longer went to Jerusalem | 1 | Jereboam placed his two idols in two temples in Dan and Bethel. The people in the kingdom of Israel went there to worship instead of going to Jerusalem. | ||
275 | 18:12 | dlyp | slept with prostitutes | 1 | They slept with prostitutes as an evil form of worship of their idols. | ||
276 | 18:13 | eof7 | Judah | 1 | The kingdom of Judah was often called “Judah.” | ||
277 | 18:13 | j5l9 | the people of Judah also rebelled against God | 1 | The people of Judah usually did whatever their kings did. If the kings worshiped God, the people did that also. But if the kings worshiped idols, the people also worshiped those false gods. | ||
278 | 19:3 | j410 | birds would bring Elijah bread and meat | 1 | God sent the birds to bring food to Elijah so that Elijah could eat. Elijah drank water from the stream. | ||
279 | 19:4 | mpm3 | another country close by | 1 | Elijah would be safe in this country, because Ahab would not go there to look for him to kill him. | ||
280 | 19:4 | edsn | took care of Elijah | 1 | The widow and her son gave Elijah a place to stay in their house and provided food for him. | ||
281 | 19:4 | sokb | jar of flour | 1 | This refers to a clay jar in which the widow kept her supply of flour. | ||
282 | 19:4 | j5uo | bottle of oil | 1 | In Israel, olive oil is used for cooking. The widow used the flour and the oil for making bread. | ||
283 | 19:5 | tdq1 | you troublemaker! | 1 | This means: ‘You are a troublemaker!’ Ahab was accusing Elijah of causing trouble by telling the king that he was doing wrong and also by stopping the rain. | ||
284 | 19:5 | vhon | You have abandoned Yahweh | 1 | That is, Ahab had led Israel to stop worshiping and obeying Yahweh. | ||
285 | 19:5 | mi3m | Mount Carmel | 1 | Mount Carmel is the name of a mountain located in northern Israel. It is over 500 meters high. | ||
286 | 19:6 | dvvv | If Yahweh is God, worship him! But if Baal is God, worship him! | 1 | This does not mean that Elijah was undecided. He knew that Yahweh is the real God. He wanted the people to understand that when they worship false gods, they are rejecting Yahweh as the only true God. | ||
287 | 19:8 | lx18 | prayed to Baal | 1 | The prophets of Baal asked Baal to send fire onto the bull they prepared as a sacrifice. | ||
288 | 19:8 | eu74 | cut themselves with knives | 1 | They injured themselves with knives as an extreme way to show their devotion to Baal, hoping that this would persuade him to listen to them. | ||
289 | 19:9 | lj4q | he told the people to pour 12 huge pots of water on top of the sacrifice | 1 | Elijah told the people to pour the water on the sacrifice so that it would be more difficult to burn. In this way, the people would know for certain that God had answered when he sent fire onto the sacrifice. | ||
290 | 19:11 | lyrz | the rocks, the soil | 1 | Rocks and dirt do not burn. But God sent fire that was so hot that it even melted the rocks of the altar and the dirt underneath it. This showed the people that Yahweh is God, because only the true God could send fire that hot. | ||
291 | 19:13 | xdyo | Yahweh was ending the drought | 1 | God caused it not to rain for about three years in order to punish the people for worshiping Baal. Now, however, the people had rejected Baal and killed his prophets. Therefore, God was going to send rain on the kingdom of Israel again. | ||
292 | 19:14 | bloj | Elijah finished his work | 1 | By that time, Elijah was very old. He had done everything that God told him to do. | ||
293 | 19:14 | bdri | Naaman heard about Elisha | 1 | This means that people had told Naaman that Elisha was able to perform miracles. | ||
294 | 19:14 | bzwa | he went to Elisha | 1 | Naaman had to go into Israel to find Elisha and ask him to do this. | ||
295 | 19:15 | l1lt | it seemed foolish | 1 | Naaman would not do what Elisha said because he knew that washing alone could not heal his disease. | ||
296 | 19:17 | s5x8 | a dry well | 1 | The well had water in it, but there was still mud in the bottom. | ||
297 | 20:1 | ttej | broke the covenant | 1 | The people disobeyed the commands God had given them in his covenant with them at Mount Sinai (See: [13:4](13/4)). | ||
298 | 20:4 | q0xa | foreigners | 1 | This refers to people who were not Israelites. | ||
299 | 20:4 | i4dn | Samaritans | 1 | When the foreigners married the Israelites, their children were neither foreigners nor Israelites. They were a mixed race. These children were called Samaritans. | ||
300 | 20:5 | lbor | The people in the kingdom of Judah saw how God had punished the people of the kingdom of Israel | 1 | God punished the kingdom of Israel first by sending the Assyrians to defeat them. The people in the kingdom of Judah saw this happen, and had time to repent. Instead, they continued to worship idols rather than worship God. | ||
301 | 20:6 | vpya | agreed to be | 1 | The king of Judah was forced to either serve the Babylonian king or be destroyed. | ||
302 | 20:7 | q0qd | the Babylonians came back and attacked the kingdom of Judah | 1 | This was the second time that the Babylonians attacked the kingdom of Judah. The first time, they forced the king of Judah to serve them. This second time, they destroyed Jerusalem. | ||
303 | 20:8 | k1xs | then made him blind | 1 | The Babylonians were very cruel. They made the king blind to punish him, but also so that the last thing he would remember seeing was them killing his sons. | ||
304 | 20:9 | omvt | the Exile | 1 | The word **exile** means someone is removed from their country by force. The **Exile** is the term for this 70-year period when the Israelites were forced to live in Babylon. | ||
305 | 20:11 | o3m6 | the Persian Empire | 1 | The Persian Empire grew to cover the area from central Asia to Egypt. It was located in the region of what is Iran today. | ||
306 | 20:11 | fswz | the land of Judah | 1 | That is, the area where the kingdom of Judah was located before the Exile. Jerusalem was the capital city of Judah. | ||
307 | 20:12 | gtv0 | go back to Judah | 1 | Since most of these Jews were the children and grandchildren of those who left Judah, they had never lived in Judah before. | ||
308 | 20:13 | jyoa | the people | 1 | That is, the Israelites, the descendants of Jacob, who were now called the Jews. | ||
309 | 20:13 | gwmt | the wall | 1 | This wall was very thick (2.5 meters) and was built to protect the city from attackers. | ||
310 | 21:1 | b86u | crush the snake’s head | 1 | A venomous snake cannot hurt anyone after its head has been crushed. To crush the snake’s head is to completely destroy the snake. | ||
311 | 21:1 | vdxt | Satan appeared as a snake in order to deceive Eve | 1 | Satan spoke to Eve in the form of a snake. This does not mean that he is a snake now. | ||
312 | 21:1 | ry61 | to deceive Eve | 1 | The snake deceived Eve by making her doubt what God had said and tricking her into disobeying God. | ||
313 | 21:2 | vfa0 | through him | 1 | The blessing that would come to all the people groups would be through Abraham because it would come through one of Abraham’s descendants. | ||
314 | 21:3 | nydw | prophet like Moses | 1 | To be like Moses, the future prophet would need to have great authority from God to lead and rescue his people. | ||
315 | 21:5 | cnia | a New Covenant | 1 | The New Covenant would be truly effective. People really would know God. They would truly live as his people. And God would forgive their sins completely. God would make this New Covenant because the Messiah would die as a sacrifice for all who would believe in him. | ||
316 | 21:5 | opkt | writing his law on their hearts | 1 | This is in contrast with the way God had written his law on stone tablets for the Israelites. | ||
317 | 21:7 | l746 | in place of God punishing the people | 1 | The people sin, but God would punish the Messiah for their sins. In this way, God would not need to punish anyone who believes in the Messiah. | ||
318 | 21:7 | c1mf | the perfect high priest | 1 | The sacrifices the Israelite priests kept making were never good enough because the priests sinned. The Messiah would never sin. Therefore, his sacrifice was perfect and would satisfy God completely. | ||
319 | 21:7 | nl2v | the perfect high priest | 1 | The sacrifices the Israelite priests kept making were never good enough because the priests sinned. The Messiah would never sin. Therefore, his sacrifice was perfect and would satisfy God completely. | ||
320 | 21:7 | tbz2 | offer himself | 1 | The Messiah would offer himself as a sacrifice by allowing himself to be killed. | ||
321 | 21:7 | lo60 | a perfect sacrifice | 1 | There was no fault or imperfection in the Messiah’s sacrifice. | ||
322 | 21:9 | oxtz | Malachi | 1 | Malachi was the last prophet in the Old Testament. | ||
323 | 21:9 | tv1b | Micah | 1 | Micah was an Old Testament prophet of God who, like Isaiah, spoke his messages from God almost 800 years before the Messiah came. | ||
324 | 21:10 | xwga | set prisoners free | 1 | This means he would set free those who have unjustly been put into prison. This could also refer to setting people free from the bondage of sin. | ||
325 | 21:11 | h824 | Zechariah | 1 | Zechariah was an Old Testament prophet who spoke to God’s people after they returned to the Promised Land from the Exile in Babylon. This was about 500 years before the Messiah came. | ||
326 | 21:11 | w1ja | 30 silver coins | 1 | At the time, each of these coins was worth the amount of money a person could earn in four days. | ||
327 | 21:15 | smc0 | at exactly the right time | 1 | God decided that he would send the Messiah at a specific time in history. God prepared everything so that the events his prophets spoke about would happen at that time. | ||
328 | 22:1 | vaj7 | his people | 1 | This refers to the Israelites. | ||
329 | 22:1 | xdb6 | Then came 400 years of silence | 1 | The last Old Testament prophet, Malachi, has prophesied 400 years before. | ||
