# verses

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It makes no difference who worked the hardest, I or they; the important thing is that we preached the Gospel to you and you believed it.


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But tell me this! Since you believe what we preach, that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying that dead people will never come back to life again?


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And if he is still dead, then all our preaching is useless and your trust in God is empty, worthless, hopeless;


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and we apostles are all liars because we have said that God raised Christ from the grave, and of course that isn't true if the dead do not come back to life again.


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and you are very foolish to keep on trusting God to save you, and you are still under condemnation for your sins;


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And if being a Christian is of value to us only now in this life, we are the most miserable of creatures.


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But the fact is that Christ did actually rise from the dead and has become the first of millions who will come back to life again someday.


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Death came into the world because of what one man (Adam) did, and it is because of what this other man (Christ) has done that now there is the resurrection from the dead.


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Everyone dies because all of us are related to Adam, being members of his sinful race, and wherever there is sin, death results. But all who are related to Christ will rise again.


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Each, however, in his own turn: Christ rose first; then when Christ comes back, all his people will become alive again.


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After that the end will come when he will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having put down all enemies of every kind.


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For the rule and authority over all things has been given to Christ by his Father; except, of course, Christ does not rule over the Father himself, who gave him this power to rule.


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When Christ has finally won the battle against all his enemies, then he, the Son of God, will put himself also under his Father's orders, so that God who has given him the victory over everything else will be utterly supreme.


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If the dead will not come back to life again, then what point is there in people being baptized for those who are gone? Why do it unless you believe that the dead will someday rise again?


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And what value was there in fighting wild beasts--those men of Ephesus--if it was only for what I gain in this life down here? If we will never live again after we die, then we might as well go and have ourselves a good time: let us eat, drink, and be merry. What's the difference? For tomorrow we die, and that ends everything!


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Don't be fooled by those who say such things. If you listen to them you will start acting like them.


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Get some sense and quit your sinning. For to your shame I say it; some of you are not even Christians at all and have never really known God.


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But someone may ask, "How will the dead be brought back to life again? What kind of bodies will they have?"


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What a foolish question! You will find the answer in your own garden! When you put a seed into the ground it doesn't grow into a plant unless it "dies" first.


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And when the green shoot comes up out of the seed, it is very different from the seed you first planted. For all you put into the ground is a dry little seed of wheat or whatever it is you are planting,


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then God gives it a beautiful new body--just the kind he wants it to have; a different kind of plant grows from each kind of seed.


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And just as there are different kinds of seeds and plants, so also there are different kinds of flesh. Humans, animals, fish, and birds are all different.


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The angels in heaven have bodies far different from ours, and the beauty and the glory of their bodies is different from the beauty and the glory of ours.


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The sun has one kind of glory while the moon and stars have another kind. And the stars differ from each other in their beauty and brightness.


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In the same way, our earthly bodies which die and decay are different from the bodies we shall have when we come back to life again, for they will never die.


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The bodies we have now embarrass us, for they become sick and die; but they will be full of glory when we come back to life again. Yes, they are weak, dying bodies now, but when we live again they will be full of strength.


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They are just human bodies at death, but when they come back to life they will be superhuman bodies. For just as there are natural, human bodies, there are also supernatural, spiritual bodies.


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The Scriptures tell us that the first man, Adam, was given a natural, human body but Christ is more than that, for he was life-giving Spirit.


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Every human being has a body just like Adam's, made of dust, but all who become Christ's will have the same kind of body as his--a body from heaven.


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I tell you this, my brothers: an earthly body made of flesh and blood cannot get into God's Kingdom. These perishable bodies of ours are not the right kind to live forever.


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But I am telling you this strange and wonderful secret: we shall not all die, but we shall all be given new bodies!


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It will all happen in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For there will be a trumpet blast from the sky, and all the Christians who have died will suddenly become alive, with new bodies that will never, never die; and then we who are still alive shall suddenly have new bodies too.


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For our earthly bodies, the ones we have now that can die, must be transformed into heavenly bodies that cannot perish but will live forever.


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O death, where then your victory? Where then your sting? For sin--the sting that causes death--will all be gone; and the law, which reveals our sins, will no longer be our judge.


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So, my dear brothers, since future victory is sure, be strong and steady, always abounding in the Lord's work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever wasted as it would be if there were no resurrection.


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Now here are the directions about the money you are collecting to send to the Christians in Jerusalem; (and, by the way, these are the same directions I gave to the churches in Galatia).


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On every Lord's Day each of you should put aside something from what you have earned during the week, and use it for this offering. The amount depends on how much the Lord has helped you earn. Don't wait until I get there and then try to collect it all at once.


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When I come I will send your loving gift with a letter to Jerusalem, to be taken there by trustworthy messengers you yourselves will choose.


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I am coming to visit you after I have been to Macedonia first, but I will be staying there only for a little while.


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It could be that I will stay longer with you, perhaps all winter, and then you can send me on to my next destination.


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This time I don't want to make just a passing visit and then go right on; I want to come and stay awhile, if the Lord will let me.


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for there is a wide open door for me to preach and teach here. So much is happening, but there are many enemies.


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Don't let anyone despise or ignore him  because he is young, but send him back to me happy with his time among you; I am looking forward to seeing him soon, along with the others who are returning.


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I begged Apollos to visit you along with the others, but he thought that it was not at all God's will for him to go now; he will be seeing you later on when he has the opportunity.


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Do you remember Stephanas and his family? They were the first to become Christians in Greece, and they are spending their lives helping and serving Christians everywhere.


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Please follow their instructions and do everything you can to help them as well as all others like them who work hard at your side with such real devotion.


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I am so glad that Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus have arrived here for a visit. They have been making up for the help you aren't here to give me.


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They have cheered me greatly and have been a wonderful encouragement to me, as I am sure they were to you, too. I hope you properly appreciate the work of such men as these.


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The churches here in Asia send you their loving greetings. Aquila and Priscilla send you their love, and so do all the others who meet in their home for their church service.


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All the friends here have asked me to say hello to you for them. And give each other a loving handshake when you meet.


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Dear friends:  This letter is from me, Paul, appointed by God to be Jesus Christ's messenger; and from our dear brother Timothy. We are writing to all of you Christians there in Corinth and throughout Greece.


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and the one who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials. And why does he do this? So that when others are troubled, needing our sympathy and encouragement, we can pass on to them this same help and comfort God has given us.


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You can be sure that the more we undergo sufferings for Christ, the more he will shower us with his comfort and encouragement.


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We are in deep trouble for bringing you God's comfort and salvation. But in our trouble God has comforted us--and this, too, to help you:


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to show you from our personal experience how God will tenderly comfort you when you undergo these same sufferings. He will give you the strength to endure.


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I think you ought to know, dear brothers, about the hard time we went through in Asia. We were really crushed and overwhelmed, and feared we would never live through it.


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We felt we were doomed to die and saw how powerless we were to help ourselves; but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us, for he can even raise the dead.


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And he did help us and saved us from a terrible death; yes, and we expect him to do it again and again.


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But you must help us too by praying for us. For much thanks and praise will go to God from you who see his wonderful answers to your prayers for our safety!


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We are so glad that we can say with utter honesty that in all our dealings we have been pure and sincere, quietly depending upon the Lord for his help and not on our own skills. And that is even more true, if possible, about the way we have acted toward you.


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My letters have been straightforward and sincere; nothing is written between the lines! And even though you don't know me very well (I hope someday you will),


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I want you to try to accept me and be proud of me as you already are to some extent; just as I shall be of you on that day when our Lord Jesus comes back again.


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on my way to Macedonia, as well as afterwards when I returned, so that I could be a double blessing to you and so that you could send me on my way to Judea.


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Then why, you may be asking, did I change my plan? Hadn't I really made up my mind yet? Or am I like a man of the world who says yes when he really means no?


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Timothy and Silvanus and I have been telling you about Jesus Christ the Son of God. He isn't one to say yes when he means no. He always does exactly what he says.


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He carries out and fulfills all of God's promises, no matter how many of them there are; and we have told everyone how faithful he is, giving glory to his name.


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It is this God who has made you and me into faithful Christians and commissioned us apostles to preach the Good News.


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He has put his brand upon us--his mark of ownership--and given us his Holy Spirit in our hearts as guarantee that we belong to him and as the first installment of all that he is going to give us.


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I call upon this God to witness against me if I am not telling the absolute truth: the reason I haven't come to visit you yet is that I don't want to sadden you with a severe rebuke.


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When I come, although I can't do much to help your faith, for it is strong already, I want to be able to do something about your joy: I want to make you happy, not sad.


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For if I make you sad, who is going to make me happy? You are the ones to do it, and how can you if I cause you pain?


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That is why I wrote as I did in my last letter, so that you will get things straightened out before I come. Then, when I do come, I will not be made sad by the very ones who ought to give me greatest joy. I felt sure that your happiness was so bound up in mine that you would not be happy either unless I came with joy.


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Oh, how I hated to write that letter! It almost broke my heart, and I tell you honestly that I cried over it. I didn't want to hurt you, but I had to show you how very much I loved you and cared about what was happening to you.


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Remember that the man I wrote about, who caused all the trouble, has not caused sorrow to me as much as to all the rest of you--though I certainly have my share in it too.


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I don't want to be harder on him than I should. He has been punished enough by your united disapproval.


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Now it is time to forgive him and comfort him. Otherwise he may become so bitter and discouraged that he won't be able to recover.


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When you forgive anyone, I do too. And whatever I have forgiven (to the extent that this affected me too) has been by Christ's authority, and for your good.


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A further reason for forgiveness is to keep from being outsmarted by Satan, for we know what he is trying to do.


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Well, when I got as far as the city of Troas, the Lord gave me tremendous opportunities to preach the Gospel.


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But Titus, my dear brother, wasn't there to meet me and I couldn't rest, wondering where he was and what had happened to him. So I said good-bye and went right on to Macedonia to try to find him.


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But thanks be to God! For through what Christ has done, he has triumphed over us so that now wherever we go he uses us to tell others about the Lord and to spread the Gospel like a sweet perfume.


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As far as God is concerned there is a sweet, wholesome fragrance in our lives. It is the fragrance of Christ within us, an aroma to both the saved and the unsaved all around us.


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To those who are not being saved, we seem a fearful smell of death and doom, while to those who know Christ we are a life-giving perfume. But who is adequate for such a task as this?


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Only those who, like ourselves, are men of integrity, sent by God, speaking with Christ's power, with God's eye upon us. We are not like those hucksters--and there are many of them--whose idea in getting out the Gospel is to make a good living out of it.


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Are we beginning to be like those false teachers of yours who must tell you all about themselves and bring long letters of recommendation with them? I think you hardly need someone's letter to tell you about us, do you? And we don't need a recommendation from you, either!


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The only letter I need is you yourselves! By looking at the good change in your hearts, everyone can see that we have done a good work among you.


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They can see that you are a letter from Christ, written by us. It is not a letter written with pen and ink, but by the Spirit of the living God; not one carved on stone, but in human hearts.


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We dare to say these good things about ourselves only because of our great trust in God through Christ, that he will help us to be true to what we say,


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and not because we think we can do anything of lasting value by ourselves. Our only power and success comes from God.


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He is the one who has helped us tell others about his new agreement to save them. We do not tell them that they must obey every law of God or die; but we tell them there is life for them from the Holy Spirit. The old way, trying to be saved by keeping the Ten Commandments, ends in death; in the new way, the Holy Spirit gives them life.


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Yet that old system of law that led to death began with such glory that people could not bear to look at Moses' face. For as he gave them God's law to obey, his face shone out with the very glory of God--though the brightness was already fading away.


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If the plan that leads to doom was glorious, much more glorious is the plan that makes men right with God.


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In fact, that first glory as it shone from Moses' face is worth nothing at all in comparison with the overwhelming glory of the new agreement.


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So if the old system that faded into nothing was full of heavenly glory, the glory of God's new plan for our salvation is certainly far greater, for it is eternal.


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and not as Moses did, who put a veil over his face so that the Israelis could not see the glory fade away.


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Not only Moses' face was veiled, but his people's minds and understanding were veiled and blinded too. Even now when the Scripture is read it seems as though Jewish hearts and minds are covered by a thick veil, because they cannot see and understand the real meaning of the Scriptures. For this veil of misunderstanding can be removed only by believing in Christ.


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Yes, even today when they read Moses' writings their hearts are blind and they think that obeying the Ten Commandments is the way to be saved.


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The Lord is the Spirit who gives them life, and where he is there is freedom  from trying to be saved by keeping the laws of God.


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But we Christians have no veil over our faces; we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him.


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It is God himself, in his mercy, who has given us this wonderful work  of telling his Good News to others, and so we never give up.


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We do not try to trick people into believing--we are not interested in fooling anyone. We never try to get anyone to believe that the Bible teaches what it doesn't. All such shameful methods we forego. We stand in the presence of God as we speak and so we tell the truth, as all who know us will agree.


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If the Good News we preach is hidden to anyone, it is hidden from the one who is on the road to eternal death.


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Satan, who is the god of this evil world, has made him blind, unable to see the glorious light of the Gospel that is shining upon him or to understand the amazing message we preach about the glory of Christ, who is God.


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We don't go around preaching about ourselves but about Christ Jesus as Lord. All we say of ourselves is that we are your slaves because of what Jesus has done for us.


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For God, who said, "Let there be light in the darkness," has made us understand that it is the brightness of his glory that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.


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But this precious treasure--this light and power that now shine within us --is held in a perishable container, that is, in our weak bodies. Everyone can see that the glorious power within must be from God and is not our own.


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We are pressed on every side by troubles, but not crushed and broken. We are perplexed because we don't know why things happen as they do, but we don't give up and quit.


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We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going.


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These bodies of ours are constantly facing death just as Jesus did; so it is clear to all that it is only the living Christ within  who keeps us safe.


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Yes, we live under constant danger to our lives because we serve the Lord, but this gives us constant opportunities to show forth the power of Jesus Christ within our dying bodies.


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We boldly say what we believe  trusting God to care for us, just as the psalm writer did when he said, "I believe and therefore I speak."


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We know that the same God who brought the Lord Jesus back from death will also bring us back to life again with Jesus and present us to him along with you.


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These sufferings of ours are for your benefit. And the more of you who are won to Christ, the more there are to thank him for his great kindness, and the more the Lord is glorified.


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That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our inner strength in the Lord is growing every day.


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These troubles and sufferings of ours are, after all, quite small and won't last very long. Yet this short time of distress will result in God's richest blessing upon us forever and ever!


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So we do not look at what we can see right now, the troubles all around us, but we look forward to the joys in heaven which we have not yet seen. The troubles will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.


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For we know that when this tent we live in now is taken down--when we die and leave these bodies--we will have wonderful new bodies in heaven, homes that will be ours forevermore, made for us by God himself and not by human hands.


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How weary we grow of our present bodies. That is why we look forward eagerly to the day when we shall have heavenly bodies that we shall put on like new clothes.


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These earthly bodies make us groan and sigh, but we wouldn't like to think of dying and having no bodies at all. We want to slip into our new bodies so that these dying bodies will, as it were, be swallowed up by everlasting life.


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Now we look forward with confidence to our heavenly bodies, realizing that every moment we spend in these earthly bodies is time spent away from our eternal home in heaven with Jesus.


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So our aim is to please him always in everything we do, whether we are here in this body or away from this body and with him in heaven.


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For we must all stand before Christ to be judged and have our lives laid bare--before him. Each of us will receive whatever he deserves for the good or bad things he has done in his earthly body.


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It is because of this solemn fear of the Lord, which is ever present in our minds, that we work so hard to win others. God knows our hearts, that they are pure in this matter, and I hope that, deep within, you really know it too.


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Are we trying to pat ourselves on the back again? No, I am giving you some good ammunition! You can use this on those preachers of yours who brag about how well they look and preach but don't have true and honest hearts. You can boast about us that we, at least, are well intentioned and honest.


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Are we insane  to say such things about ourselves? If so, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit.


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Whatever we do, it is certainly not for our own profit but because Christ's love controls us now. Since we believe that Christ died for all of us, we should also believe that we have died to the old life we used to live.


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He died for all so that all who live--having received eternal life from him--might live no longer for themselves, to please themselves, but to spend their lives pleasing Christ who died and rose again for them.


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So stop evaluating Christians by what the world thinks about them or by what they seem to be like on the outside. Once I mistakenly thought of Christ that way, merely as a human being like myself. How differently I feel now!


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When someone becomes a Christian, he becomes a brand new person inside. He is not the same anymore. A new life has begun!


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All these new things are from God who brought us back to himself through what Christ Jesus did. And God has given us the privilege of urging everyone to come into his favor and be reconciled to him.


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For God was in Christ, restoring the world to himself, no longer counting men's sins against them but blotting them out. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others.


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We are Christ's ambassadors. God is using us to speak to you: we beg you, as though Christ himself were here pleading with you, receive the love he offers you--be reconciled to God.


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For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God's goodness into us!


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For God says, "Your cry came to me at a favorable time, when the doors of welcome were wide open. I helped you on a day when salvation was being offered." Right now God is ready to welcome you. Today he is ready to save you.


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We try to live in such a way that no one will ever be offended or kept back from finding the Lord by the way we act, so that no one can find fault with us and blame it on the Lord.


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In fact, in everything we do we try to show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure suffering and hardship and trouble of every kind.


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We have been beaten, put in jail, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, stayed awake through sleepless nights of watching, and gone without food.


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We have proved ourselves to be what we claim by our wholesome lives and by our understanding of the Gospel and by our patience. We have been kind and truly loving and filled with the Holy Spirit.


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We have been truthful, with God's power helping us in all we do. All of the godly man's arsenal--weapons of defense, and weapons of attack--have been ours.


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We stand true to the Lord whether others honor us or despise us, whether they criticize us or commend us. We are honest, but they call us liars.


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The world ignores us, but we are known to God; we live close to death, but here we are, still very much alive. We have been injured but kept from death.


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Our hearts ache, but at the same time we have the joy of the Lord. We are poor, but we give rich spiritual gifts to others. We own nothing, and yet we enjoy everything.


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Any coldness still between us is not because of any lack of love on my part but because your love is too small and does not reach out to me and draw me in.


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I am talking to you now as if you truly were my very own children. Open your hearts to us! Return our love!


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Don't be teamed with those who do not love the Lord, for what do the people of God have in common with the people of sin? How can light live with darkness?


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And what harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a Christian be a partner with one who doesn't believe?


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And what union can there be between God's temple and idols? For you are God's temple, the home of the living God, and God has said of you, "I will live in them and walk among them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people."


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That is why the Lord has said, "Leave them; separate yourselves from them; don't touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you


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Having such great promises as these, dear friends, let us turn away from everything wrong, whether of body or spirit, and purify ourselves, living in the wholesome fear of God, giving ourselves to him alone.


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Please open your hearts to us again, for not one of you has suffered any wrong from us. Not one of you was led astray. We have cheated no one nor taken advantage of anyone.


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I'm not saying this to scold or blame you, for, as I have said before, you are in my heart forever, and I live and die with you.


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I have the highest confidence in you, and my pride in you is great. You have greatly encouraged me; you have made me so happy in spite of all my suffering.


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When we arrived in Macedonia there was no rest for us; outside, trouble was on every hand and all around us; within us, our hearts were full of dread and fear.


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Not only was his presence a joy, but also the news that he brought of the wonderful time he had with you. When he told me how much you were looking forward to my visit, and how sorry you were about what had happened, and about your loyalty and warm love for me, well, I overflowed with joy!


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I am no longer sorry that I sent that letter to you, though I was very sorry for a time, realizing how painful it would be to you. But it hurt you only for a little while.


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Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you but because the pain turned you to God. It was a good kind of sorrow you felt, the kind of sorrow God wants his people to have, so that I need not come to you with harshness.


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For God sometimes uses sorrow in our lives to help us turn away from sin and seek eternal life. We should never regret his sending it. But the sorrow of the man who is not a Christian is not the sorrow of true repentance and does not prevent eternal death.


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Just see how much good this grief from the Lord did for you! You no longer shrugged your shoulders but became earnest and sincere and very anxious to get rid of the sin that I wrote you about. You became frightened about what had happened and longed for me to come and help. You went right to work on the problem and cleared it up  punishing the man who sinned. You have done everything you could to make it right.


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I wrote as I did so the Lord could show how much you really do care for us. That was my purpose even more than to help the man who sinned or his father to whom he did the wrong.


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In addition to the encouragement you gave us by your love, we were made happier still by Titus' joy when you gave him such a fine welcome and set his mind at ease.


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I told him how it would be--told him before he left me of my pride in you--and you didn't disappoint me. I have always told you the truth and now my boasting to Titus has also proved true!


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He loves you more than ever when he remembers the way you listened to him so willingly and received him so anxiously and with such deep concern.


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How happy this makes me, now that I am sure all is well between us again. Once again I can have perfect confidence in you.


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Though they have been going through much trouble and hard times, they have mixed their wonderful joy with their deep poverty, and the result has been an overflow of giving to others.


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They gave not only what they could afford but far more; and I can testify that they did it because they wanted to and not because of nagging on my part.


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They begged us to take the money so they could share in the joy of helping the Christians in Jerusalem.


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Best of all, they went beyond our highest hopes, for their first action was to dedicate themselves to the Lord and to us, for whatever directions God might give to them through us.


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They were so enthusiastic about it that we have urged Titus, who encouraged your giving in the first place, to visit you and encourage you to complete your share in this ministry of giving.


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You people there are leaders in so many ways--you have so much faith, so many good preachers, so much learning, so much enthusiasm, so much love for us. Now I want you to be leaders also in the spirit of cheerful giving.


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I am not giving you an order; I am not saying you must do it, but others are eager for it. This is one way to prove that your love is real, that it goes beyond mere words.


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You know how full of love and kindness our Lord Jesus was: though he was so very rich, yet to help you he became so very poor, so that by being poor he could make you rich.


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I want to suggest that you finish what you started to do a year ago, for you were not only the first to propose this idea, but the first to begin doing something about it.


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Having started the ball rolling so enthusiastically, you should carry this project through to completion just as gladly, giving whatever you can out of whatever you have. Let your enthusiastic idea at the start be equalled by your realistic action now.


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If you are really eager to give, then it isn't important how much you have to give. God wants you to give what you have, not what you haven't.


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Of course, I don't mean that those who receive your gifts should have an easy time of it at your expense,


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but you should divide with them. Right now you have plenty and can help them; then at some other time they can share with you when you need it. In this way, each will have as much as he needs.


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Do you remember what the Scriptures say about this? "He that gathered much had nothing left over, and he that gathered little had enough." So you also should share with those in need.


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He is glad to follow my suggestion that he visit you again--but I think he would have come anyway, for he is very eager to see you!


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I am sending another well-known brother with him, who is highly praised as a preacher of the Good News in all the churches.


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In fact, this man was elected by the churches to travel with me to take the gift to Jerusalem. This will glorify the Lord and show our eagerness to help each other.


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By traveling together we will guard against any suspicion, for we are anxious that no one should find fault with the way we are handling this large gift.


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God knows we are honest, but I want everyone else to know it too. That is why we have made this arrangement.


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And I am sending you still another brother, whom we know from experience to be an earnest Christian. He is especially interested as he looks forward to this trip because I have told him all about your eagerness to help.


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If anyone asks who Titus is, say that he is my partner, my helper in helping you, and you can also say that the other two brothers represent the assemblies here and are splendid examples of those who belong to the Lord.


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Please show your love for me to these men and do for them all that I have publicly boasted you would.


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For I know how eager you are to do it, and I have boasted to the friends in Macedonia that you were ready to send an offering a year ago. In fact, it was this enthusiasm of yours that stirred up many of them to begin helping.


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But I am sending these men just to be sure that you really are ready, as I told them you would be, with your money all collected; I don't want it to turn out that this time I was wrong in my boasting about you.


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I would be very much ashamed--and so would you--if some of these Macedonian people come with me, only to find that you still aren't ready after all I have told them!


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So I have asked these other brothers to arrive ahead of me to see that the gift you promised is on hand and waiting. I want it to be a real gift and not look as if it were being given under pressure.


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But remember this--if you give little, you will get little. A farmer who plants just a few seeds will get only a small crop, but if he plants much, he will reap much.


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Everyone must make up his own mind as to how much he should give. Don't force anyone to give more than he really wants to, for cheerful givers are the ones God prizes.


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God is able to make it up to you by giving you everything you need and more so that there will not only be enough for your own needs but plenty left over to give joyfully to others.


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It is as the Scriptures say: "The godly man gives generously to the poor. His good deeds will be an honor to him forever."


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For God, who gives seed to the farmer to plant, and later on good crops to harvest and eat, will give you more and more seed to plant and will make it grow so that you can give away more and more fruit from your harvest.


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Yes, God will give you much so that you can give away much, and when we take your gifts to those who need them they will break out into thanksgiving and praise to God for your help.


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So two good things happen as a result of your gifts--those in need are helped, and they overflow with thanks to God.


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Those you help will be glad not only because of your generous gifts to themselves and to others, but they will praise God for this proof that your deeds are as good as your doctrine.


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And they will pray for you with deep fervor and feeling because of the wonderful grace of God shown through you.


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I plead with you--yes, I, Paul--and I plead gently, as Christ himself would do. Yet some of you are saying, "Paul's letters are bold enough when he is far away, but when he gets here he will be afraid to raise his voice!"


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I hope I won't need to show you when I come how harsh and rough I can be. I don't want to carry out my present plans against some of you who seem to think my deeds and words are merely those of an ordinary man.


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It is true that I am an ordinary, weak human being, but I don't use human plans and methods to win my battles.


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These weapons can break down every proud argument against God and every wall that can be built to keep men from finding him. With these weapons I can capture rebels and bring them back to God and change them into men whose hearts' desire is obedience to Christ.


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I will use these weapons against every rebel who remains after I have first used them on you yourselves and you surrender to Christ.


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The trouble with you is that you look at me and I seem weak and powerless, but you don't look beneath the surface. Yet if anyone can claim the power and authority of Christ, I certainly can.


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I may seem to be boasting more than I should about my authority over you--authority to help you, not to hurt you--but I shall make good every claim.


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"Don't bother about his letters," some say. "He sounds big, but it's all noise. When he gets here you will see that there is nothing great about him, and you have never heard a worse preacher!"


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Oh, don't worry, I wouldn't dare say that I am as wonderful as these other men who tell you how good they are! Their trouble is that they are only comparing themselves with each other and measuring themselves against their own little ideas. What stupidity!


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But we will not boast of authority we do not have. Our goal is to measure up to God's plan for us, and this plan includes our working there with you.


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We are not going too far when we claim authority over you, for we were the first to come to you with the Good News concerning Christ.


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It is not as though we were trying to claim credit for the work someone else has done among you. Instead, we hope that your faith will grow and that, still within the limits set for us, our work among you will be greatly enlarged.


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After that, we will be able to preach the Good News to other cities that are far beyond you, where no one else is working; then there will be no question about being in someone else's field.


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As the Scriptures say, "If anyone is going to boast, let him boast about what the Lord has done and not about himself."


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When someone boasts about himself and how well he has done, it doesn't count for much. But when the Lord commends him, that's different!


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I hope you will be patient with me as I keep on talking like a fool. Do bear with me and let me say what is on my heart.


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I am anxious for you with the deep concern of God himself--anxious that your love should be for Christ alone, just as a pure maiden saves her love for one man only, for the one who will be her husband.


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But I am frightened, fearing that in some way you will be led away from your pure and simple devotion to our Lord, just as Eve was deceived by Satan in the Garden of Eden.


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You seem so gullible: you believe whatever anyone tells you even if he is preaching about another Jesus than the one we preach, or a different spirit than the Holy Spirit you received, or shows you a different way to be saved. You swallow it all.


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Yet I don't feel that these marvelous "messengers from God," as they call themselves, are any better than I am.


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If I am a poor speaker, at least I know what I am talking about, as I think you realize by now, for we have proved it again and again.


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Did I do wrong and cheapen myself and make you look down on me because I preached God's Good News to you without charging you anything?


