1 Corinthians 16:8

“You shall observe the feast of weeks with the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of harvest at the year’s end.

that with one accord you may with one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

and behold, joy and gladness, killing cattle and killing sheep, eating meat and drinking wine: “Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die.”

Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all with one accord in one place.

For we don’t desire to have you uninformed, brothers, concerning our affliction which happened to us in Asia, that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, so much that we despaired even of life.

not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

“ ‘So on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruits of the land, you shall keep the feast of Yahweh seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest.

“ ‘Also in the day of the first fruits, when you offer a new meal offering to Yahweh in your feast of weeks, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work;

that you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you shall bring in from your land that Yahweh your God gives you. You shall put it in a basket, and shall go to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there.

They kept the feast of booths, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the ordinance, as the duty of every day required;

I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” ’

The multitude of those who believed were of one heart and soul. Not one of them claimed that anything of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.

Now after these things had ended, Paul determined in the Spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.”

For Paul had determined to sail past Ephesus, that he might not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hastening, if it were possible for him, to be in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost.

When they had come to him, he said to them, “You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you all the time,

Only let your way of life be worthy of the Good News of Christ, that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your state, that you stand firm in one spirit, with one soul striving for the faith of the Good News;

For God is not unrighteous, so as to forget your work and the labor of love which you showed toward his name, in that you served the saints, and still do serve them.

John, to the seven assemblies that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from God, who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before his throne;

“And to the angel of the assembly in Sardis write: “He who has the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars says these things: “I know your works, that you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.

“You shall not delay to offer from your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. “You shall give the firstborn of your sons to me.

The next day after the seventh Sabbath you shall count fifty days; and you shall offer a new meal offering to Yahweh.

You shall keep the feast of booths seven days, after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and from your wine press.

There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.

Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come forever and ever.

This is what Yahweh, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Yahweh of Armies, says: “I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God.

“Come,” say they, “I will get wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow will be as today, great beyond measure.”

“Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘Write all the words that I have spoken to you in a book.

Yahweh answered me, “Write the vision, and make it plain on tablets, that he who runs may read it.

He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded Jews and Greeks.

but taking his leave of them, he said, “I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem, but I will return again to you if God wills.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.

Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by race, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus. He was mighty in the Scriptures.

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper country, came to Ephesus and found certain disciples.

each man’s work will be revealed. For the Day will declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself will test what sort of work each man’s work is.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, and the faithful in Christ Jesus:

make my joy full by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind;

As I urged you when I was going into Macedonia, stay at Ephesus that you might command certain men not to teach a different doctrine,

For this cause I also suffer these things. Yet I am not ashamed, for I know him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed to him against that day.

“To the angel of the assembly in Smyrna write: “The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life says these things:

“To the angel of the assembly in Pergamum write: “He who has the sharp two-edged sword says these things:

“To the angel of the assembly in Thyatira write: “The Son of God, who has his eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet are like burnished brass, says these things:

“To the angel of the assembly in Philadelphia write: “He who is holy, he who is true, he who has the key of David, he who opens and no one can shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says these things:

“To the angel of the assembly in Laodicea write: “The Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of God’s creation, says these things:

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

But Noah found favor in Yahweh’s eyes.

“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest.

Also the hand of God came on Judah to give them one heart, to do the commandment of the king and of the princes by Yahweh’s word.

I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their good, and the good of their children after them.

Put in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the wine press is full, the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.”

For then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that they may all call on Yahweh’s name, to serve him shoulder to shoulder.

All these with one accord continued steadfastly in prayer and supplication, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

A certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, one who worshiped God, heard us. The Lord opened her heart to listen to the things which were spoken by Paul.

This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived at Ephesus. Fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

You see and hear that not at Ephesus alone, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are no gods that are made with hands.

Now after some years, I came to bring gifts for the needy to my nation, and offerings;

Or else what will they do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead aren’t raised at all, why then are they baptized for the dead?

For I desire to have you know how greatly I struggle for you, and for those at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh;

Finally, all of you be like-minded, compassionate, loving as brothers, tenderhearted, courteous,

“To the angel of the assembly in Ephesus write: “He who holds the seven stars in his right hand, he who walks among the seven golden lamp stands says these things:

When the seven thunders sounded, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from the sky saying, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders said, and don’t write them.”

I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors; for their works follow with them.”

He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” He said, “Write, for these words of God are faithful and true.”

And the feast of harvest, the first fruits of your labors, which you sow in the field; and the feast of ingathering, at the end of the year, when you gather in your labors out of the field.

You shall count for yourselves seven weeks. From the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain you shall begin to count seven weeks.

Then those who feared Yahweh spoke one with another; and Yahweh listened, and heard, and a book of memory was written before him, for those who feared Yahweh, and who honored his name.

He came to Ephesus, and he left them there; but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews.

If I fought with animals at Ephesus for human purposes, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, then “let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

(the Lord grant to him to find the Lord’s mercy in that day); and in how many things he served at Ephesus, you know very well.

saying, “What you see, write in a book and send to the seven assemblies: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”