330 | 22:1 | ybep | Zechariah | 1 | This was not the same person as the Old Testament prophet by that name. | ||
331 | 22:2 | zhf3 | The angel | 1 | This refers to the angel that came to Zechariah in [22:1](22/1). | ||
332 | 22:2 | b1th | fill him with the Holy Spirit | 1 | That is, God will give him wisdom and power through the Holy Spirit. | ||
333 | 22:4 | prst | Elizabeth | 1 | She was Zechariah’s wife. | ||
334 | 22:4 | iqjb | Elizabeth’s relative | 1 | Mary may have been Elizabeth’s cousin, but we don’t know exactly how these two women were related. | ||
335 | 22:5 | t45o | How can this be | 1 | Mary was not doubting the truth of the angel’s words, but was asking how it would happen. | ||
336 | 22:5 | e975 | Holy Spirit will come to you, and the power of God will come to you | 1 | By the power of God, the Holy Spirit miraculously caused Mary to become pregnant. This was not a physical act. This was a miracle. | ||
337 | 22:5 | o6ey | the baby will be holy | 1 | The word **holy** here means the baby will belong to God. | ||
338 | 22:6 | ha4v | baby jumped inside her | 1 | The baby moved suddenly inside Elizabeth’s womb in response to Mary’s greeting to Elizabeth. | ||
339 | 22:6 | kfoa | what God had done for them | 1 | This refers to the fact that both women were pregnant through God’s supernatural intervention. Mary had conceived without a man, and Elizabeth had conceived with Zechariah after she was too old to have a child. | ||
340 | 22:7 | e9fz | the prophet | 1 | John would be the prophet that the Old Testament prophets had predicted would come before the Messiah. | ||
341 | 22:7 | jhvy | the Most High God | 1 | This title refers to the fact that God rules over everything. | ||
342 | 23:1 | grne | he knew it was not his baby | 1 | Joseph knew that he was not the one who had caused Mary to be pregnant. | ||
343 | 23:1 | aue0 | to shame Mary | 1 | Joseph was merciful to Mary, even though it seemed like she was an adulteress. | ||
344 | 23:1 | c2le | divorce her | 1 | In Jewish culture, an engagement was binding. The only way to end the engagement was to divorce the woman. | ||
345 | 23:3 | ujto | he did not sleep with her | 1 | Joseph kept Mary a virgin until after the baby was born. | ||
346 | 23:4 | qj21 | When the time was near for Mary to give birth | 1 | This could mean ‘When it was near the end of Mary’s pregnancy.’ | ||
347 | 23:4 | bkpo | the Roman officials | 1 | Rome had conquered and ruled over Israel at this time. | ||
348 | 23:4 | ffvz | to count all the people | 1 | The Romans probably counted the people so they could tax them. | ||
349 | 23:5 | l74x | no place for them to stay | 1 | Because Bethlehem was so crowded at that time, the usual rooms for guests were already full of people. | ||
350 | 23:5 | z8uo | where some animals were kept | 1 | This was a place for sheltering animals, not a place where people lived. | ||
351 | 23:5 | e1s0 | a feeding trough | 1 | This refers to an animal feed box. The box could have been filled with hay to provide a padded surface for the baby to lie on. | ||
352 | 23:6 | nhma | guarding their flocks | 1 | A **flock** is a group of sheep. The shepherds were caring for their sheep, and protecting them from harm or theft. | ||
353 | 23:6 | gt4d | they were terrified | 1 | The shepherds were very afraid when a supernatural angel appeared. | ||
354 | 23:7 | ftrp | wrapped in pieces of cloth | 1 | The custom of that time was to tightly wrap newborn babies in long strips of cloth. | ||
355 | 23:8 | gqh3 | everything they had heard and seen | 1 | This included the glorious angels and their amazing message, as well as seeing the newborn Messiah himself. | ||
356 | 23:9 | u2uo | a country far to the east | 1 | This country was to the east of Israel. Many scholars think it was near Persia, which is modern-day Iran or Iraq. | ||
357 | 23:9 | n2cp | They studied the stars | 1 | These men may also have had access to the Old Testament prophets’ writings that predicted the birth of the Messiah. | ||
358 | 23:9 | brjv | an unusual star | 1 | The star that they noticed was not a normal star. It was something that appeared at the time of Jesus’ birth. | ||
359 | 23:9 | exal | the child | 1 | As much as a year or two passed before the men arrived in Bethlehem. Jesus was no longer a baby. | ||
360 | 23:9 | vs46 | the house | 1 | They were no longer staying in the place for animals where he was born. | ||
361 | 23:10 | f4lg | bowed down | 1 | At that time, this was the customary way of showing great respect or reverence. | ||
362 | 24:1 | kx3z | wild honey | 1 | This honey was the natural product of bees in the wilderness; it was not cultivated by people. | ||
363 | 24:1 | ablm | locusts | 1 | These were large, hopping insects with wings, like very large grasshoppers. Some people who live in the desert eat them. | ||
364 | 24:1 | ms3a | clothes made from camel hair | 1 | The hair of a camel is very coarse and strong. Clothes made of camel hair would not quickly wear out in the wilderness as other clothes would. | ||
365 | 24:2 | u63v | Repent | 1 | To repent means to begin to think and act differently about something. In this case, it means to decide to change your behavior because it was wrong to sin. | ||
366 | 24:2 | idyp | the kingdom of God is near | 1 | That means the kingdom of God is ready to appear. | ||
367 | 24:3 | yvh3 | did not repent | 1 | That is, they did not turn away from their sins. | ||
368 | 24:3 | dg7l | confess their sins | 1 | To confess is to acknowledge that something is true. These leaders did not want to acknowledge that they had sinned. | ||
369 | 24:4 | oozu | You poisonous snakes | 1 | John was calling the religious leaders poisonous snakes because they were dangerous and deceptive. | ||
370 | 24:4 | efld | every tree that does not bear good fruit | 1 | John is not really talking about trees. This is an expression that compares good fruit to good actions and attitudes that come from God. | ||
371 | 24:4 | dcdp | God will cut down every tree that does not bear good fruit, and he will throw them into the fire | 1 | These phrases mean God will judge them and punish them. | ||
372 | 24:4 | fmpp | See | 1 | This word means that what follows is very important, and the one who hears should pay close attention to it. | ||
373 | 24:4 | zv4f | ahead of you | 1 | In this phrase, the word **you** refers to the Messiah. | ||
374 | 24:4 | orwz | prepare your way | 1 | The prophets said that God’s messenger will prepare the people to listen to the Messiah. | ||
375 | 24:5 | nvo4 | not even worthy to untie his sandals | 1 | John meant that, compared to the Messiah, John was not important enough to do even the most menial task for him. Untying sandals was a very low job, something a slave would do. | ||
376 | 24:6 | kjo8 | the Lamb of God | 1 | Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for sin that God promised to provide. He fulfilled the image that was presented by the sacrifice of lambs in the Old Testament. | ||
377 | 24:6 | kbrk | will take away | 1 | The sacrifice of Jesus causes God to look at our sin as if it never existed. | ||
378 | 24:8 | jiyg | This is my Son | 1 | God the Father called Jesus **my Son**. | ||
379 | 24:9 | vqee | God had told John | 1 | God had told John this before Jesus came to be baptized. | ||
380 | 25:1 | xms8 | During that time he fasted | 1 | Most scholars believe Jesus fasted during the entire 40 days and 40 nights. | ||
381 | 25:1 | sj4x | tempted him to sin | 1 | Satan tried to convince Jesus to sin. | ||
382 | 25:2 | jo7i | turn these rocks into bread | 1 | Satan was reminding Jesus that, as the Son of God, Jesus had the power to supernaturally change the rocks into bread. | ||
383 | 25:3 | cj1x | It is written in God’s word | 1 | Jesus speaks the words that are written in Deuteronomy 8:3. | ||
384 | 25:3 | z946 | People do not only need bread in order to live | 1 | Jesus knew that God had led him into the wilderness to fast. Therefore it would be wrong for Jesus to change the rocks into bread for him to eat. | ||
385 | 25:3 | qxuq | they need everything that God tells them | 1 | Jesus knew that hearing from God and obeying him was more important than eating food. By quoting this verse, Jesus showed that he was willing to follow it. | ||
386 | 25:4 | bojp | the highest point on the Temple | 1 | This part of the Temple in Jerusalem would have been about 150 meters from the ground. | ||
387 | 25:4 | ay8l | it is written | 1 | Satan spoke words from Psalm 91:11-12. | ||
388 | 25:5 | rzk2 | Do not test the Lord your God | 1 | Jesus speaks the words that are written in Deuteronomy 6:16. Jesus wanted to say that it would be wrong to challenge God to take care of him while doing something that God did not want him to do. | ||
389 | 25:6 | hdd3 | all the kingdoms of the world | 1 | This refers to all the greatest cities, countries, and other territories of the world. | ||
390 | 25:6 | xygn | I will give you all this | 1 | It appears that Satan is able to give things of this world to people who obey him. | ||
391 | 25:7 | aacm | Worship only the Lord your God. Honor only him as God | 1 | Jesus speaks the words that are written in Deuteronomy 6:16. We must worship and honor only the Lord God. | ||
392 | 25:8 | vnaj | did not give in to | 1 | Jesus did not do the things that Satan was tempting him to do. He did not sin. | ||
393 | 26:1 | kb12 | After Jesus refused Satan’s temptations | 1 | Jesus did not do the wrong things Satan tried to get him to do, so Jesus defeated him. | ||
394 | 26:2 | n8nx | the village where he had lived when he was a child | 1 | Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but Joseph and Mary were from Nazareth. They moved back to Nazareth when Jesus was a young boy and lived there after that. | ||
395 | 26:2 | btuz | the place of worship | 1 | This was not the main Temple in Jerusalem where the Jews offered sacrifices. There were smaller buildings in many towns where the Jews worshiped and prayed together every week. This was one of those places. | ||