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so that I could serve you without cost. And when that was gone and I was getting hungry, I still didn't ask you for anything, for the Christians from Macedonia brought me another gift. I have never yet asked you for one cent, and I never will.


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But I will do it to cut out the ground from under the feet of those who boast that they are doing God's work in just the same way we are.


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God never sent those men at all; they are "phonies" who have fooled you into thinking they are Christ's apostles.


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so it is no wonder his servants can do it too, and seem like godly ministers. In the end they will get every bit of punishment their wicked deeds deserve.


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Again I plead, don't think that I have lost my wits to talk like this; but even if you do, listen to me anyway--a witless man, a fool--while I also boast a little as they do.


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you don't mind at all when they make you their slaves and take everything you have, and take advantage of you, and put on airs, and slap you in the face.


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I'm ashamed to say that I'm not strong and daring like that! But whatever they can boast about--I'm talking like a fool again--I can boast about it, too.)


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They brag that they are Hebrews, do they? Well, so am I. And they say that they are Israelites, God's chosen people? So am I. And they are descendants of Abraham? Well, I am too.


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They say they serve Christ? But I have served him far more! (Have I gone mad to boast like this?) I have worked harder, been put in jail more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again and again.


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Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I was in the open sea all night and the whole next day.


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I have traveled many weary miles and have been often in great danger from flooded rivers and from robbers and from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the hands of the Gentiles. I have faced grave dangers from mobs in the cities and from death in the deserts and in the stormy seas and from men who claim to be brothers in Christ but are not.


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I have lived with weariness and pain and sleepless nights. Often I have been hungry and thirsty and have gone without food; often I have shivered with cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.


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Who makes a mistake and I do not feel his sadness? Who falls without my longing to help him? Who is spiritually hurt without my fury rising against the one who hurt him?


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God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is to be praised forever and ever, knows I tell the truth.


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but I was let down by rope and basket from a hole in the city wall, and so I got away!  What popularity!


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This boasting is all so foolish, but let me go on. Let me tell about the visions I've had, and revelations from the Lord.


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Fourteen years ago I was taken up to heaven for a visit. Don't ask me whether my body was there or just my spirit, for I don't know; only God can answer that.


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and heard things so astounding that they are beyond a man's power to describe or put in words (and anyway I am not allowed to tell them to others).


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That experience is something worth bragging about, but I am not going to do it. I am going to boast only about how weak I am and how great God is to use such weakness for his glory.


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I have plenty to boast about and would be no fool in doing it, but I don't want anyone to think more highly of me than he should from what he can actually see in my life and my message.


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I will say this: because these experiences I had were so tremendous, God was afraid I might be puffed up by them; so I was given a physical condition which has been a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to hurt and bother me and prick my pride.


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Each time he said, "No. But I am with you; that is all you need. My power shows up best in weak people." Now I am glad to boast about how weak I am; I am glad to be a living demonstration of Christ's power, instead of showing off my own power and abilities.


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Since I know it is all for Christ's good, I am quite happy about "the thorn," and about insults and hardships, persecutions and difficulties; for when I am weak, then I am strong--the less I have, the more I depend on him.


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You have made me act like a fool--boasting like this--for you people ought to be writing about me and not making me write about myself. There isn't a single thing these other marvelous fellows have that I don't have too, even though I am really worth nothing at all.


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When I was there I certainly gave you every proof that I was truly an apostle, sent to you by God himself, for I patiently did many wonders and signs and mighty works among you.


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The only thing I didn't do for you, which I do everywhere else in all other churches, was to become a burden to you--I didn't ask you to give me food to eat and a place to stay. Please forgive me for this wrong!


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Now I am coming to you again, the third time; and it is still not going to cost you anything, for I don't want your money. I want you! And anyway, you are my children, and little children don't pay for their father's and mother's food--it's the other way around; parents supply food for their children.


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I am glad to give you myself and all I have for your spiritual good, even though it seems that the more I love you, the less you love me.


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Some of you are saying, "It's true that his visits didn't seem to cost us anything, but he is a sneaky fellow, that Paul, and he fooled us. As sure as anything he must have made money from us some way."


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When I urged Titus to visit you and sent our other brother with him, did they make any profit? No, of course not. For we have the same Holy Spirit and walk in each other's steps, doing things the same way.


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I suppose you think I am saying all this to get back into your good graces. That isn't it at all. I tell you, with God listening as I say it, that I have said this to help you, dear friends--to build you up spiritually--and not to help myself.


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For I am afraid that when I come to visit you I won't like what I find, and then you won't like the way I will have to act. I am afraid that I will find you quarreling, and envying each other, and being angry with each other, and acting big, and saying wicked things about each other and whispering behind each other's backs, filled with conceit and disunity.


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Yes, I am afraid that when I come God will humble me before you and I will be sad and mourn because many of you who have sinned before and don't even care about the wicked, impure things you have done: your lust and immorality, and the taking of other men's wives.


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This is the third time I am coming to visit you. The Scriptures tell us that if two or three have seen a wrong, it must be punished.  Well, this is my third warning as I come now for this visit.


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I have already warned those who had been sinning when I was there last; now I warn them again and all others, just as I did then, that this time I come ready to punish severely and I will not spare them.


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I will give you all the proof you want that Christ speaks through me. Christ is not weak in his dealings with you but is a mighty power within you.


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His weak, human body died on the cross, but now he lives by the mighty power of God. We, too, are weak in our bodies, as he was, but now we live and are strong, as he is, and have all of God's power to use in dealing with you.


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Check up on yourselves. Are you really Christians? Do you pass the test? Do you feel Christ's presence and power more and more within you? Or are you just pretending to be Christians when actually you aren't at all?


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I pray that you will live good lives, not because that will be a feather in our caps, proving that what we teach is right; no, for we want you to do right even if we ourselves are despised.


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We are glad to be weak and despised if you are really strong. Our greatest wish and prayer is that you will become mature Christians.


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I am writing this to you now in the hope that I won't need to scold and punish when I come; for I want to use the Lord's authority that he has given me, not to punish you but to make you strong.


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I close my letter with these last words: Be happy. Grow in Christ. Pay attention to what I have said. Live in harmony and peace.  And may the God of love and peace be with you.


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May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. May God's love and the Holy Spirit's friendship be yours. Paul


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From: Paul the missionary and all the other Christians here. To: The churches of Galatia. I was not called to be a missionary by any group or agency. My call is from Jesus Christ himself and from God the Father who raised him from the dead.


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He died for our sins just as God our Father planned, and rescued us from this evil world in which we live.


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I am amazed that you are turning away so soon from God who, in his love and mercy, invited you to share the eternal life he gives through Christ; you are already following a different "way to heaven," which really doesn't go to heaven at all.


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For there is no other way than the one we showed you; you are being fooled by those who twist and change the truth concerning Christ.


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Let God's curses fall on anyone, including myself, who preaches any other way to be saved than the one we told you about; yes, if an angel comes from heaven and preaches any other message, let him be forever cursed.


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I will say it again: if anyone preaches any other gospel than the one you welcomed, let God's curse fall upon him.


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You can see that I am not trying to please you by sweet talk and flattery; no, I am trying to please God. If I were still trying to please men I could not be Christ's servant.


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Dear friends, I solemnly swear that the way to heaven that I preach is not based on some mere human whim or dream.


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For my message comes from no less a person than Jesus Christ himself, who told me what to say. No one else has taught me.


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You know what I was like when I followed the Jewish religion--how I went after the Christians mercilessly, hunting them down and doing my best to get rid of them all.


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I was one of the most religious Jews of my own age in the whole country and tried as hard as I possibly could to follow all the old, traditional rules of my religion.


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But then something happened! For even before I was born, God had chosen me to be his and called me--what kindness and grace--


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to reveal his Son within me so that I could go to the Gentiles and show them the Good News about Jesus. When all this happened to me I didn't go at once and talk it over with anyone else;


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I didn't go up to Jerusalem to consult with those who were apostles before I was. No, I went away into the deserts of Arabia and then came back to the city of Damascus.


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It was not until three years later that I finally went to Jerusalem for a visit with Peter and stayed there with him for fifteen days.


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(Listen to what I am saying, for I am telling you this in the very presence of God. This is exactly what happened--I am not lying to you.)


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All they knew was what people were saying, that "our former enemy is now preaching the very faith he tried to wreck."


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Then fourteen years later I went back to Jerusalem again, this time with Barnabas; and Titus came along too.


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I went there with definite orders from God to confer with the brothers there about the message I was preaching to the Gentiles. I talked privately to the leaders of the church so that they would all understand just what I had been teaching and, I hoped, agree that it was right.


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And they did agree; they did not even demand that Titus, my companion, should be circumcised, though he was a Gentile.


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Even that question wouldn't have come up except for some so-called "Christians" there--false ones, really--who came to spy on us and see what freedom we enjoyed in Christ Jesus, as to whether we obeyed the Jewish laws or not. They tried to get us all tied up in their rules, like slaves in chains.


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But we did not listen to them for a single moment, for we did not want to confuse you into thinking that salvation can be earned by being circumcised and by obeying Jewish laws.


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And the great leaders of the church who were there had nothing to add to what I was preaching. (By the way, their being great leaders made no difference to me, for all are the same to God.)


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In fact, when Peter, James, and John, who were known as the pillars of the church, saw how greatly God had used me in winning the Gentiles, just as Peter had been blessed so greatly in his preaching to the Jews


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they shook hands with Barnabas and me and encouraged us to keep right on with our preaching to the Gentiles while they continued their work with the Jews.


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The only thing they did suggest was that we must always remember to help the poor, and I, too, was eager for that.


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But when Peter came to Antioch I had to oppose him publicly, speaking strongly against what he was doing, for it was very wrong.


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For when he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile Christians  who don't bother with circumcision and the many other Jewish laws. But afterwards, when some Jewish friends of James came, he wouldn't eat with the Gentiles anymore because he was afraid of what these Jewish legalists, who insisted that circumcision was necessary for salvation, would say;


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and then all the other Jewish Christians and even Barnabas became hypocrites too, following Peter's example, though they certainly knew better.


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When I saw what was happening and that they weren't being honest about what they really believed and weren't following the truth of the Gospel, I said to Peter in front of all the others, "Though you are a Jew by birth, you have long since discarded the Jewish laws; so why, all of a sudden, are you trying to make these Gentiles obey them?


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and yet we Jewish Christians know very well that we cannot become right with God by obeying our Jewish laws but only by faith in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And so we, too, have trusted Jesus Christ, that we might be accepted by God because of faith--and not because we have obeyed the Jewish laws. For no one will ever be saved by obeying them."


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But what if we trust Christ to save us and then find that we are wrong and that we cannot be saved without being circumcised and obeying all the other Jewish laws? Wouldn't we need to say that faith in Christ had ruined us? God forbid that anyone should dare to think such things about our Lord.


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Rather, we are sinners if we start rebuilding the old systems I have been destroying of trying to be saved by keeping Jewish laws,


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for it was through reading the Scripture that I came to realize that I could never find God's favor by trying--and failing--to obey the laws. I came to realize that acceptance with God comes by believing in Christ.


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I have been crucified with Christ: and I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the real life I now have within this body is a result of my trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.


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I am not one of those who treats Christ's death as meaningless. For if we could be saved by keeping Jewish laws, then there was no need for Christ to die.


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Oh, foolish Galatians! What magician has hypnotized you and cast an evil spell upon you? For you used to see the meaning of Jesus Christ's death as clearly as though I had waved a placard before you with a picture on it of Christ dying on the cross.


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Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by trying to keep the Jewish laws? Of course not, for the Holy Spirit came upon you only after you heard about Christ and trusted him to save you.


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Then have you gone completely crazy? For if trying to obey the Jewish laws never gave you spiritual life in the first place, why do you think that trying to obey them now will make you stronger Christians?


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You have suffered so much for the Gospel. Now are you going to just throw it all overboard? I can hardly believe it!


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I ask you again, does God give you the power of the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you as a result of your trying to obey the Jewish laws? No, of course not. It is when you believe in Christ and fully trust him.


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Abraham had the same experience--God declared him fit for heaven only because he believed God's promises.


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You can see from this that the real children of Abraham are all the men of faith who truly trust in God.


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What's more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would save the Gentiles also, through their faith. God told Abraham about this long ago when he said, "I will bless those in every nation who trust in me as you do."


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Yes, and those who depend on the Jewish laws to save them are under God's curse, for the Scriptures point out very clearly, "Cursed is everyone who at any time breaks a single one of these laws that are written in God's Book of the Law."


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Consequently, it is clear that no one can ever win God's favor by trying to keep the Jewish laws because God has said that the only way we can be right in his sight is by faith. As the prophet Habakkuk says it, "The man who finds life will find it through trusting God."


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How different from this way of faith is the way of law, which says that a man is saved by obeying every law of God, without one slip.


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But Christ has bought us out from under the doom of that impossible system by taking the curse for our wrongdoing upon himself. For it is written in the Scripture, "Anyone who is hanged on a tree is cursed"  as Jesus was hung upon a wooden cross.


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Now God can bless the Gentiles, too, with this same blessing he promised to Abraham; and all of us as Christians can have the promised Holy Spirit through this faith.


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Dear brothers, even in everyday life a promise made by one man to another, if it is written down and signed, cannot be changed. He cannot decide afterward to do something else instead.


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Now, God gave some promises to Abraham and his Child. And notice that it doesn't say the promises were to his children, as it would if all his sons--all the Jews--were being spoken of, but to his Child--and that, of course, means Christ.


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Here's what I am trying to say: God's promise to save through faith--and God wrote this promise down and signed it--could not be canceled or changed four hundred and thirty years later when God gave the Ten Commandments.


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If obeying those laws could save us, then it is obvious that this would be a different way of gaining God's favor than Abraham's way, for he simply accepted God's promise.


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Well then, why were the laws given? They were added after the promise was given, to show men how guilty they are of breaking God's laws. But this system of law was to last only until the coming of Christ, the Child to whom God's promise was made. (And there is this further difference. God gave his laws to angels to give to Moses, who then gave them to the people;


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but when God gave his promise to Abraham, he did it by himself alone, without angels or Moses as go-betweens.)


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Well then, are God's laws and God's promises against each other? Of course not! If we could be saved by his laws, then God would not have had to give us a different way to get out of the grip of sin--


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for the Scriptures insist we are all its prisoners. The only way out is through faith in Jesus Christ; the way of escape is open to all who believe him.


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Until Christ came we were guarded by the law, kept in protective custody, so to speak, until we could believe in the coming Savior.


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Let me put it another way. The Jewish laws were our teacher and guide until Christ came to give us right standing with God through our faith.


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We are no longer Jews or Greeks or slaves or free men or even merely men or women, but we are all the same--we are Christians; we are one in Christ Jesus.


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And now that we are Christ's we are the true descendants of Abraham, and all of God's promises to him belong to us.


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But remember this, that if a father dies and leaves great wealth for his little son, that child is not much better off than a slave until he grows up, even though he actually owns everything his father had.


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He has to do what his guardians and managers tell him to until he reaches whatever age his father set.


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And that is the way it was with us before Christ came. We were slaves to Jewish laws and rituals, for we thought they could save us.


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But when the right time came, the time God decided on, he sent his Son, born of a woman, born as a Jew,


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And because we are his sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, so now we can rightly speak of God as our dear Father.


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Now we are no longer slaves but God's own sons. And since we are his sons, everything he has belongs to us, for that is the way God planned.


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And now that you have found God (or I should say, now that God has found you), how can it be that you want to go back again and become slaves once more to another poor, weak, useless religion of trying to get to heaven by obeying God's laws?


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You are trying to find favor with God by what you do or don't do on certain days or months or seasons or years.


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Dear brothers, please feel as I do about these things, for I am as free from these chains as you used to be. You did not despise me then when I first preached to you,


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But even though my sickness was revolting to you, you didn't reject me and turn me away. No, you took me in and cared for me as though I were an angel from God or even Jesus Christ himself.


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Where is that happy spirit that we felt together then? For in those days I know you would gladly have taken out your own eyes and given them to replace mine if that would have helped me.


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Those false teachers who are so anxious to win your favor are not doing it for your good. What they are trying to do is to shut you off from me so that you will pay more attention to them.


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It is a fine thing when people are nice to you with good motives and sincere hearts, especially if they aren't doing it just when I am with you!


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Oh, my children, how you are hurting me! I am once again suffering for you the pains of a mother waiting for her child to be born--longing for the time when you will finally be filled with Christ.


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How I wish I could be there with you right now and not have to reason with you like this, for at this distance I frankly don't know what to do.


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Listen to me, you friends who think you have to obey the Jewish laws to be saved: Why don't you find out what those laws really mean?


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For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave-wife and one from his freeborn wife.


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There was nothing unusual about the birth of the slave-wife's baby. But the baby of the freeborn wife was born only after God had especially promised he would come.


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Now this true story is an illustration of God's two ways of helping people. One way was by giving them his laws to obey. He did this on Mount Sinai, when he gave the Ten Commandments to Moses.


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Mount Sinai, by the way, is called "Mount Hagar" by the Arabs--and in my illustration, Abraham's slave-wife Hagar represents Jerusalem, the mother-city of the Jews, the center of that system of trying to please God by trying to obey the Commandments; and the Jews, who try to follow that system, are her slave children.


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That is what Isaiah meant when he prophesied, "Now you can rejoice, O childless woman; you can shout with joy though you never before had a child. For I am going to give you many children--more children than the slave-wife has."


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And so we who are born of the Holy Spirit are persecuted now by those who want us to keep the Jewish laws, just as Isaac, the child of promise, was persecuted by Ishmael, the slave-wife's son.


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But the Scriptures say that God told Abraham to send away the slave-wife and her son, for the slave-wife's son could not inherit Abraham's home and lands along with the free woman's son.


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Dear brothers, we are not slave children, obligated to the Jewish laws, but children of the free woman, acceptable to God because of our faith.


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So Christ has made us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don't get all tied up again in the chains of slavery to Jewish laws and ceremonies.


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Listen to me, for this is serious: if you are counting on circumcision and keeping the Jewish laws to make you right with God, then Christ cannot save you.


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I'll say it again. Anyone trying to find favor with God by being circumcised must always obey every other Jewish law or perish.


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Christ is useless to you if you are counting on clearing your debt to God by keeping those laws; you are lost from God's grace.


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But we by the help of the Holy Spirit are counting on Christ's death to clear away our sins and make us right with God.


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And we to whom Christ has given eternal life don't need to worry about whether we have been circumcised or not, or whether we are obeying the Jewish ceremonies or not; for all we need is faith working through love.


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You were getting along so well. Who has interfered with you to hold you back from following the truth?


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I am trusting the Lord to bring you back to believing as I do about these things. God will deal with that person, whoever he is, who has been troubling and confusing you.


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Some people even say that I myself am preaching that circumcision and Jewish laws are necessary to the plan of salvation. Well, if I preached that, I would be persecuted no more--for that message doesn't offend anyone. The fact that I am still being persecuted proves that I am still preaching salvation through faith in the cross of Christ alone.


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I only wish these teachers who want you to cut yourselves by being circumcised would cut themselves off from you and leave you alone!


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For, dear brothers, you have been given freedom: not freedom to do wrong, but freedom to love and serve each other.


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But if instead of showing love among yourselves you are always critical and catty, watch out! Beware of ruining each other.


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I advise you to obey only the Holy Spirit's instructions. He will tell you where to go and what to do, and then you won't always be doing the wrong things your evil nature wants you to.


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For we naturally love to do evil things that are just the opposite from the things that the Holy Spirit tells us to do; and the good things we want to do when the Spirit has his way with us are just the opposite of our natural desires. These two forces within us are constantly fighting each other to win control over us, and our wishes are never free from their pressures.


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But when you follow your own wrong inclinations, your lives will produce these evil results: impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure,


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idolatry, spiritism (that is, encouraging the activity of demons), hatred and fighting, jealousy and anger, constant effort to get the best for yourself, complaints and criticisms, the feeling that everyone else is wrong except those in your own little group--and there will be wrong doctrine,


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envy, murder, drunkenness, wild parties, and all that sort of thing. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.


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But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,


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Those who belong to Christ have nailed their natural evil desires to his cross and crucified them there.


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If we are living now by the Holy Spirit's power, let us follow the Holy Spirit's leading in every part of our lives.


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Dear brothers, if a Christian is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help him back onto the right path, remembering that next time it might be one of you who is in the wrong.


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Let everyone be sure that he is doing his very best, for then he will have the personal satisfaction of work well done and won't need to compare himself with someone else.


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Don't be misled; remember that you can't ignore God and get away with it: a man will always reap just the kind of crop he sows!


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If he sows to please his own wrong desires, he will be planting seeds of evil and he will surely reap a harvest of spiritual decay and death; but if he plants the good things of the Spirit, he will reap the everlasting life that the Holy Spirit gives him.


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And let us not get tired of doing what is right, for after a while we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't get discouraged and give up.


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That's why whenever we can we should always be kind to everyone, and especially to our Christian brothers.


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Those teachers of yours who are trying to convince you to be circumcised are doing it for just one reason: so that they can be popular and avoid the persecution they would get if they admitted that the cross of Christ alone can save.


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And even those teachers who submit to circumcision don't try to keep the other Jewish laws; but they want you to be circumcised in order that they can boast that you are their disciples.


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As for me, God forbid that I should boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in all the attractive things of the world was killed long ago, and the world's interest in me is also long dead.


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It doesn't make any difference now whether we have been circumcised or not; what counts is whether we really have been changed into new and different people.


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May God's mercy and peace be upon all of you who live by this principle and upon those everywhere who are really God's own.


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From now on please don't argue with me about these things, for I carry on my body the scars of the whippings and wounds from Jesus' enemies that mark me as his slave.


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Dear Christian friends at Ephesus, ever loyal to the Lord: This is Paul writing to you, chosen by God to be Jesus Christ's messenger.


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How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every blessing in heaven because we belong to Christ.


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Long ago, even before he made the world, God chose us to be his very own through what Christ would do for us; he decided then to make us holy in his eyes, without a single fault--we who stand before him covered with his love.


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His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us. And he did this because he wanted to!


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Now all praise to God for his wonderful kindness to us and his favor that he has poured out upon us because we belong to his dearly loved Son.


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So overflowing is his kindness toward us that he took away all our sins through the blood of his Son, by whom we are saved;


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and he has showered down upon us the richness of his grace--for how well he understands us and knows what is best for us at all times.


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and this was his purpose: that when the time is ripe he will gather us all together from wherever we are--in heaven or on earth--to be with him in Christ forever.


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Moreover, because of what Christ has done, we have become gifts to God that he delights in, for as part of God's sovereign plan we were chosen from the beginning to be his, and all things happen just as he decided long ago.


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God's purpose in this was that we should praise God and give glory to him for doing these mighty things for us, who were the first to trust in Christ.


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And because of what Christ did, all you others too, who heard the Good News about how to be saved, and trusted Christ, were marked as belonging to Christ by the Holy Spirit, who long ago had been promised to all of us Christians.


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His presence within us is God's guarantee that he really will give us all that he promised; and the Spirit's seal upon us means that God has already purchased us and that he guarantees to bring us to himself. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God.


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That is why, ever since I heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and of the love you have for Christians everywhere,


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asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you wisdom to see clearly and really understand who Christ is and all that he has done for you.


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I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can see something of the future he has called you to share. I want you to realize that God has been made rich because we who are Christ's have been given to him!


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I pray that you will begin to understand how incredibly great his power is to help those who believe him. It is that same mighty power


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that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in heaven,


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far, far above any other king or ruler or dictator or leader. Yes, his honor is far more glorious than that of anyone else either in this world or in the world to come.


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You went along with the crowd and were just like all the others, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air, who is at work right now in the hearts of those who are against the Lord.


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All of us used to be just as they are, our lives expressing the evil within us, doing every wicked thing that our passions or our evil thoughts might lead us into. We started out bad, being born with evil natures, and were under God's anger just like everyone else.


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that even though we were spiritually dead and doomed by our sins, he gave us back our lives again when he raised Christ from the dead--only by his undeserved favor have we ever been saved--


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and lifted us up from the grave into glory along with Christ, where we sit with him in the heavenly realms--all because of what Christ Jesus did.


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And now God can always point to us as examples of how very, very rich his kindness is, as shown in all he has done for us through Jesus Christ.


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Because of his kindness, you have been saved through trusting Christ. And even trusting is not of yourselves; it too is a gift from God.


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It is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others.


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Never forget that once you were heathen and that you were called godless and "unclean" by the Jews. (But their hearts, too, were still unclean, even though they were going through the ceremonies and rituals of the godly, for they circumcised themselves as a sign of godliness.)


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Remember that in those days you were living utterly apart from Christ; you were enemies of God's children, and he had promised you no help. You were lost, without God, without hope.


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But now you belong to Christ Jesus, and though you once were far away from God, now you have been brought very near to him because of what Jesus Christ has done for you with his blood.


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For Christ himself is our way of peace. He has made peace between us Jews and you Gentiles by making us all one family, breaking down the wall of contempt that used to separate us.


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By his death he ended the angry resentment between us, caused by the Jewish laws that favored the Jews and excluded the Gentiles, for he died to annul that whole system of Jewish laws. Then he took the two groups that had been opposed to each other and made them parts of himself; thus he fused us together to become one new person, and at last there was peace.


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As parts of the same body, our anger against each other has disappeared, for both of us have been reconciled to God. And so the feud ended at last at the cross.


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And he has brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were very far away from him, and to us Jews who were near.


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Now all of us, whether Jews or Gentiles, may come to God the Father with the Holy Spirit's help because of what Christ has done for us.


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Now you are no longer strangers to God and foreigners to heaven, but you are members of God's very own family, citizens of God's country, and you belong in God's household with every other Christian.


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What a foundation you stand on now: the apostles and the prophets; and the cornerstone of the building is Jesus Christ himself!


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We who believe are carefully joined together with Christ as parts of a beautiful, constantly growing temple for God.


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And you also are joined with him and with each other by the Spirit and are part of this dwelling place of God.


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I, Paul, the servant of Christ, am here in jail because of you--for preaching that you Gentiles are a part of God's house.


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No doubt you already know that God has given me this special work of showing God's favor to you Gentiles, as I briefly mentioned before in one of my letters.


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God himself showed me this secret plan of his, that the Gentiles, too, are included in his kindness.


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In olden times God did not share this plan with his people, but now he has revealed it by the Holy Spirit to his apostles and prophets.


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And this is the secret: that the Gentiles will have their full share with the Jews in all the riches inherited by God's sons; both are invited to belong to his Church, and all of God's promises of mighty blessings through Christ apply to them both when they accept the Good News about Christ and what he has done for them.


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God has given me the wonderful privilege of telling everyone about this plan of his; and he has given me his power and special ability to do it well.


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Just think! Though I did nothing to deserve it, and though I am the most useless Christian there is, yet I was the one chosen for this special joy of telling the Gentiles the Glad News of the endless treasures available to them in Christ;


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and to explain to everyone that God is the Savior of the Gentiles too, just as he who made all things had secretly planned from the very beginning.


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And his reason? To show to all the rulers in heaven how perfectly wise he is when all of his family--Jews and Gentiles alike--are seen to be joined together in his Church


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Now we can come fearlessly right into God's presence, assured of his glad welcome when we come with Christ and trust in him.


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So please don't lose heart at what they are doing to me here. It is for you I am suffering, and you should feel honored and encouraged.


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that out of his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you the mighty inner strengthening of his Holy Spirit.


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And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts, living within you as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love;


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and may you be able to feel and understand, as all God's children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is;


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and to experience this love for yourselves, though it is so great that you will never see the end of it or fully know or understand it. And so at last you will be filled up with God himself.


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Now glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of--infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes.


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May he be given glory forever and ever through endless ages because of his master plan of salvation for the Church through Jesus Christ.


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I beg you--I, a prisoner here in jail for serving the Lord--to live and act in a way worthy of those who have been chosen for such wonderful blessings as these.


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Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love.


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We are all parts of one body, we have the same Spirit, and we have all been called to the same glorious future.


