Behold, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you.

they will pick up snakes with their hands, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will be made well.”

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field that the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’” The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You must not eat of it or touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not surely die,” the serpent told her. “For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” . . .

Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

They will lick the dust like a snake, like reptiles slithering on the ground. They will crawl from their holes in the presence of the LORD our God; they will tremble in fear of You.

In the end it bites like a snake and stings like a viper.

Paul gathered a bundle of sticks, and as he laid them on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself to his hand. When the islanders saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “Surely this man is a murderer. Although he was saved from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” But Paul shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no ill effects.

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field that the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’”

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.” So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. If anyone who was bitten looked at the bronze snake, he would live.

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “When Pharaoh tells you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ you are to say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a serpent.” So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD had commanded. Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent. But Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers and magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same things by their magic arts. Each one threw down his staff, and it became a serpent. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up the other staffs. . . .

You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell?

So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and every beast of the field! On your belly will you go, and dust you will eat, all the days of your life.

Paul gathered a bundle of sticks, and as he laid them on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself to his hand.

So the LORD sent venomous snakes among the people, and many of the Israelites were bitten and died.

But when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his place of baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

We should not test Christ, as some of them did, and were killed by snakes.

in order that Satan should not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.

This is the burden against the beasts of the Negev: Through a land of hardship and distress, of lioness and lion, of viper and flying serpent, they carry their wealth on the backs of donkeys and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people of no profit to them.

He led you through the vast and terrifying wilderness with its venomous snakes and scorpions, a thirsty and waterless land. He brought you water from the rock of flint.

And the great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

They sharpen their tongues like snakes; the venom of vipers is on their lips. Selah

Do not rejoice, all you Philistines, that the rod that struck you is broken. For a viper will spring from the root of the snake, and a flying serpent from its egg.

And these signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will be made well.”

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.

Each one threw down his staff, and it became a serpent. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up the other staffs.

You will tread on the lion and cobra; you will trample the young lion and serpent.

“Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured me; he has crushed me. He has set me aside like an empty vessel; he has swallowed me like a monster; he filled his belly with my delicacies and vomited me out.

Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Intercede with the LORD so He will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses interceded for the people.

“For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

And these signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues;

So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. If anyone who was bitten looked at the bronze snake, he would live.

He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace and peace to you from God our Father. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints— the faith and love proceeding from the hope stored up for you in heaven, of which you have already heard in the word of truth, the gospel . . .

Do not test the LORD your God as you tested Him at Massah.

He will be a snake by the road, a viper in the path that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider tumbles backward.

Though they hide themselves atop Carmel, there I will track them and seize them; and though they hide from Me at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them.

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

He who digs a pit may fall into it, and he who breaches a wall may be bitten by a snake.

In that day the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan the fleeing serpent—Leviathan the coiling serpent—and He will slay the dragon of the sea.

Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My right hand of righteousness.

Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

For no word from God will ever fail.”

The infant will play by the cobra’s den, and the toddler will reach into the viper’s nest.

He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze snake called Nehushtan that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had burned incense to it.

Paul gathered a bundle of sticks, and as he laid them on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself to his hand. When the islanders saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “Surely this man is a murderer. Although he was saved from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” But Paul shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. The islanders were expecting him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

“You will not surely die,” the serpent told her.

And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed in the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and crying out in the pain and agony of giving birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon with seven heads, ten horns, and seven royal crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars from the sky, tossing them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, ready to devour her child as soon as she gave birth. And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was caught up to God and to His throne. . . .

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Jesus replied, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

But Paul shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no ill effects.

Egypt will hiss like a fleeing serpent, for the enemy will advance in force; with axes they will come against her like woodsmen cutting down trees.

“For behold, I will send snakes among you, vipers that cannot be charmed, and they will bite you,” declares the LORD.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.”

The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but the food of the serpent will be dust. They will neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain,” says the LORD.

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid.

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so they could go and anoint the body of Jesus. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they went to the tomb. They were asking one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, even though it was extremely large. When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. . . .

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

For I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me face to face, that they may be encouraged in heart, knit together in love, and filled with the full riches of complete understanding, so that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this so that no one will deceive you by smooth rhetoric. For although I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, and I delight to see your orderly condition and firm faith in Christ. . . .

I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the LORD, “You are my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Surely He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly plague. He will cover you with His feathers; under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, . . .

But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

I consider that our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory that will be revealed in us.

Now to Him who is able to do so much more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,

and lusted after their lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of stallions.

I will execute great vengeance against them with furious reproof. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I lay My vengeance upon them.’”

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.

But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

But to those of you who will listen, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its savor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.

In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the Prophets.

He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

Strength and honor are her clothing, and she can laugh at the days to come.

I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

This is the vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Listen, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the LORD has spoken: “I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against Me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s manger, but Israel does not know; My people do not understand.” Alas, O sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children of depravity! They have forsaken the LORD; they have despised the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on Him. Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep rebelling? Your head has a massive wound, and your whole heart is afflicted. . . .

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish. There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.