396 | 26:2 | n1sd | a scroll | 1 | A scroll was a long sheet of paper or leather that was rolled up and had writing on it. | ||
397 | 26:2 | e6va | a scroll with the messages of the prophet Isaiah | 1 | This was a copy of the scroll that Isaiah had written hundreds of years before. | ||
398 | 26:3 | zjr1 | proclaim good news to the poor | 1 | This means to tell poor and needy people the good message that God will help them. | ||
399 | 26:3 | v14h | to set prisoners free | 1 | This means to tell people who are wrongfully in prison that they will be released. | ||
400 | 26:4 | n1ch | The things I just read to you, they are happening right now | 1 | Jesus wanted to say that God was causing this passage about the Messiah to happen at that time. This meant that Jesus was the Messiah. | ||
401 | 26:4 | eau0 | Isn’t this the son of Joseph? | 1 | The people were not asking if he was Joseph’s son or not. They were wondering how he could be the Messiah since they thought he was only the son of an ordinary man. | ||
402 | 26:5 | im20 | people never accept a prophet in the town he grew up in | 1 | Jesus was perhaps speaking a Jewish proverb. This proverb meant that people do not recognize the authority of a prophet who has grown up among them. Since Jesus grew up in Nazareth, the people there would not believe he was the Messiah. | ||
403 | 26:5 | zdnl | he sent Elijah to a widow in a different nation | 1 | Jesus is referring to a story in the Old Testament about the prophet Elijah. God provided food for that widow during a famine so she could take care of Elijah. | ||
404 | 26:6 | sdw9 | Elisha | 1 | Elisha was God’s prophet who came after Elijah. Like Elijah, Elisha confronted Israelite kings who were sinning against God and he did miracles that God gave him power to do. | ||
405 | 26:6 | cp8b | He only healed the skin disease of Naaman | 1 | Jesus is again referring to a story in the Old Testament. God healed Naaman because he obeyed what Elisha told him to do. | ||
406 | 26:6 | brgh | they were furious at him | 1 | The Jews did not want to hear that God had blessed any people besides themselves, so they were very angry at what Jesus said. | ||
407 | 26:7 | ncqf | Jesus walked through the crowd | 1 | The crowd was trying to seize and kill Jesus. We do not know how Jesus was able to walk through the middle of them. Perhaps God confused them or prevented them from seeing Jesus. As a result, they were not able to do to Jesus what they had planned to do. | ||
408 | 26:9 | enex | who had demons in them | 1 | These people were controlled by evil spirits. | ||
409 | 26:9 | dtvc | You are the Son of God! | 1 | Even the demons knew that Jesus was the Son of God. | ||
410 | 26:10 | egve | apostles | 1 | Jesus chose these 12 men from among his many disciples to be apostles. They spent more time with Jesus than his other disciples. And he later gave the apostles more authority than he gave his other disciples. | ||
411 | 27:1 | h1me | an expert in the Jewish law | 1 | This man studied and taught the laws God had given the Israelites, as well as other Jewish laws. | ||
412 | 27:1 | z4zl | to inherit eternal life | 1 | The law expert was asking how he could be worthy to receive eternal life as an inheritance from God the Father. | ||
413 | 27:1 | g9es | eternal life | 1 | This refers to life forever with God after the mortal body dies. | ||
414 | 27:1 | aj4c | What is written in God’s law? | 1 | Jesus asked this question because he wanted the man to think about what God’s law really teaches. | ||
415 | 27:2 | phce | Love the Lord your God | 1 | Jesus is quoting what God’s law commands people to do in Deuteronomy 6:5. | ||
416 | 27:2 | bju7 | with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind | 1 | This could mean ‘with your whole self’ or ‘with every part of yourself.’ | ||
417 | 27:2 | af5m | heart | 1 | The heart refers to the part of a person that has desires and emotions. | ||
418 | 27:2 | lmsx | soul | 1 | The soul refers to the nonphysical, spiritual part of a person. | ||
419 | 27:2 | hp6u | strength | 1 | Here **strength** refers to the physical body and all of its abilities. | ||
420 | 27:2 | gges | mind | 1 | Here **mind** refers to the part of a person that thinks, plans, and has ideas. | ||
421 | 27:2 | nask | neighbor | 1 | Although the word **neighbor** normally refers to a person who lives near us, the Jews applied the term to everyone except close relatives, foreigners, and enemies. | ||
422 | 27:2 | tian | love your neighbor as yourself | 1 | This could mean ‘love your neighbor to the same extent that you love yourself.’ | ||
423 | 27:3 | qlcl | who is my neighbor? | 1 | The law expert knew that he did not love everyone, and was asking which people he needed to love. | ||
424 | 27:6 | mqht | happened to walk down | 1 | The priest was not just walking on the road, but was traveling to get to another city. | ||
425 | 27:6 | s5sv | ignored that man | 1 | The priest did not help that man or show any concern for him. | ||
426 | 27:7 | grw9 | Levites were a tribe of Jews | 1 | The Levites were from the Israelite tribe of Levi. | ||
427 | 27:7 | qdef | ignored | 1 | This means he did not help the man. | ||
428 | 27:9 | y8c8 | an inn by the road | 1 | This was a place where travelers could get food and stay overnight. | ||
429 | 27:11 | iyah | the three men | 1 | The three men were the priest, the Levite, and the Samaritan. | ||
430 | 27:11 | ejl1 | neighbor | 1 | Jesus is using the word **neighbor** in a broader sense than in [27:2](27/2). **Neighbor** here refers to anyone that we meet who needs our help. | ||
431 | 27:11 | lkoe | do the same | 1 | This could mean ‘love others, even your enemies.’ | ||
432 | 28:1 | tuoz | a rich young ruler | 1 | This man was already a rich and powerful political official, even though he was still young. | ||
433 | 28:1 | j59v | Good teacher | 1 | He meant to say that Jesus was a righteous teacher. He was not saying that Jesus was simply a skilled teacher. | ||
434 | 28:1 | wcis | to have eternal life | 1 | This could mean ‘to live with God forever.’ | ||
435 | 28:1 | ionm | Why do you call me ‘good’? | 1 | Jesus is not denying that he is good. Rather, he is asking if the ruler understands that Jesus is God. | ||
436 | 28:2 | kyu0 | as you love yourself | 1 | This could mean ‘as much as you love yourself.’ | ||
437 | 28:4 | adbb | perfect | 1 | This could mean ‘completely righteous.’ | ||
438 | 28:4 | rcds | in heaven | 1 | Jesus is asking the man to give up wealth now in order to gain it later on when he will be with God. | ||
439 | 28:6 | ycyz | a camel | 1 | Camels are very large animals that are often used to carry heavy loads. | ||
440 | 28:6 | z44r | the eye of a needle | 1 | This refers to the tiny hole in the end of a sewing needle. The idea of something as large as a camel going through the eye of a needle is intended to represent something that is impossible. | ||
441 | 28:7 | qoqy | If it is like this, who will God save? | 1 | The disciples were surprised because many people believed that being rich was a sign of God’s favor. | ||
442 | 28:7 | jqh4 | save | 1 | This refers to God not judging or condemning them for their sin, and allowing them to be citizens in his kingdom. | ||
443 | 28:10 | um9v | 100 times more | 1 | This could mean ‘very much more than he had before.’ | ||
444 | 28:10 | y568 | many who are first will be last | 1 | This could mean ‘many people who are important now, will not be important then.’ | ||
445 | 28:10 | lada | many who are last will be first | 1 | This could mean ‘many people who are considered to not be very important on earth will be considered very important in heaven.’ | ||
446 | 29:1 | u54j | my brother | 1 | This term sometimes included people who were not actually siblings, but who shared another very strong connection such as religion, ethnic background, etc. | ||
447 | 29:1 | ai70 | Not seven times, but 70 times seven! | 1 | Jesus was not talking about an exact number. He was saying that we should forgive people every time they sin against us. | ||
448 | 29:2 | qnt0 | to settle accounts with his servants | 1 | That is, to collect the money his servants had borrowed from him. | ||
449 | 29:4 | i9mv | fell on his knees | 1 | That is, he quickly knelt down on the ground. This was a way to show his humility and his desire for the king to help him. | ||
450 | 29:4 | yh4j | canceled all of his debt | 1 | The king said the servant did not need to pay back any of the money that he owed the king. | ||
451 | 29:9 | r2lo | my heavenly Father | 1 | Jesus is expressing his unique, personal relationship to God the Father. | ||
452 | 30:1 | nk1c | the lake | 1 | This refers to the Sea of Galilee. | ||
453 | 30:1 | vd1g | to the other side of the lake | 1 | They went across the northern part of the lake. This would have been about 5-8 kilometers by boat. | ||
454 | 30:2 | zwt9 | to get to the other side | 1 | The distance around that part of the lake was about 8-10 kilometers. | ||
455 | 30:3 | ksmq | over 5,000 men in it, not counting the women and children | 1 | Some scholars think there may have been as many as 10,000 or 15,000 people. | ||
456 | 30:3 | svak | like sheep without a shepherd | 1 | This means the people were vulnerable and lost, just like sheep are when they have no shepherd to take care of them. | ||
457 | 30:5 | qgjm | How can we do that? | 1 | The disciples were not asking an actual question. Rather, they were strongly expressing that they did not think this was possible. | ||
458 | 30:8 | jh1i | it never ran out! | 1 | This was a miracle. The small amount of food became enough for thousands of people as Jesus gave it to his disciples. | ||
459 | 30:8 | d0tw | were satisfied | 1 | That is, they were no longer hungry. | ||
460 | 31:1 | rmy4 | to the other side of the lake | 1 | They went across the northern part of the Sea of Galilee. This would have been about 5-8 kilometers by boat. | ||