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and we all have the same God and Father who is over us all and in us all, and living through every part of us.


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However, Christ has given each of us special abilities--whatever he wants us to have out of his rich storehouse of gifts.


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The psalmist tells about this, for he says that when Christ returned triumphantly to heaven after his resurrection and victory over Satan, he gave generous gifts to men.


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Notice that it says he returned to heaven. This means that he had first come down from the heights of heaven, far down to the lowest parts of the earth.


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The same one who came down is the one who went back up, that he might fill all things everywhere with himself, from the very lowest to the very highest.


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Some of us have been given special ability as apostles; to others he has given the gift of being able to preach well; some have special ability in winning people to Christ, helping them to trust him as their Savior; still others have a gift for caring for God's people as a shepherd does his sheep, leading and teaching them in the ways of God.


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Why is it that he gives us these special abilities to do certain things best? It is that God's people will be equipped to do better work for him, building up the Church, the body of Christ, to a position of strength and maturity;


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until finally we all believe alike about our salvation and about our Savior, God's Son, and all become full-grown in the Lord--yes, to the point of being filled full with Christ.


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Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth.


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Instead, we will lovingly follow the truth at all times--speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly --and so become more and more in every way like Christ who is the Head of his body, the Church.


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Under his direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly, and each part in its own special way helps the other parts, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.


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Let me say this, then, speaking for the Lord: Live no longer as the unsaved do, for they are blinded and confused.


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Their closed hearts are full of darkness; they are far away from the life of God because they have shut their minds against him, and they cannot understand his ways.


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They don't care anymore about right and wrong and have given themselves over to impure ways. They stop at nothing, being driven by their evil minds and reckless lusts.


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then throw off your old evil nature--the old you that was a partner in your evil ways--rotten through and through, full of lust and sham.


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Stop lying to each other; tell the truth, for we are parts of each other and when we lie to each other we are hurting ourselves.


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If you are angry, don't sin by nursing your grudge. Don't let the sun go down with you still angry--get over it quickly;


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If anyone is stealing he must stop it and begin using those hands of his for honest work so he can give to others in need.


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Don't use bad language. Say only what is good and helpful to those you are talking to, and what will give them a blessing.


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Don't cause the Holy Spirit sorrow by the way you live. Remember, he is the one who marks you to be present on that day when salvation from sin will be complete.


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Stop being mean, bad-tempered, and angry. Quarreling, harsh words, and dislike of others should have no place in your lives.


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Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God has forgiven you because you belong to Christ.


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Be full of love for others, following the example of Christ who loved you and gave himself to God as a sacrifice to take away your sins. And God was pleased, for Christ's love for you was like sweet perfume to him.


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Let there be no sex sin, impurity or greed among you. Let no one be able to accuse you of any such things.


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Dirty stories, foul talk, and coarse jokes--these are not for you. Instead, remind each other of God's goodness, and be thankful.


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You can be sure of this: The Kingdom of Christ and of God will never belong to anyone who is impure or greedy, for a greedy person is really an idol worshiper--he loves and worships the good things of this life more than God.


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Don't be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the terrible wrath of God is upon all those who do them.


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For though once your heart was full of darkness, now it is full of light from the Lord, and your behavior should show it!


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But when you expose them, the light shines in upon their sin and shows it up, and when they see how wrong they really are, some of them may even become children of light!


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That is why God says in the Scriptures, "Awake, O sleeper, and rise up from the dead; and Christ shall give you light."


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Don't drink too much wine, for many evils lie along that path; be filled instead with the Holy Spirit and controlled by him.


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Talk with each other much about the Lord, quoting psalms and hymns and singing sacred songs, making music in your hearts to the Lord.


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For a husband is in charge of his wife in the same way Christ is in charge of his body the Church. (He gave his very life to take care of it and be its Savior!)


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And you husbands, show the same kind of love to your wives as Christ showed to the Church when he died for her,


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so that he could give her to himself as a glorious Church without a single spot or wrinkle or any other blemish, being holy and without a single fault.


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That is how husbands should treat their wives, loving them as parts of themselves. For since a man and his wife are now one, a man is really doing himself a favor and loving himself when he loves his wife!


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No one hates his own body but lovingly cares for it, just as Christ cares for his body the Church, of which we are parts.


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(That the husband and wife are one body is proved by the Scripture, which says, "A man must leave his father and mother when he marries so that he can be perfectly joined to his wife, and the two shall be one.")


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I know this is hard to understand, but it is an illustration of the way we are parts of the body of Christ.


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So again I say, a man must love his wife as a part of himself; and the wife must see to it that she deeply respects her husband--obeying, praising, and honoring him.


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Children, obey your parents; this is the right thing to do because God has placed them in authority over you.


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And this is the promise: that if you honor your father and mother, yours will be a long life, full of blessing.


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And now a word to you parents. Don't keep on scolding and nagging your children, making them angry and resentful. Rather, bring them up with the loving discipline the Lord himself approves, with suggestions and godly advice.


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Don't work hard only when your master is watching and then shirk when he isn't looking; work hard and with gladness all the time, as though working for Christ, doing the will of God with all your hearts.


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And you slave owners must treat your slaves right, just as I have told them to treat you. Don't keep threatening them; remember, you yourselves are slaves to Christ; you have the same Master they do, and he has no favorites.


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Last of all I want to remind you that your strength must come from the Lord's mighty power within you.


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Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand safe against all strategies and tricks of Satan.


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For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against persons without bodies--the evil rulers of the unseen world, those mighty satanic beings and great evil princes of darkness who rule this world; and against huge numbers of wicked spirits in the spirit world.


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So use every piece of God's armor to resist the enemy whenever he attacks, and when it is all over, you will still be standing up.


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Pray all the time. Ask God for anything in line with the Holy Spirit's wishes. Plead with him, reminding him of your needs, and keep praying earnestly for all Christians everywhere.


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Pray for me, too, and ask God to give me the right words as I boldly tell others about the Lord and as I explain to them that his salvation is for the Gentiles too.


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I am in chains now for preaching this message from God. But pray that I will keep on speaking out boldly for him even here in prison, as I should.


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Tychicus, who is a much-loved brother and faithful helper in the Lord's work, will tell you all about how I am getting along.


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I am sending him to you for just this purpose: to let you know how we are and be encouraged by his report.


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May God give peace to you, my Christian brothers, and love, with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.


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From: Paul and Timothy, slaves of Jesus Christ. To: The pastors and deacons and all the Christians in the city of Philippi.


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May God bless you all. Yes, I pray that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will give each of you his fullest blessings and his peace in your hearts and your lives.


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because of all your wonderful help in making known the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.


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And I am sure that God who began the good work within you will keep right on helping you grow in his grace until his task within you is finally finished on that day when Jesus Christ returns.


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How natural it is that I should feel as I do about you, for you have a very special place in my heart. We have shared together the blessings of God, both when I was in prison and when I was out, defending the truth and telling others about Christ.


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My prayer for you is that you will overflow more and more with love for others, and at the same time keep on growing in spiritual knowledge and insight,


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for I want you always to see clearly the difference between right and wrong, and to be inwardly clean, no one being able to criticize you from now until our Lord returns.


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May you always be doing those good, kind things that show you are a child of God, for this will bring much praise and glory to the Lord.


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And I want you to know this, dear brothers: Everything that has happened to me here has been a great boost in getting out the Good News concerning Christ.


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For everyone around here, including all the soldiers over at the barracks, knows that I am in chains simply because I am a Christian.


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And because of my imprisonment, many of the Christians here seem to have lost their fear of chains! Somehow my patience has encouraged them, and they have become more and more bold in telling others about Christ.


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Some, of course, are preaching the Good News because they are jealous of the way God has used me. They want reputations as fearless preachers! But others have purer motives,


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preaching because they love me, for they know that the Lord has brought me here to use me to defend the Truth.


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And some preach to make me jealous, thinking that their success will add to my sorrows here in jail!


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But whatever their motive for doing it, the fact remains that the Good News about Christ is being preached, and I am glad.


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I am going to keep on being glad, for I know that as you pray for me, and as the Holy Spirit helps me, this is all going to turn out for my good.


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For I live in eager expectation and hope that I will never do anything that will cause me to be ashamed of myself but that I will always be ready to speak out boldly for Christ while I am going through all these trials here, just as I have in the past; and that I will always be an honor to Christ, whether I live or whether I must die.


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But if living will give me more opportunities to win people to Christ, then I really don't know which is better, to live or die!


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Sometimes I want to live, and at other times I don't, for I long to go and be with Christ. How much happier for me than being here!


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Yes, I am still needed down here, and so I feel certain I will be staying on earth a little longer, to help you grow and become happy in your faith;


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my staying will make you glad and give you reason to glorify Christ Jesus for keeping me safe when I return to visit you again.


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But whatever happens to me, remember always to live as Christians should, so that whether I ever see you again or not, I will keep on hearing good reports that you are standing side by side with one strong purpose--to tell the Good News


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fearlessly, no matter what your enemies may do. They will see this as a sign of their downfall, but for you it will be a clear sign from God that he is with you, and that he has given you eternal life with him.


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We are in this fight together. You have seen me suffer for him in the past; and I am still in the midst of a great and terrible struggle now, as you know so well.


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Is there any such thing as Christians cheering each other up? Do you love me enough to want to help me? Does it mean anything to you that we are brothers in the Lord, sharing the same Spirit? Are your hearts tender and sympathetic at all?


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Then make me truly happy by loving each other and agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, working together with one heart and mind and purpose.


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Don't be selfish; don't live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself.


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Don't just think about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and in what they are doing.


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Yet it was because of this that God raised him up to the heights of heaven and gave him a name which is above every other name,


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Dearest friends, when I was there with you, you were always so careful to follow my instructions. And now that I am away you must be even more careful to do the good things that result from being saved, obeying God with deep reverence, shrinking back from all that might displease him.


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so that no one can speak a word of blame against you. You are to live clean, innocent lives as children of God in a dark world full of people who are crooked and stubborn. Shine out among them like beacon lights,


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holding out to them the Word of Life. Then when Christ returns, how glad I will be that my work among you was so worthwhile.


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And if my lifeblood is, so to speak, to be poured out over your faith, which I am offering up to God as a sacrifice--that is, if I am to die for you--even then I will be glad and will share my joy with each of you.


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For you should be happy about this, too, and rejoice with me for having this privilege of dying for you.


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If the Lord is willing, I will send Timothy to see you soon. Then when he comes back, he can cheer me up by telling me all about you and how you are getting along.


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Meanwhile, I thought I ought to send Epaphroditus back to you. You sent him to help me in my need; well, he and I have been real brothers, working and battling side by side.


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Now I am sending him home again, for he has been homesick for all of you and upset because you heard that he was ill.


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And he surely was; in fact, he almost died. But God had mercy on him and on me, too, not allowing me to have this sorrow on top of everything else.


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So I am all the more anxious to get him back to you again, for I know how thankful you will be to see him, and that will make me happy and lighten all my cares.


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for he risked his life for the work of Christ and was at the point of death while trying to do for me the things you couldn't do because you were far away.


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Whatever happens, dear friends, be glad in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you this, and it is good for you to hear it again and again.


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Watch out for those wicked men--dangerous dogs, I call them--who say you must be circumcised to be saved.


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For it isn't the cutting of our bodies that makes us children of God; it is worshiping him with our spirits. That is the only true "circumcision." We Christians glory in what Christ Jesus has done for us and realize that we are helpless to save ourselves.


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Yet if anyone ever had reason to hope that he could save himself, it would be I. If others could be saved by what they are, certainly I could!


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For I went through the Jewish initiation ceremony when I was eight days old, having been born into a pure-blooded Jewish home that was a branch of the old original Benjamin family. So I was a real Jew if there ever was one! What's more, I was a member of the Pharisees who demand the strictest obedience to every Jewish law and custom.


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And sincere? Yes, so much so that I greatly persecuted the Church; and I tried to obey every Jewish rule and regulation right down to the very last point.


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But all these things that I once thought very worthwhile--now I've thrown them all away so that I can put my trust and hope in Christ alone.


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Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have put aside all else, counting it worth less than nothing, in order that I can have Christ,


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and become one with him, no longer counting on being saved by being good enough or by obeying God's laws, but by trusting Christ to save me; for God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith--counting on Christ alone.


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Now I have given up everything else--I have found it to be the only way to really know Christ and to experience the mighty power that brought him back to life again, and to find out what it means to suffer and to die with him.


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So whatever it takes, I will be one who lives in the fresh newness of life of those who are alive from the dead.


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I don't mean to say I am perfect. I haven't learned all I should even yet, but I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ saved me for and wants me to be.


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No, dear brothers, I am still not all I should be, but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,


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I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us up to heaven because of what Christ Jesus did for us.


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I hope all of you who are mature Christians will see eye-to-eye with me on these things, and if you disagree on some point, I believe that God will make it plain to you--


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For I have told you often before, and I say it again now with tears in my eyes, there are many who walk along the Christian road who are really enemies of the cross of Christ.


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Their future is eternal loss, for their god is their appetite: they are proud of what they should be ashamed of; and all they think about is this life here on earth.


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But our homeland is in heaven, where our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, is; and we are looking forward to his return from there.


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When he comes back, he will take these dying bodies of ours and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same mighty power that he will use to conquer all else everywhere.


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Dear brother Christians, I love you and long to see you, for you are my joy and my reward for my work. My beloved friends, stay true to the Lord.


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And now I want to plead with those two dear women, Euodias and Syntyche. Please, please, with the Lord's help, quarrel no more--be friends again.


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And I ask you, my true teammate, to help these women, for they worked side by side with me in telling the Good News to others; and they worked with Clement, too, and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are written in the Book of Life.


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Let everyone see that you are unselfish and considerate in all you do. Remember that the Lord is coming soon.


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Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don't forget to thank him for his answers.


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If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus.


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And now, brothers, as I close this letter, let me say this one more thing: Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others. Think about all you can praise God for and be glad about.


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Keep putting into practice all you learned from me and saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you.


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How grateful I am and how I praise the Lord that you are helping me again. I know you have always been anxious to send what you could, but for a while you didn't have the chance.


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Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to get along happily whether I have much or little.


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I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of contentment in every situation, whether it be a full stomach or hunger, plenty or want;


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As you well know, when I first brought the Gospel to you and then went on my way, leaving Macedonia, only you Philippians became my partners in giving and receiving. No other church did this.


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But though I appreciate your gifts, what makes me happiest is the well-earned reward you will have because of your kindness.


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At the moment I have all I need--more than I need! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me when Epaphroditus came. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that pleases God well.


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And it is he who will supply all your needs from his riches in glory because of what Christ Jesus has done for us.


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And all the other Christians here want to be remembered to you, especially those who work in Caesar's palace.


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To: The faithful Christian brothers--God's people--in the city of Colosse. May God our Father shower you with blessings and fill you with his great peace.


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Whenever we pray for you, we always begin by giving thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,


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And you are looking forward to the joys of heaven, and have been ever since the Gospel first was preached to you.


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The same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world and changing lives everywhere, just as it changed yours that very first day you heard it and understood about God's great kindness to sinners.


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Epaphras, our much-loved fellow worker, was the one who brought you this Good News. He is Jesus Christ's faithful slave, here to help us in your place.


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And he is the one who has told us about the great love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you.


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So ever since we first heard about you we have kept on praying and asking God to help you understand what he wants you to do; asking him to make you wise about spiritual things;


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and asking that the way you live will always please the Lord and honor him, so that you will always be doing good, kind things for others, while all the time you are learning to know God better and better.


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We are praying, too, that you will be filled with his mighty, glorious strength so that you can keep going no matter what happens--always full of the joy of the Lord,


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and always thankful to the Father who has made us fit to share all the wonderful things that belong to those who live in the Kingdom of light.


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For he has rescued us out of the darkness and gloom of Satan's kingdom and brought us into the Kingdom of his dear Son,


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Christ is the exact likeness of the unseen God. He existed before God made anything at all, and, in fact,


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Christ himself is the Creator who made everything in heaven and earth, the things we can see and the things we can't; the spirit world with its kings and kingdoms, its rulers and authorities; all were made by Christ for his own use and glory.


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He is the Head of the body made up of his people--that is, his Church--which he began; and he is the Leader of all those who arise from the dead, so that he is first in everything;


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It was through what his Son did that God cleared a path for everything to come to him--all things in heaven and on earth--for Christ's death on the cross has made peace with God for all by his blood.


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This includes you who were once so far away from God. You were his enemies and hated him and were separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions, yet now he has brought you back as his friends.


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He has done this through the death on the cross of his own human body, and now as a result Christ has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are standing there before him with nothing left against you--nothing left that he could even chide you for;


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the only condition is that you fully believe the Truth, standing in it steadfast and firm, strong in the Lord, convinced of the Good News that Jesus died for you, and never shifting from trusting him to save you. This is the wonderful news that came to each of you and is now spreading all over the world. And I, Paul, have the joy of telling it to others.


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But part of my work is to suffer for you; and I am glad, for I am helping to finish up the remainder of Christ's sufferings for his body, the Church.


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He has kept this secret for centuries and generations past, but now at last it has pleased him to tell it to those who love him and live for him,


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and the riches and glory of his plan are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ in your hearts is your only hope of glory.


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So everywhere we go we talk about Christ to all who will listen, warning them and teaching them as well as we know how. We want to be able to present each one to God, perfect because of what Christ has done for each of them.


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I wish you could know how much I have struggled in prayer for you and for the church at Laodicea, and for my many other friends who have never known me personally.


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This is what I have asked of God for you: that you will be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love, and that you will have the rich experience of knowing Christ with real certainty and clear understanding. For God's secret plan, now at last made known, is Christ himself.


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For though I am far away from you my heart is with you, happy because you are getting along so well, happy because of your strong faith in Christ.


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And now just as you trusted Christ to save you, trust him, too, for each day's problems; live in vital union with him.


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Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him. See that you go on growing in the Lord, and become strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with joy and thanksgiving for all he has done.


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Don't let others spoil your faith and joy with their philosophies, their wrong and shallow answers built on men's thoughts and ideas, instead of on what Christ has said.


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so you have everything when you have Christ, and you are filled with God through your union with Christ. He is the highest Ruler, with authority over every other power.


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When you came to Christ, he set you free from your evil desires, not by a bodily operation of circumcision but by a spiritual operation, the baptism of your souls.


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For in baptism you see how your old, evil nature died with him and was buried with him; and then you came up out of death with him into a new life because you trusted the Word of the mighty God who raised Christ from the dead.


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You were dead in sins, and your sinful desires were not yet cut away. Then he gave you a share in the very life of Christ, for he forgave all your sins,


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and blotted out the charges proved against you, the list of his commandments which you had not obeyed. He took this list of sins and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ's cross.


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In this way God took away Satan's power to accuse you of sin, and God openly displayed to the whole world Christ's triumph at the cross where your sins were all taken away.


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So don't let anyone criticize you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating Jewish holidays and feasts or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths.


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For these were only temporary rules that ended when Christ came. They were only shadows of the real thing--of Christ himself.


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Don't let anyone declare you lost when you refuse to worship angels, as they say you must. They have seen a vision, they say, and know you should. These proud men (though they claim to be so humble) have a very clever imagination.


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But they are not connected to Christ, the Head to which all of us who are his body are joined; for we are joined together by his strong sinews, and we grow only as we get our nourishment and strength from God.


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Since you died, as it were, with Christ and this has set you free from following the world's ideas of how to be saved--by doing good and obeying various rules --why do you keep right on following them anyway, still bound by such rules as


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These rules may seem good, for rules of this kind require strong devotion and are humiliating and hard on the body, but they have no effect when it comes to conquering a person's evil thoughts and desires. They only make him proud.


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Since you became alive again, so to speak, when Christ arose from the dead, now set your sights on the rich treasures and joys of heaven where he sits beside God in the place of honor and power.


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You should have as little desire for this world as a dead person does. Your real life is in heaven with Christ and God.


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And when Christ who is our real life comes back again, you will shine with him and share in all his glories.


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Away then with sinful, earthly things; deaden the evil desires lurking within you; have nothing to do with sexual sin, impurity, lust, and shameful desires; don't worship the good things of life, for that is idolatry.


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but now is the time to cast off and throw away all these rotten garments of anger, hatred, cursing, and dirty language.


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Don't tell lies to each other; it was your old life with all its wickedness that did that sort of thing; now it is dead and gone.


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You are living a brand new kind of life that is continually learning more and more of what is right, and trying constantly to be more and more like Christ who created this new life within you.


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In this new life one's nationality or race or education or social position is unimportant; such things mean nothing. Whether a person has Christ is what matters, and he is equally available to all.


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Since you have been chosen by God who has given you this new kind of life, and because of his deep love and concern for you, you should practice tenderhearted mercy and kindness to others. Don't worry about making a good impression on them, but be ready to suffer quietly and patiently.


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Be gentle and ready to forgive; never hold grudges. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.


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Most of all, let love guide your life, for then the whole church will stay together in perfect harmony.


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Let the peace of heart that comes from Christ be always present in your hearts and lives, for this is your responsibility and privilege as members of his body. And always be thankful.


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Remember what Christ taught, and let his words enrich your lives and make you wise; teach them to each other and sing them out in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing to the Lord with thankful hearts.


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And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, and come with him into the presence of God the Father to give him your thanks.


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You slaves must always obey your earthly masters, not only trying to please them when they are watching you but all the time; obey them willingly because of your love for the Lord and because you want to please him.


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Work hard and cheerfully at all you do, just as though you were working for the Lord and not merely for your masters,


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remembering that it is the Lord Christ who is going to pay you, giving you your full portion of all he owns. He is the one you are really working for.


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And if you don't do your best for him, he will pay you in a way that you won't like--for he has no special favorites who can get away with shirking.


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You slave owners must be just and fair to all your slaves. Always remember that you, too, have a Master in heaven who is closely watching you.


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Don't be weary in prayer; keep at it; watch for God's answers, and remember to be thankful when they come.


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Don't forget to pray for us too, that God will give us many chances to preach the Good News of Christ for which I am here in jail.


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Pray that I will be bold enough to tell it freely and fully and make it plain, as, of course, I should.


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Let your conversation be gracious as well as sensible, for then you will have the right answer for everyone.


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Tychicus, our much-loved brother, will tell you how I am getting along. He is a hard worker and serves the Lord with me.


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I am also sending Onesimus, a faithful and much-loved brother, one of your own people. He and Tychicus will give you all the latest news.


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Aristarchus, who is with me here as a prisoner, sends you his love, and so does Mark, a relative of Barnabas. And as I said before, give Mark a hearty welcome if he comes your way.


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Jesus Justus also sends his love. These are the only Jewish Christians working with me here, and what a comfort they have been!


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Epaphras, from your city, a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his love. He is always earnestly praying for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect and to help you know his will in everything you do.


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I can assure you that he has worked hard for you with his prayers, and also for the Christians in Laodicea and Hierapolis.


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Please give my greeting to the Christian friends at Laodicea, and to Nymphas, and to those who meet in his home.


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By the way, after you have read this letter, will you pass it on to the church at Laodicea? And read the letter I wrote to them.


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Here is my own greeting in my own handwriting: Remember me here in jail. May God's blessings surround you. Sincerely,  Paul


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From: Paul, Silas, and Timothy. To: The church at Thessalonica--to you who belong to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: May blessing and peace of heart be your rich gifts from God our Father and from Jesus Christ our Lord.


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We never forget your loving deeds as we talk to our God and Father about you, and your strong faith and steady looking forward to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.


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For when we brought you the Good News, it was not just meaningless chatter to you; no, you listened with great interest. What we told you produced a powerful effect upon you, for the Holy Spirit gave you great and full assurance that what we said was true. And you know how our very lives were further proof to you of the truth of our message.


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So you became our followers and the Lord's; for you received our message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the trials and sorrows it brought you.


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And now the Word of the Lord has spread out from you to others everywhere, far beyond your boundaries, for wherever we go we find people telling us about your remarkable faith in God. We don't need to tell them about it,


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for they keep telling us about the wonderful welcome you gave us, and how you turned away from your idols to God so that now the living and true God only is your Master.


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And they speak of how you are looking forward to the return of God's Son from heaven--Jesus, whom God brought back to life--and he is our only Savior from God's terrible anger against sin.


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You know how badly we had been treated at Philippi just before we came to you and how much we suffered there. Yet God gave us the courage to boldly repeat the same message to you, even though we were surrounded by enemies.


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So you can see that we were not preaching with any false motives or evil purposes in mind; we were perfectly straightforward and sincere.


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For we speak as messengers from God, trusted by him to tell the truth; we change his message not one bit to suit the taste of those who hear it; for we serve God alone, who examines our hearts' deepest thoughts.


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Never once did we try to win you with flattery, as you very well know, and God knows we were not just pretending to be your friends so that you would give us money!


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As for praise, we have never asked for it from you or anyone else, although as apostles of Christ we certainly had a right to some honor from you.


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Don't you remember, dear brothers, how hard we worked among you? Night and day we toiled and sweated to earn enough to live on so that our expenses would not be a burden to anyone there, as we preached God's Good News among you.


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You yourselves are our witnesses--as is God--that we have been pure and honest and faultless toward every one of you.


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We talked to you as a father to his own children--don't you remember?--pleading with you, encouraging you and even demanding


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that your daily lives should not embarrass God but bring joy to him who invited you into his Kingdom to share his glory.


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And we will never stop thanking God for this: that when we preached to you, you didn't think of the words we spoke as being just our own, but you accepted what we said as the very Word of God--which, of course, it was--and it changed your lives when you believed it.


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And then, dear brothers, you suffered what the churches in Judea did, persecution from your own countrymen, just as they suffered from their own people, the Jews.


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After they had killed their own prophets, they even executed the Lord Jesus; and now they have brutally persecuted us and driven us out. They are against both God and man,


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trying to keep us from preaching to the Gentiles for fear some might be saved; and so their sins continue to grow. But the anger of God has caught up with them at last.


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Dear brothers, after we left you and had been away from you but a very little while (though our hearts never left you), we tried hard to come back to see you once more.


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For what is it we live for, that gives us hope and joy and is our proud reward and crown? It is you! Yes, you will bring us much joy as we stand together before our Lord Jesus Christ when he comes back again.


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and send Timothy, our brother and fellow worker, God's minister, to visit you to strengthen your faith and encourage you


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and to keep you from becoming fainthearted in all the troubles you were going through. (But of course you know that such troubles are a part of God's plan for us Christians.


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Even while we were still with you we warned you ahead of time that suffering would soon come--and it did.)


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As I was saying, when I could bear the suspense no longer, I sent Timothy to find out whether your faith was still strong. I was afraid that perhaps Satan had gotten the best of you and that all our work had been useless.


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And now Timothy has just returned and brings the welcome news that your faith and love are as strong as ever and that you remember our visit with joy and want to see us just as much as we want to see you.


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So we are greatly comforted, dear brothers, in all of our own crushing troubles and suffering here, now that we know you are standing true to the Lord.


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How can we thank God enough for you and for the joy and delight you have given us in our praying for you?


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For night and day we pray on and on for you, asking God to let us see you again, to fill up any little cracks there may yet be in your faith.


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And may the Lord make your love to grow and overflow to each other and to everyone else, just as our love does toward you.


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This will result in your hearts being made strong, sinless, and holy by God our Father so that you may stand before him guiltless on that day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns with all those who belong to him.


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Let me add this, dear brothers: You already know how to please God in your daily living, for you know the commands we gave you from the Lord Jesus himself. Now we beg you--yes, we demand of you in the name of the Lord Jesus--that you live more and more closely to that ideal.


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And this also is God's will: that you never cheat in this matter by taking another man's wife because the Lord will punish you terribly for this, as we have solemnly told you before.


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If anyone refuses to live by these rules, he is not disobeying the rules of men but of God who gives his Holy Spirit to you.


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But concerning the pure brotherly love that there should be among God's people, I don't need to say very much, I'm sure! For God himself is teaching you to love one another.


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Indeed, your love is already strong toward all the Christian brothers throughout your whole nation. Even so, dear friends, we beg you to love them more and more.


