DEAD SKINS RAISED TO LIFE!

Acts 9:39–43 (NKJV)

39 Then Peter arose and went with them. When he had come, they brought him to the upper room. And all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them. 40 But Peter put them all out, and knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. 41 Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord. 43 So it was that he stayed many days in Joppa with Simon, a tanner.

To recollect our previous study, we began with the background and the cultural backdrop of Dorcas to build the case of her reputation in the city of Joppa. We discovered that it was possible that her life before Christ may have caused her to use her beauty to lure men into sin’s power, enslaving her and her victims, to commit abominable acts of immorality (Prov.5:1-23). Proverbs 11:22 (NKJV) 22 As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout, So is a lovely woman who lacks discretion [Literal interpretation]. But we also looked closely at her reputation after she came to Christ and the holy purpose to which God saved her. He saved her to make Joppa, not “great again”, but “beautiful again” in the eye of God. She became well known in the church for her hard work and for a generous attitude toward the saints. However, she became sick (possibly from overworking) and died, and her living works became dead works to the church in Joppa. The verb tense and voice expounds the idea that her sickness became worse and worse to the consummation of her death, for she was ‘active’ in her own sickness (vs.37). We also looked into the ‘gaze’ effect. The effect of God’s gaze upon her was intended to be an easy yoke, but the effect of the gaze of men caused it to be a heavy burden. We break into our study at the point of her friends seeking out Peter for his apostolic care, upon having heard of the work of Aeneas’s miracle.

39 Then Peter arose and went with them. When he had come, they brought him to the upper room. And all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them.

We come to understand here that Peter was on his knees in prayer. Peter had no written authority to instruct him what the will of God is for his next move. Peter had no idea what town or city he is to go to next or if he is to remain in Lydda and continue to pastor the disciples there. Therefore, he is found on his knees seeking God in prayer. He was not looking to his gut feelings or personal instincts to guide him into the darkness and light his way, for he surely would have stumbled reasoning with his own understanding. He was ‘calling’ on God to send him direction into the next place he should go. Does this mean that Peter lacked some sort of faith? Does this mean he was a fool for ‘calling’ on the wisdom and counsel of God in prayer? Does this mean that he didn’t read the Scriptures enough to lead him into the next step of faith? I suggest to you that he shows his faith by exercising his dependence on the only one who could direct his paths. [Proverbs 3:5–6 (NKJV) 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.] If God does operate in our feelings, it is from the unchangeable Word of God burning in our belly like a fire (Jer.20:9).

God answers the diligence of Peter’s prayers, not by sending an angel or a particular vision, but through the compassionate commission of the two men sent by the disciples in Joppa for the sake of the beloved Dorcas. So God sends two messengers to plead for Peter’s immediate attention. The Greek verb synerchomai (went) reveals that Peter actively and willing joined the two messengers on their journey back to Joppa through his own volition. In other words he joined himself in the same mind and heart for the sake of Tabitha. Upon his arrival they led him straight to the upper room where Dorcas was being prepared for burial. It is a good thing that they didn’t practice embalming at this point in history or the life that was in Dorcas would have no opportunity to be resurrected, for life consists in the blood of men; but life in the Spirit consists in the blood of Jesus Christ (Jn.6:53; Gen.9:5).

Clean water is being sprinkled upon the dead body of Tabitha for her spirit’s sanctification; like the blood was sprinkled upon the priests, who labored in the temple for the sanctification of the people of Israel (Ezk.36:25; 1Pet.1:2; Heb.9:13, 19, 21; 10:22; 11:24). Paedo-baptists practice this illustration of ‘sanctification’ upon their newborn infants, but these verses have nothing to do with the immersion into the New Covenant of Christ’s death – Believer’s Baptism. But they do have application to the ongoing work of sanctification in the believer’s life in Jesus Christ. The preparation for burial illustrates the cleansing from all earthly idols (Ezk.36:25) through the New Covenant of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is most likely the early practice of baptism on behalf of the dead that have passed through their body of death into their glorious (immersion/baptism) of the body in the fullness of the glory of the Lord in the face of Jesus Christ (1Cor.15:29). The context of chapter 15 in Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth is regarding those who objected to a resurrection of the body. Paul reminds them that those who practice the funeral or burial ceremony are doing so because of the resurrection of the body (Rom.6:5; 7:24; 8:10, 11, 23).