461 | 31:2 | v66y | rowing their boat | 1 | The boat had a sail, but it would not have helped them much when the wind was against them. | ||
462 | 31:3 | y1lm | walked on top of the water | 1 | This was a miracle. The average depth of the Sea of Galilee is 25 meters. | ||
463 | 31:4 | olcy | they thought he was a ghost | 1 | The disciples thought Jesus was a spirit, because a human being cannot walk on water. | ||
464 | 31:6 | gvry | started walking to Jesus | 1 | Jesus enabled Peter to begin to actually walk on top of the water. | ||
465 | 31:7 | ellh | Peter became afraid and began to sink | 1 | Peter sank into the water because he stopped looking at Jesus and became afraid of the waves instead. | ||
466 | 31:8 | opiw | They worshiped him | 1 | The disciples realized that Jesus could only do these miracles because he was the Son of God. | ||
467 | 32:1 | t29p | the Gerasene people | 1 | The Gerasenes lived in an area along the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. They were descendants of the Jews, but we know few details about them. | ||
468 | 32:2 | weir | was demon possessed | 1 | The man was controlled by evil spirits. | ||
469 | 32:5 | jlm1 | knelt down in front of him | 1 | The man knelt down before Jesus as a sign of respect. He wanted Jesus to free him from the demons. | ||
470 | 32:6 | eji2 | What do you want with me | 1 | This expression means ‘What are you going to do to me?’ | ||
471 | 32:6 | bhdr | the Most High God | 1 | This title means that God is the Supreme God who rules over everything. | ||
472 | 32:6 | a5hw | Legion | 1 | This was the name of the group of demons, but it also indicates that the evil spirits were very numerous. | ||
473 | 32:10 | eudk | begged to go along with Jesus | 1 | The man wanted to become one of Jesus’ disciples. | ||
474 | 32:11 | zgk0 | I want you to go home | 1 | Jesus told the man to serve him in his own town instead of traveling with Jesus to other places. | ||
475 | 32:15 | ig2e | power had gone out from him | 1 | Jesus knew that his power had healed the woman. He asked who touched him because he wanted the woman to testify about what happened to her. | ||
476 | 32:16 | s23x | shaking and very afraid | 1 | The woman was very afraid because she had tried to be healed secretly. She thought perhaps Jesus was angry with her for doing that. | ||
477 | 32:16 | u5p5 | Your faith has healed you | 1 | Jesus did not heal the woman because she touched him, but because she believed that he was able to heal her. | ||
478 | 32:16 | oo3m | Go in peace | 1 | People spoke this traditional blessing when they left each other. Jesus may also have spoken these words because the woman was afraid. Now, however, she would know that Jesus had accepted her because of her faith in him. | ||
479 | 33:1 | twja | the lake | 1 | This refers to the Sea of Galilee. | ||
480 | 33:2 | thdm | spreading the seed by hand | 1 | Farmers in the ancient Middle East typically planted grain-bearing crops by throwing the seed on the soil. | ||
481 | 33:2 | midx | the path | 1 | The path was packed hard from people walking on it. The seed could not go down into the soil, so it was easy for the birds to eat all of it. | ||
482 | 33:3 | qnkz | very little soil | 1 | The rocky ground had enough soil to hide the seed from the birds, but not enough for the roots to grow well. | ||
483 | 33:4 | x32u | choked it out | 1 | The thorn bushes were so dense that the grain plants could not get enough sunlight to grow well. | ||
484 | 33:6 | npvy | This story confused the disciples | 1 | The disciples understood what happened to the seed, but they did not understand what it taught about God. | ||
485 | 33:8 | ucic | do not produce any grain | 1 | This could mean ‘do not produce spiritual fruit’ or ‘do not behave in a way that shows God’s Spirit is working in him.’ | ||
486 | 33:9 | a9ay | produces fruit | 1 | This means he does the things that God wants him to do. | ||
487 | 34:1 | p9y4 | stories | 1 | Jesus used these stories to teach truths about God’s kingdom. It is not clear if the events actually happened or not. | ||
488 | 34:1 | wls7 | a mustard seed | 1 | This probably refers to the seed of the black mustard plant, which has tiny seeds that rapidly grow into very large plants. | ||
489 | 34:1 | r6th | the smallest seed of all | 1 | That means the smallest of all the seeds that people planted at that time. | ||
490 | 34:3 | gfx8 | yeast | 1 | Yeast is added to bread dough to make it rise. A little bit of yeast mixed into a large amount of dough makes the whole batch of dough rise. | ||
491 | 34:3 | zm0m | bread dough | 1 | This is a mixture of flour and liquid that can be shaped and baked into bread. | ||
492 | 34:3 | zcbl | it spreads throughout the dough | 1 | The yeast works its way into every part of the dough and causes it all to rise. | ||
493 | 34:4 | fler | buried it again | 1 | He buried the treasure so that no one else would find it before he could buy the field. | ||
494 | 34:4 | fldo | buy that field | 1 | After he bought the field, he could openly search for all of the treasure, and it would all be his. | ||
495 | 34:5 | v4zw | a perfect pearl | 1 | This refers to a pearl that does not have any defects, and is therefore very valuable. | ||
496 | 34:5 | swel | a pearl merchant | 1 | This refers to a person whose business is buying and selling pearls. | ||
497 | 34:6 | nmk3 | despised others | 1 | This means they considered other people to be inferior to themselves. | ||
498 | 34:6 | gclp | the Temple | 1 | This refers to the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. | ||
499 | 34:7 | uk75 | that tax collector | 1 | The Jews considered the tax collectors to be sinners because they worked for the Romans, collecting taxes from fellow Jews. | ||
500 | 34:8 | z2oe | I fast | 1 | The religious ruler believed that doing this would earn favor with God. | ||
501 | 34:9 | a347 | stood far away | 1 | He did not think he was worthy to come close to the religious leader. | ||
502 | 34:9 | mgny | did not even look up to heaven | 1 | The word **up** indicates that people normally looked up to heaven when praying to God, but that this man did not because he was so ashamed of his sin. | ||
503 | 34:9 | slu6 | he pounded on his chest with his fist | 1 | The tax collector pounded on his chest as a sign that he was very sorry that he had sinned. | ||
504 | 34:10 | ektu | declared him to be righteous | 1 | Even though the tax collector was a sinner, God was merciful to him because of his humility and repentance. | ||
505 | 34:10 | tk2d | rather than the religious leader | 1 | God did not accept the prayer of the religious leader because he prayed in a proud way. The religious leader did not understand that he was also a sinner. | ||
506 | 35:1 | y8cb | tax collectors | 1 | The tax collectors were Jews who collected taxes for the Romans. The Jews hated them for that, and because they often collected higher taxes than the Romans required, keeping the difference for themselves. | ||
507 | 35:2 | gp7z | religious leaders | 1 | This refers to the Jewish religious officials. | ||
508 | 35:3 | evvl | I want my inheritance now! | 1 | This was not normal. Sons received their inheritance when their fathers died. | ||
509 | 35:3 | sgdt | divided his property | 1 | The father was extremely generous to divide his property while he was still alive. An older son always received twice as much inheritance as a younger son. | ||
510 | 35:5 | yvnc | feeding pigs | 1 | The Law of Moses did not allow Jews to touch pigs. This was a shameful job for a Jewish man. | ||
511 | 35:6 | i8vs | one of his servants | 1 | The younger son assumed that his father would not accept him as his son, but might let him be a servant. | ||
512 | 35:7 | qnuv | He ran to his son | 1 | Older men did not run to meet people. The father was so excited to see his son that he ignored the culture and ran to kiss and hug his son. | ||
513 | 35:8 | g50w | I have sinned against God | 1 | The son had offended God, as well as his father by doing the things that he did (See: [35:3](35/3), [35:4](35/4)). | ||
514 | 35:8 | iq8t | I am not worthy to be your son | 1 | The younger son did not have time to ask to be a servant before his father interrupted him (See: [35:6](35/6)). | ||
515 | 35:9 | bivq | Put a ring on his finger and put sandals on his feet | 1 | A ring, sandals, and a fine clothes were symbols that showed the son was a member of the family and not a servant. | ||
516 | 35:9 | g7bu | kill the best calf | 1 | The Jews of that time often fed one of their calves special food so that it would be especially good to eat at a feast or other special occasion. | ||
517 | 35:12 | uf34 | you did not give me even one small goat | 1 | A small goat was much less expensive than the best calf. The older brother was angry, and ignored the fact that his father had already given him twice the inheritance that he gave to the younger brother (See: [35:3](35/3)). | ||
518 | 35:12 | doou | this son of yours | 1 | The older son was so angry that he did not speak of the younger son as his own brother. | ||
519 | 35:13 | u7jv | everything I have is yours | 1 | The father reminded his older son that he had already given him all of his possessions as an inheritance (See: [35:3](35/3)). | ||
520 | 35:13 | m61e | your brother | 1 | The father reminds his older son that his sons are also brothers. | ||
521 | 35:13 | zygz | was dead, but now is alive | 1 | The younger son was so far away and separated from his family that it was as if he were dead. But now that he had returned, it was as if he were alive again (See: [35:9](35/9)). | ||
522 | 36:1 | flzs | James | 1 | This is a different James than the one who wrote the Book of James in the Bible. | ||
523 | 36:3 | e2nl | Moses and the prophet Elijah | 1 | Moses gave the law to Israel, and Elijah was one of the most important prophets of Israel. These two men represented the way God spoke to Israel in the Old Testament. | ||