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This should be your ambition: to live a quiet life, minding your own business and doing your own work, just as we told you before.


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As a result, people who are not Christians will trust and respect you, and you will not need to depend on others for enough money to pay your bills.


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And now, dear brothers, I want you to know what happens to a Christian when he dies so that when it happens, you will not be full of sorrow, as those are who have no hope.


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For since we believe that Jesus died and then came back to life again, we can also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him all the Christians who have died.


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I can tell you this directly from the Lord: that we who are still living when the Lord returns will not rise to meet him ahead of those who are in their graves.


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For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a mighty shout and with the soul-stirring cry of the archangel and the great trumpet-call of God. And the believers who are dead will be the first to rise to meet the Lord.


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Then we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and remain with him forever.


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for you know perfectly well that no one knows. That day of the Lord will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night.


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When people are saying, "All is well; everything is quiet and peaceful"--then, all of a sudden, disaster will fall upon them as suddenly as a woman's birth pains begin when her child is born. And these people will not be able to get away anywhere--there will be no place to hide.


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But, dear brothers, you are not in the dark about these things, and you won't be surprised as by a thief when that day of the Lord comes.


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But let us who live in the light keep sober, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the happy hope of salvation.


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he died for us so that we can live with him forever, whether we are dead or alive at the time of his return.


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Dear brothers, honor the officers of your church who work hard among you and warn you against all that is wrong.


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Think highly of them and give them your wholehearted love because they are straining to help you. And remember, no quarreling among yourselves.


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Dear brothers, warn those who are lazy, comfort those who are frightened, take tender care of those who are weak, and be patient with everyone.


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See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to everyone else.


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No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.


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May the God of peace himself make you entirely pure and devoted to God; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept strong and blameless until that day when our Lord Jesus Christ comes back again.


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From: Paul, Silas, and Timothy. To: The church of Thessalonica--kept safe in God our Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ.


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May God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you rich blessings and peace-filled hearts and minds.


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Dear brothers, giving thanks to God for you is not only the right thing to do, but it is our duty to God because of the really wonderful way your faith has grown and because of your growing love for each other.


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We are happy to tell other churches about your patience and complete faith in God, in spite of all the crushing troubles and hardships you are going through.


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This is only one example of the fair, just way God does things, for he is using your sufferings to make you ready for his Kingdom,


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And so I would say to you who are suffering, God will give you rest along with us when the Lord Jesus appears suddenly from heaven in flaming fire with his mighty angels,


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bringing judgment on those who do not wish to know God and who refuse to accept his plan to save them through our Lord Jesus Christ.


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They will be punished in everlasting hell, forever separated from the Lord, never to see the glory of his power


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when he comes to receive praise and admiration because of all he has done for his people, his saints. And you will be among those praising him because you have believed what we told you about him.


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And so we keep on praying for you, that our God will make you the kind of children he wants to have--will make you as good as you wish you could be!--rewarding your faith with his power.


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Then everyone will be praising the name of the Lord Jesus Christ because of the results they see in you; and your greatest glory will be that you belong to him. The tender mercy of our God and of the Lord Jesus Christ has made all this possible for you.


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And now, what about the coming again of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to meet him? Please don't be upset and excited, dear brothers,


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by the rumor that this day of the Lord has already begun. If you hear of people having visions and special messages from God about this, or letters that are supposed to have come from me, don't believe them.


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Don't be carried away and deceived regardless of what they say. For that day will not come until two things happen: first, there will be a time of great rebellion against God, and then the man of rebellion will come--the son of hell.


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He will defy every god there is and tear down every other object of adoration and worship. He will go in and sit as God in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.


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And you know what is keeping him from being here already; for he can come only when his time is ready.


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As for the work this man of rebellion and hell will do when he comes, it is already going on, but he himself will not come until the one who is holding him back steps out of the way.


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Then this wicked one will appear, whom the Lord Jesus will burn up with the breath of his mouth and destroy by his presence when he returns.


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This man of sin will come as Satan's tool, full of satanic power, and will trick everyone with strange demonstrations, and will do great miracles.


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He will completely fool those who are on their way to hell because they have said no to the Truth; they have refused to believe it and love it and let it save them,


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and all of them will be justly judged for believing falsehood, refusing the Truth, and enjoying their sins.


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But we must forever give thanks to God for you, our brothers loved by the Lord, because God chose from the very first to give you salvation, cleansing you by the work of the Holy Spirit and by your trusting in the Truth.


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Through us he told you the Good News. Through us he called you to share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.


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With all these things in mind, dear brothers, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the truth that we taught you in our letters and during the time we were with you.


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May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting comfort and hope, which we don't deserve,


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Finally, dear brothers, as I come to the end of this letter, I ask you to pray for us. Pray first that the Lord's message will spread rapidly and triumph wherever it goes, winning converts everywhere as it did when it came to you.


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And we trust the Lord that you are putting into practice the things we taught you, and that you always will.


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May the Lord bring you into an ever deeper understanding of the love of God and of the patience that comes from Christ.


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Now here is a command, dear brothers, given in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ by his authority: Stay away from any Christian who spends his days in laziness and does not follow the ideal of hard work we set up for you.


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we never accepted food from anyone without buying it; we worked hard day and night for the money we needed to live on, in order that we would not be a burden to any of you.


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It wasn't that we didn't have the right to ask you to feed us, but we wanted to show you firsthand how you should work for your living.


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Even while we were still there with you, we gave you this rule: "He who does not work shall not eat."


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Yet we hear that some of you are living in laziness, refusing to work, and wasting your time in gossiping.


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In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ we appeal to such people--we command them--to quiet down, get to work, and earn their own living.


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If anyone refuses to obey what we say in this letter, notice who he is and stay away from him, that he may be ashamed of himself.


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Now here is my greeting, which I am writing with my own hand, as I do at the end of all my letters, for proof that it really is from me. This is in my own handwriting.


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From: Paul, a missionary of Jesus Christ, sent out by the direct command of God our Savior and by Jesus Christ our Lord--our only hope.


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To: Timothy. Timothy, you are like a son to me in the things of the Lord. May God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord show you his kindness and mercy and give you great peace of heart and mind.


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As I said when I left for Macedonia, please stay there in Ephesus and try to stop the men who are teaching such wrong doctrine.


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Put an end to their myths and fables, and their idea of being saved by finding favor with an endless chain of angels leading up to God--wild ideas that stir up questions and arguments instead of helping people accept God's plan of faith.


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What I am eager for is that all the Christians there will be filled with love that comes from pure hearts, and that their minds will be clean and their faith strong.


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But these teachers have missed this whole idea and spend their time arguing and talking foolishness.


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They want to become famous as teachers of the laws of Moses when they haven't the slightest idea what those laws really show us.


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But they were not made for us, whom God has saved; they are for sinners who hate God, have rebellious hearts, curse and swear, attack their fathers and mothers, and murder.


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Yes, these laws are made to identify as sinners all who are immoral and impure: homosexuals, kidnappers, liars, and all others who do things that contradict


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How thankful I am to Christ Jesus our Lord for choosing me as one of his messengers, and giving me the strength to be faithful to him,


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even though I used to scoff at the name of Christ. I hunted down his people, harming them in every way I could. But God had mercy on me because I didn't know what I was doing, for I didn't know Christ at that time.


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Oh, how kind our Lord was, for he showed me how to trust him and become full of the love of Christ Jesus.


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How true it is, and how I long that everyone should know it, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--and I was the greatest of them all.


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But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as an example to show everyone how patient he is with even the worst sinners, so that others will realize that they, too, can have everlasting life.


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Glory and honor to God forever and ever. He is the King of the ages, the unseen one who never dies; he alone is God, and full of wisdom. Amen.


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Now, Timothy, my son, here is my command to you: Fight well in the Lord's battles, just as the Lord told us through his prophets that you would.


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Cling tightly to your faith in Christ and always keep your conscience clear, doing what you know is right. For some people have disobeyed their consciences and have deliberately done what they knew was wrong. It isn't surprising that soon they lost their faith in Christ after defying God like that.


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Hymenaeus and Alexander are two examples of this. I had to give them over to Satan to punish them until they could learn not to bring shame to the name of Christ.


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Here are my directions: Pray much for others; plead for God's mercy upon them; give thanks for all he is going to do for them.


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Pray in this way for kings and all others who are in authority over us, or are in places of high responsibility, so that we can live in peace and quietness, spending our time in godly living and thinking much about the Lord.


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That God is on one side and all the people on the other side, and Christ Jesus, himself man, is between them to bring them together,


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by giving his life for all mankind. This is the message that at the proper time God gave to the world.


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And I have been chosen--this is the absolute truth--as God's minister and missionary to teach this truth to the Gentiles and to show them God's plan of salvation through faith.


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So I want men everywhere to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from sin and anger and resentment.


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Christian women should be noticed for being kind and good, not for the way they fix their hair or because of their jewels or fancy clothes.


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So God sent pain and suffering to women when their children are born, but he will save their souls if they trust in him, living quiet, good, and loving lives.


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For a pastor must be a good man whose life cannot be spoken against. He must have only one wife, and he must be hard working and thoughtful, orderly, and full of good deeds. He must enjoy having guests in his home and must be a good Bible teacher.


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He must not be a drinker or quarrelsome, but he must be gentle and kind and not be one who loves money.


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The pastor must not be a new Christian because he might be proud of being chosen so soon, and pride comes before a fall. (Satan's downfall is an example.)


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Also, he must be well spoken of by people outside the church--those who aren't Christians--so that Satan can't trap him with many accusations and leave him without freedom to lead his flock.


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The deacons must be the same sort of good, steady men as the pastors. They must not be heavy drinkers and must not be greedy for money.


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Before they are asked to be deacons, they should be given other jobs in the church as a test of their character and ability, and if they do well, then they may be chosen as deacons.


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Their wives must be thoughtful, not heavy drinkers, not gossipers, but faithful in everything they do.


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Those who do well as deacons will be well rewarded both by respect from others and also by developing their own confidence and bold trust in the Lord.


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so that if I don't come for awhile, you will know what kind of men you should choose as officers for the church of the living God, which contains and holds high the truth of God.


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It is quite true that the way to live a godly life is not an easy matter. But the answer lies in Christ, who came to earth as a man, was proved spotless and pure in his Spirit, was served by angels, was preached among the nations, was accepted by men everywhere, and was received up again to his glory in heaven.


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But the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some in the church will turn away from Christ and become eager followers of teachers with devil-inspired ideas.


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These teachers will tell lies with straight faces and do it so often that their consciences won't even bother them.


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They will say it is wrong to be married and wrong to eat meat, even though God gave these things to well-taught Christians to enjoy and be thankful for.


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If you explain this to the others you will be doing your duty as a worthy pastor who is fed by faith and by the true teaching you have followed.


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Don't waste time arguing over foolish ideas and silly myths and legends. Spend your time and energy in the exercise of keeping spiritually fit.


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Bodily exercise is all right, but spiritual exercise is much more important and is a tonic for all you do. So exercise yourself spiritually, and practice being a better Christian because that will help you not only now in this life, but in the next life too.


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We work hard and suffer much in order that people will believe it, for our hope is in the living God who died for all, and particularly for those who have accepted his salvation.


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Don't let anyone think little of you because you are young. Be their ideal; let them follow the way you teach and live; be a pattern for them in your love, your faith, and your clean thoughts.


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Be sure to use the abilities God has given you through his prophets when the elders of the church laid their hands upon your head.


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Put these abilities to work; throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone may notice your improvement and progress.


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Keep a close watch on all you do and think. Stay true to what is right and God will bless you and use you to help others.


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Never speak sharply to an older man, but plead with him respectfully just as though he were your own father. Talk to the younger men as you would to much-loved brothers.


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Treat the older women as mothers, and the girls as your sisters, thinking only pure thoughts about them.


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The church should take loving care of women whose husbands have died if they don't have anyone else to help them.


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But if they have children or grandchildren, these are the ones who should take the responsibility, for kindness should begin at home, supporting needy parents. This is something that pleases God very much.


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The church should care for widows who are poor and alone in the world if they are looking to God for his help and spending much time in prayer;


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but not if they are spending their time running around gossiping, seeking only pleasure and thus ruining their souls.


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But anyone who won't care for his own relatives when they need help, especially those living in his own family, has no right to say he is a Christian. Such a person is worse than the heathen.


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A widow who wants to become one of the special church workers should be at least sixty years old and have been married only once.


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She must be well thought of by everyone because of the good she has done. Has she brought up her children well? Has she been kind to strangers as well as to other Christians? Has she helped those who are sick and hurt? Is she always ready to show kindness?


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The younger widows should not become members of this special group because after awhile they are likely to disregard their vow to Christ and marry again.


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Besides, they are likely to be lazy and spend their time gossiping around from house to house, getting into other people's business.


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So I think it is better for these younger widows to marry again and have children and take care of their own homes; then no one will be able to say anything against them.


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For I am afraid that some of them have already turned away from the church and been led astray by Satan.


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Let me remind you again that a widow's relatives must take care of her and not leave this to the church to do. Then the church can spend its money for the care of widows who are all alone and have nowhere else to turn.


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Pastors who do their work well should be paid well and should be highly appreciated, especially those who work hard at both preaching and teaching.


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For the Scriptures say, "Never tie up the mouth of an ox when it is treading out the grain--let him eat as he goes along!" And in another place, "Those who work deserve their pay!"


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Don't listen to complaints against the pastor unless there are two or three witnesses to accuse him.


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If he has really sinned, then he should be rebuked in front of the whole church so that no one else will follow his example.


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I solemnly command you in the presence of God and the Lord Jesus Christ and of the holy angels to do this whether the pastor is a special friend of yours or not. All must be treated exactly the same.


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Never be in a hurry about choosing a pastor; you may overlook his sins, and it will look as if you approve of them. Be sure that you yourself stay away from all sin.


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(By the way, this doesn't mean you should completely give up drinking wine. You ought to take a little sometimes as medicine for your stomach because you are sick so often.)


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Remember that some men, even pastors, lead sinful lives, and everyone knows it. In such situations you can do something about it. But in other cases only the judgment day will reveal the terrible truth.


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In the same way, everyone knows how much good some pastors do, but sometimes their good deeds aren't known until long afterward.


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Christian slaves should work hard for their owners and respect them; never let it be said that Christ's people are poor workers. Don't let the name of God or his teaching be laughed at because of this.


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If their owner is a Christian, that is no excuse for slowing down; rather they should work all the harder because a brother in the faith is being helped by their efforts. Teach these truths, Timothy, and encourage all to obey them.


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Some may deny these things, but they are the sound, wholesome teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ and are the foundation for a godly life.


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Anyone who says anything different is both proud and stupid. He is quibbling over the meaning of Christ's words and stirring up arguments ending in jealousy and anger, which only lead to name-calling, accusations, and evil suspicions.


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These arguers--their minds warped by sin--don't know how to tell the truth; to them the Good News is just a means of making money. Keep away from them.


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After all, we didn't bring any money with us when we came into the world, and we can't carry away a single penny when we die.


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But people who long to be rich soon begin to do all kinds of wrong things to get money, things that hurt them and make them evil-minded and finally send them to hell itself.


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For the love of money is the first step toward all kinds of sin. Some people have even turned away from God because of their love for it, and as a result have pierced themselves with many sorrows.


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O Timothy, you are God's man. Run from all these evil things, and work instead at what is right and good, learning to trust him and love others and to be patient and gentle.


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Fight on for God. Hold tightly to the eternal life that God has given you and that you have confessed with such a ringing confession before many witnesses.


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I command you before God, who gives life to all, and before Christ Jesus, who gave a fearless testimony before Pontius Pilate,


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that you fulfill all he has told you to do so that no one can find fault with you from now until our Lord Jesus Christ returns.


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For in due season Christ will be revealed from heaven by the blessed and only Almighty God, the King of kings and Lord of lords,


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who alone can never die, who lives in light so terrible that no human being can approach him. No mere man has ever seen him nor ever will. Unto him be honor and everlasting power and dominion forever and ever. Amen.


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Tell those who are rich not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which will soon be gone, but their pride and trust should be in the living God who always richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.


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Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and should give happily to those in need, always being ready to share with others whatever God has given them.


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By doing this they will be storing up real treasure for themselves in heaven--it is the only safe investment for eternity! And they will be living a fruitful Christian life down here as well.


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Oh, Timothy, don't fail to do these things that God entrusted to you. Keep out of foolish arguments with those who boast of their "knowledge" and thus prove their lack of it.


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Some of these people have missed the most important thing in life--they don't know God. May God's mercy be upon you. Sincerely,  Paul


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From: Paul, Jesus Christ's missionary, sent out by God to tell men and women everywhere about the eternal life he has promised them through faith in Jesus Christ.


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To: Timothy, my dear son. May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord shower you with his kindness, mercy, and peace.


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How I thank God for you, Timothy. I pray for you every day, and many times during the long nights I beg my God to bless you richly. He is my fathers' God and mine, and my only purpose in life is to please him.


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I know how much you trust the Lord, just as your mother Eunice and your grandmother Lois do; and I feel sure you are still trusting him as much as ever.


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This being so, I want to remind you to stir into flame the strength and boldness that is in you, that entered into you when I laid my hands upon your head and blessed you.


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For the Holy Spirit, God's gift, does not want you to be afraid of people, but to be wise and strong, and to love them and enjoy being with them.


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If you will stir up this inner power, you will never be afraid to tell others about our Lord or to let them know that I am your friend even though I am here in jail for Christ's sake. You will be ready to suffer with me for the Lord, for he will give you strength in suffering.


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It is he who saved us and chose us for his holy work not because we deserved it but because that was his plan long before the world began--to show his love and kindness to us through Christ.


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And now he has made all of this plain to us by the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ, who broke the power of death and showed us the way of everlasting life through trusting him.


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That is why I am suffering here in jail, and I am certainly not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to safely guard all that I have given him until the day of his return.


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Hold tightly to the pattern of truth I taught you, especially concerning the faith and love Christ Jesus offers you.


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Guard well the splendid, God-given ability you received as a gift from the Holy Spirit who lives within you.


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As you know, all the Christians who came here from Asia have deserted me; even Phygellus and Hermogenes are gone.


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May the Lord bless Onesiphorus and all his family because he visited me and encouraged me often. His visits revived me like a breath of fresh air, and he was never ashamed of my being in jail.


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May the Lord give him a special blessing at the day of Christ's return. And you know better than I can tell you how much he helped me at Ephesus.


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For you must teach others those things you and many others have heard me speak about. Teach these great truths to trustworthy men who will, in turn, pass them on to others.


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and as Christ's soldier, do not let yourself become tied up in worldly affairs, for then you cannot satisfy the one who has enlisted you in his army.


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Follow the Lord's rules for doing his work, just as an athlete either follows the rules or is disqualified and wins no prize.


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Think over these three illustrations, and may the Lord help you to understand how they apply to you.


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Don't ever forget the wonderful fact that Jesus Christ was a man, born into King David's family; and that he was God, as shown by the fact that he rose again from the dead.


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It is because I have preached these great truths that I am in trouble here and have been put in jail like a criminal. But the Word of God is not chained, even though I am.


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I am more than willing to suffer if that will bring salvation and eternal glory in Christ Jesus to those God has chosen.


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I am comforted by this truth, that when we suffer and die for Christ it only means that we will begin living with him in heaven.


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And if we think that our present service for him is hard, just remember that some day we are going to sit with him and rule with him. But if we give up when we suffer, and turn against Christ, then he must turn against us.


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Even when we are too weak to have any faith left, he remains faithful to us and will help us, for he cannot disown us who are part of himself, and he will always carry out his promises to us.


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Remind your people of these great facts, and command them in the name of the Lord not to argue over unimportant things. Such arguments are confusing and useless and even harmful.


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Work hard so God can say to you, "Well done." Be a good workman, one who does not need to be ashamed when God examines your work. Know what his Word says and means.


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Things will be said that will burn and hurt for a long time to come. Hymenaeus and Philetus, in their love of argument, are men like that.


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They have left the path of truth, preaching the lie that the resurrection of the dead has already occurred; and they have weakened the faith of some who believe them.


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But God's truth stands firm like a great rock, and nothing can shake it. It is a foundation stone with these words written on it: "The Lord knows those who are really his," and "A person who calls himself a Christian should not be doing things that are wrong."


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In a wealthy home there are dishes made of gold and silver as well as some made from wood and clay. The expensive dishes are used for guests, and the cheap ones are used in the kitchen or to put garbage in.


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If you stay away from sin you will be like one of these dishes made of purest gold--the very best in the house--so that Christ himself can use you for his highest purposes.


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Run from anything that gives you the evil thoughts that young men often have, but stay close to anything that makes you want to do right. Have faith and love, and enjoy the companionship of those who love the Lord and have pure hearts.


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Be humble when you are trying to teach those who are mixed up concerning the truth. For if you talk meekly and courteously to them, they are more likely, with God's help, to turn away from their wrong ideas and believe what is true.


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Then they will come to their senses and escape from Satan's trap of slavery to sin, which he uses to catch them whenever he likes, and then they can begin doing the will of God.


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You may as well know this too, Timothy, that in the last days it is going to be very difficult to be a Christian.


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For people will love only themselves and their money; they will be proud and boastful, sneering at God, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful to them, and thoroughly bad.


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They will be hardheaded and never give in to others; they will be constant liars and troublemakers and will think nothing of immorality. They will be rough and cruel, and sneer at those who try to be good.


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They will betray their friends; they will be hotheaded, puffed up with pride, and prefer good times to worshiping God.


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They will go to church, yes, but they won't really believe anything they hear. Don't be taken in by people like that.


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They are the kind who craftily sneak into other people's homes and make friendships with silly, sin-burdened women and teach them their new doctrines.


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And these teachers fight truth just as Jannes and Jambres fought against Moses. They have dirty minds, warped and twisted, and have turned against the Christian faith.


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But they won't get away with all this forever. Someday their deceit will be well known to everyone, as was the sin of Jannes and Jambres.


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But you know from watching me that I am not that kind of person. You know what I believe and the way I live and what I want. You know my faith in Christ and how I have suffered. You know my love for you, and my patience.


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You know how many troubles I have had as a result of my preaching the Good News. You know about all that was done to me while I was visiting in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, but the Lord delivered me.


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Yes, and those who decide to please Christ Jesus by living godly lives will suffer at the hands of those who hate him.


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In fact, evil men and false teachers will become worse and worse, deceiving many, they themselves having been deceived by Satan.


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But you must keep on believing the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know that you can trust those of us who have taught you.


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You know how, when you were a small child, you were taught the holy Scriptures; and it is these that make you wise to accept God's salvation by trusting in Christ Jesus.


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The whole Bible was given to us by inspiration from God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives; it straightens us out and helps us do what is right.


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And so I solemnly urge you before God and before Christ Jesus--who will someday judge the living and the dead when he appears to set up his Kingdom--


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to preach the Word of God urgently at all times, whenever you get the chance, in season and out, when it is convenient and when it is not. Correct and rebuke your people when they need it, encourage them to do right, and all the time be feeding them patiently with God's Word.


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For there is going to come a time when people won't listen to the truth but will go around looking for teachers who will tell them just what they want to hear.


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Stand steady, and don't be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Bring others to Christ. Leave nothing undone that you ought to do.


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I say this because I won't be around to help you very much longer. My time has almost run out. Very soon now I will be on my way to heaven.


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I have fought long and hard for my Lord, and through it all I have kept true to him. And now the time has come for me to stop fighting and rest.


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In heaven a crown is waiting for me, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that great day of his return. And not just to me but to all those whose lives show that they are eagerly looking forward to his coming back again.


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for Demas has left me. He loved the good things of this life and went to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.


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When you come, be sure to bring the coat I left at Troas with Brother Carpus, and also the books, but especially the parchments.


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The first time I was brought before the judge, no one was here to help me. Everyone had run away. I hope that they will not be blamed for it.


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But the Lord stood with me and gave me the opportunity to boldly preach a whole sermon for all the world to hear. And he saved me from being thrown to the lions.


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Yes, and the Lord will always deliver me from all evil and will bring me into his heavenly Kingdom. To God be the glory forever and ever. Amen.


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Do try to be here before winter. Eubulus sends you greetings, and so do Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the others.


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From: Paul, the slave of God and the messenger of Jesus Christ. I have been sent to bring faith to those God has chosen and to teach them to know God's truth-–


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the kind of truth that changes lives--so that they can have eternal life, which God promised them before the world began--and he cannot lie.


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And now in his own good time he has revealed this Good News and permits me to tell it to everyone. By command of God our Savior, I have been trusted to do this work for him.


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To: Titus, who is truly my son in the affairs of the Lord. May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior give you his blessings and his peace.


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I left you there on the island of Crete so that you could do whatever was needed to help strengthen each of its churches, and I asked you to appoint pastors in every city who would follow the instructions I gave you.


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The men you choose must be well thought of for their good lives; they must have only one wife and their children must love the Lord and not have a reputation for being wild or disobedient to their parents.


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These pastors must be men of blameless lives because they are God's ministers. They must not be proud or impatient; they must not be drunkards or fighters or greedy for money.


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They must enjoy having guests in their homes and must love all that is good. They must be sensible men, and fair. They must be clean minded and level headed.


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Their belief in the truth that they have been taught must be strong and steadfast so that they will be able to teach it to others and show those who disagree with them where they are wrong.


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For there are many who refuse to obey; this is especially true among those who say that all Christians must obey the Jewish laws. But this is foolish talk; it blinds people to the truth,


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and it must be stopped. Already whole families have been turned away from the grace of God. Such teachers are only after your money.


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One of their own men, a prophet from Crete, has said about them, "These men of Crete are all liars; they are like lazy animals, living only to satisfy their stomachs."


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And this is true. So speak to the Christians there as sternly as necessary to make them strong in the faith


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and to stop them from listening to Jewish folk tales and the demands of men who have turned their backs on the truth.


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A person who is pure of heart sees goodness and purity in everything; but a person whose own heart is evil and untrusting finds evil in everything, for his dirty mind and rebellious heart color all he sees and hears.


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Such persons claim they know God, but from seeing the way they act, one knows they don't. They are rotten and disobedient, worthless so far as doing anything good is concerned.


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Teach the older men to be serious and unruffled; they must be sensible, knowing and believing the truth and doing everything with love and patience.


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Teach the older women to be quiet and respectful in everything they do. They must not go around speaking evil of others and must not be heavy drinkers, but they should be teachers of goodness.


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These older women must train the younger women to live quietly, to love their husbands and their children,


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and to be sensible and clean minded, spending their time in their own homes, being kind and obedient to their husbands so that the Christian faith can't be spoken against by those who know them.


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And here you yourself must be an example to them of good deeds of every kind. Let everything you do reflect your love of the truth and the fact that you are in dead earnest about it.


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Your conversation should be so sensible and logical that anyone who wants to argue will be ashamed of himself because there won't be anything to criticize in anything you say!


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nor steal, but must show themselves to be entirely trustworthy. In this way they will make people want to believe in our Savior and God.


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and along with this gift comes the realization that God wants us to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures and to live good, God-fearing lives day after day,


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looking forward to that wonderful time we've been expecting, when his glory shall be seen--the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.


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He died under God's judgment against our sins so that he could rescue us from constant falling into sin and make us his very own people, with cleansed hearts and real enthusiasm for doing kind things for others.


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You must teach these things and encourage your people to do them, correcting them when necessary as one who has every right to do so. Don't let anyone think that what you say is not important.


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Remind your people to obey the government and its officers, and always to be obedient and ready for any honest work.


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Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient; we were misled by others and became slaves to many evil pleasures and wicked desires. Our lives were full of resentment and envy. We hated others and they hated us.


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then he saved us--not because we were good enough to be saved but because of his kindness and pity--by washing away our sins and giving us the new joy of the indwelling Holy Spirit,


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whom he poured out upon us with wonderful fullness--and all because of what Jesus Christ our Savior did


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so that he could declare us good in God's eyes--all because of his great kindness; and now we can share in the wealth of the eternal life he gives us, and we are eagerly looking forward to receiving it.


