Jews in the New Testament
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Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem,
saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee.
In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him,
And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.
Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan.
then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You have said so.”
and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”
So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.
And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea
(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders,
And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them.
“But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.”
And he answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?”
And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?”
And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.”
In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea,
And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,
And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal.
And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon,
When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant.
And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.
Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it,
And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.”
But they were urgent, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place.”
and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man,
And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.
The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?”
The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?”
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing.
Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification.
he left Judea and departed again for Galilee.
The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)
You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.
This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.
After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.”
The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.
And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.
This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.
So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”
The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him.
Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand.
So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing.
The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?”
Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.
The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?”
The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?
So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?”
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,
The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?”
The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’
So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”
The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight
(His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.)
There was again a division among the Jews because of these words.
So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
The Jews picked up stones again to stone him.
The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”
Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”
The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?”
and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.
When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.
So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him,
Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.
Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves.
When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.
because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.
Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’
So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him.
It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it would be expedient that one man should die for the people.
Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret.
Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.”
So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”
Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?”
Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”
Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”
After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him.
But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”
They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands.
The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.”
From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”
Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”
Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”
Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek.
So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’ ”
Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away.
After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body.
So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.
So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.
On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.
Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”
But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.
And Saul approved of his execution.
And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.
When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him,
So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.”
And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.
you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed:
And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree,
Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.
Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews.
So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea.
and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread.
When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”
And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined the sentries and ordered that they should be put to death. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there.
When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them.
When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus.
And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God.
But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him.
But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district.
Now at Iconium they entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.
But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.
But the people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews and some with the apostles.
When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat them and to stone them,
But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.
But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek.
Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city.
Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.
But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd.
The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue.
But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds.
So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.
And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them,
And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.
When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.
But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal,
But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint.
And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there, but he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.
Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures.
for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.
This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.
Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.”
Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this.
And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled.
Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd.
But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.
serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews;
testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.
And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’ ”
And when they heard it, they glorified God. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law,
and they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs.
When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him,
Paul replied, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the people.”
“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day.
“And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,
But on the next day, desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews, he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them.
When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.
And he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more closely about him.
This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them when I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman citizen.
For we have found this man a plague, one who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the world and is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.
The Jews also joined in the charge, affirming that all these things were so.
While I was doing this, they found me purified in the temple, without any crowd or tumult. But some Jews from Asia—
After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.
When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.
And the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews laid out their case against Paul, and they urged him,
When he had arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him that they could not prove.
Paul argued in his defense, “Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I committed any offense.”
But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me?”
But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you yourself know very well.
and when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews laid out their case against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him.
And Festus said, “King Agrippa and all who are present with us, you see this man about whom the whole Jewish people petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer.
“I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews,
especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.
“My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews.
to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O king!
but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.
For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.
After three days he called together the local leaders of the Jews, and when they had gathered, he said to them, “Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.
But because the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar—though I had no charge to bring against my nation.
And they said to him, “We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of the brothers coming here has reported or spoken any evil about you.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek,
but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek.
But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God
For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical.
But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.
Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?
What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,
Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,
even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?
For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.
that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,
For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.
Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God,
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea.
Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.
For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it.
And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.
And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.
And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.
But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners;
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews,
not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth.
“ ‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you.