524 | 36:4 | besc | shelters | 1 | These were the small, individual, temporary shelters the Jews made from tree branches during an annual Jewish holiday. | ||
525 | 36:4 | nmex | did not know what he was saying | 1 | Peter spoke without thinking clearly because he was so excited. | ||
526 | 36:5 | ufyj | a voice coming from the cloud | 1 | God spoke to them from the cloud. | ||
527 | 36:5 | awz9 | This is my Son whom I love | 1 | This is the same thing that God had said about Jesus after John the Baptist baptized him in [24:8](24/8). | ||
528 | 36:5 | s3r3 | Listen to him | 1 | Moses and the prophets were important, but God told the disciples that Jesus was more important, and that they should honor what he said more than they honored Moses and the prophets. | ||
529 | 36:6 | ea9f | the only one still there was Jesus | 1 | Moses and Elijah had gone away, leaving only Jesus with the disciples. | ||
530 | 36:7 | od0p | Do not tell anyone yet | 1 | Jesus knew that the people would not yet believe who he was, but later, when he came back to life, many people would believe. | ||
531 | 37:1 | kai2 | Mary | 1 | Jesus’ mother was also named Mary. This was a different woman. | ||
532 | 37:1 | xhme | This sickness will not end with Lazarus dying | 1 | Jesus’ disciples probably thought this meant that Lazarus would not die. But Jesus knew that, although Lazarus would die from his sickness, he would become alive again. | ||
533 | 37:2 | dj51 | but he waited where he was for two days | 1 | Jesus stayed where he was for two days, even though they wanted him to go and heal Lazarus. He was waiting for Lazarus to die. | ||
534 | 37:2 | aaml | Judea | 1 | This refers to the southern section of Israel, which was settled by the tribe of Judah. | ||
535 | 37:2 | rqfg | has fallen asleep, and I must wake him | 1 | When Jesus spoke about sleeping, he was talking about death. However, the disciples did not understand that yet. | ||
536 | 37:3 | spg1 | he will get better | 1 | The disciples thought there was no reason for them to go to Lazarus now, since he was getting well. | ||
537 | 37:3 | oudz | I am glad | 1 | This did not mean he was happy that Lazarus died, but rather that he was happy that God was going to show how great he is. | ||
538 | 37:4 | uocx | Martha | 1 | Martha was the sister of Lazarus and Mary (See: [37:1](37/1)). | ||
539 | 37:4 | x705 | my brother would not have died | 1 | Martha believed that Jesus could have prevented her brother from dying. | ||
540 | 37:5 | lekv | I am the Resurrection and the Life | 1 | This is one of several very powerful **I am** statements in which Jesus says something about his essential nature. In this one, Jesus indicates that he is the provider or source of resurrection and life. | ||
541 | 37:5 | x9ph | will never die | 1 | That means they will live forever, even if they die for a short time. | ||
542 | 37:6 | wove | Mary | 1 | This was the same woman as in [37:1](37/1), not the mother of Jesus. | ||
543 | 37:6 | vzm6 | fell at the feet of Jesus | 1 | Mary knelt down at Jesus’ feet as a sign of respect. | ||
544 | 37:6 | t34e | my brother would not have died | 1 | Like Martha in [37:4](37/4), Mary also believed that Jesus could have kept her brother from dying. | ||
545 | 37:7 | la4j | he told them | 1 | He was probably not telling Mary and Martha to roll the large stone away. He was speaking to the men who were with them. | ||
546 | 37:7 | a90v | Martha | 1 | Martha was the sister of Lazarus and Mary (See: [37:1](37/1)). | ||
547 | 37:8 | xpqi | Did I not tell you | 1 | This could mean ‘Remember that I told you.’ Jesus is not asking this question in order to get an answer, so some languages should translate this as a command. | ||
548 | 37:8 | h6n6 | see God’s power | 1 | This could mean ‘see the power of God displayed’ or ‘see God show how powerful he is.’ | ||
549 | 37:8 | qgad | rolled the stone away | 1 | Some languages should say: “rolled the stone away from the opening of the tomb.” | ||
550 | 37:10 | yxft | grave clothes | 1 | This refers to the strips of cloth that the Jews wrapped around dead bodies before they buried them. | ||
551 | 37:11 | r3b5 | envied | 1 | The religious leaders were jealous that the people were listening to Jesus instead of listening to them. | ||
552 | 38:3 | cvkd | 30 silver coins | 1 | Each of these coins were worth about four days’ wages. | ||
553 | 38:4 | a502 | broke it | 1 | Jesus tore the flat loaf of bread into small pieces in order to share it among the disciples. | ||
554 | 38:4 | w1h6 | This is my body, which I will give for you | 1 | Jesus was referring to his death, which would happen soon. | ||
555 | 38:5 | k251 | my blood of the New Covenant | 1 | The shedding of Jesus’ blood made the New Covenant possible. | ||
556 | 38:5 | pzr5 | I will pour out | 1 | Jesus would bleed as he was dying. | ||
557 | 38:5 | gb16 | remember me | 1 | When his followers ate this ceremonial meal in the future, it would remind them of how Jesus died for them. | ||
558 | 38:7 | eqhs | Satan entered into him | 1 | At this time, Satan took control of Judas. | ||
559 | 38:8 | t5c5 | Mount of Olives | 1 | This is the name of a hill covered with olive trees, just outside the walls of the city of Jerusalem. | ||
560 | 38:8 | xpp3 | It is written | 1 | Jesus quoted a prophecy in the Old Testament that refers to Jesus’ death and his followers' desertion. | ||
561 | 38:8 | ha9a | the shepherd and all the sheep | 1 | Jesus is the shepherd in the prophecy, and his disciples who desert him are the sheep. | ||
562 | 38:9 | te66 | to have all of you | 1 | Satan wanted to cause all of the disciples to be so afraid of being killed that they would abandon Jesus. | ||
563 | 38:9 | t9qz | that your faith will not fail | 1 | Jesus prayed that Peter would not completely stop believing in Jesus. | ||
564 | 38:9 | xx56 | before the rooster crows | 1 | Roosters normally crow at the first light of the new day. | ||
565 | 38:11 | my19 | a place called Gethsemane | 1 | Gethsemane was a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives. | ||
566 | 38:11 | mjcv | they would not enter into temptation | 1 | This could mean ‘they would not be tempted’ or ‘Satan would not tempt them.’ | ||
567 | 38:12 | csxu | drink this cup of suffering | 1 | This is a figure of speech that means ‘Jesus would endure this suffering.’ | ||
568 | 38:12 | tf8u | let your will be done | 1 | Jesus did not want to die, but he understood that he must die in order to make a way for God to forgive sinners as God wanted to do. | ||
569 | 38:12 | jczb | his sweat was like drops of blood | 1 | This may mean that Jesus’ grief was so intense that he started to bleed, and his blood mingled with his sweat. | ||
570 | 38:15 | emg9 | I could ask the Father for an army of angels to defend me, but I must obey my Father. | 1 | Jesus could have easily prevented the soldiers from arresting him. However, he allowed it because it was God’s will that he die in the place of sinners. | ||
571 | 38:15 | jicz | Jesus healed the man’s ear | 1 | Jesus was so gracious that he even healed the ear of the man who had come to arrest him. | ||
572 | 38:15 | k14h | all the disciples ran away | 1 | The disciples fled as Jesus had said they would in [38:8](38/8). | ||
573 | 39:1 | zgsc | the house of the high priest | 1 | The soldiers took Jesus there because the high priest was the one who ordered them to arrest Jesus. | ||
574 | 39:3 | n6ej | are you the Messiah, the Son of the living God? | 1 | The religious leaders could not find any reason to condemn Jesus. Therefore, they asked him to tell them if he was the Son of God. They did not believe he was God’s Son. If he said that he was indeed the Messiah, they planned to condemn him for falsely stating that he was God. | ||
575 | 39:4 | mlei | I am | 1 | **I am** is also the name of God (See: [9:14](9/14)). By saying simply “I am,” Jesus was also saying that he is God. | ||
576 | 39:4 | c7ii | seated with God | 1 | Because God is the ruler over all, people talk about him as sitting on a throne in heaven. By saying that he would be seated with God, Jesus claimed that he had authority to rule with the Father. | ||
577 | 39:4 | jpby | tore his clothes because he was angry | 1 | The Jews would tear their clothes to show grief or anger. | ||
578 | 39:4 | qetf | What is your decision about him? | 1 | The chief priest wanted the religious leaders to condemn Jesus for claiming to be equal with God. | ||
579 | 39:5 | toy0 | He deserves to die! | 1 | The Jewish law said that any person who claimed to be God must be killed. Because the Jews did not believe that Jesus was God, they condemned him to die. | ||
580 | 39:6 | tkjg | you both are from Galilee | 1 | The people could tell from the way Jesus and Peter talked that they both came from the region of Galilee. | ||
581 | 39:7 | fxp6 | a rooster crowed | 1 | **Crowing** is the loud sound that a rooster makes. Jesus had told him in [38:9](38/9) that Peter would deny Jesus before the rooster crowed. | ||
582 | 39:8 | vhzg | Judas became full of sorrow | 1 | Although Judas was sorry for what he had done, he did not ask God to forgive him. Instead, he killed himself. | ||
583 | 39:9 | es9w | He worked for Rome | 1 | The Roman government had appointed Pilate to govern the region of Judea in Israel. | ||
584 | 39:9 | tshm | condemn Jesus and kill him | 1 | As governor, Pilate had the authority to condemn Jesus to death and to give approval for his crucifixion, or he could set him free. The Jewish religious leaders did not have the authority to have someone killed. | ||
585 | 39:10 | tfoq | my kingdom is not here on earth | 1 | Jesus’ kingdom is not like earthly kingdoms. | ||
586 | 39:10 | ok8e | my servants would fight for me | 1 | An earthly king would ask his disciples to fight to protect him. But Jesus was not that kind of king. | ||
587 | 39:10 | gbck | listens to me | 1 | This includes not just hearing Jesus’ words, but also doing what he says. | ||