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These things I have told you are all true. Insist on them so that Christians will be careful to do good deeds all the time, for this is not only right, but it brings results.


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Don't get involved in arguing over unanswerable questions and controversial theological ideas; keep out of arguments and quarrels about obedience to Jewish laws, for this kind of thing isn't worthwhile; it only does harm.


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If anyone is causing divisions among you, he should be given a first and second warning. After that have nothing more to do with him,


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I am planning to send either Artemas or Tychicus to you. As soon as one of them arrives, please try to meet me at Nicopolis as quickly as you can, for I have decided to stay there for the winter.


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Do everything you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos with their trip; see that they are given everything they need.


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Everybody here sends greetings. Please say hello to all of the Christian friends there. May God's blessings be with you all. Sincerely,  Paul


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From: Paul, in jail for preaching the Good News about Jesus Christ, and from Brother Timothy. To: Philemon, our much-loved fellow worker,


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and to the church that meets in your home, and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus who, like myself, is a soldier of the cross.


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And I pray that as you share your faith with others it will grip their lives too, as they see the wealth of good things in you that come from Christ Jesus.


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I myself have gained much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because your kindness has so often refreshed the hearts of God's people.


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Now I want to ask a favor of you. I could demand it of you in the name of Christ because it is the right thing for you to do,


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but I love you and prefer just to ask you--I, Paul, an old man now, here in jail for the sake of Jesus Christ.


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My plea is that you show kindness to my child Onesimus, whom I won to the Lord while here in my chains.


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Onesimus (whose name means "Useful") hasn't been of much use to you in the past, but now he is going to be of real use to both of us.


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I really wanted to keep him here with me while I am in these chains for preaching the Good News, and you would have been helping me through him,


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but I didn't want to do it without your consent. I didn't want you to be kind because you had to but because you wanted to.


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Perhaps you could think of it this way: that he ran away from you for a little while so that now he can be yours forever,


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no longer only a slave, but something much better--a beloved brother, especially to me. Now he will mean much more to you too, because he is not only a servant but also your brother in Christ.


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If I am really your friend, give him the same welcome you would give to me if I were the one who was coming.


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I will pay it back (I, Paul, personally guarantee this by writing it here with my own hand) but I won't mention how much you owe me! The fact is, you even owe me your very soul!


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Please keep a guest room ready for me, for I am hoping that God will answer your prayers and let me come to you soon.


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Long ago God spoke in many different ways to our fathers through the prophets  in visions, dreams, and even face to face, telling them little by little about his plans.


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But now in these days he has spoken to us through his Son to whom he has given everything and through whom he made the world and everything there is.


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God's Son shines out with God's glory, and all that God's Son is and does marks him as God. He regulates the universe by the mighty power of his command. He is the one who died to cleanse us and clear our record of all sin, and then sat down in highest honor beside the great God of heaven.


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Thus he became far greater than the angels, as proved by the fact that his name "Son of God," which was passed on to him from his Father, is far greater than the names and titles of the angels.


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For God never said to any angel, "You are my Son, and today I have given you the honor that goes with that name." But God said it about Jesus. Another time he said, "I am his Father and he is my Son."


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And still another time--when his firstborn Son came to earth--God said, "Let all the angels of God worship him."


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but of his Son he says, "Your Kingdom, O God, will last forever and ever; its commands are always just and right.


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You love right and hate wrong; so God, even your God, has poured out more gladness upon you than on anyone else."


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God also called him "Lord" when he said, "Lord, in the beginning you made the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.


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They will disappear into nothingness, but you will remain forever. They will become worn out like old clothes,


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and some day you will fold them up and replace them. But you yourself will never change, and your years will never end."


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And did God ever say to an angel, as he does to his Son, "Sit here beside me in honor until I crush all your enemies beneath your feet"?


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No, for the angels are only spirit-messengers sent out to help and care for those who are to receive his salvation.


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For since the messages from angels have always proved true and people have always been punished for disobeying them,


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what makes us think that we can escape if we are indifferent to this great salvation announced by the Lord Jesus himself and passed on to us by those who heard him speak?


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God always has shown us that these messages are true by signs and wonders and various miracles and by giving certain special abilities from the Holy Spirit to those who believe; yes, God has assigned such gifts to each of us.


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No, for in the book of Psalms David says to God, "What is mere man that you are so concerned about him? And who is this Son of Man you honor so highly?


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For though you made him lower than the angels for a little while, now you have crowned him with glory and honor.


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And you have put him in complete charge of everything there is. Nothing is left out." We have not yet seen all of this take place,


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but we do see Jesus--who for awhile was a little lower than the angels--crowned now by God with glory and honor because he suffered death for us. Yes, because of God's great kindness, Jesus tasted death for everyone in all the world.


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And it was right and proper that God, who made everything for his own glory, should allow Jesus to suffer, for in doing this he was bringing vast multitudes of God's people to heaven; for his suffering made Jesus a perfect Leader, one fit to bring them into their salvation.


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We who have been made holy by Jesus, now have the same Father he has. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call us his brothers.


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For he says in the book of Psalms, "I will talk to my brothers about God my Father, and together we will sing his praises."


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At another time he said, "I will put my trust in God along with my brothers." And at still another time, "See, here am I and the children God gave me."


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Since we, God's children, are human beings--made of flesh and blood--he became flesh and blood too by being born in human form; for only as a human being could he die and in dying break the power of the devil who had the power of death.


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Only in that way could he deliver those who through fear of death have been living all their lives as slaves to constant dread.


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And it was necessary for Jesus to be like us, his brothers, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God, a Priest who would be both merciful to us and faithful to God in dealing with the sins of the people.


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For since he himself has now been through suffering and temptation, he knows what it is like when we suffer and are tempted, and he is wonderfully able to help us.


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Therefore, dear brothers whom God has set apart for himself--you who are chosen for heaven--I want you to think now about this Jesus who is God's Messenger and the High Priest of our faith.


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For Jesus was faithful to God who appointed him High Priest, just as Moses also faithfully served in God's house.


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But Jesus has far more glory than Moses, just as a man who builds a fine house gets more praise than his house does.


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Well, Moses did a fine job working in God's house, but he was only a servant; and his work was mostly to illustrate and suggest those things that would happen later on.


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But Christ, God's faithful Son, is in complete charge of God's house. And we Christians are God's house--he lives in us!--if we keep up our courage firm to the end, and our joy and our trust in the Lord.


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And since Christ is so much superior, the Holy Spirit warns us to listen to him, to be careful to hear his voice today


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and not let our hearts become set against him, as the people of Israel did. They steeled themselves against his love and complained against him in the desert while he was testing them.


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But God was patient with them forty years, though they tried his patience sorely; he kept right on doing his mighty miracles for them to see.


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"But," God says, "I was very angry with them, for their hearts were always looking somewhere else instead of up to me, and they never found the paths I wanted them to follow."


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Then God, full of this anger against them, bound himself with an oath that he would never let them come to his place of rest.


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Beware then of your own hearts, dear brothers, lest you find that they, too, are evil and unbelieving and are leading you away from the living God.


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Speak to each other about these things every day while there is still time so that none of you will become hardened against God, being blinded by the glamor of sin.


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For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as we did when we first became Christians, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.


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But now is the time. Never forget the warning, "Today if you hear God's voice speaking to you, do not harden your hearts against him, as the people of Israel did when they rebelled against him in the desert."


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And who were those people I speak of, who heard God's voice speaking to them but then rebelled against him? They were the ones who came out of Egypt with Moses their leader.


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And who was it who made God angry for all those forty years? These same people who sinned and as a result died in the wilderness.


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And to whom was God speaking when he swore with an oath that they could never go into the land he had promised his people? He was speaking to all those who disobeyed him.


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Although God's promise still stands--his promise that all may enter his place of rest--we ought to tremble with fear because some of you may be on the verge of failing to get there after all.


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For this wonderful news--the message that God wants to save us--has been given to us just as it was to those who lived in the time of Moses. But it didn't do them any good because they didn't believe it. They didn't mix it with faith.


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For only we who believe God can enter into his place of rest. He has said, "I have sworn in my anger that those who don't believe me will never get in," even though he has been ready and waiting for them since the world began.


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We know he is ready and waiting because it is written that God rested on the seventh day of creation, having finished all that he had planned to make.


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Yet the promise remains and some get in--but not those who had the first chance, for they disobeyed God and failed to enter.


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But he has set another time for coming in, and that time is now. He announced this through King David long years after man's first failure to enter, saying in the words already quoted, "Today when you hear him calling, do not harden your hearts against him."


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This new place of rest he is talking about does not mean the land of Israel that Joshua led them into. If that were what God meant, he would not have spoken long afterwards about "today" being the time to get in.


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Let us do our best to go into that place of rest, too, being careful not to disobey God as the children of Israel did, thus failing to get in.


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For whatever God says to us is full of living power: it is sharper than the sharpest dagger, cutting swift and deep into our innermost thoughts and desires with all their parts, exposing us for what we really are.


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He knows about everyone, everywhere. Everything about us is bare and wide open to the all-seeing eyes of our living God; nothing can be hidden from him to whom we must explain all that we have done.


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But Jesus the Son of God is our great High Priest who has gone to heaven itself to help us; therefore let us never stop trusting him.


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This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses since he had the same temptations we do, though he never once gave way to them and sinned.


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So let us come boldly to the very throne of God and stay there to receive his mercy and to find grace to help us in our times of need.


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The Jewish high priest is merely a man like anyone else, but he is chosen to speak for all other men in their dealings with God. He presents their gifts to God and offers to him the blood of animals that are sacrificed to cover the sins of the people and his own sins too.


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Another thing to remember is that no one can be a high priest just because he wants to be. He has to be called by God for this work in the same way God chose Aaron.


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That is why Christ did not elect himself to the honor of being High Priest; no, he was chosen by God. God said to him, "My Son, today I have honored you."


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And another time God said to him, "You have been chosen to be a priest forever, with the same rank as Melchizedek."


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Yet while Christ was here on earth he pleaded with God, praying with tears and agony of soul to the only one who would save him from  premature death. And God heard his prayers because of his strong desire to obey God at all times.


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And even though Jesus was God's Son, he had to learn from experience what it was like to obey when obeying meant suffering.


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It was after he had proved himself perfect in this experience that Jesus became the Giver of eternal salvation to all those who obey him.


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There is much more I would like to say along these lines, but you don't seem to listen, so it's hard to make you understand.


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You have been Christians a long time now, and you ought to be teaching others, but instead you have dropped back to the place where you need someone to teach you all over again the very first principles in God's Word. You are like babies who can drink only milk, not old enough for solid food.


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And when a person is still living on milk it shows he isn't very far along in the Christian life, and doesn't know much about the difference between right and wrong. He is still a baby Christian!


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You will never be able to eat solid spiritual food and understand the deeper things of God's Word until you become better Christians and learn right from wrong by practicing doing right.


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Let us stop going over the same old ground again and again, always teaching those first lessons about Christ. Let us go on instead to other things and become mature in our understanding, as strong Christians ought to be. Surely we don't need to speak further about the foolishness of trying to be saved by being good, or about the necessity of faith in God;


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you don't need further instruction about baptism and spiritual gifts and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.


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There is no use trying to bring you back to the Lord again if you have once understood the Good News and tasted for yourself the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit,


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and then have turned against God. You cannot bring yourself to repent again if you have nailed the Son of God to the cross again by rejecting him, holding him up to mocking and to public shame.


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When a farmer's land has had many showers upon it and good crops come up, that land has experienced God's blessing upon it.


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But if it keeps on having crops of thistles and thorns, the land is considered no good and is ready for condemnation and burning off.


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Dear friends, even though I am talking like this I really don't believe that what I am saying applies to you. I am confident you are producing the good fruit that comes along with your salvation.


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For God is not unfair. How can he forget your hard work for him, or forget the way you used to show your love for him--and still do--by helping his children?


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And we are anxious that you keep right on loving others as long as life lasts, so that you will get your full reward.


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Then, knowing what lies ahead for you, you won't become bored with being a Christian nor become spiritually dull and indifferent, but you will be anxious to follow the example of those who receive all that God has promised them because of their strong faith and patience.


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For instance, there was God's promise to Abraham: God took an oath in his own name, since there was no one greater to swear by,


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that he would bless Abraham again and again, and give him a son and make him the father of a great nation of people.


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When a man takes an oath, he is calling upon someone greater than himself to force him to do what he has promised or to punish him if he later refuses to do it; the oath ends all argument about it.


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God also bound himself with an oath, so that those he promised to help would be perfectly sure and never need to wonder whether he might change his plans.


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He has given us both his promise and his oath, two things we can completely count on, for it is impossible for God to tell a lie. Now all those who flee to him to save them can take new courage when they hear such assurances from God; now they can know without doubt that he will give them the salvation he has promised them.


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This certain hope of being saved is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls, connecting us with God himself behind the sacred curtains of heaven,


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where Christ has gone ahead to plead for us from his position as our High Priest, with the honor and rank of Melchizedek.


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This Melchizedek was king of the city of Salem and also a priest of the Most High God. When Abraham was returning home after winning a great battle against many kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him;


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then Abraham took a tenth of all he had won in the battle and gave it to Melchizedek. Melchizedek's name means "Justice," so he is the King of Justice; and he is also the King of Peace because of the name of his city, Salem, which means "Peace."


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Melchizedek had no father or mother and there is no record of any of his ancestors. He was never born and he never died but his life is like that of the Son of God--a priest forever.


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See then how great this Melchizedek is: (a) Even Abraham, the first and most honored of all God's chosen people, gave Melchizedek a tenth of the spoils he took from the kings he had been fighting.


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One could understand why Abraham would do this if Melchizedek had been a Jewish priest, for later on God's people were required by law to give gifts to help their priests because the priests were their relatives.


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But Melchizedek was not a relative, and yet Abraham paid him. (b) Melchizedek placed a blessing upon mighty Abraham,


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and as everyone knows, a person who has the power to bless is always greater than the person he blesses.


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(d) One might even say that Levi himself (the ancestor of all Jewish priests, of all who receive tithes), paid tithes to Melchizedek through Abraham.


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For although Levi wasn't born yet, the seed from which he came was in Abraham when Abraham paid the tithes to Melchizedek.


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(e) If the Jewish priests and their laws had been able to save us, why then did God need to send Christ as a priest with the rank of Melchizedek, instead of sending someone with the rank of Aaron--the same rank all other priests had?


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but came from the tribe of Judah, which had not been chosen for priesthood; Moses had never given them that work.


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So we can plainly see that God's method changed, for Christ, the new High Priest who came with the rank of Melchizedek,


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did not become a priest by meeting the old requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but on the basis of power flowing from a life that cannot end.


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And the psalmist points this out when he says of Christ, "You are a priest forever with the rank of Melchizedek."


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Yes, the old system of priesthood based on family lines was canceled because it didn't work. It was weak and useless for saving people.


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It never made anyone really right with God. But now we have a far better hope, for Christ makes us acceptable to God, and now we may draw near to him.


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although he never said that of other priests. Only to Christ he said, "The Lord has sworn and will never change his mind: You are a Priest forever, with the rank of Melchizedek."


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Under the old arrangement there had to be many priests so that when the older ones died off, the system could still be carried on by others who took their places.


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He is able to save completely all who come to God through him. Since he will live forever, he will always be there to remind God that he has paid for their sins with his blood.


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He is, therefore, exactly the kind of High Priest we need; for he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin, undefiled by sinners, and to him has been given the place of honor in heaven.


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He never needs the daily blood of animal sacrifices, as other priests did, to cover over first their own sins and then the sins of the people; for he finished all sacrifices, once and for all, when he sacrificed himself on the cross.


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Under the old system, even the high priests were weak and sinful men who could not keep from doing wrong, but later God appointed by his oath his Son who is perfect forever.


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What we are saying is this: Christ, whose priesthood we have just described, is our High Priest and is in heaven at the place of greatest honor next to God himself.


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He ministers in the temple in heaven, the true place of worship built by the Lord and not by human hands.


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And since every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices, Christ must make an offering too.


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The sacrifice he offers is far better than those offered by the earthly priests. (But even so, if he were here on earth he wouldn't even be permitted to be a priest because down here the priests still follow the old Jewish system of sacrifices.)


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Their work is connected with a mere earthly model of the real tabernacle in heaven; for when Moses was getting ready to build the tabernacle, God warned him to follow exactly the pattern of the heavenly tabernacle as shown to him on Mount Sinai.


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But Christ, as a Minister in heaven, has been rewarded with a far more important work than those who serve under the old laws because the new agreement that he passes on to us from God contains far more wonderful promises.


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The old agreement didn't even work. If it had, there would have been no need for another to replace it.


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But God himself found fault with the old one, for he said, "The day will come when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and the people of Judah.


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This new agreement will not be like the old one I gave to their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; they did not keep their part in that agreement, so I had to cancel it.


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But this is the new agreement I will make with the people of Israel, says the Lord: I will write my laws in their minds so that they will know what I want them to do without my even telling them, and these laws will be in their hearts so that they will want to obey them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people.


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And no one then will need to speak to his friend or neighbor or brother, saying, 'You, too, should know the Lord,' because everyone, great and small, will know me already.


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God speaks of these new promises, of this new agreement, as taking the place of the old one; for the old one is out of date now and has been put aside forever.


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Now in that first agreement between God and his people there were rules for worship and there was a sacred tent down here on earth.


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Inside this place of worship there were two rooms. The first one contained the golden candlestick and a table with special loaves of holy bread upon it; this part was called the Holy Place.


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In that room there were a golden incense-altar and the golden chest, called the ark of the covenant, completely covered on all sides with pure gold. Inside the ark were the tablets of stone with the Ten Commandments written on them, and a golden jar with some manna in it, and Aaron's wooden cane that budded.


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Above the golden chest were statues of angels called the cherubim--the guardians of God's glory--with their wings stretched out over the ark's golden cover, called the mercy seat. But enough of such details.


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Well, when all was ready, the priests went in and out of the first room whenever they wanted to, doing their work.


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But only the high priest went into the inner room, and then only once a year, all alone, and always with blood that he sprinkled on the mercy seat as an offering to God to cover his own mistakes and sins and the mistakes and sins of all the people.


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And the Holy Spirit uses all this to point out to us that under the old system the common people could not go into the Holy of Holies as long as the outer room and the entire system it represents were still in use.


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This has an important lesson for us today. For under the old system, gifts and sacrifices were offered, but these failed to cleanse the hearts of the people who brought them.


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For the old system dealt only with certain rituals--what foods to eat and drink, rules for washing themselves, and rules about this and that. The people had to keep these rules to tide them over until Christ came with God's new and better way.


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He came as High Priest of this better system that we now have. He went into that greater, perfect tabernacle in heaven, not made by men nor part of this world,


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and once for all took blood into that inner room, the Holy of Holies, and sprinkled it on the mercy seat; but it was not the blood of goats and calves. No, he took his own blood, and with it he, by himself, made sure of our eternal salvation.


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And if under the old system the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of young cows could cleanse men's bodies from sin,


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just think how much more surely the blood of Christ will transform our lives and hearts. His sacrifice frees us from the worry of having to obey the old rules and makes us want to serve the living God. For by the help of the eternal Holy Spirit, Christ willingly gave himself to God to die for our sins--he being perfect, without a single sin or fault.


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Christ came with this new agreement so that all who are invited may come and have forever all the wonders God has promised them. For Christ died to rescue them from the penalty of the sins they had committed while still under that old system.


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Now, if someone dies and leaves a will--a list of things to be given away to certain people when he dies--no one gets anything until it is proved that the person who wrote the will is dead.


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The will goes into effect only after the death of the person who wrote it. While he is still alive no one can use it to get any of those things he has promised them.


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That is why blood was sprinkled  as proof of Christ's death before even the first agreement could go into effect.


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For after Moses had given the people all of God's laws, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, and sprinkled the blood over the book of God's laws and over all the people, using branches of hyssop bushes and scarlet wool to sprinkle with.


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Then he said, "This is the blood that marks the beginning of the agreement between you and God, the agreement God commanded me to make with you."


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And in the same way he sprinkled blood on the sacred tent and on whatever instruments were used for worship.


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In fact we can say that under the old agreement almost everything was cleansed by sprinkling it with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.


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That is why the sacred tent down here on earth and everything in it--all copied from things in heaven--all had to be made pure by Moses in this way, by being sprinkled with the blood of animals. But the real things in heaven, of which these down here are copies, were made pure with far more precious offerings.


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For Christ has entered into heaven itself to appear now before God as our Friend. It was not in the earthly place of worship that he did this, for that was merely a copy of the real temple in heaven.


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Nor has he offered himself again and again, as the high priest down here on earth offers animal blood in the Holy of Holies each year.


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If that had been necessary, then he would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But no! He came once for all, at the end of the age, to put away the power of sin forever by dying for us.


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so also Christ died only once as an offering for the sins of many people; and he will come again, but not to deal again with our sins. This time he will come bringing salvation to all those who are eagerly and patiently waiting for him.


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The old system of Jewish laws gave only a dim foretaste of the good things Christ would do for us. The sacrifices under the old system were repeated again and again, year after year, but even so they could never save those who lived under their rules.


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If they could have, one offering would have been enough; the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all and their feeling of guilt would be gone.


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But just the opposite happened: those yearly sacrifices reminded them of their disobedience and guilt instead of relieving their minds.


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That is why Christ said as he came into the world, "O God, the blood of bulls and goats cannot satisfy you, so you have made ready this body of mine for me to lay as a sacrifice upon your altar.


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Then I said, 'See, I have come to do your will, to lay down my life, just as the Scriptures said that I would.' "


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After Christ said this about not being satisfied with the various sacrifices and offerings required under the old system,


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he then added, "Here I am. I have come to give my life." He cancels the first system in favor of a far better one.


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Under the old agreement the priests stood before the altar day after day offering sacrifices that could never take away our sins.


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But Christ gave himself to God for our sins as one sacrifice for all time and then sat down in the place of highest honor at God's right hand,


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For by that one offering he made forever perfect in the sight of God all those whom he is making holy.


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"This is the agreement I will make with the people of Israel, though they broke their first agreement: I will write my laws into their minds so that they will always know my will, and I will put my laws in their hearts so that they will want to obey them."


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Now, when sins have once been forever forgiven and forgotten, there is no need to offer more sacrifices to get rid of them.


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And so, dear brothers, now we may walk right into the very Holy of Holies, where God is, because of the blood of Jesus.


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This is the fresh, new, life-giving way that Christ has opened up for us by tearing the curtain--his human body--to let us into the holy presence of God.


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let us go right in to God himself, with true hearts fully trusting him to receive us because we have been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean and because our bodies have been washed with pure water.


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Now we can look forward to the salvation God has promised us. There is no longer any room for doubt, and we can tell others that salvation is ours, for there is no question that he will do what he says.


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In response to all he has done for us, let us outdo each other in being helpful and kind to each other and in doing good.


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Let us not neglect our church meetings, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near.


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If anyone sins deliberately by rejecting the Savior after knowing the truth of forgiveness, this sin is not covered by Christ's death; there is no way to get rid of it.


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There will be nothing to look forward to but the terrible punishment of God's awful anger, which will consume all his enemies.


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A man who refused to obey the laws given by Moses was killed without mercy if there were two or three witnesses to his sin.


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Think how much more terrible the punishment will be for those who have trampled underfoot the Son of God and treated his cleansing blood as though it were common and unhallowed, and insulted and outraged the Holy Spirit who brings God's mercy to his people.


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For we know him who said, "Justice belongs to me; I will repay them"; who also said, "The Lord himself will handle these cases."


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Don't ever forget those wonderful days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you kept right on with the Lord even though it meant terrible suffering.


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Sometimes you were laughed at and beaten, and sometimes you watched and sympathized with others suffering the same things.


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You suffered with those thrown into jail, and you were actually joyful when all you owned was taken from you, knowing that better things were awaiting you in heaven, things that would be yours forever.


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You need to keep on patiently doing God's will if you want him to do for you all that he has promised.


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And those whose faith has made them good in God's sight must live by faith, trusting him in everything. Otherwise, if they shrink back, God will have no pleasure in them.


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But we have never turned our backs on God and sealed our fate. No, our faith in him assures our souls' salvation.


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What is faith? It is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us, even though we cannot see it up ahead.


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By faith--by believing God--we know that the world and the stars--in fact, all things--were made at God's command; and that they were all made from things that can't be seen.


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It was by faith that Abel obeyed God and brought an offering that pleased God more than Cain's offering did. God accepted Abel and proved it by accepting his gift; and though Abel is long dead, we can still learn lessons from him about trusting God.


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Enoch trusted God too, and that is why God took him away to heaven without dying; suddenly he was gone because God took him. Before this happened God had said how pleased he was with Enoch.


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You can never please God without faith, without depending on him. Anyone who wants to come to God must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely look for him.


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Noah was another who trusted God. When he heard God's warning about the future, Noah believed him even though there was then no sign of a flood, and wasting no time, he built the ark and saved his family. Noah's belief in God was in direct contrast to the sin and disbelief of the rest of the world--which refused to obey--and because of his faith he became one of those whom God has accepted.


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Abraham trusted God, and when God told him to leave home and go far away to another land that he promised to give him, Abraham obeyed. Away he went, not even knowing where he was going.


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And even when he reached God's promised land, he lived in tents like a mere visitor as did Isaac and Jacob, to whom God gave the same promise.


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Abraham did this because he was confidently waiting for God to bring him to that strong heavenly city whose designer and builder is God.


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Sarah, too, had faith, and because of this she was able to become a mother in spite of her old age, for she realized that God, who gave her his promise, would certainly do what he said.


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And so a whole nation came from Abraham, who was too old to have even one child--a nation with so many millions of people that, like the stars of the sky and the sand on the ocean shores, there is no way to count them.


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These men of faith I have mentioned died without ever receiving all that God had promised them; but they saw it all awaiting them on ahead and were glad, for they agreed that this earth was not their real home but that they were just strangers visiting down here.


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And quite obviously when they talked like that, they were looking forward to their real home in heaven.


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But they didn't want to. They were living for heaven. And now God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has made a heavenly city for them.


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While God was testing him, Abraham still trusted in God and his promises, and so he offered up his son Isaac and was ready to slay him on the altar of sacrifice;


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yes, to slay even Isaac, through whom God had promised to give Abraham a whole nation of descendants!


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He believed that if Isaac died God would bring him back to life again; and that is just about what happened, for as far as Abraham was concerned, Isaac was doomed to death, but he came back again alive!


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By faith Jacob, when he was old and dying, blessed each of Joseph's two sons as he stood and prayed, leaning on the top of his cane.


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And it was by faith that Joseph, as he neared the end of his life, confidently spoke of God bringing the people of Israel out of Egypt; and he was so sure of it that he made them promise to carry his bones with them when they left!


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Moses' parents had faith too. When they saw that God had given them an unusual child, they trusted that God would save him from the death the king commanded, and they hid him for three months and were not afraid.


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but chose to share ill-treatment with God's people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin.


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He thought that it was better to suffer for the promised Christ than to own all the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking forward to the great reward that God would give him.


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And it was because he trusted God that he left the land of Egypt and wasn't afraid of the king's anger. Moses kept right on going; it seemed as though he could see God right there with him.


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And it was because he believed God would save his people that he commanded them to kill a lamb as God had told them to and sprinkle the blood on the doorposts of their homes so that God's terrible Angel of Death could not touch the oldest child in those homes as he did among the Egyptians.


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The people of Israel trusted God and went right through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground. But when the Egyptians chasing them tried it, they all were drowned.


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It was faith that brought the walls of Jericho tumbling down after the people of Israel had walked around them seven days as God had commanded them.


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By faith--because she believed in God and his power--Rahab the harlot did not die with all the others in her city when they refused to obey God, for she gave a friendly welcome to the spies.


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Well, how much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah and David and Samuel and all the other prophets.


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These people all trusted God and as a result won battles, overthrew kingdoms, ruled their people well, and received what God had promised them; they were kept from harm in a den of lions


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and in a fiery furnace. Some, through their faith, escaped death by the sword. Some were made strong again after they had been weak or sick. Others were given great power in battle; they made whole armies turn and run away.