Therefore these early disciples clearly believed in the resurrection, but they desperately wanted to keep Tabitha for themselves; and were pleading with Peter to beseech God to reinstitute her service to them in the fullness of life; from what is now her dead works on their behalf. This also makes it clear that the works of men are not enough to grant people the faith to repent of sin and trust in Christ alone for salvation. This was a weak church regarding the faith; because they depended too much upon the works of this saint named Tabitha when they should have allowed her to remain in the eternal rest of her Savior. These early disciples were selfish; but God chooses to grant their selfish desires, because they were not yet fully discipled; and the resurrection of Dorcas will give Peter the authority and opportunity to establish them further into the faith that is once and for all delivered to the saints (Jude3). The Word of God that was planted in Joppa needed to stretch its roots deeper into the truth and grace of Jesus Christ (Mk.4:32; 2Pet.3:18).

The temptation for the Hellenist church in Joppa was to find merit in the works of Dorcas who labored for God; rather than in God Himself who labored for them, which is idolatry – a violation of the 1st and 2nd commandments. Thankfully this church doesn’t grow up into the same apostasy as the Roman Catholic Church using the works of Mary to be a co-Mediator and Redeemer with Jesus Christ. Tabitha’s resurrection is to jump start the dead works of this early church like it was a dead car battery. Like a car battery her works were merely an instrument for the Holy Spirit to generate power to the people, to light the city up with beauty – the beauty of the works of Jesus Christ. These works were to be done in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. If these works were done in the name of Tabitha and were pure and perfect like the works of Jesus Christ, Dorcas would have had the power to raise herself from the dead; but it is clearly shown that her dependency was on God to raise her from the dead. It took the faith of the disciples to send out two messengers to find Peter, and then the faith of Peter to exercise his apostolic authority, and then the power of God to be in agreement with Peter’s faith to raise Dorcas to life. Tabitha did not raise herself from the dead to be a co-Mediator and co-Redeemer with the Lord Jesus Christ and neither did Mary the mother of our Lord and Savior. The resurrection of Christ was the sign that He was who He claimed to be – the eternal Son of God. All other sons and daughters are ‘adopted’ into this Father – child relationship; and those who remain in the world are under the lies and deception of their own father the devil (Jn.8:44; 1Jn.5:19).

Ephesians 1:3–6 (NKJV)

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

. . . And all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them.

Life does not consist in the name of our earthly loved ones and the idolatrous nature of their man-made works. These disciples were just newly found babes in Christ and didn’t fully understand the resurrection. All their weeping was ‘wrapped up’ in the ‘good’ works that Dorcas had done for them (Lk.11:13). In a sense this is a eulogy about the nature and works of Tabitha, but how often do we forget to honor God in the works of men (Jn.15:5). The widows who loved Dorcas quickly pointed out to Peter the measure of love Tabitha had for them. But none of the widows recognized that her works were ‘good’ because of who her God is and what He has done. If these widows understood the nature of Tabitha’s God, they would have rejoiced in God for her eternal resurrection. Jesus exposed the heart of His disciples when He said:

John 14:27–29 (NKJV)

27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 28 You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I. 29 “And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe.

Peter, who understood the pain and suffering of the loss of these widows that depended on Dorcas, weeps with them in prayer before the Father, to demonstrate for them the power of God, so that they would believe and not fear who would care for them in their distress. God is going to resurrect Dorcas to provide, once again, for them; and illustrate the future of all those who trust in the Lord for life and godliness (2Pet.1:3). This miracle is given in honor of the Lord’s resurrection and exaltation to the Father’s right hand; as a sign that the Holy Spirit is giving life to the church at Joppa. When a loved one dies, whether of the Lord or of the world, do you glorify God in their death? The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. If we do not glorify God with our life and death, our end will be to unwillingly glorify Him in the eternal destruction of our souls under His righteous and just wrath against sinners. However, if we find it in our hearts, to discover the chief purpose of the creation, which is to enjoy God for who He is and how He has revealed Himself in His Son – the Lord Jesus Christ, we will glorify Him in every aspect and detail of our life and death. Do you look for every opportunity to make your Lord and Savior known to a world that will perish without the knowledge and assurance of Him?