588 | 39:10 | f9n0 | What is truth? | 1 | Pilate did not believe that anyone could know what is true. | ||
589 | 39:11 | nmyw | Crucify him! | 1 | The Romans executed the worst criminals by nailing them to a cross and letting them hang on it until they died of exhaustion or asphyxiation. | ||
590 | 39:11 | u5ka | He is not guilty! | 1 | Pilate correctly judged that Jesus was completely innocent. But the people would not accept his judgment. | ||
591 | 39:12 | lacr | he agreed to have | 1 | Pilate did not want to kill Jesus because he believed that Jesus was innocent. But he was forced to tell his soldiers to crucify Jesus because of his fear of the crowd. | ||
592 | 39:12 | xi82 | a royal robe | 1 | This robe had a bright color, so it looked like the kind of robe that a king would wear. | ||
593 | 39:12 | ammp | a crown made of thorns | 1 | They tied thorn branches into a circle to look like a crown. A crown is an ornament that a king wears on his head to show his authority. But the crown that they put on Jesus’ head had sharp, dangerous thorns on it. | ||
594 | 39:12 | yibg | the King of the Jews | 1 | The soldiers said this to mock Jesus. They did not believe that he was the King of the Jews. | ||
595 | 40:1 | w53z | to crucify him | 1 | The soldiers crucified criminals by nailing them to a large cross and keeping them there until they died. | ||
596 | 40:2 | tqvp | the Skull | 1 | This is a small escarpment near Jerusalem with a rocky, white face which looks somewhat like a skull. | ||
597 | 40:2 | npyl | forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing | 1 | Jesus knew that the soldiers thought Jesus was only a criminal who deserved to die. They did not understand that he was the Son of God. | ||
598 | 40:2 | jhgn | a sign on the cross above his head | 1 | The Romans often put a sign on a cross to state the crime that the person had committed. | ||
599 | 40:3 | mjlo | gambled for Jesus’ clothing | 1 | The soldiers played a game of chance to win Jesus’ clothes. | ||
600 | 40:3 | wiki | they fulfilled a prophecy that said | 1 | King David wrote these words in Psalm 22 hundreds of years before this event. | ||
601 | 40:4 | xt0z | two robbers | 1 | This refers to criminals who used force or violence to steal things. | ||
602 | 40:4 | wx4l | Paradise | 1 | This is another name for ‘heaven.’ | ||
603 | 40:5 | jtaw | come down from the cross and save yourself! | 1 | These people did not understand that Jesus was able to come down from the cross and to save himself (See: [38:15](38/15)). However, it was God’s plan for him to die so that he could save other people (See: [38:12](38/12)). | ||
604 | 40:6 | ie9o | the whole region became completely dark | 1 | God caused this darkness. Natural events such as an eclipse only last few minutes. This darkness lasted three hours. | ||
605 | 40:7 | mqaj | It is finished! | 1 | This means that Jesus has completed his work to save people who had sinned against God. | ||
606 | 40:7 | xoox | gave up his spirit | 1 | Jesus released his spirit back to God, and he died. | ||
607 | 40:7 | ezzn | the large curtain | 1 | This was a large, strong fabric hung in the Temple. It was like a wall separating one room from another. | ||
608 | 40:7 | fq6y | from the top to the bottom | 1 | The curtain was torn from the top to indicate that God was opening it from above, rather than men opening it from below. | ||
609 | 40:8 | v822 | opened the way for people to come to God | 1 | The tearing of the curtain showed that the barrier between God and people had been removed. | ||
610 | 40:8 | f4xw | He was the Son of God | 1 | The soldier realized that Jesus did not die like an ordinary man, and that God had done the miraculous things that happened when he died. | ||
611 | 40:9 | vemm | Joseph | 1 | This was not Mary’s husband. It was another man named Joseph. | ||
612 | 40:9 | u0vq | asked Pilate for Jesus’ body | 1 | The two men asked Pilate to permit them to take Jesus’ body down from the cross in order to bury it. | ||
613 | 41:1 | jl04 | That liar, Jesus, said | 1 | The Jewish leaders refused to believe that Jesus told the truth about being the Son of God. | ||
614 | 41:1 | ux6k | rise from the dead | 1 | The Jewish leaders were well aware that Jesus promised to become alive again. | ||
615 | 41:2 | wrpv | a seal on the stone | 1 | They put a soft material like clay or wax between the stone and the tomb and marked it with an official seal. If anyone moved the stone, the material would break and show that someone had entered the tomb. | ||
616 | 41:3 | enz6 | No one could work on the Sabbath day | 1 | The Sabbath day rules did not permit a Jew to walk very far or to do any other kind of work. | ||
617 | 41:3 | zlob | spices | 1 | This refers to sweet-smelling spices that were placed on a dead body to cover the bad smell. | ||
618 | 41:4 | sl42 | fell to the ground like dead men | 1 | They were not dead, but they did not move, just like dead men do not move. They probably had fainted from fright. | ||
619 | 41:5 | x041 | Do not be afraid | 1 | The women were frightened because the angel shone like lightning. | ||
620 | 41:6 | d8ie | he will go to Galilee ahead of you | 1 | Jesus intended to meet his disciples in Galilee. | ||
621 | 41:8 | ysyf | Do not be afraid | 1 | The women perhaps were afraid because they thought that Jesus was a ghost. | ||
622 | 42:1 | sbqv | the women said he was alive again | 1 | The women told the disciples that Jesus was alive in [41:8](41/8). | ||
623 | 42:2 | g2jy | all the things that had happened | 1 | This refers to the teaching and miracles of Jesus, his death, and the reports of his resurrection. | ||
624 | 42:3 | lomf | on the third day | 1 | This refers to the third day after his death. | ||
625 | 42:6 | pt10 | Peace to you | 1 | This was a normal greeting among the Jews. However, Jesus may have said this here because the disciples thought he was a ghost and were frightened when he appeared. | ||
626 | 42:6 | dyf2 | a ghost | 1 | This refers to the spirit of a dead person. | ||
627 | 42:7 | qznx | Jesus made them understand God’s word better | 1 | Jesus did something that enabled them to better understand the meaning of the scriptures. | ||
628 | 42:8 | ozpv | My disciples will proclaim this message starting in Jerusalem | 1 | The disciples would speak first in Jerusalem about Jesus rising from the dead, and then they would speak about it in other places. | ||
629 | 42:10 | fkdb | make disciples in all people groups | 1 | The disciples would help people from every people group to also become disciples of Jesus. | ||
630 | 42:10 | bcjf | in the name of | 1 | This phrase means both ‘by the authority of’ and ‘under the authority of.’ | ||
631 | 42:11 | eqoy | at the right hand of God | 1 | This was the position of the highest authority. | ||
632 | 43:1 | m9h9 | stayed in Jerusalem | 1 | Jesus had told them to stay in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came upon them (See: [42:11](42/11)). | ||
633 | 43:2 | h6kc | celebrated the wheat harvest | 1 | The Jews would thank God for the wheat harvest by bringing offerings and celebrate by having special meals. This happened in May; other crops were harvested at other times of the year. | ||
634 | 43:2 | o9az | This year | 1 | This refers to the year that Jesus died. | ||
635 | 43:3 | phzk | filled with the Holy Spirit | 1 | The Holy Spirit entered into them and began to give them power to speak in other languages. | ||
636 | 43:4 | lqrx | this noise | 1 | This refers to the sound like a rushing wind that happened when the Holy Spirit filled the believers. | ||
637 | 43:4 | qpso | in their own native language | 1 | The people in the crowd were from different regions, and spoke different languages. They each heard the disciples speak to them in their own language. | ||
638 | 43:5 | ns02 | Joel | 1 | Joel was a prophet in Israel who lived hundreds of years before this happened. | ||
639 | 43:5 | lhla | the last days | 1 | This refers to the final days before the end of the world. | ||
640 | 43:5 | t0no | pour out my Spirit | 1 | This means that God will give his Spirit generously to people. | ||
641 | 43:5 | tyaj | my Spirit | 1 | This refers to the Holy Spirit. | ||
642 | 43:6 | lzoe | you crucified him! | 1 | The Jews did not actually nail Jesus to the cross. However, the Jewish leaders caused him to be condemned and many of the people in the crowd had shouted for him to be crucified (See: [39:11](39/11)). | ||
643 | 43:7 | lyax | You will not let your | 1 | **You** and **your** refer to God the Father. | ||
644 | 43:7 | p8ew | rot in the grave | 1 | This refers to the fact that Jesus did not remain in the tomb very long. It is another way of saying that he did not stay dead, but rather, came back to life again. | ||
645 | 43:8 | mhij | at his right hand | 1 | This is the place of highest honor. | ||
646 | 43:8 | dd24 | as he promised he would do | 1 | Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to the disciples in [42:11](42/11). | ||
647 | 43:8 | n32n | The Holy Spirit is causing | 1 | The Holy Spirit was the one who enabled the believers to speak the languages of all the people. | ||
648 | 43:9 | vk7a | the Lord of everything | 1 | By saying this about Jesus, Peter was saying that Jesus is God. | ||
649 | 43:10 | hscm | Brothers | 1 | This was a normal way for a Jew to address fellow Jews. | ||
650 | 43:11 | d77v | repent | 1 | To repent is to change one’s way of thinking about God. | ||
651 | 43:11 | x20q | in the name of | 1 | This phrase means both ‘by the authority of’ and ‘under the authority of.’ | ||
652 | 43:11 | d5jt | Christ | 1 | This is the same meaning as “Messiah.” | ||
653 | 44:1 | s65u | the Temple | 1 | This refers to the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. | ||
654 | 44:2 | zep7 | In the name of Jesus | 1 | This expression here means ‘by the authority of Jesus.’ | ||