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And some women, through faith, received their loved ones back again from death. But others trusted God and were beaten to death, preferring to die rather than turn from God and be free--trusting that they would rise to a better life afterwards.


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Some died by stoning and some by being sawed in two; others were promised freedom if they would renounce their faith, then were killed with the sword.


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Some went about in skins of sheep and goats, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in dens and caves. They were hungry and sick and ill-treated--too good for this world.


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And these men of faith, though they trusted God and won his approval, none of them received all that God had promised them;


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Since we have such a huge crowd of men of faith watching us from the grandstands, let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back, and especially those sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trip us up; and let us run with patience the particular race that God has set before us.


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Keep your eyes on Jesus, our leader and instructor. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterwards; and now he sits in the place of honor by the throne of God.


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If you want to keep from becoming fainthearted and weary, think about his patience as sinful men did such terrible things to him.


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After all, you have never yet struggled against sin and temptation until you sweat great drops of blood.


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And have you quite forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you, his child? He said, "My son, don't be angry when the Lord punishes you. Don't be discouraged when he has to show you where you are wrong.


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For when he punishes you, it proves that he loves you. When he whips you, it proves you are really his child."


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Let God train you, for he is doing what any loving father does for his children. Whoever heard of a son who was never corrected?


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If God doesn't punish you when you need it, as other fathers punish their sons, then it means that you aren't really God's son at all--that you don't really belong in his family.


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Since we respect our fathers here on earth, though they punish us, should we not all the more cheerfully submit to God's training so that we can begin really to live?


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Our earthly fathers trained us for a few brief years, doing the best for us that they knew how, but God's correction is always right and for our best good, that we may share his holiness.


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Being punished isn't enjoyable while it is happening--it hurts! But afterwards we can see the result, a quiet growth in grace and character.


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and mark out a straight, smooth path for your feet so that those who follow you, though weak and lame, will not fall and hurt themselves but become strong.


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Try to stay out of all quarrels, and seek to live a clean and holy life, for one who is not holy will not see the Lord.


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Look after each other so that not one of you will fail to find God's best blessings. Watch out that no bitterness takes root among you, for as it springs up it causes deep trouble, hurting many in their spiritual lives.


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Watch out that no one becomes involved in sexual sin or becomes careless about God as Esau did: he traded his rights as the oldest son for a single meal.


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And afterwards, when he wanted those rights back again, it was too late, even though he wept bitter tears of repentance. So remember, and be careful.


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You have not had to stand face to face with terror, flaming fire, gloom, darkness, and a terrible storm as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai when God gave them his laws.


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For there was an awesome trumpet blast and a voice with a message so terrible that the people begged God to stop speaking.


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But you have come right up into Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the gathering of countless happy angels;


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and to the church, composed of all those registered in heaven; and to God who is Judge of all; and to the spirits of the redeemed in heaven, already made perfect;


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and to Jesus himself, who has brought us his wonderful new agreement; and to the sprinkled blood, which graciously forgives instead of crying out for vengeance as the blood of Abel did.


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So see to it that you obey him who is speaking to you. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, how terrible our danger if we refuse to listen to God who speaks to us from heaven!


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When he spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but, "Next time," he says, "I will not only shake the earth but the heavens too."


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By this he means that he will sift out everything without solid foundations so that only unshakable things will be left.


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Since we have a Kingdom nothing can destroy, let us please God by serving him with thankful hearts and with holy fear and awe.


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Don't forget to be kind to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!


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Don't forget about those in jail. Suffer with them as though you were there yourself. Share the sorrow of those being mistreated, for you know what they are going through.


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Honor your marriage and its vows, and be pure; for God will surely punish all those who are immoral or commit adultery.


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Stay away from the love of money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, "I will never, never fail you nor forsake you."


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That is why we can say without any doubt or fear, "The Lord is my Helper, and I am not afraid of anything that mere man can do to me."


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Remember your leaders who have taught you the Word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and try to trust the Lord as they do.


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So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your spiritual strength comes as a gift from God, not from ceremonial rules about eating certain foods--a method which, by the way, hasn't helped those who have tried it!


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We have an altar--the cross where Christ was sacrificed--where those who continue to seek salvation by obeying Jewish laws can never be helped.


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Under the system of Jewish laws, the high priest brought the blood of the slain animals into the sanctuary as a sacrifice for sin, and then the bodies of the animals were burned outside the city.


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So let us go out to him beyond the city walls  that is, outside the interests of this world, being willing to be despised to suffer with him there, bearing his shame.


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With Jesus' help we will continually offer our sacrifice of praise to God by telling others of the glory of his name.


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Don't forget to do good and to share what you have with those in need, for such sacrifices are very pleasing to him.


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Obey your spiritual leaders and be willing to do what they say. For their work is to watch over your souls, and God will judge them on how well they do this. Give them reason to report joyfully about you to the Lord and not with sorrow, for then you will suffer for it too.


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equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he who became the great Shepherd of the sheep by an everlasting agreement between God and you, signed with his blood, produce in you through the power of Christ all that is pleasing to him. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.


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I want you to know that Brother Timothy is now out of jail; if he comes here soon, I will come with him to see you.


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Give my greetings to all your leaders and to the other believers there. The Christians from Italy who are here with me send you their love.


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From: James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. To: Jewish Christians scattered everywhere. Greetings!


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So let it grow, and don't try to squirm out of your problems. For when your patience is finally in full bloom, then you will be ready for anything, strong in character, full and complete.


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If you want to know what God wants you to do, ask him, and he will gladly tell you, for he is always ready to give a bountiful supply of wisdom to all who ask him; he will not resent it.


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But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to tell you, for a doubtful mind will be as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind;


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and every decision you then make will be uncertain, as you turn first this way and then that. If you don't ask with faith, don't expect the Lord to give you any solid answer.


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A Christian who doesn't amount to much in this world should be glad, for he is great in the Lord's sight.


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But a rich man should be glad that his riches mean nothing to the Lord, for he will soon be gone, like a flower that has lost its beauty and fades away,


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withered--killed by the scorching summer sun. So it is with rich men. They will soon die and leave behind all their busy activities.


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Happy is the man who doesn't give in and do wrong when he is tempted, for afterwards he will get as his reward the crown of life that God has promised those who love him.


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And remember, when someone wants to do wrong it is never God who is tempting him, for God never wants to do wrong and never tempts anyone else to do it.


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But whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God, the Creator of all light, and he shines forever without change or shadow.


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And it was a happy day for him when he gave us our new lives through the truth of his Word, and we became, as it were, the first children in his new family.


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Dear brothers, don't ever forget that it is best to listen much, speak little, and not become angry;


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So get rid of all that is wrong in your life, both inside and outside, and humbly be glad for the wonderful message we have received, for it is able to save our souls as it takes hold of our hearts.


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But if anyone keeps looking steadily into God's law for free men, he will not only remember it but he will do what it says, and God will greatly bless him in everything he does.


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Anyone who says he is a Christian but doesn't control his sharp tongue is just fooling himself, and his religion isn't worth much.


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The Christian who is pure and without fault, from God the Father's point of view, is the one who takes care of orphans and widows, and who remains true to the Lord--not soiled and dirtied by his contacts with the world.


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Dear brothers, how can you claim that you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, if you show favoritism to rich people and look down on poor people?


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If a man comes into your church dressed in expensive clothes and with valuable gold rings on his fingers, and at the same moment another man comes in who is poor and dressed in threadbare clothes,


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and you make a lot of fuss over the rich man and give him the best seat in the house and say to the poor man, "You can stand over there if you like or else sit on the floor"--well,


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Listen to me, dear brothers: God has chosen poor people to be rich in faith, and the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs, for that is the gift God has promised to all those who love him.


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And yet, of the two strangers, you have despised the poor man. Don't you realize that it is usually the rich men who pick on you and drag you into court?


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Yes indeed, it is good when you truly obey our Lord's command, "You must love and help your neighbors just as much as you love and take care of yourself."


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And the person who keeps every law of God but makes one little slip is just as guilty as the person who has broken every law there is.


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For the God who said you must not marry a woman who already has a husband also said you must not murder, so even though you have not broken the marriage laws by committing adultery, but have murdered someone, you have entirely broken God's laws and stand utterly guilty before him.


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You will be judged on whether or not you are doing what Christ wants you to. So watch what you do and what you think;


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for there will be no mercy to those who have shown no mercy. But if you have been merciful, then God's mercy toward you will win out over his judgment against you.


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Dear brothers, what's the use of saying that you have faith and are Christians if you aren't proving it by helping others? Will that kind of faith save anyone?


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and you say to him, "Well, good-bye and God bless you; stay warm and eat hearty," and then don't give him clothes or food, what good does that do?


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So you see, it isn't enough just to have faith. You must also do good to prove that you have it. Faith that doesn't show itself by good works is no faith at all--it is dead and useless.


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But someone may well argue, "You say the way to God is by faith alone, plus nothing; well, I say that good works are important too, for without good works you can't prove whether you have faith or not; but anyone can see that I have faith by the way I act."


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Are there still some among you who hold that "only believing" is enough? Believing in one God? Well, remember that the demons believe this too--so strongly that they tremble in terror!


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Fool! When will you ever learn that "believing" is useless without doing what God wants you to? Faith that does not result in good deeds is not real faith.


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Don't you remember that even our father Abraham was declared good because of what he did when he was willing to obey God, even if it meant offering his son Isaac to die on the altar?


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You see, he was trusting God so much that he was willing to do whatever God told him to; his faith was made complete by what he did--by his actions, his good deeds.


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And so it happened just as the Scriptures say, that Abraham trusted God, and the Lord declared him good in God's sight, and he was even called "the friend of God."


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Rahab, the prostitute, is another example of this. She was saved because of what she did when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road.


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Just as the body is dead when there is no spirit in it, so faith is dead if it is not the kind that results in good deeds.


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Dear brothers, don't be too eager to tell others their faults, for we all make many mistakes; and when we teachers of religion, who should know better, do wrong, our punishment will be greater than it would be for others.


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If anyone can control his tongue, it proves that he has perfect control over himself in every other way.


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And a tiny rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot wants it to go, even though the winds are strong.


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So also the tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do. A great forest can be set on fire by one tiny spark.


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And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is full of wickedness, and poisons every part of the body. And the tongue is set on fire by hell itself and can turn our whole lives into a blazing flame of destruction and disaster.


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Men have trained, or can train, every kind of animal or bird that lives and every kind of reptile and fish,


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Sometimes it praises our heavenly Father, and sometimes it breaks out into curses against men who are made like God.


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And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Dear brothers, surely this is not right!


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Can you pick olives from a fig tree, or figs from a grape vine? No, and you can't draw fresh water from a salty pool.


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If you are wise, live a life of steady goodness so that only good deeds will pour forth. And if you don't brag about them, then you will be truly wise!


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And by all means don't brag about being wise and good if you are bitter and jealous and selfish; that is the worst sort of lie.


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For jealousy and selfishness are not God's kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, inspired by the devil.


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For wherever there is jealousy or selfish ambition, there will be disorder and every other kind of evil.


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But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure and full of quiet gentleness. Then it is peace-loving and courteous. It allows discussion and is willing to yield to others; it is full of mercy and good deeds. It is wholehearted and straightforward and sincere.


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What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Isn't it because there is a whole army of evil desires within you?


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You want what you don't have, so you kill to get it. You long for what others have, and can't afford it, so you start a fight to take it away from them. And yet the reason you don't have what you want is that you don't ask God for it.


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And even when you do ask you don't get it because your whole aim is wrong--you want only what will give you pleasure.


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You are like an unfaithful wife who loves her husband's enemies. Don't you realize that making friends with God's enemies--the evil pleasures of this world--makes you an enemy of God? I say it again, that if your aim is to enjoy the evil pleasure of the unsaved world, you cannot also be a friend of God.


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Or what do you think the Scripture means when it says that the Holy Spirit, whom God has placed within us, watches over us with tender jealousy?


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But he gives us more and more strength to stand against all such evil longings. As the Scripture says, God gives strength to the humble but sets himself against the proud and haughty.


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And when you draw close to God, God will draw close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and let your hearts be filled with God alone to make them pure and true to him.


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Let there be tears for the wrong things you have done. Let there be sorrow and sincere grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy.


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Then when you realize your worthlessness before the Lord, he will lift you up, encourage and help you.


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Don't criticize and speak evil about each other, dear brothers. If you do, you will be fighting against God's law of loving one another, declaring it is wrong. But your job is not to decide whether this law is right or wrong, but to obey it.


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Only he who made the law can rightly judge among us. He alone decides to save us or destroy. So what right do you have to judge or criticize others?


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Look here, you people who say, "Today or tomorrow we are going to such and such a town, stay there a year, and open up a profitable business."


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How do you know what is going to happen tomorrow? For the length of your lives is as uncertain as the morning fog--now you see it; soon it is gone.


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Look here, you rich men, now is the time to cry and groan with anguished grief because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you.


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The value of your gold and silver is dropping fast, yet it will stand as evidence against you and eat your flesh like fire. That is what you have stored up for yourselves to receive on that coming day of judgment.


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For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. Their cries have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.


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You have spent your years here on earth having fun, satisfying your every whim, and now your fat hearts are ready for the slaughter.


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Now as for you, dear brothers who are waiting for the Lord's return, be patient, like a farmer who waits until the autumn for his precious harvest to ripen.


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Don't grumble about each other, brothers. Are you yourselves above criticism? For see! The great Judge is coming. He is almost here.  Let him do whatever criticizing must be done.


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We know how happy they are now because they stayed true to him then, even though they suffered greatly for it. Job is an example of a man who continued to trust the Lord in sorrow; from his experiences we can see how the Lord's plan finally ended in good, for he is full of tenderness and mercy.


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But most of all, dear brothers, do not swear either by heaven or earth or anything else; just say a simple yes or no so that you will not sin and be condemned for it.


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Is anyone among you suffering? He should keep on praying about it. And those who have reason to be thankful should continually be singing praises to the Lord.


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Is anyone sick? He should call for the elders of the church and they should pray over him and pour a little oil upon him, calling on the Lord to heal him.


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And their prayer, if offered in faith, will heal him, for the Lord will make him well; and if his sickness was caused by some sin, the Lord will forgive him.


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Admit your faults to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous man has great power and wonderful results.


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Elijah was as completely human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for the next three and a half years!


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Then he prayed again, this time that it would rain, and down it poured, and the grass turned green and the gardens began to grow again.


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Dear brothers, if anyone has slipped away from God and no longer trusts the Lord and someone helps him understand the Truth again,


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that person who brings him back to God will have saved a wandering soul from death, bringing about the forgiveness of his many sins. Sincerely,  James


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From: Peter, Jesus Christ's missionary. To: The Jewish Christians driven out of Jerusalem and scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia Minor, and Bithynia.


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Dear friends, God the Father chose you long ago and knew you would become his children. And the Holy Spirit has been at work in your hearts, cleansing you with the blood of Jesus Christ and making you to please him. May God bless you richly and grant you increasing freedom from all anxiety and fear.


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All honor to God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; for it is his boundless mercy that has given us the privilege of being born again so that we are now members of God's own family. Now we live in the hope of eternal life because Christ rose again from the dead.


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And God has reserved for his children the priceless gift of eternal life; it is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.


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And God, in his mighty power, will make sure that you get there safely to receive it because you are trusting him. It will be yours in that coming last day for all to see.


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So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though the going is rough for a while down here.


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These trials are only to test your faith, to see whether or not it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests gold and purifies it--and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold; so if your faith remains strong after being tried in the test tube of fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day of his return.


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You love him even though you have never seen him; though not seeing him, you trust him; and even now you are happy with the inexpressible joy that comes from heaven itself.


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This salvation was something the prophets did not fully understand. Though they wrote about it, they had many questions as to what it all could mean.


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They wondered what the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about, for he told them to write down the events which, since then, have happened to Christ: his suffering, and his great glory afterwards. And they wondered when and to whom all this would happen.


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They were finally told that these things would not occur during their lifetime, but long years later, during yours. And now at last this Good News has been plainly announced to all of us. It was preached to us in the power of the same heaven-sent Holy Spirit who spoke to them; and it is all so strange and wonderful that even the angels in heaven would give a great deal to know more about it.


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So now you can look forward soberly and intelligently to more of God's kindness to you when Jesus Christ returns.


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Obey God because you are his children; don't slip back into your old ways--doing evil because you knew no better.


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And remember that your heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites when he judges. He will judge you with perfect justice for everything you do; so act in reverent fear of him from now on until you get to heaven.


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God paid a ransom to save you from the impossible road to heaven which your fathers tried to take, and the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver as you very well know.


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God chose him for this purpose long before the world began, but only recently was he brought into public view, in these last days, as a blessing to you.


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Because of this, your trust can be in God who raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory. Now your faith and hope can rest in him alone.


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Now you can have real love for everyone because your souls have been cleansed from selfishness and hatred when you trusted Christ to save you; so see to it that you really do love each other warmly, with all your hearts.


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For you have a new life. It was not passed on to you from your parents, for the life they gave you will fade away. This new one will last forever, for it comes from Christ, God's ever-living Message to men.


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Yes, our natural lives will fade as grass does when it becomes all brown and dry. All our greatness is like a flower that droops and falls;


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but the Word of the Lord will last forever. And his message is the Good News that was preached to you.


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So get rid of your feelings of hatred. Don't just pretend to be good! Be done with dishonesty and jealousy and talking about others behind their backs.


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Now that you realize how kind the Lord has been to you, put away all evil, deception, envy, and fraud. Long to grow up into the fullness of your salvation; cry for this as a baby cries for his milk.


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Come to Christ, who is the living Foundation of Rock upon which God builds; though men have spurned him, he is very precious to God who has chosen him above all others.


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And now you have become living building-stones for God's use in building his house. What's more, you are his holy priests; so come to him-- you who are acceptable to him because of Jesus Christ--and offer to God those things that please him.


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As the Scriptures express it, "See, I am sending Christ to be the carefully chosen, precious Cornerstone of my church, and I will never disappoint those who trust in him."


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Yes, he is very precious to you who believe; and to those who reject him, well--"The same Stone that was rejected by the builders has become the Cornerstone, the most honored and important part of the building."


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And the Scriptures also say, "He is the Stone that some will stumble over, and the Rock that will make them fall." They will stumble because they will not listen to God's Word nor obey it, and so this punishment must follow--that they will fall.


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But you are not like that, for you have been chosen by God himself--you are priests of the King, you are holy and pure, you are God's very own--all this so that you may show to others how God called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.


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Once you were less than nothing; now you are God's own. Once you knew very little of God's kindness; now your very lives have been changed by it.


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Dear brothers, you are only visitors here. Since your real home is in heaven, I beg you to keep away from the evil pleasures of this world; they are not for you, for they fight against your very souls.


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Be careful how you behave among your unsaved neighbors; for then, even if they are suspicious of you and talk against you, they will end up praising God for your good works when Christ returns.


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and those of the king's officers, for he has sent them to punish all who do wrong, and to honor those who do right.


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It is God's will that your good lives should silence those who foolishly condemn the Gospel without knowing what it can do for them, having never experienced its power.


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You are free from the law, but that doesn't mean you are free to do wrong. Live as those who are free to do only God's will at all times.


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Servants, you must respect your masters and do whatever they tell you--not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are tough and cruel.


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Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong; but if you do right and suffer for it, and are patient beneath the blows, God is well pleased.


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This suffering is all part of the work God has given you. Christ, who suffered for you, is your example. Follow in his steps:


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never answered back when insulted; when he suffered he did not threaten to get even; he left his case in the hands of God who always judges fairly.


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He personally carried the load of our sins in his own body when he died on the cross so that we can be finished with sin and live a good life from now on. For his wounds have healed ours!


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Like sheep you wandered away from God, but now you have returned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls who keeps you safe from all attacks.


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Wives, fit in with your husbands' plans; for then if they refuse to listen when you talk to them about the Lord, they will be won by your respectful, pure behavior. Your godly lives will speak to them better than any words.


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Don't be concerned about the outward beauty that depends on jewelry, or beautiful clothes, or hair arrangement.


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Be beautiful inside, in your hearts, with the lasting charm of a gentle and quiet spirit that is so precious to God.


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That kind of deep beauty was seen in the saintly women of old, who trusted God and fitted in with their husbands' plans.


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Sarah, for instance, obeyed her husband Abraham, honoring him as head of the house. And if you do the same, you will be following in her steps like good daughters and doing what is right; then you will not need to fear  offending your husbands.


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You husbands must be careful of your wives, being thoughtful of their needs and honoring them as the weaker sex. Remember that you and your wife are partners in receiving God's blessings, and if you don't treat her as you should, your prayers will not get ready answers.


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And now this word to all of you: You should be like one big happy family, full of sympathy toward each other, loving one another with tender hearts and humble minds.


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Don't repay evil for evil. Don't snap back at those who say unkind things about you. Instead, pray for God's help for them, for we are to be kind to others, and God will bless us for it.


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Turn away from evil and do good. Try to live in peace even if you must run after it to catch and hold it!


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For the Lord is watching his children, listening to their prayers; but the Lord's face is hard against those who do evil.


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Quietly trust yourself to Christ your Lord, and if anybody asks why you believe as you do, be ready to tell him, and do it in a gentle and respectful way.


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Do what is right; then if men speak against you, calling you evil names, they will become ashamed of themselves for falsely accusing you when you have only done what is good.


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Christ also suffered. He died once for the sins of all us guilty sinners although he himself was innocent of any sin at any time, that he might bring us safely home to God. But though his body died, his spirit lived on,


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spirits of those who, long before in the days of Noah, had refused to listen to God, though he waited patiently for them while Noah was building the ark. Yet only eight persons were saved from drowning in that terrible flood.


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(That, by the way, is what baptism pictures for us: In baptism we show that we have been saved from death and doom by the resurrection of Christ; not because our bodies are washed clean by the water but because in being baptized we are turning to God and asking him to cleanse our hearts from sin.)


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And now Christ is in heaven, sitting in the place of honor next to God the Father, with all the angels and powers of heaven bowing before him and obeying him.


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Since Christ suffered and underwent pain, you must have the same attitude he did; you must be ready to suffer, too. For remember, when your body suffers, sin loses its power,


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and you won't be spending the rest of your life chasing after evil desires but will be anxious to do the will of God.


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You have had enough in the past of the evil things the godless enjoy--sex sin, lust, getting drunk, wild parties, drinking bouts, and the worship of idols, and other terrible sins.


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Of course, your former friends will be very surprised when you don't eagerly join them anymore in the wicked things they do, and they will laugh at you in contempt and scorn.


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But just remember that they must face the Judge of all, living and dead; they will be punished for the way they have lived.


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That is why the Good News was preached even to those who were dead--killed by the flood --so that although their bodies were punished with death, they could still live in their spirits as God lives.


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Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love makes up for many of your faults.


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God has given each of you some special abilities; be sure to use them to help each other, passing on to others God's many kinds of blessings.


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Are you called to preach? Then preach as though God himself were speaking through you. Are you called to help others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies so that God will be glorified through Jesus Christ--to him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen.


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Dear friends, don't be bewildered or surprised when you go through the fiery trials ahead, for this is no strange, unusual thing that is going to happen to you.


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Instead, be really glad--because these trials will make you partners with Christ in his suffering, and afterwards you will have the wonderful joy of sharing his glory in that coming day when it will be displayed.


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Be happy if you are cursed and insulted for being a Christian, for when that happens the Spirit of God will come upon you with great glory.


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Don't let me hear of your suffering for murdering or stealing or making trouble or being a busybody and prying into other people's affairs.


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But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being in Christ's family and being called by his wonderful name!


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For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin first among God's own children. And if even we who are Christians must be judged, what terrible fate awaits those who have never believed in the Lord?


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So if you are suffering according to God's will, keep on doing what is right and trust yourself to the God who made you, for he will never fail you.


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And now, a word to you elders of the church. I, too, am an elder; with my own eyes I saw Christ dying on the cross; and I, too, will share his glory and his honor when he returns. Fellow elders, this is my plea to you:


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Feed the flock of God; care for it willingly, not grudgingly; not for what you will get out of it but because you are eager to serve the Lord.


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You younger men, follow the leadership of those who are older. And all of you serve each other with humble spirits, for God gives special blessings to those who are humble, but sets himself against those who are proud.


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Let him have all your worries and cares, for he is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you.


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Be careful--watch out for attacks from Satan, your great enemy. He prowls around like a hungry, roaring lion, looking for some victim to tear apart.


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Stand firm when he attacks. Trust the Lord; and remember that other Christians all around the world are going through these sufferings too.


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After you have suffered a little while, our God, who is full of kindness through Christ, will give you his eternal glory. He personally will come and pick you up, and set you firmly in place, and make you stronger than ever.


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I am sending this note to you through the courtesy of Silvanus who is, in my opinion, a very faithful brother. I hope I have encouraged you by this letter, for I have given you a true statement of the way God blesses. What I have told you here should help you to stand firmly in his love.


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The church here in Rome --she is your sister in the Lord--sends you her greetings; so does my son Mark.


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From: Simon Peter, a servant and missionary of Jesus Christ. To: All of you who have our kind of faith. The faith I speak of is the kind that Jesus Christ our God and Savior gives to us. How precious it is, and how just and good he is to give this same faith to each of us.


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For as you know him better, he will give you, through his great power, everything you need for living a truly good life: he even shares his own glory and his own goodness with us!


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And by that same mighty power he has given us all the other rich and wonderful blessings he promised; for instance, the promise to save us from the lust and rottenness all around us, and to give us his own character.


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But to obtain these gifts, you need more than faith; you must also work hard to be good, and even that is not enough. For then you must learn to know God better and discover what he wants you to do.


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Next, learn to put aside your own desires so that you will become patient and godly, gladly letting God have his way with you.


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This will make possible the next step, which is for you to enjoy other people and to like them, and finally you will grow to love them deeply.


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The more you go on in this way, the more you will grow strong spiritually and become fruitful and useful to our Lord Jesus Christ.


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But anyone who fails to go after these additions to faith is blind indeed, or at least very shortsighted and has forgotten that God delivered him from the old life of sin so that now he can live a strong, good life for the Lord.


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So, dear brothers, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen, and then you will never stumble or fall away.


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And God will open wide the gates of heaven for you to enter into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.


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I plan to keep on reminding you of these things even though you already know them and are really getting along quite well!


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But the Lord Jesus Christ has showed me that my days here on earth are numbered, and I am soon to die. As long as I am still here I intend to keep sending these reminders to you,


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For we have not been telling you fairy tales when we explained to you the power of our Lord Jesus Christ and his coming again. My own eyes have seen his splendor and his glory:


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I was there on the holy mountain when he shone out with honor given him by God his Father; I heard that glorious, majestic voice calling down from heaven, saying, "This is my much-loved Son; I am well pleased with him."


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So we have seen and proved that what the prophets said came true. You will do well to pay close attention to everything they have written, for, like lights shining into dark corners, their words help us to understand many things that otherwise would be dark and difficult. But when you consider the wonderful truth of the prophets' words, then the light will dawn in your souls and Christ the Morning Star will shine in your hearts.


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For no prophecy recorded in Scripture was ever thought up by the prophet himself. It was the Holy Spirit within these godly men who gave them true messages from God.


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But there were false prophets, too, in those days, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly tell their lies about God, turning against even their Master who bought them; but theirs will be a swift and terrible end.


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Many will follow their evil teaching that there is nothing wrong with sexual sin. And because of them Christ and his way will be scoffed at.


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These teachers in their greed will tell you anything to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago and their destruction is on the way.


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For God did not spare even the angels who sinned, but threw them into hell, chained in gloomy caves and darkness until the judgment day.


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And he did not spare any of the people who lived in ancient times before the flood except Noah, the one man who spoke up for God, and his family of seven. At that time God completely destroyed the whole world of ungodly men with the vast flood.


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Later, he turned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into heaps of ashes and blotted them off the face of the earth, making them an example for all the ungodly in the future to look back upon and fear.


