Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

26 Now ^man angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south¹ to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an ⁿEthiopian, a ^oeunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, ^pwho was in charge of all her treasure. ^qHe had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, ^r“How can I, unless someone ^sguides me?” And ^the invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and ^wbeginning with this Scripture ^xhe told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! ^yWhat prevents me from being baptized?”² 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, ^zthe Spirit of the Lord ^acarried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

I Am the True Vine

1 “I am the ^rtrue vine, and my Father is ^sthe vinedresser. 2 ^tEvery branch in me that does not bear fruit ^uhe takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, ^vthat it may bear more fruit. 3 Already ^wyou are clean ^xbecause of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 ^yAbide ^zin me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; ^ayou are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that ^bbears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me ^che is thrown away like a branch and withers; ^dand the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If ^eyou abide in me, and my words abide in you, ^fask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 ^gBy this my Father is glorified, that you ^hbear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

God Is Love

7 Beloved, ^jlet us love one another, for love is from God, and ^kwhoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 ^lAnyone who does not love does not know God, because ^mGod is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that ⁿGod sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, ^onot that we have loved God ⁿbut that he loved us and sent his Son to be ^pthe propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 ^qNo one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and ^rhis love is perfected in us.

13 ^sBy this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And ^twe have seen and testify that ^uthe Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of ^vthe world. 15 ^wWhoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So ^xwe have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. ^yGod is love, and ^zwhoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this ^ais love perfected with us, so that ^bwe may have confidence for the day of judgment, because ^cas he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but ^dperfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not ^abeen perfected in love. 19 ^eWe love because he first loved us. 20 ^fIf anyone says, “I love God,” and ^ghates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot¹ love God ^hwhom he has not seen. 21 And ⁱthis commandment we have from him: ^jwhoever loves God must also love his brother.