655 | 44:3 | yf4t | the courtyard of the Temple | 1 | Only priests could enter the Temple, but ordinary Jews were allowed to come into this area that surrounded the Temple. | ||
656 | 44:5 | aj8v | You are the ones who told the Roman governor to kill Jesus | 1 | The Jews did this in [39:11](39/11). | ||
657 | 44:5 | c8p5 | turn to God | 1 | Peter is telling the Jews they must begin to obey God. | ||
658 | 44:6 | dnrj | they were very upset | 1 | The leaders had Jesus killed because they were jealous that people listened to him. They were upset now that people were still talking about him. | ||
659 | 44:6 | hfpf | The number of men | 1 | This was in addition to the women and children who believed. | ||
660 | 44:8 | x362 | rejected him | 1 | That is, they refused to believe that Jesus was the Messiah. | ||
661 | 44:8 | t6ea | but there is no other way to be saved except through the power of Jesus | 1 | Jesus is the only one who has the power to save people. | ||
662 | 44:8 | mpvq | to be saved | 1 | This means God will not condemn them for their sins. | ||
663 | 44:9 | ykpn | ordinary | 1 | That means Peter and John were simple fishermen. | ||
664 | 44:9 | k0f0 | who were uneducated | 1 | That means they did not have a formal or religious education. | ||
665 | 44:9 | q7mp | had been with Jesus | 1 | The disciples had spent time with Jesus and he had taught them. | ||
666 | 45:1 | uto9 | followers of Jesus | 1 | This title refers to people who believe in Jesus Christ. | ||
667 | 45:2 | uwb7 | Moses | 1 | God used Moses to free the Israelites from being slaves in Egypt (See: [12:12](12/12)). God then gave his laws and commandments to Moses to give to the Israelites (See: [13:7](13/7)). | ||
668 | 45:4 | iabw | covered their ears | 1 | They did this to show that they did not want to hear what Stephen said. | ||
669 | 45:4 | c5fo | They dragged Stephen out of the city | 1 | They did this as a sign that they did not think Stephen was worthy to live among them. | ||
670 | 45:4 | ey48 | threw stones at him in order to kill him | 1 | This was the method that the Jews used to kill people who they believed had offended God. | ||
671 | 45:5 | p8e4 | Jesus, receive my spirit | 1 | Stephen prayed to Jesus, believing that when he died, his spirit would go to heaven, where Jesus is. | ||
672 | 45:5 | ol88 | do not hold this sin against them | 1 | Stephen asked God to forgive the Jews for killing him. | ||
673 | 45:6 | ah65 | many people in Jerusalem started persecuting the followers of Jesus | 1 | The Jews were not satisfied to kill only Stephen. They also began to attack all of the other followers of Jesus who believed in him the same way Stephen did. | ||
674 | 45:6 | ulfo | But in spite of opposition | 1 | The Jewish leaders thought they could stop the spread of Jesus’ teaching by persecuting his followers. Instead, this caused them to scatter and spread the message even more widely. | ||
675 | 45:7 | v0wp | Samaria | 1 | This region was located on the north side of Judea. The Jews hated the Samaritans, and rarely went there. | ||
676 | 45:7 | m1uz | chariot | 1 | A chariot was a type of cart with two wheels that was pulled by horses. A chariot had space for a few people to ride in it. It was used by soldiers and important officials. | ||
677 | 45:7 | qrry | Ethiopia | 1 | Ethiopia is a country in Eastern Africa. | ||
678 | 45:8 | jfph | the Ethiopian | 1 | This refers to a person from the country of Ethiopia. | ||
679 | 45:8 | yplh | the prophet Isaiah | 1 | Isaiah lived many hundreds of years before Jesus. | ||
680 | 45:8 | q8hj | as a lamb is silent | 1 | Lambs are so afraid that they are often silent when someone kills them. | ||
681 | 45:9 | cw8c | Was Isaiah writing about himself or someone else? | 1 | The Ethiopian was not able to understand the prophesy of Isaiah. He needed Philip to help him know whom Isaiah was writing about. This is why the Holy Spirit sent Philip to the Ethiopian. | ||
682 | 45:11 | edwh | some water | 1 | This refers to a larger body of water such as a pond, lake, or stream. | ||
683 | 45:11 | utxs | May I be baptized? | 1 | Perhaps Philip told the Ethiopian that the disciples of Jesus were baptized, or perhaps when the Ethiopian was in Jerusalem, he heard that John the Baptist and Jesus baptized their disciples. He now decided that he wanted Philip to baptize him. | ||
684 | 45:12 | a1p4 | carried Philip away | 1 | The Holy Spirit suddenly took Philip to a different place in a miraculous way. | ||
685 | 46:1 | b36k | Saul | 1 | This was not the same man as King Saul in the Old Testament. Saul would later change his name to Paul (See: [47:1](47/1)). | ||
686 | 46:1 | nxch | guarded the robes of the men who killed Stephen | 1 | See [45:6](45/6). | ||
687 | 46:1 | pqgn | Damascus | 1 | Damascus is now the capital of the country of Syria. During Saul’s time, it was a city belonging to the Roman Empire. Most of the people there were not Jewish, but there were some Jews and also some followers of Jesus living there. | ||
688 | 46:4 | citf | But Ananias said | 1 | Ananias did not want to go to Saul because he was afraid Saul would arrest him. | ||
689 | 46:4 | odi9 | to declare my name | 1 | This could mean ‘to teach about me’ or ‘to make me known.’ | ||
690 | 46:4 | ipak | for my name | 1 | Saul would suffer because he would be associated with Jesus and serve Jesus. | ||
691 | 46:5 | xsr1 | placed his hands on him | 1 | This was a symbol that Ananias accepted Saul and gave God’s message to him. | ||
692 | 46:6 | odb6 | argued with the Jews | 1 | Saul spoke persuasively with the Jews to convince them to believe in Jesus. | ||
693 | 46:7 | qwk1 | the city gates | 1 | The gates were the only normal way into or out of the walled cities. | ||
694 | 46:7 | r52v | lowered him over the city wall in a basket | 1 | The other believers helped Saul get into a large basket and lowered the basket with him in it over the city wall so he could leave the city without going through the gates where the Jews waited to kill him. | ||
695 | 46:8 | h28r | accepted Saul | 1 | Barnabas convinced the apostles that Saul also was a believer in Jesus. | ||
696 | 46:9 | v696 | the city of Antioch | 1 | This was an ancient city located in what is now the southernmost tip of the modern country of Turkey, near its border with Syria and close to the Mediterranean Sea. It was about 450 miles northwest of Jerusalem. | ||
697 | 46:9 | wid1 | to strengthen the church | 1 | Barnabas and Saul helped the church to grow strong spiritually by teaching them about God and about Jesus. | ||
698 | 46:9 | gsyi | Christians | 1 | They were called Christians because they believe in Jesus Christ. | ||
699 | 46:10 | i11x | placed their hands on them | 1 | This was a symbol that they were sending Barnabas and Saul out to work for God on behalf of all the followers of Jesus. | ||
700 | 47:1 | dwoq | Philippi | 1 | Philippi was a major city and Roman colony located in Macedonia in the northern part of ancient Greece. | ||
701 | 47:2 | c7xe | She invited Paul and Silas to stay at her house | 1 | This was the normal custom of the day for people to provide hospitality to visitors in their homes. There were no immoral motives in this arrangement. | ||
702 | 47:3 | pbak | as a fortuneteller | 1 | The masters of the slave girl charged people money for her to tell them what would happen to them in the future. | ||
703 | 47:4 | oaui | Paul became annoyed | 1 | Paul and Silas were indeed telling people how to be saved. But the demon who controlled the girl was the one who was actually saying these things. Paul did not want to accept praise from a demon. | ||
704 | 47:5 | sirp | In the name of Jesus | 1 | Because of Jesus’ authority, Paul could command the demon to leave. | ||
705 | 47:6 | qu8y | without the demon | 1 | The owners of the slave girl knew that a demon gave her the power to tell what would happen in the future. They only thought of their own profit, and were not happy that the girl was now freed from the demon that had controlled her. | ||
706 | 47:7 | w2z3 | Paul and Silas to the Roman authorities | 1 | Paul and Silas had done nothing wrong, but they were strangers in Philippi. The Roman authorities believed the false accusations of the owners of the slave girl and punished Paul and Silas. | ||
707 | 47:8 | xyor | singing songs of praise to God | 1 | Paul and Silas were able to trust God even though the authorities beat them and put them in prison. Therefore, they were singing and praising God. | ||
708 | 47:9 | fsn1 | the chains of all the prisoners fell off | 1 | God caused this to happen. A natural earthquake would not release a person from the chains on their hands and feet. | ||
709 | 47:10 | poap | the jailer | 1 | This could mean ‘the official in charge of the jail.’ | ||
710 | 47:10 | ccyf | he got ready to kill himself! | 1 | The jailer was so afraid, thinking that the prisoners had escaped, that he intended to kill himself rather than be punished for his failure to guard them. | ||
711 | 47:11 | fy0u | What must I do to be saved? | 1 | The jailer knew that it was God who caused the earthquake and released the prisoners. He wanted to know how he could be saved from being punished by that powerful God. | ||
712 | 47:11 | k7si | Believe in Jesus, the Master | 1 | This was addressed to both the jailer and his family, who all then believed and were baptized. | ||
713 | 47:13 | rdf0 | The good news about Jesus kept spreading | 1 | People in more and more places were hearing the good news about Jesus. | ||
714 | 47:13 | o5qw | the Church kept growing | 1 | More and more people were becoming part of the Church by believing in Jesus. | ||
715 | 48:1 | aa4u | God created the world | 1 | See [1:1](1/1). | ||
716 | 48:1 | glvd | perfect | 1 | Everything was exactly as it should have been in order to accomplish all that God intended for it. | ||
717 | 48:1 | dw49 | Adam and Eve | 1 | See [1:14](1/14). | ||
718 | 48:1 | ve58 | There was no sin | 1 | See [2:1](2/1). | ||