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But at the same time the Lord rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a good man, sick of the terrible wickedness he saw everywhere around him day after day.


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So also the Lord can rescue you and me from the temptations that surround us, and continue to punish the ungodly until the day of final judgment comes.


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He is especially hard on those who follow their own evil, lustful thoughts, and those who are proud and willful, daring even to scoff at the Glorious Ones without so much as trembling,


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although the angels in heaven who stand in the very presence of the Lord, and are far greater in power and strength than these false teachers, never speak out disrespectfully against these evil Mighty Ones.


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But false teachers are fools--no better than animals. They do whatever they feel like; born only to be caught and killed, they laugh at the terrifying powers of the underworld which they know so little about; and they will be destroyed along with all the demons and powers of hell.


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That is the pay these teachers will have for their sin. For they live in evil pleasures day after day. They are a disgrace and a stain among you, deceiving you by living in foul sin on the side while they join your love feasts as though they were honest men.


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No woman can escape their sinful stare, and of adultery they never have enough. They make a game of luring unstable women. They train themselves to be greedy; and are doomed and cursed.


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They have gone off the road and become lost like Balaam, the son of Beor, who fell in love with the money he could make by doing wrong;


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but Balaam was stopped from his mad course when his donkey spoke to him with a human voice, scolding and rebuking him.


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These men are as useless as dried-up springs of water, promising much and delivering nothing; they are as unstable as clouds driven by the storm winds. They are doomed to the eternal pits of darkness.


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They proudly boast about their sins and conquests, and, using lust as their bait, they lure back into sin those who have just escaped from such wicked living.


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"You aren't saved by being good," they say, "so you might as well be bad. Do what you like; be free." But these very teachers who offer this "freedom" from law are themselves slaves to sin and destruction. For a man is a slave to whatever controls him.


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And when a person has escaped from the wicked ways of the world by learning about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and then gets tangled up with sin and becomes its slave again, he is worse off than he was before.


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It would be better if he had never known about Christ at all than to learn of him and then afterwards turn his back on the holy commandments that were given to him.


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There is an old saying that "A dog comes back to what he has vomited, and a pig is washed only to come back and wallow in the mud again." That is the way it is with those who turn again to their sin.


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This is my second letter to you, dear brothers, and in both of them I have tried to remind you--if you will let me--about facts you already know:


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facts you learned from the holy prophets and from us apostles who brought you the words of our Lord and Savior.


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First, I want to remind you that in the last days there will come scoffers who will do every wrong they can think of and laugh at the truth.


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This will be their line of argument: "So Jesus promised to come back, did he? Then where is he? He'll never come! Why, as far back as anyone can remember, everything has remained exactly as it was since the first day of creation."


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They deliberately forget this fact: that God did destroy the world with a mighty flood long after he had made the heavens by the word of his command and had used the waters to form the earth and surround it.


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And God has commanded that the earth and the heavens be stored away for a great bonfire at the judgment day, when all ungodly men will perish.


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But don't forget this, dear friends, that a day or a thousand years from now is like tomorrow to the Lord.


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He isn't really being slow about his promised return, even though it sometimes seems that way. But he is waiting, for the good reason that he is not willing that any should perish, and he is giving more time for sinners to repent.


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The day of the Lord is surely coming, as unexpectedly as a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the heavenly bodies will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be burned up.


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And so since everything around us is going to melt away, what holy, godly lives we should be living!


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You should look forward to that day and hurry it along--the day when God will set the heavens on fire, and the heavenly bodies will melt and disappear in flames.


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But we are looking forward to God's promise of new heavens and a new earth afterwards, where there will be only goodness.


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Dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen and for him to come, try hard to live without sinning; and be at peace with everyone so that he will be pleased with you when he returns.


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And remember why he is waiting. He is giving us time to get his message of salvation out to others. Our wise and beloved brother Paul has talked about these same things in many of his letters.


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Some of his comments are not easy to understand, and there are people who are deliberately stupid, and always demand some unusual interpretation--they have twisted his letters around to mean something quite different from what he meant, just as they do the other parts of the Scripture--and the result is disaster for them.


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I am warning you ahead of time, dear brothers, so that you can watch out and not be carried away by the mistakes of these wicked men, lest you yourselves become mixed up too.


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But grow in spiritual strength and become better acquainted with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be all glory and splendid honor, both now and forevermore. Good-bye. Peter


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Christ was alive when the world began, yet I myself have seen him with my own eyes and listened to him speak. I have touched him with my own hands. He is God's message of life.


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This one who is life from God has been shown to us, and we guarantee that we have seen him; I am speaking of Christ, who is eternal Life. He was with the Father and then was shown to us.


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Again I say, we are telling you about what we ourselves have actually seen and heard, so that you may share the fellowship and the joys we have with the Father and with Jesus Christ his son.


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This is the message God has given us to pass on to you: that God is Light and in him is no darkness at all.


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But if we are living in the light of God's presence, just as Christ does, then we have wonderful fellowship and joy with each other, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from every sin.


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But if we confess our sins to him, he can be depended on to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.  And it is perfectly proper for God to do this for us because Christ died to wash away our sins.


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My little children, I am telling you this so that you will stay away from sin. But if you sin, there is someone to plead for you before the Father. His name is Jesus Christ, the one who is all that is good and who pleases God completely.


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He is the one who took God's wrath against our sins upon himself and brought us into fellowship with God; and he is the forgiveness for our sins, and not only ours but all the world's.


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And how can we be sure that we belong to him? By looking within ourselves: are we really trying to do what he wants us to?


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Someone may say, "I am a Christian; I am on my way to heaven; I belong to Christ." But if he doesn't do what Christ tells him to, he is a liar.


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But those who do what Christ tells them to will learn to love God more and more. That is the way to know whether or not you are a Christian.


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Dear brothers, I am not writing out a new rule for you to obey, for it is an old one you have always had, right from the start. You have heard it all before.


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Yet it is always new, and works for you just as it did for Christ; and as we obey this commandment, to love one another, the darkness in our lives disappears and the new light of life in Christ shines in.


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Anyone who says he is walking in the light of Christ but dislikes his fellow man is still in darkness.


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But whoever loves his fellow man is "walking in the light" and can see his way without stumbling around in darkness and sin.


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For he who dislikes his brother is wandering in spiritual darkness and doesn't know where he is going, for the darkness has made him blind so that he cannot see the way.


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I am writing these things to all of you, my little children, because your sins have been forgiven in the name of Jesus our Savior.


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I am saying these things to you older men because you really know Christ, the one who has been alive from the beginning. And you young men, I am talking to you because you have won your battle with Satan. And I am writing to you younger boys and girls because you, too, have learned to know God our Father.


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And so I say to you fathers who know the eternal God, and to you young men who are strong with God's Word in your hearts, and have won your struggle against Satan:


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Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you, for when you love these things you show that you do not really love God;


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for all these worldly things, these evil desires--the craze for sex, the ambition to buy everything that appeals to you, and the pride that comes from wealth and importance--these are not from God. They are from this evil world itself.


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And this world is fading away, and these evil, forbidden things will go with it, but whoever keeps doing the will of God will live forever.


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Dear children, this world's last hour has come. You have heard about the Antichrist who is coming--the one who is against Christ--and already many such persons have appeared. This makes us all the more certain that the end of the world is near.


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These "against-Christ" people used to be members of our churches, but they never really belonged with us or else they would have stayed. When they left us it proved that they were not of us at all.


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So I am not writing to you as to those who need to know the truth, but I warn you as those who can discern the difference between true and false.


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And who is the greatest liar? The one who says that Jesus is not Christ. Such a person is antichrist, for he does not believe in God the Father and in his Son.


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For a person who doesn't believe in Christ, God's Son, can't have God the Father either. But he who has Christ, God's Son, has God the Father also.


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So keep on believing what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will always be in close fellowship with both God the Father and his Son.


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These remarks of mine about the Antichrist are pointed at those who would dearly love to blindfold you and lead you astray.


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But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, in your hearts, so that you don't need anyone to teach you what is right. For he teaches you all things, and he is the Truth, and no liar; and so, just as he has said, you must live in Christ, never to depart from him.


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And now, my little children, stay in happy fellowship with the Lord so that when he comes you will be sure that all is well and will not have to be ashamed and shrink back from meeting him.


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Since we know that God is always good and does only right, we may rightly assume that all those who do right are his children.


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See how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for he allows us to be called his children--think of it--and we really are! But since most people don't know God, naturally they don't understand that we are his children.


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Yes, dear friends, we are already God's children, right now, and we can't even imagine what it is going to be like later on. But we do know this, that when he comes we will be like him, as a result of seeing him as he really is.


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And you know that he became a man so that he could take away our sins, and that there is no sin in him, no missing of God's will at any time in any way.


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So if we stay close to him, obedient to him, we won't be sinning either; but as for those who keep on sinning, they should realize this: They sin because they have never really known him or become his.


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Oh, dear children, don't let anyone deceive you about this: if you are constantly doing what is good, it is because you are good, even as he is.


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But if you keep on sinning, it shows that you belong to Satan, who since he first began to sin has kept steadily at it. But the Son of God came to destroy these works of the devil.


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The person who has been born into God's family does not make a practice of sinning because now God's life is in him; so he can't keep on sinning, for this new life has been born into him and controls him--he has been born again.


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So now we can tell who is a child of God and who belongs to Satan. Whoever is living a life of sin and doesn't love his brother shows that he is not in God's family;


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We are not to be like Cain, who belonged to Satan and killed his brother. Why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing wrong and he knew very well that his brother's life was better than his.


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If we love other Christians, it proves that we have been delivered from hell and given eternal life. But a person who doesn't have love for others is headed for eternal death.


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Anyone who hates his Christian brother is really a murderer at heart; and you know that no one wanting to murder has eternal life within.


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We know what real love is from Christ's example in dying for us. And so we also ought to lay down our lives for our Christian brothers.


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But if someone who is supposed to be a Christian has money enough to live well, and sees a brother in need, and won't help him--how can God's love be within him?


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Little children, let us stop just saying we love people; let us really love them, and show it by our actions.


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Then we will know for sure, by our actions, that we are on God's side, and our consciences will be clear, even when we stand before the Lord.


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But if we have bad consciences and feel that we have done wrong, the Lord will surely feel it even more, for he knows everything we do.


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But, dearly loved friends, if our consciences are clear, we can come to the Lord with perfect assurance and trust,


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And this is what God says we must do: Believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another.


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Those who do what God says--they are living with God and he with them. We know this is true because the Holy Spirit he has given us tells us so.


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Dearly loved friends, don't always believe everything you hear just because someone says it is a message from God: test it first to see if it really is. For there are many false teachers around,


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and the way to find out if their message is from the Holy Spirit is to ask: Does it really agree that Jesus Christ, God's Son, actually became man with a human body? If so, then the message is from God.


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If not, the message is not from God but from one who is against Christ, like the "Antichrist" you have heard about who is going to come, and his attitude of enmity against Christ is already abroad in the world.


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Dear young friends, you belong to God and have already won your fight with those who are against Christ because there is someone in your hearts who is stronger than any evil teacher in this wicked world.


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These men belong to this world, so, quite naturally, they are concerned about worldly affairs and the world pays attention to them.


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But we are children of God; that is why only those who have walked and talked with God will listen to us. Others won't. That is another way to know whether a message is really from God; for if it is, the world won't listen to it.


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Dear friends, let us practice loving each other, for love comes from God and those who are loving and kind show that they are the children of God, and that they are getting to know him better.


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God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into this wicked world to bring to us eternal life through his death.


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In this act we see what real love is: it is not our love for God but his love for us when he sent his Son to satisfy God's anger against our sins.


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For though we have never yet seen God, when we love each other God lives in us, and his love within us grows ever stronger.


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And he has put his own Holy Spirit into our hearts as a proof to us that we are living with him and he with us.


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And furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now tell all the world that God sent his Son to be their Savior.


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Anyone who believes and says that Jesus is the Son of God has God living in him, and he is living with God.


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We know how much God loves us because we have felt his love and because we believe him when he tells us that he loves us dearly. God is love, and anyone who lives in love is living with God and God is living in him.


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And as we live with Christ, our love grows more perfect and complete; so we will not be ashamed and embarrassed at the day of judgment, but can face him with confidence and joy because he loves us and we love him too.


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We need have no fear of someone who loves us perfectly; his perfect love for us eliminates all dread of what he might do to us. If we are afraid, it is for fear of what he might do to us and shows that we are not fully convinced that he really loves us.


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If anyone says "I love God," but keeps on hating his brother, he is a liar; for if he doesn't love his brother who is right there in front of him, how can he love God whom he has never seen?


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If you believe that Jesus is the Christ--that he is God's Son and your Savior--then you are a child of God. And all who love the Father love his children too.


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So you can find out how much you love God's children--your brothers and sisters in the Lord--by how much you love and obey God.


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for every child of God can obey him, defeating sin and evil pleasure by trusting Christ to help him.


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But who could possibly fight and win this battle except by believing that Jesus is truly the Son of God?


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And we know he is, because God said so with a voice from heaven when Jesus was baptized, and again as he was facing death --yes, not only at his baptism but also as he faced death. And the Holy Spirit, forever truthful, says it too.


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the voice of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, the voice from heaven at Christ's baptism, and the voice before he died. And they all say the same thing: that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.


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We believe men who witness in our courts, and so surely we can believe whatever God declares. And God declares that Jesus is his Son.


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All who believe this know in their hearts that it is true. If anyone doesn't believe this, he is actually calling God a liar because he doesn't believe what God has said about his Son.


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And what is it that God has said? That he has given us eternal life and that this life is in his Son.


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I have written this to you who believe in the Son of God so that you may know you have eternal life.


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And we are sure of this, that he will listen to us whenever we ask him for anything in line with his will.


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And if we really know he is listening when we talk to him and make our requests, then we can be sure that he will answer us.


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If you see a Christian sinning in a way that does not end in death, you should ask God to forgive him, and God will give him life unless he has sinned that one fatal sin. But there is that one sin which ends in death, and if he has done that, there is no use praying for him.


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Every wrong is a sin, of course. I'm not talking about these ordinary sins; I am speaking of that one that ends in death.


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No one who has become part of God's family makes a practice of sinning, for Christ, God's Son, holds him securely, and the devil cannot get his hands on him.


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We know that we are children of God and that all the rest of the world around us is under Satan's power and control.


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And we know that Christ, God's Son, has come to help us understand and find the true God. And now we are in God because we are in Jesus Christ his Son, who is the only true God; and he is eternal Life.


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Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God's place in your hearts. Amen. Sincerely,  John


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From: John, the old Elder of the church. To: That dear woman Cyria, one of God's very own, and to her children whom I love so much, as does everyone else in the church.


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God the Father and Jesus Christ his Son will bless us with great mercy and much peace, and with truth and love.


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How happy I am to find some of your children here and to see that they are living as they should, following the Truth, obeying God's command.


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And now I want to urgently remind you, dear friends, of the old rule God gave us right from the beginning, that Christians should love one another.


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If we love God, we will do whatever he tells us to. And he has told us from the very first to love each other.


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Watch out for the false leaders--and there are many of them around--who don't believe that Jesus Christ came to earth as a human being with a body like ours. Such people are against the truth and against Christ.


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Beware of being like them and losing the prize that you and I have been working so hard to get. See to it that you win your full reward from the Lord.


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For if you wander beyond the teaching of Christ, you will leave God behind; while if you are loyal to Christ's teachings, you will have God too. Then you will have both the Father and the Son.


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If anyone comes to teach you, and he doesn't believe what Christ taught, don't even invite him into your home. Don't encourage him in any way.


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Well, I would like to say much more, but I don't want to say it in this letter, for I hope to come to see you soon, and then we can talk over these things together and have a joyous time.


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Dear friend, I am praying that all is well with you and that your body is as healthy as I know your soul is.


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Some of the brothers traveling by have made me very happy by telling me that your life stays clean and true and that you are living by the standards of the Gospel.


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Dear friend, you are doing a good work for God in taking care of the traveling teachers and missionaries who are passing through.


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They have told the church here of your friendship and your loving deeds. I am glad when you send them on their way with a generous gift.


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For they are traveling for the Lord and take neither food, clothing, shelter, nor money from those who are not Christians, even though they have preached to them.


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So we ourselves should take care of them in order that we may become partners with them in the Lord's work.


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I sent a brief letter to the church about this, but proud Diotrephes, who loves to push himself forward as the leader of the Christians there, does not admit my authority over him and refuses to listen to me.


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When I come I will tell you some of the things he is doing and what wicked things he is saying about me and what insulting language he is using. He not only refuses to welcome the missionary travelers himself but tells others not to, and when they do he tries to put them out of the church.


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Dear friend, don't let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do what is right prove that they are God's children; and those who continue in evil prove that they are far from God.


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But everyone, including Truth itself, speaks highly of Demetrius. I myself can say the same for him, and you know I speak the truth.


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for I hope to see you soon and then we will have much to talk about together. So good-bye for now. Friends here send their love, and please give each of the folks there a special greeting from me. Sincerely,  John


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From: Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, and a brother of James. To: Christians everywhere--beloved of God and chosen by him.


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Dearly loved friends, I had been planning to write you some thoughts about the salvation God has given us, but now I find I must write of something else instead, urging you to stoutly defend the truth that God gave once for all to his people to keep without change through the years.


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I say this because some godless teachers have wormed their way in among you, saying that after we become Christians we can do just as we like without fear of God's punishment. The fate of such people was written long ago, for they have turned against our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.


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My answer to them is: Remember this fact--which you know already--that the Lord saved a whole nation of people out of the land of Egypt and then killed every one of them who did not trust and obey him.


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And I remind you of those angels who were once pure and holy but turned to a life of sin. Now God has them chained up in prisons of darkness, waiting for the judgment day.


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And don't forget the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, all full of lust of every kind, including lust of men for other men. Those cities were destroyed by fire and continue to be a warning to us that there is a hell in which sinners are punished.


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Yet these false teachers carelessly go right on living their evil, immoral lives, degrading their bodies and laughing at those in authority over them, even scoffing at the Glorious Ones.


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Yet Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, when he was arguing with Satan about Moses' body, did not dare to accuse even Satan, or jeer at him, but simply said, "The Lord rebuke you."


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But these men mock and curse at anything they do not understand, and like animals, they do whatever they feel like, thereby ruining their souls.


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Woe upon them! For they follow the example of Cain who killed his brother; and like Balaam, they will do anything for money; and like Korah, they have disobeyed God and will die under his curse.


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When these men join you at the love feasts of the church, they are evil smears among you, laughing and carrying on, gorging and stuffing themselves without a thought for others. They are like clouds blowing over dry land without giving rain, promising much, but producing nothing. They are like fruit trees without any fruit at picking time. They are not only dead, but doubly dead, for they have been pulled out, roots and all, to be burned.


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All they leave behind them is shame and disgrace like the dirty foam left along the beach by the wild waves. They wander around looking as bright as stars, but ahead of them is the everlasting gloom and darkness that God has prepared for them.


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Enoch, who lived seven generations after Adam, knew about these men and said this about them: "See, the Lord is coming with millions of his holy ones.


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He will bring the people of the world before him in judgment, to receive just punishment and to prove the terrible things they have done in rebellion against God, revealing all they have said against him."


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These men are constant gripers, never satisfied, doing whatever evil they feel like; they are loudmouthed "show-offs," and when they show respect for others, it is only to get something from them in return.


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that in the last times there would come these scoffers whose whole purpose in life is to enjoy themselves in every evil way imaginable.


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They stir up arguments; they love the evil things of the world; they do not have the Holy Spirit living in them.


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But you, dear friends, must build up your lives ever more strongly upon the foundation of our holy faith, learning to pray in the power and strength of the Holy Spirit.


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Stay always within the boundaries where God's love can reach and bless you. Wait patiently for the eternal life that our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy is going to give you.


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Save some by snatching them as from the very flames of hell itself. And as for others, help them to find the Lord by being kind to them, but be careful that you yourselves aren't pulled along into their sins. Hate every trace of their sin while being merciful to them as sinners.


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And now--all glory to him who alone is God, who saves us through Jesus Christ our Lord; yes, splendor and majesty, all power and authority are his from the beginning; his they are and his they evermore shall be. And he is able to keep you from slipping and falling away, and to bring you, sinless and perfect, into his glorious presence with mighty shouts of everlasting joy. Amen. Jude


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This book unveils some of the future activities soon to occur in the life of Jesus Christ. God permitted him to reveal these things to his servant John in a vision; and then an angel was sent from heaven to explain the vision's meaning.


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If you read this prophecy aloud to the church, you will receive a special blessing from the Lord. Those who listen to it being read and do what it says will also be blessed. For the time is near when these things will all come true.


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From: John To: The seven churches in Turkey. Dear Friends: May you have grace and peace from God who is, and was, and is to come; and from the seven-fold Spirit before his throne;


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and from Jesus Christ who faithfully reveals all truth to us. He was the first to rise from death, to die no more. He is far greater than any king in all the earth. All praise to him who always loves us and who set us free from our sins by pouring out his lifeblood for us.


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He has gathered us into his Kingdom and made us priests of God his Father. Give to him everlasting glory! He rules forever! Amen!


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See! He is arriving, surrounded by clouds; and every eye shall see him--yes, and those who pierced him. And the nations will weep in sorrow and in terror when he comes. Yes! Amen! Let it be so!


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"I am the A and the Z, the Beginning and the Ending of all things," says God, who is the Lord, the All Powerful One who is, and was, and is coming again!


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It is I, your brother John, a fellow sufferer for the Lord's sake, who am writing this letter to you. I, too, have shared the patience Jesus gives, and we shall share his Kingdom! I was on the island of Patmos, exiled there for preaching the Word of God and for telling what I knew about Jesus Christ.


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It was the Lord's Day and I was worshiping, when suddenly I heard a loud voice behind me, a voice that sounded like a trumpet blast,


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saying, "I am A and Z, the First and Last!" And then I heard him say, "Write down everything you see, and send your letter to the seven churches in Turkey: to the church in Ephesus, the one in Smyrna, and those in Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea."


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And standing among them was one who looked like Jesus, who called himself the Son of Man, wearing a long robe circled with a golden band across his chest.


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He held seven stars in his right hand and a sharp, double-bladed sword in his mouth, and his face shone like the power of the sun in unclouded brilliance.


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When I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead; but he laid his right hand on me and said, "Don't be afraid!


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Though I am the First and Last, the Living One who died, who is now alive forevermore, who has the keys of hell and death--don't be afraid!


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This is the meaning of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and the seven golden candlesticks: The seven stars are the leaders of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks are the churches themselves.


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"Write a letter to the leader of the church at Ephesus and tell him this: "I write to inform you of a message from him who walks among the churches and holds their leaders in his right hand. "He says to you:


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I know how many good things you are doing. I have watched your hard work and your patience; I know you don't tolerate sin among your members, and you have carefully examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but aren't. You have found out how they lie.


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Think about those times of your first love (how different now!) and turn back to me again and work as you did before; or else I will come and remove your candlestick from its place among the churches.


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"But there is this about you that is good: You hate the deeds of the licentious Nicolaitans, just as I do.


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"Let this message sink into the ears of anyone who listens to what the Spirit is saying to the churches: To everyone who is victorious, I will give fruit from the Tree of Life in the Paradise of God.


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"To the leader of the church in Smyrna write this letter: "This message is from him who is the First and Last, who was dead and then came back to life.


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"I know how much you suffer for the Lord, and I know all about your poverty (but you have heavenly riches!). I know the slander of those opposing you, who say that they are Jews--the children of God--but they aren't, for they support the cause of Satan.


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Stop being afraid of what you are about to suffer--for the devil will soon throw some of you into prison to test you. You will be persecuted for 'ten days.' Remain faithful even when facing death and I will give you the crown of life--an unending, glorious future.


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Let everyone who can hear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches: He who is victorious shall not be hurt by the Second Death.


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"Write this letter to the leader of the church in Pergamos: "This message is from him who wields the sharp and double-bladed sword.


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I am fully aware that you live in the city where Satan's throne is, at the center of satanic worship; and yet you have remained loyal to me and refused to deny me even when Antipas, my faithful witness, was martyred among you by Satan's devotees.


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"And yet I have a few things against you. You tolerate some among you who do as Balaam did when he taught Balak how to ruin the people of Israel by involving them in sexual sin and encouraging them to go to idol feasts.


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"Change your mind and attitude, or else I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.


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"Let everyone who can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches: Everyone who is victorious shall eat of the hidden manna, the secret nourishment from heaven; and I will give to each a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one else knows except the one receiving it.


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"Write this letter to the leader of the church in Thyatira: "This is a message from the Son of God, whose eyes penetrate like flames of fire, whose feet are like glowing brass.


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"I am aware of all your good deeds--your kindness to the poor, your gifts and service to them; also I know your love and faith and patience, and I can see your constant improvement in all these things.


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"Yet I have this against you: You are permitting that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach my servants that sex sin is not a serious matter; she urges them to practice immorality and to eat meat that has been sacrificed to idols.


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Pay attention now to what I am saying: I will lay her upon a sickbed of intense affliction, along with all her immoral followers, unless they turn again to me, repenting of their sin with her;


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and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches shall know that I am he who searches deep within men's hearts, and minds; I will give to each of you whatever you deserve.


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"As for the rest of you in Thyatira who have not followed this false teaching ('deeper truths,' as they call them--depths of Satan, really), I will ask nothing further of you; only hold tightly to what you have until I come.


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"To everyone who overcomes--who to the very end keeps on doing things that please me--I will give power over the nations.


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You will rule them with a rod of iron just as my Father gave me the authority to rule them; they will be shattered like a pot of clay that is broken into tiny pieces.


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"To the leader of the church in Sardis write this letter: "This message is sent to you by the one who has the seven-fold Spirit of God and the seven stars. "I know your reputation as a live and active church, but you are dead.


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Now wake up! Strengthen what little remains--for even what is left is at the point of death. Your deeds are far from right in the sight of God.


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Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly and turn to me again. Unless you do, I will come suddenly upon you, unexpected as a thief, and punish you.


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"Yet even there in Sardis some haven't soiled their garments with the world's filth; they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy.


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Everyone who conquers will be clothed in white, and I will not erase his name from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that he is mine.


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"Write this letter to the leader of the church in Philadelphia. "This message is sent to you by the one who is holy and true and has the key of David to open what no one can shut and to shut what no one can open.


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"I know you well; you aren't strong, but you have tried to obey and have not denied my Name. Therefore I have opened a door to you that no one can shut.


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"Note this: I will force those supporting the causes of Satan while claiming to be mine (but they aren't--they are lying) to fall at your feet and acknowledge that you are the ones I love.


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"Because you have patiently obeyed me despite the persecution, therefore I will protect you from the time of Great Tribulation and temptation, which will come upon the world to test everyone alive.


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Look, I am coming soon! Hold tightly to the little strength you have--so that no one will take away your crown.


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"As for the one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God; he will be secure and will go out no more; and I will write my God's Name on him, and he will be a citizen in the city of my God--the New Jerusalem, coming down from heaven from my God; and he will have my new Name inscribed upon him.


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"Write this letter to the leader of the church in Laodicea: "This message is from the one who stands firm, the faithful and true Witness  of all that is or was or evermore shall be, the primeval source of God's creation:


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"You say, 'I am rich, with everything I want; I don't need a thing!' And you don't realize that spiritually you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.


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"My advice to you is to buy pure gold from me, gold purified by fire--only then will you truly be rich. And to purchase from me white garments, clean and pure, so you won't be naked and ashamed; and to get medicine from me to heal your eyes and give you back your sight.


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I continually discipline and punish everyone I love; so I must punish you unless you turn from your indifference and become enthusiastic about the things of God.


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"Look! I have been standing at the door, and I am constantly knocking. If anyone hears me calling him and opens the door, I will come in and fellowship with him and he with me.


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I will let everyone who conquers sit beside me on my throne, just as I took my place with my Father on his throne when I had conquered.


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Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before, which sounded like a mighty trumpet blast, spoke to me and said, "Come up here and I will show you what must happen in the future!"