40 But Peter put them all out, and knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.

The more I meditate on the fact that Dorcas was praised for her good works and that Luke describes her earlier of being ‘full of good works’; the more I am convinced that Tabitha was heavily oppressed by her own love for the widows of Joppa and that her works were the cause of her own death. Luke earlier described her sickness as though she was actively involved in it. Luke is using ‘active’ verbs in connection to the pronouns, she, and the noun, Dorcas, in verse 37. As the widows are explaining to Peter about Tabitha’s situation, he exorcises them out the room. The Greek verb ekballo (put out) means to cast out with force:

1675 ἐκβάλλω (ekballō): vb.; ≡ Str 1544; TDNT 1.527—1. LN 15.220 throw out, expel (Mt 21:39); 2. LN 15.44 drive out, send out, expel (Mt 8:16; Mk 11:15; Ac 16:37); 3. LN 15.68 send out, send forth, for a purpose (Mt 9:38); 4. LN 15.174 lead out, bring forth from an area (Mk 1:12; Jn 10:4); 5. LN 53.102 exorcise a demon (Mt 9:34; Mk 1:34; Mk 16:9, 17 v.r.); 6. LN 13.68 cause to be, make, become, i.e., to cause a significant change of a state, by a decisive action (Mt 12:20); 7. LN 33.396 ἐκβάλλω τὸ ὄνομα (ekballō to onoma), slander (Lk 6:22+)

Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament) (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

Therefore, I believe that Luke intends for the reader to grasp the fact that the idolatry of these widows were also a secondary cause of Tabitha’s death. They took advantage of her love for them, and Peter quickly discerns it, and exorcises them out the presence of Dorcas like Christ would exorcise a demon. I don’t believe that Peter was harsh with them, but I do believe he makes it fully aware by the way he led them out. Luke has chosen too strong a word to make me believe otherwise. Peter made a ‘decisive’ decision to use a level of authoritative ‘force’, and to ‘send out’ these widows for the purpose of seeking God’s power to restore spiritual life to the church. This was going to be a game ‘changer’ for the church in Joppa.

Peter uses no manmade accountability policy to mediate between the male and female relationship, nor as between a Doctor and patient relationship in the solitude of this room. The widows were forced to trust God on behalf of their loved one with the faith of a stranger, but not without the reputation of God. However, it would be wise for us to consider to use such accountability when a pastor is counseling or discipling the opposite sex. It is not a commanded policy but it makes good policy for the protection of both parties.

Peter goes straight to his knees, in the posture of humiliation, on behalf of the disciples of Dorcas. These disciples needed life in God more than Dorcas needed to be resurrected from the dead because this was a church without a leader. Tabitha may have been a wandering convert of Philip as he passed through this region, and Dorcas quickly assisted through a dramatic change of life. Her life was now in the service of the many widows in the city and as seen later in our context through the hospitality of a man named Simon, a tanner. It may have been that Tabitha was a close friend of Simon and lured the widows into the safety of his home for the worship of God. This church was operating without any official commission having been put together through the scattered conversions of Philip. In verse 43, Luke makes it clear that Peter stayed ‘many days’ with Simon – the Tanner. Simon may have been Peter’s first prospect to establish a leader for the sake of these newly found disciples. Part of Peter’s commission was to examine the state of the church and establish the government of those churches in the regions that the saints were scattered to or as a result from the fruits of Philip’s evangelistic crusade.

There is no time frame as to the duration of Peter’s prayer, but turning to the dead body of Tabitha he calls out in her Aramaic name to stand up. Life had returned to her as the pupils of her eyes were dilated to give evidence of a restoration from death. The Greek noun ophthalmos (eyes) first implies the apple of the eyes and secondarily the opening of the eye lids. We call this the pupil of the eye in English. Her pupils would have dilated to filter the extensive light that entered as he opened her eyes. It also concludes that she was clinically dead as opposed to some scholars who might suggest that she was not completely dead.

. . . And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.