719 | 48:2 | a1dd | Satan | 1 | Satan is a spirit being that God created. He rebelled against God and became God’s enemy. | ||
720 | 48:2 | d9my | the garden | 1 | This refers to the garden created by God where he placed the first man and woman [1:10](1/10). | ||
721 | 48:2 | tyoc | deceive her | 1 | Satan lied to Eve by leading her to doubt what God had said. By doing this, he tricked her into disobeying God (See: [2:4](2/4)). | ||
722 | 48:2 | i11p | Because they sinned, everyone on earth dies | 1 | See [1:11](1/11). | ||
723 | 48:4 | jy2c | crush Satan’s head | 1 | God made this promise in [2:9](2/9). This (crushing the head) represents a person stepping on the head of a snake. The head is completely crushed, and the snake is dead and therefore harmless. | ||
724 | 48:4 | i598 | bite his heel | 1 | This represents a snake on the ground biting a person’s foot. In this case, Satan would cause the Messiah to suffer, but would not destroy him (See: [2:9](2/9)). | ||
725 | 48:5 | ta0b | God told Noah to build a boat | 1 | See [3:2](3/2). | ||
726 | 48:6 | u7ws | priests kept on offering sacrifices | 1 | See [13:9](13/9). | ||
727 | 48:6 | o0t4 | He gave himself | 1 | That is, Jesus allowed himself to be killed. | ||
728 | 48:7 | v7pe | I will bless all the people groups on the earth | 1 | See [4:4](4/4). | ||
729 | 48:8 | d79a | sacrifice his own son, Isaac | 1 | See [5:6](5/6). | ||
730 | 48:8 | ltm7 | the Lamb of God | 1 | See [24:6](24/6). | ||
731 | 48:9 | bhlx | sent the last plague on Egypt | 1 | This was the tenth plague when God caused the firstborn sons of the Egyptians to die (See: [11:7](11/7)). | ||
732 | 48:9 | kc42 | kill a lamb | 1 | See [11:2](11/2). | ||
733 | 48:9 | luh2 | the Passover | 1 | The Passover is the name of a religious festival that the Jews celebrate every year to remember how God rescued their ancestors, the Israelites, from slavery in Egypt (See: [12:14](12/14)). | ||
734 | 48:10 | vxwz | blood of Jesus | 1 | This refers to the sacrifice of himself that Jesus made when he died for sinners. | ||
735 | 48:11 | m1pw | a covenant | 1 | A covenant is a formal, binding agreement between two parties that one or both parties must fulfill. | ||
736 | 48:12 | r6lp | call Jesus the Word of God | 1 | Jesus reveals God’s character. The other prophets preached the message God gave them, but Jesus revealed God in his preaching and his actions. | ||
737 | 48:13 | krq5 | God promised King David | 1 | See [17:7](17/7). | ||
738 | 49:1 | qrq6 | the Holy Spirit came to her and made her become pregnant | 1 | Scholars cannot explain how the Holy Spirit caused Mary to become pregnant. However, the Holy Spirit does not have a physical body, so we know that the Holy Spirit did not have sexual relations with Mary (See: [22:5](22/5)). | ||
739 | 49:2 | csco | He walked on water | 1 | See [31:3](31/3). | ||
740 | 49:2 | p45l | drove demons out | 1 | See [26:9](26/9). | ||
741 | 49:2 | x16p | He raised dead people to life | 1 | See [37:10](37/10). | ||
742 | 49:2 | g0jp | to feed over 5,000 people | 1 | See [30:8](30/8). | ||
743 | 49:3 | yw7m | a great teacher | 1 | This could mean ‘a very important teacher’ or ‘an excellent teacher.’ | ||
744 | 49:3 | gapd | the same way | 1 | This could mean ‘as much as’ or ‘the same amount that’ or ‘to the same degree that.’ | ||
745 | 49:4 | cibz | love God more than you love anything else | 1 | See [28:4](28/4). | ||
746 | 49:5 | bbd3 | better to be in God’s kingdom | 1 | See [34:4](34/4). | ||
747 | 49:6 | ugr6 | good soil | 1 | See [33:9](33/9). | ||
748 | 49:6 | yw5r | hard soil on a path | 1 | See [33:6](33/6). | ||
749 | 49:8 | x55v | Adam and Eve sinned | 1 | See [2:5](2/5). | ||
750 | 49:9 | psmy | gave his only Son | 1 | That is, he offered his only Son to the world as a sacrifice for sins. | ||
751 | 49:10 | dhko | Jesus took the punishment for sin in our place | 1 | Jesus willingly took the place of sinners and received the punishment that they deserved. | ||
752 | 49:10 | u162 | killing him on a cross | 1 | See [42:2](42/2). | ||
753 | 49:11 | y1jd | take away | 1 | The sacrifice of Jesus causes God to look at our sin as if it never existed. | ||
754 | 49:14 | fqjr | to believe in him | 1 | That means to believe that he is God and to trust in him to save you. | ||
755 | 49:14 | hqrm | to be baptized | 1 | Jesus wants people to be baptized in order to show others that they have believed in him. | ||
756 | 49:15 | wtz9 | kingdom of darkness | 1 | **Darkness** is used here to refer to sin and everything that is evil. | ||
757 | 49:15 | a00i | kingdom of light | 1 | **Light** here refers to God’s holiness and goodness. The Bible often compares evil to darkness, and goodness to light. | ||
758 | 49:15 | kwum | God has enabled you to no longer sin as you used to do. | 1 | Followers of Jesus still sin sometimes. But because the Holy Spirit lives in them, they can now resist sinning. Therefore, they do not sin easily or often, like they did before God saved them. | ||
759 | 49:17 | qeyj | confess your sins | 1 | This could mean ‘admit to God what you have done wrong.’ | ||
760 | 49:17 | m8q4 | He will give you strength to fight against sin | 1 | God will give you spiritual strength to refuse to sin. | ||
761 | 50:1 | jqoj | The Church has been growing | 1 | That is, the number of people who have believed in Jesus has been increasing. | ||
762 | 50:1 | bqqk | at the end of the world | 1 | This refers to the final days of this world. | ||
763 | 50:3 | sih9 | make disciples | 1 | This has the meaning ‘help people to become my disciples.’ | ||
764 | 50:3 | ve1i | The fields are ripe for harvest | 1 | That is, people in many places are ready to be gathered and brought to God like crops that are ripe in fields and ready to be gathered. | ||
765 | 50:3 | wo27 | The fields | 1 | In this expression, **The fields** represents the people in the world. | ||
766 | 50:3 | eh0f | ripe | 1 | **Ripe** here represents being ready to believe in Jesus. | ||
767 | 50:3 | he3t | harvest | 1 | **Harvest** here represents the work of bringing people to God by teaching them about Jesus. | ||
768 | 50:4 | x62s | in this world | 1 | This could mean ‘in this lifetime.’ | ||
769 | 50:4 | rvvf | remain faithful to me | 1 | This could mean ‘Keep obeying me.’ | ||
770 | 50:4 | wwg2 | to the end | 1 | This could mean ‘to the end of your life.’ | ||
771 | 50:4 | m0a8 | will save you | 1 | This refers to spiritual salvation rather than physical deliverance from harm. It has already been stated that many believers will be killed or tortured. | ||
772 | 50:5 | a33t | good seed | 1 | This seed was wheat grain. | ||
773 | 50:5 | snqm | weed seeds | 1 | The weed seeds that were planted would grow up as tall grass but could not be eaten. They were useless. | ||
774 | 50:5 | zwwe | wheat seeds | 1 | Wheat is a kind of grain that grows like a tall grass. It has seeds that people use for food. | ||
775 | 50:7 | xx6y | you will pull out some of the wheat as well | 1 | It would be too difficult to distinguish young wheat from the weeds, and to pull the weeds without uprooting the wheat. | ||
776 | 50:7 | yupq | barn | 1 | This refers to the building where the harvested wheat grain was saved and stored. | ||
777 | 50:8 | x9pt | the people of God’s kingdom | 1 | This refers to the people whom God has chosen to live in his kingdom. | ||
778 | 50:9 | wc9g | who belong to the devil | 1 | This refers to the people who are ruled by the devil. | ||
779 | 50:9 | y6xc | the devil | 1 | The devil is also called “Satan.” | ||
780 | 50:9 | jelc | the evil one | 1 | This is another title for Satan. It describes his character. | ||
781 | 50:9 | jrb6 | the harvesters | 1 | This refers to the men who harvest the ripe grain. | ||
782 | 50:10 | ss3a | who belong to the devil | 1 | This refers to those who do not believe in Jesus, but follow the evil ways of the devil. | ||
783 | 50:10 | i15i | the people who are righteous | 1 | This refers to the people who belong to the Messiah (See: [50:8](50/8)). | ||
784 | 50:10 | cjj8 | shine like the sun | 1 | This means everyone in heaven will see that they are good. | ||
785 | 50:11 | hoix | he will have a real body | 1 | Jesus will still have his physical body, but it will be different than the body he had while he was on earth. He will never be able to die again. | ||
786 | 50:11 | u8b0 | will come on the clouds in the sky | 1 | The clouds in the sky will surround Jesus as he comes. | ||
787 | 50:11 | wzqj | meet him in the sky | 1 | Those who believe in Jesus will go up to be near Jesus while he is in the sky. | ||
788 | 50:12 | npxv | still alive | 1 | This refers to followers of Jesus who will still be alive when he returns to earth. | ||
789 | 50:13 | pect | a crown | 1 | This crown represents our reward for believing in Jesus and serving him in this life. | ||
790 | 50:14 | uqei | hell | 1 | **Hell** is the place where God will punish forever all the people who do not believe in Jesus. | ||
791 | 50:14 | zega | weep and grind their teeth | 1 | This is a symbol of their intense suffering (See: [50:10](50/10)). | ||
792 | 50:14 | mlop | continually burn them | 1 | The fire will never completely destroy them. They will continue to suffer forever. | ||
793 | 50:15 | fg8z | his kingdom | 1 | This refers to all the evil things Satan does and the evil people he controls. | ||
794 | 50:16 | w5to | God cursed it | 1 | See [2:11](2/11). | ||
795 | 50:16 | awmq | a new heaven | 1 | This refers to a new set of stars and everything else in the sky. | ||
796 | 50:16 | mpqn | a new earth | 1 | This current earth on which we live will be replaced by a new and improved one. | ||
797 | 50:17 | zbzr | wipe away every tear | 1 | This means that Jesus will cause his people to never be sad again. | ||
798 | 50:17 | yd8f | They will not be sick or die | 1 | The people in the new earth will no longer suffer the effects of the curse that Adam and Eve brought upon the people of this earth. |