The personal pronoun, she, is translated from the Greek article ἡ (hē) [the] which is sometimes used like a pronoun in the Greek, but has a feminine gender. However, the article in the feminine gender doesn’t always identify the female noun; as Luke also used the same feminine article to identify Jesus in Acts 8:33. Therefore, it was probable that it was Peter who opened her eye lids to examine if she was alive. Either way we translate the article; the miracle is clear that she was dead, but is now alive. Peter had to have been near or directly over her body for her to see him without first sitting up. This also would give further evidence that Peter was examining her pupils and in fact opened her eyes. The Greek command anistemi (arise) is sometimes used to describe the action of ‘awakening’ out of sleep, but Luke is using it to describe the command to awake out of death. Most of the time the word means to stand up as Luke also used it when describing Peter rising out of prayer to join the men who led him to the upper room in Joppa – the house of Simon. Luke, who was a physician and the author of Acts, also uses this word to make the definitive case that Tabitha was clinically dead. The Gospel of Luke describes the healing of Jairus’s little girl who was in a coma, but thought to be dead. In Luke 8:49-56 he uses the Greek command egeiro (arise) as opposed to our context of anistemi. Luke is intentionally making the medical case that Tabitha was clinically dead in opposition to being in a coma. This is also why he draws the reader’s attention to the dilation of the pupils.

41 Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive.

Peter stands alongside his work as he aids her out of her stupor. Then he immediately calls in the saints and widows to surrender her back – alive. Alive is the key to unlocking Luke’s intent. Peter doesn’t present her back as well or better or best; as if she was sick or in a state of unconsciousness, but surrenders her alive from the dead. This is the official story with all the scientific facts. It is as if Peter is saying, “Here she is, examine her for yourself”. Peter is not playing games or performing magic tricks, but shows that this miracle is clearly done by the supernatural power of God in the name of Jesus Christ. Peter is saying, “If you have seen the miracle in Tabitha, you have seen the Father”. The Father is clearly present in this work. Miracles can only be manifested through the changing of natural laws, and the only one who has the omnipotent power to violate those laws is the Creator of those laws. When Satan performs a trick, he must use the natural laws and manipulate them in a way that creates an illusion, but he cannot violate or change them. Jesus violated the law of gravity when He walked on water; and if you have seen Jesus, you have seen the Father (Jn.14:7, 9). The fullness of God’s glory is veiled in the human nature of Jesus Christ (Jn.1:1, 14). No one has seen God in His fullness, but God can be fully known through the Word becoming flesh (1Jn.4:12; 2Cor.3:18). The essence of this miracle is to express the Word becoming flesh, in particular to Tabitha, but also to all the disciples who witnessed this event.

42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord.

The ultimate purpose of the miracle in Tabitha was for the glory of God to be demonstrated; so that the city would believe in the Lord and that Word of God would be established or grounded in the people of the city. This was to be a church that was commissioned by a divine decree of the Most High and the resurrection of Tabitha was to signify and authenticate it. God desires that sinners be saved from the destructive nature of sin and from sin’s consequences. Many who dwelt in this city heard of Tabitha’s testimony and turned to the Lord. But for salvation to be assured to the many, a leader needed to be established as well. It is only those who continue in faith and repentance that receive eternal life. All these new converts will need someone to lead them into the counsel of God’s Word and to pray for their growth in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Without a leader the fruits of Philip’s evangelism, Dorcas’s good works, and now Peter’s supernatural faith will have no enduring effect. Therefore a trusted leader must be established to oversee the increasing number of disciples.

43 So it was that he stayed many days in Joppa with Simon, a tanner.

We are not preaching the full counsel of the gospel if we are not planting and establishing “Christian” churches. In the Great Commission Jesus said: 18 . . . “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Matthew 28:18–20 (NKJV). We must understand that the Gospel doesn’t end in personal evangelism. We are to teach those disciples who have been made into the image of God by the singular name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit to observe all the words of His Law. These three persons are one God and shouldn’t be confused with the pagan errors of modalism and pluralism. There is one Name that we serve that has been exalted above all names – Jesus Christ.

Psalm 138:2 (NKJV)

2 I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.

Philippians 2:9–11 (NKJV)

9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Ephesians 1:15–23 (NKJV)

15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, . . . according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. 22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

In Him we have access and can know the Father and are transformed into His image by the power of the Holy Spirit. These three personal and intimate ministries of God work as one to accomplish all that has been decreed before the foundation of the world.

. . . with Simon, a tanner.

We come upon an ordinary man named Simon who was a tanner. There was nothing spectacular about him that would cause Peter to desire him and entrust him with the extraordinary responsibility of teaching the disciples. He was a simple man. He did not have a position in the city magistrate or hold any particular political form of power. He was merely a skilled laborer in the craft of tanning. In other words, vainly speaking, he was a no-body.

The story of Peter’s sojourn in Joppa with Simon, the tanner (Acts 9–10), implies that Peter had taken a step beyond the Jewish community with the Christian gospel. Since the tanner’s trade was a demeaning task from Jewish perspectives, his shop was required to be on the outskirts of a community, for it was a malodorous process (Mish Baba Bathra ii.9; cf. TB Kiddushin 82b, “woe to him who is a tanner by trade”).

See R. Reed, Ancient Skins, Parchments and Leathers (1972), chs 3, 8.

Trever, J. C. (1979–1988). Tanned. In G. W. Bromiley (Ed.), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (Vol. 4, p. 726). Wm. B. Eerdmans.

While I disagree that Peter stepped beyond the Jewish community on his own initiative, he indeed had been led beyond the Jewish community for the sake of Tabitha; and I do agree with Dr. Trever that a tanner’s trade was forced outside of the Jewish community. And in this case was for the good of these babes in Christ for their own protection from the Jewish authorities. The house of this tanner was a safe haven by God’s sovereign, providential design.

. . . tanning, the process of rendering leather permanently soft and pliable. Because of the many uses to which it could be put, leather was a valuable commodity. “Tanned rams’ skins” were offerings given by the people of Israel at Mount Sinai (Exod. 25:5; 35:7, 23). These skins were fashioned into the coverings for the tent of meeting and the tabernacle (26:14; 36:19; 39:34). Skins were used for clothing and many other products, including leather buckets, waterskins, wineskins, and butter churns (Gen. 21:14; Judg. 4:19; Matt. 9:17). Nevertheless, due to the nature of the work, tanners were not always held in high regard. The odors accompanying the process and the contact with unclean animals were repugnant to townspeople. Thus, Simon the tanner is described as living outside of town (by the seaside, at Joppa, Acts 10:16). See also skins.

Rattray, S. (2011). tanning. In M. A. Powell (Ed.), The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary (Revised and Updated) (Third Edition., pp. 1010–1011). New York: HarperCollins.

“The more scrupulous Jews regarded such an occupation as unclean, and avoided those who pursued it. The conduct of Peter here shows that he did not carry his prejudices to that extent” (Hackett). One of the rabbis said: “It is impossible for the world to do without tanners; but woe to him who is a tanner.” A Jewess could sue for divorce if she discovered that her husband was a tanner. And yet Peter will have scruples on the housetop in the tanner’s house about eating food considered unclean. “The lodging with the tanner was a step on the road to eating with a Gentile” (Furneaux).

Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Ac 9:43). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.

Indeed, this Simon the tanner is mentioned again several times in the following narrative (10:6, 17–18, 32). Tanners were considered unclean by more scrupulous Jews because of their contact with the hides of dead animals.98 Peter was apparently not troubled by such concerns, but he would soon have difficulty taking the more radical step of visiting a Gentile household (cf. 10:6 note).99 He would need a series of revelations from God to move him in that direction.

Peterson, D. G. (2009). The Acts of the Apostles (p. 323). Grand Rapids, MI; Nottingham, England: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

Luke impresses the reader that Peter spent ‘many days’ lodging in the house of Simon the tanner. During this time each would have made the effort to understand one another in the love of God. Peter would have labored to express all the Master’s teachings to his new apprentice; like a master tanner would to ensure his trade remains alive. Peter is being challenged to let go of his legalistic understandings of the Mosaic Law as he dialogued with this particular Hellenist. Through this time the Lord was building up Peter in the love that God has for all men. This was obviously going to take many days for the Lord tear down his false understandings of the law as he recollects all the things that Jesus taught him through the keeping power of remembrance in the Holy Spirit.

John 15:26–16:4 (NKJV)

26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning. 1 “These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. 3 And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. 4 But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them. “And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.

Our application here is not to fill our flesh with the colors of sin, but to fill our hearts with the colors of truth and grace in Jesus Christ. We should never celebrate the destruction of the flesh in the colors of death and sin like the world celebrates Halloween. But we can and we must celebrate the perfection of God’s beauty in the resurrection of dead skins! And we must forfeit our dead works of self-righteousness for the living works of God. For God to make us ‘beautiful again’ we need to be shining examples of the power of God’s amazing grace. Therefore:

Romans 15:8–13 (NKJV)

8 Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers, 9 and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written: “For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles, And sing to Your name.” 10 And again he says: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!” 11 And again: “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!” 12 And again, Isaiah says: “There shall be a root of Jesse; And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, In Him the Gentiles shall hope.” 13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.