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And instantly I was in spirit there in heaven and saw--oh, the glory of it!--a throne and someone sitting on it!


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Great bursts of light flashed forth from him as from a glittering diamond or from a shining ruby, and a rainbow glowing like an emerald encircled his throne.


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Twenty-four smaller thrones surrounded his, with twenty-four Elders sitting on them; all were clothed in white, with golden crowns upon their heads.


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Lightning and thunder issued from the throne, and there were voices in the thunder. Directly in front of his throne were seven lighted lamps representing the seven-fold Spirit of God.


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Spread out before it was a shiny crystal sea. Four Living Beings, dotted front and back with eyes, stood at the throne's four sides.


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The first of these Living Beings was in the form of a lion; the second looked like an ox; the third had the face of a man; and the fourth, the form of an eagle, with wings spread out as though in flight.


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Each of these Living Beings had six wings, and the central sections of their wings were covered with eyes. Day after day and night after night they kept on saying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty--the one who was, and is, and is to come."


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And when the Living Beings gave glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne, who lives forever and ever,


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the twenty-four Elders fell down before him and worshiped him, the Eternal Living One, and cast their crowns before the throne, singing,


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"O Lord, you are worthy to receive the glory and the honor and the power, for you have created all things. They were created and called into being by your act of will."


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And I saw a scroll in the right hand of the one who was sitting on the throne, a scroll with writing on the inside and on the back, and sealed with seven seals.


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A mighty angel with a loud voice was shouting out this question: "Who is worthy to break the seals on this scroll and to unroll it?"


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Then I wept with disappointment because no one anywhere was worthy; no one could tell us what it said.


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But one of the twenty-four Elders said to me, "Stop crying, for look! The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, and proved himself worthy to open the scroll and to break its seven seals."


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I looked and saw a Lamb standing there before the twenty-four Elders, in front of the throne and the Living Beings, and on the Lamb were wounds that once had caused his death. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the seven-fold Spirit of God, sent out into every part of the world.


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And as he took the scroll, the twenty-four Elders fell down before the Lamb, each with a harp and golden vials filled with incense--the prayers of God's people!


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They were singing him a new song with these words: "You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it; for you were slain, and your blood has bought people from every nation as gifts for God.


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And you have gathered them into a kingdom and made them priests of our God; they shall reign upon the earth."


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Then in my vision I heard the singing of millions of angels surrounding the throne and the Living Beings and the Elders:


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"The Lamb is worthy" (loudly they sang it!) "--the Lamb who was slain. He is worthy to receive the power, and the riches, and the wisdom, and the strength, and the honor, and the glory, and the blessing."


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And then I heard everyone in heaven and earth, and from the dead beneath the earth and in the sea, exclaiming, "The blessing and the honor and the glory and the power belong to the one sitting on the throne, and to the Lamb forever and ever."


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And the four Living Beings kept saying, "Amen!" And the twenty-four Elders fell down and worshiped him.


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As I watched, the Lamb broke the first seal and began to unroll the scroll. Then one of the four Living Beings, with a voice that sounded like thunder, said, "Come!"


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I looked, and there in front of me was a white horse. Its rider carried a bow, and a crown was placed upon his head; he rode out to conquer in many battles and win the war.


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Then he unrolled the scroll to the second seal and broke it open, too. And I heard the second Living Being say, "Come!"


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This time a red horse rode out. Its rider was given a long sword and the authority to banish peace and bring anarchy to the earth; war and killing broke out everywhere.


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When he had broken the third seal, I heard the third Living Being say, "Come!" And I saw a black horse, with its rider holding a pair of balances in his hand.


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And a voice from among the four Living Beings said, "A loaf of bread for $20, or three pounds of barley flour, but there is no olive oil or wine."


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And now I saw a pale horse, and its rider's name was Death. And there followed after him another horse whose rider's name was Hell. They were given control of one-fourth of the earth, to kill with war and famine and disease and wild animals.


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And when he broke open the fifth seal, I saw an altar, and underneath it all the souls of those who had been martyred for preaching the Word of God and for being faithful in their witnessing.


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They called loudly to the Lord and said, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long will it be before you judge the people of the earth for what they've done to us? When will you avenge our blood against those living on the earth?"


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White robes were given to each of them, and they were told to rest a little longer until their other brothers, fellow servants of Jesus, had been martyred on the earth and joined them.


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I watched as he broke the sixth seal, and there was a vast earthquake; and the sun became dark like black cloth, and the moon was blood-red.


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Then the stars of heaven appeared to be falling to earth --like green fruit from fig trees buffeted by mighty winds.


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And the starry heavens disappeared as though rolled up like a scroll and taken away; and every mountain and island shook and shifted.


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The kings of the earth, and world leaders, and rich men, and high-ranking military officers, and all men great and small, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and rocks of the mountains,


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and cried to the mountains to crush them. "Fall on us," they pleaded, "and hide us from the face of the one sitting on the throne, and from the anger of the Lamb,


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Then I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds from blowing so that not a leaf rustled in the trees, and the ocean became as smooth as glass.


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And I saw another angel coming from the east, carrying the Great Seal of the Living God. And he shouted out to those four angels who had been given power to injure earth and sea,


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"Wait! Don't do anything yet--hurt neither earth nor sea nor trees--until we have placed the Seal of God upon the foreheads of his servants."


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How many were given this mark? I heard the number--it was 144,000; out of all twelve tribes of Israel, as listed here: Judah, 12,000  Naphtali, 12,000  Issachar, 12,000 Reuben, 12,000  Manasseh, 12,000  Zebulun, 12,000 Gad, 12,000  Simeon, 12,000  Joseph, 12,000 Asher, 12,000  Levi, 12,000  Benjamin, 12,000


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After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from all nations and provinces and languages, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white, with palm branches in their hands.


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And they were shouting with a mighty shout, "Salvation comes from our God upon the throne, and from the Lamb."


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And now all the angels were crowding around the throne and around the Elders and the four Living Beings, and falling face down before the throne and worshiping God.


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"Amen!" they said. "Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be to our God forever and forever. Amen!"


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Then one of the twenty-four Elders asked me, "Do you know who these are, who are clothed in white, and where they come from?"


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"No, sir," I replied. "Please tell me." "These are the ones coming out of the Great Tribulation," he said; "they washed their robes and whitened them by the blood of the Lamb.


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That is why they are here before the throne of God, serving him day and night in his temple. The one sitting on the throne will shelter them;


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they will never be hungry again, nor thirsty, and they will be fully protected from the scorching noontime heat.


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For the Lamb standing in front of the throne will feed them and be their Shepherd and lead them to the springs of the Water of Life. And God will wipe their tears away."


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When the Lamb had broken the seventh seal, there was silence throughout all heaven for what seemed like half an hour.


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Then another angel with a golden censer came and stood at the altar; and a great quantity of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God's people, to offer upon the golden altar before the throne.


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And the perfume of the incense mixed with prayers ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out.


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Then the angel filled the censer with fire from the altar and threw it down upon the earth; and thunder crashed and rumbled, lightning flashed, and there was a terrible earthquake.


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The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire mixed with blood were thrown down upon the earth. One-third of the earth was set on fire so that one-third of the trees were burned, and all the green grass.


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Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and what appeared to be a huge burning mountain was thrown into the sea,


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destroying a third of all the ships; and a third of the sea turned red as blood; and a third of the fish were killed.


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The third angel blew, and a great flaming star fell from heaven upon a third of the rivers and springs.


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The star was called "Bitterness" because it poisoned a third of all the water on the earth and many people died.


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The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and immediately a third of the sun was blighted and darkened, and a third of the moon and the stars so that the daylight was dimmed by a third, and the nighttime darkness deepened.


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As I watched, I saw a solitary eagle flying through the heavens crying loudly, "Woe, woe, woe to the people of the earth because of the terrible things that will soon happen when the three remaining angels blow their trumpets."


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Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw one who was fallen to earth from heaven, and to him was given the key to the bottomless pit.


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When he opened it, smoke poured out as though from some huge furnace, and the sun and air were darkened by the smoke.


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Then locusts came from the smoke and descended onto the earth and were given power to sting like scorpions.


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They were told not to hurt the grass or plants or trees, but to attack those people who did not have the mark of God on their foreheads.


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They were not to kill them, but to torture them for five months with agony like the pain of scorpion stings.


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In those days men will try to kill themselves but won't be able to--death will not come. They will long to die--but death will flee away!


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The locusts looked like horses armored for battle. They had what looked like golden crowns on their heads, and their faces looked like men's.


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They wore breastplates that seemed to be of iron, and their wings roared like an army of chariots rushing into battle.


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They had stinging tails like scorpions, and their power to hurt, given to them for five months, was in their tails.


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Their king is the Prince of the bottomless pit whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon  and in English, the Destroyer.


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The sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice speaking from the four horns of the golden altar that stands before the throne of God,


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saying to the sixth angel, "Release the four mighty demons held bound at the great River Euphrates."


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They had been kept in readiness for that year and month and day and hour, and now they were turned loose to kill a third of all mankind.


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I saw their horses spread out before me in my vision; their riders wore fiery-red breastplates, though some were sky-blue and others yellow. The horses' heads looked much like lions', and smoke and fire and flaming sulphur billowed from their mouths, killing one-third of all mankind.


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Their power of death was not only in their mouths, but in their tails as well, for their tails were similar to serpents' heads that struck and bit with fatal wounds.


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But the men left alive after these plagues still refused to worship God! They would not renounce their demon-worship, nor their idols made of gold and silver, brass, stone, and wood--which neither see nor hear nor walk!


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Neither did they change their mind and attitude about all their murders and witchcraft, their immorality and theft.


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Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, surrounded by a cloud, with a rainbow over his head; his face shone like the sun and his feet flashed with fire.


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And he held open in his hand a small scroll. He set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the earth


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I was about to write what the thunders said when a voice from heaven called to me, "Don't do it. Their words are not to be revealed."


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and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and everything in it and the earth and all that it contains and the sea and its inhabitants, that there should be no more delay,


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but that when the seventh angel blew his trumpet, then God's veiled plan--mysterious through the ages ever since it was announced by his servants the prophets--would be fulfilled.


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Then the voice from heaven spoke to me again, "Go and get the unrolled scroll from the mighty angel standing there upon the sea and land."


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So I approached him and asked him to give me the scroll. "Yes, take it and eat it," he said. "At first it will taste like honey, but when you swallow it, it will make your stomach sour!"


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So I took it from his hand, and ate it! And just as he had said, it was sweet in my mouth, but it gave me a stomachache when I swallowed it.


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Now I was given a measuring stick and told to go and measure the temple of God, including the inner court where the altar stands, and to count the number of worshipers.


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"But do not measure the outer court," I was told, "for it has been turned over to the nations. They will trample the Holy City for forty-two months.


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These two prophets are the two olive trees, and two candlesticks standing before the God of all the earth.


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They have power to shut the skies so that no rain will fall during the three and a half years they prophesy, and to turn rivers and oceans to blood, and to send every kind of plague upon the earth as often as they wish.


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When they complete the three and a half years of their solemn testimony, the tyrant who comes out of the bottomless pit will declare war against them and conquer and kill them;


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and for three and a half days their bodies will be exposed in the streets of Jerusalem (the city fittingly described as "Sodom" or "Egypt")--the very place where their Lord was crucified.


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No one will be allowed to bury them, and people from many nations will crowd around to gaze at them.


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And there will be a worldwide holiday--people everywhere will rejoice and give presents to each other and throw parties to celebrate the death of the two prophets who had tormented them so much!


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But after three and a half days, the spirit of life from God will enter them, and they will stand up! And great fear will fall on everyone.


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Then a loud voice will shout from heaven, "Come up!" And they will rise to heaven in a cloud as their enemies watch.


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The same hour there will be a terrible earthquake that levels a tenth of the city, leaving 7,000 dead. Then everyone left will, in their terror, give glory to the God of heaven.


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For just then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices shouting down from heaven, "The Kingdom of this world now belongs to our Lord, and to his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever."


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And the twenty-four Elders sitting on their thrones before God threw themselves down in worship, saying,


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"We give thanks, Lord God Almighty, who is and was, for now you have assumed your great power and have begun to reign.


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The nations were angry with you, but now it is your turn to be angry with them. It is time to judge the dead and reward your servants--prophets and people alike, all who fear your Name, both great and small--and to destroy those who have caused destruction upon the earth."


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Then, in heaven, the temple of God was opened and the ark of his covenant could be seen inside. Lightning flashed and thunder crashed and roared, and there was a great hailstorm, and the world was shaken by a mighty earthquake.


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Then a great pageant appeared in heaven, portraying things to come. I saw a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head.


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His tail drew along behind him a third of the stars, which he plunged to the earth. He stood before the woman as she was about to give birth to her child, ready to eat the baby as soon as it was born.


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She gave birth to a boy who was to rule all nations with a heavy hand, and he was caught up to God and to his throne.


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The woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place for her, to take care of her for 1,260 days.


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Then there was war in heaven; Michael and the angels under his command fought the Dragon and his hosts of fallen angels.


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This great Dragon--the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world--was thrown down onto the earth with all his army.


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Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, "It has happened at last! God's salvation and the power and the rule, and the authority of his Christ are finally here; for the Accuser of our brothers has been thrown down from heaven onto earth--he accused them day and night before our God.


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They defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony; for they did not love their lives but laid them down for him.


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Rejoice, O heavens! You citizens of heaven, rejoice! Be glad! But woe to you people of the world, for the devil has come down to you in great anger, knowing that he has little time."


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And when the Dragon found himself cast down to earth, he persecuted the woman who had given birth to the child.


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But she was given two wings like those of a great eagle, to fly into the wilderness to the place prepared for her, where she was cared for and protected from the Serpent, the Dragon, for three and a half years.


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And from the Serpent's mouth a vast flood of water gushed out and swept toward the woman in an effort to get rid of her;


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Then the furious Dragon set out to attack the rest of her children--all who were keeping God's commandments and confessing that they belong to Jesus. He stood waiting on an ocean beach.


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And now, in my vision, I saw a strange Creature rising up out of the sea. It had seven heads and ten horns, and ten crowns upon its horns. And written on each head were blasphemous names, each one defying and insulting God.


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This Creature looked like a leopard but had bear's feet and a lion's mouth! And the Dragon gave him his own power and throne and great authority.


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I saw that one of his heads seemed wounded beyond recovery--but the fatal wound was healed! All the world marveled at this miracle and followed the Creature in awe.


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They worshiped the Dragon for giving him such power, and they worshiped the strange Creature. "Where is there anyone as great as he?" they exclaimed. "Who is able to fight against him?"


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Then the Dragon encouraged the Creature to speak great blasphemies against the Lord; and gave him authority to control the earth for forty-two months.


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The Dragon gave him power to fight against God's people and to overcome them, and to rule over all nations and language groups throughout the world.


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And all mankind--whose names were not written down before the founding of the world in the slain Lamb's Book of Life --worshiped the evil Creature.


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The people of God who are destined for prison will be arrested and taken away; those destined for death will be killed. But do not be dismayed, for here is your opportunity for endurance and confidence.


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Then I saw another strange animal, this one coming up out of the earth, with two little horns like those of a lamb but a fearsome voice like the Dragon's.


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He exercised all the authority of the Creature whose death-wound had been healed, whom he required all the world to worship.


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He did unbelievable miracles such as making fire flame down to earth from the skies while everyone was watching.


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By doing these miracles, he was deceiving people everywhere. He could do these marvelous things whenever the first Creature was there to watch him. And he ordered the people of the world to make a great statue of the first Creature, who was fatally wounded and then came back to life.


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He was permitted to give breath to this statue and even make it speak! Then the statue ordered that anyone refusing to worship it must die!


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He required everyone--great and small, rich and poor, slave and free--to be tattooed with a certain mark on the right hand or on the forehead.


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And no one could get a job or even buy in any store without the permit of that mark, which was either the name of the Creature or the code number of his name.


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Here is a puzzle that calls for careful thought to solve it. Let those who are able, interpret this code: the numerical values of the letters in his name add to 666!


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Then I saw a Lamb standing on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, and with him were 144,000 who had his Name and his Father's Name written on their foreheads.


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And I heard a sound from heaven like the roaring of a great waterfall or the rolling of mighty thunder. It was the singing of a choir accompanied by harps.


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This tremendous choir--144,000 strong--sang a wonderful new song in front of the throne of God and before the four Living Beings and the twenty-four Elders; and no one could sing this song except those 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.


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For they are spiritually undefiled, pure as virgins, following the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been purchased from among the men on the earth as a consecrated offering to God and the Lamb.


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And I saw another angel flying through the heavens, carrying the everlasting Good News to preach to those on earth--to every nation, tribe, language, and people.


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"Fear God," he shouted, "and extol his greatness. For the time has come when he will sit as Judge. Worship him who made the heaven and the earth, the sea and all its sources."


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Then another angel followed him through the skies, saying, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen--that great city--because she seduced the nations of the world and made them share the wine of her intense impurity and sin."


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Then a third angel followed them shouting, "Anyone worshiping the Creature from the sea and his statue, and accepting his mark on the forehead or the hand


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must drink the wine of the anger of God; it is poured out undiluted into God's cup of wrath. And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb.


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The smoke of their torture rises forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night, for they have worshiped the Creature and his statue, and have been tattooed with the code of his name.


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Let this encourage God's people to endure patiently every trial and persecution, for they are his saints who remain firm to the end in obedience to his commands and trust in Jesus."


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And I heard a voice in the heavens above me saying, "Write this down: At last the time has come for his martyrs to enter into their full reward. Yes, says the Spirit, they are blessed indeed, for now they shall rest from all their toils and trials; for their good deeds follow them to heaven!"


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Then the scene changed, and I saw a white cloud and someone sitting on it who looked like Jesus, who was called "The Son of Man," with a crown of solid gold upon his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.


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Then an angel came from the temple and called out to him, "Begin to use the sickle, for the time has come for you to reap; the harvest is ripe on the earth."


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Just then the angel who has power to destroy the world with fire, shouted to the angel with the sickle, "Use your sickle now to cut off the clusters of grapes from the vines of the earth, for they are fully ripe for judgment."


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So the angel swung his sickle on the earth and loaded the grapes into the great winepress of God's wrath.


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And the grapes were trodden in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out in a stream 200 miles long and as high as a horse's bridle.


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And I saw in heaven another mighty pageant showing things to come: Seven angels were assigned to carry down to earth the seven last plagues--and then at last God's anger will be finished.


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Spread out before me was what seemed to be an ocean of fire and glass, and on it stood all those who had been victorious over the Evil Creature and his statue and his mark and number. All were holding harps of God,


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and they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: Great and marvelous Are your doings, Lord God Almighty. Just and true Are your ways, O King of Ages.


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Who shall not fear, O Lord, And glorify your Name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come And worship before you, For your righteous deeds Have been disclosed."


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The seven angels who were assigned to pour out the seven plagues then came from the temple, clothed in spotlessly white linen, with golden belts across their chests.


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And one of the four Living Beings handed each of them a golden flask filled with the terrible wrath of the Living God who lives forever and forever.


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The temple was filled with smoke from his glory and power; and no one could enter until the seven angels had completed pouring out the seven plagues.


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And I heard a mighty voice shouting from the temple to the seven angels, "Now go your ways and empty out the seven flasks of the wrath of God upon the earth."


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So the first angel left the temple and poured out his flask over the earth, and horrible, malignant sores broke out on everyone who had the mark of the Creature and was worshiping his statue.


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The second angel poured out his flask upon the oceans, and they became like the watery blood of a dead man; and everything in all the oceans died.


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And I heard this angel of the waters declaring, "You are just in sending this judgment, O Holy One, who is and was,


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for your saints and prophets have been martyred and their blood poured out upon the earth; and now, in turn, you have poured out the blood of those who murdered them; it is their just reward."


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And I heard the angel of the altar say, "Yes, Lord God Almighty, your punishments are just and true."


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Then the fourth angel poured out his flask upon the sun, causing it to scorch all men with its fire.


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Everyone was burned by this blast of heat, and they cursed the name of God who sent the plagues--they did not change their mind and attitude to give him glory.


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Then the fifth angel poured out his flask upon the throne of the Creature from the sea, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. And his subjects gnawed their tongues in anguish,


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and cursed the God of heaven for their pains and sores, but they refused to repent of all their evil deeds.


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The sixth angel poured out his flask upon the great River Euphrates and it dried up so that the kings from the east could march their armies westward without hindrance.


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And I saw three evil spirits disguised as frogs leap from the mouth of the Dragon, the Creature, and his False Prophet.


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These miracle-working demons conferred with all the rulers of the world to gather them for battle against the Lord on that great coming Judgment Day of God Almighty.


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"Take note: I will come as unexpectedly as a thief! Blessed are all who are awaiting me, who keep their robes in readiness and will not need to walk naked and ashamed."


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And they gathered all the armies of the world near a place called, in Hebrew, Armageddon--the Mountain of Megiddo.


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Then the seventh angel poured out his flask into the air; and a mighty shout came from the throne of the temple in heaven, saying, "It is finished!"


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Then the thunder crashed and rolled, and lightning flashed; and there was a great earthquake of a magnitude unprecedented in human history.


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The great city of "Babylon" split into three sections, and cities around the world fell in heaps of rubble; and so all of "Babylon's" sins were remembered in God's thoughts, and she was punished to the last drop of anger in the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.


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and there was an incredible hailstorm from heaven; hailstones weighing a hundred pounds fell from the sky onto the people below, and they cursed God because of the terrible hail.


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One of the seven angels who had poured out the plagues came over and talked with me. "Come with me," he said, "and I will show you what is going to happen to the Notorious Prostitute, who sits upon the many waters of the world.


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The kings of the world have had immoral relations with her, and the people of the earth have been made drunk by the wine of her immorality."


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So the angel took me in spirit into the wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet animal that had seven heads and ten horns, written all over with blasphemies against God.


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The woman wore purple and scarlet clothing and beautiful jewelry made of gold and precious gems and pearls, and held in her hand a golden goblet full of obscenities:


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A mysterious caption was written on her forehead: "Babylon the Great, Mother of Prostitutes and of Idol Worship Everywhere around the World."


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I could see that she was drunk--drunk with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus she had killed. I stared at her in horror.


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"Why are you so surprised?" the angel asked. "I'll tell you who she is and what the animal she is riding represents.


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He was alive but isn't now. And yet, soon he will come up out of the bottomless pit and go to eternal destruction; and the people of earth, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life before the world began, will be dumbfounded at his reappearance after being dead.


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"And now think hard: his seven heads represent a certain city built on seven hills where this woman has her residence.


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They also represent seven kings. Five have already fallen, the sixth now reigns, and the seventh is yet to come, but his reign will be brief.


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The scarlet animal that died is the eighth king, having reigned before as one of the seven; after his second reign, he too, will go to his doom.


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His ten horns are ten kings who have not yet risen to power; they will be appointed to their kingdoms for one brief moment, to reign with him.


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Together they will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them; for he is Lord over all lords, and King of kings, and his people are the called and chosen and faithful ones.


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"The oceans, lakes, and rivers that the woman is sitting on represent masses of people of every race and nation.


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"The scarlet animal and his ten horns--which represent ten kings who will reign with him--all hate the woman, and will attack her and leave her naked and ravaged by fire.


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For God will put a plan into their minds, a plan that will carry out his purposes: They will mutually agree to give their authority to the scarlet animal so that the words of God will be fulfilled.


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And this woman you saw in your vision represents the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."


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After all this I saw another angel come down from heaven with great authority, and the earth grew bright with his splendor.


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He gave a mighty shout, "Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen; she has become a den of demons, a haunt of devils and every kind of evil spirit.


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For all the nations have drunk the fatal wine of her intense immorality. The rulers of earth have enjoyed themselves with her, and businessmen throughout the world have grown rich from all her luxurious living."


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Then I heard another voice calling from heaven, "Come away from her, my people; do not take part in her sins, or you will be punished with her.


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Do to her as she has done to you, and more--give double penalty for all her evil deeds. She brewed many a cup of woe for others--give twice as much to her.


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She has lived in luxury and pleasure--match it now with torments and with sorrows. She boasts, 'I am queen upon my throne. I am no helpless widow. I will not experience sorrow.'


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Therefore the sorrows of death and mourning and famine shall overtake her in a single day, and she shall be utterly consumed by fire; for mighty is the Lord who judges her."


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And the world leaders who took part in her immoral acts and enjoyed her favors will mourn for her as they see the smoke rising from her charred remains.


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They will stand far off, trembling with fear and crying out, "Alas, Babylon, that mighty city! In one moment her judgment fell."


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The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn for her, for there is no one left to buy their goods.


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She was their biggest customer for gold and silver, precious stones, pearls, finest linens, purple silks, and scarlet; and every kind of perfumed wood, and ivory goods, and most expensive wooden carvings, and brass, and iron, and marble;


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and spices, and perfumes, and incense, ointment, and frankincense, wine, olive oil, and fine flour; wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, chariots, and slaves--and even the souls of men.


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"All the fancy things you loved so much are gone," they cry. "The dainty luxuries and splendor that you prized so much will never be yours again. They are gone forever."


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And so the merchants who have become wealthy by selling her these things shall stand at a distance, fearing danger to themselves, weeping and crying,


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"Alas, that great city, so beautiful--like a woman clothed in finest purple and scarlet linens, decked out with gold and precious stones and pearls!


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In one moment, all the wealth of the city is gone!" And all the shipowners and captains of the merchant ships and crews will stand a long way off,


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crying as they watch the smoke ascend, and saying, "Where in all the world is there another city such as this?"


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And they will throw dust on their heads in their sorrow and say, "Alas, alas, for that great city! She made us all rich from her great wealth. And now in a single hour all is gone. . . . "


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But you, O heaven, rejoice over her fate; and you, O children of God and the prophets and the apostles! For at last God has given judgment against her for you.


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Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder shaped like a millstone and threw it into the ocean and shouted, "Babylon, that great city, shall be thrown away as I have thrown away this stone, and she shall disappear forever.


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Never again will the sound of music be there--no more pianos, saxophones, and trumpets. No industry of any kind will ever again exist there, and there will be no more milling of the grain.


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Dark, dark will be her nights; not even a lamp in a window will ever be seen again. No more joyous wedding bells and happy voices of the bridegrooms and the brides. Her businessmen were known around the world, and she deceived all nations with her sorceries.


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After this I heard the shouting of a vast crowd in heaven, "Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Salvation is from our God. Honor and authority belong to him alone;


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for his judgments are just and true. He has punished the Great Prostitute who corrupted the earth with her sin; and he has avenged the murder of his servants."


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Again and again their voices rang, "Praise the Lord! The smoke from her burning ascends forever and forever!"


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Then the twenty-four Elders and four Living Beings fell down and worshiped God, who was sitting upon the throne, and said, "Amen! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!"


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And out of the throne came a voice that said, "Praise our God, all you his servants, small and great, who fear him."


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Then I heard again what sounded like the shouting of a huge crowd, or like the waves of a hundred oceans crashing on the shore, or like the mighty rolling of great thunder, "Praise the Lord. For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.


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Let us be glad and rejoice and honor him; for the time has come for the wedding banquet of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself.


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She is permitted to wear the cleanest and whitest and finest of linens." (Fine linen represents the good deeds done by the people of God.)


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And the angel dictated this sentence to me: "Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb." And he added, "God himself has stated this."


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Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said, "No! Don't! For I am a servant of God just as you are, and as your brother Christians are, who testify of their faith in Jesus. Worship God. The purpose of all prophecy and of all I have shown you is to tell about Jesus."


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Then I saw heaven opened and a white horse standing there; and the one sitting on the horse was named Faithful and True--the one who justly punishes and makes war.


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His eyes were like flames, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on his forehead, and only he knew its meaning.


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In his mouth he held a sharp sword to strike down the nations; he ruled them with an iron grip; and he trod the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God.


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Then I saw an angel standing in the sunshine, shouting loudly to the birds, "Come! Gather together for the supper of the Great God!


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Come and eat the flesh of kings, and captains, and great generals; of horses and riders; and of all humanity, both great and small, slave and free."


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Then I saw the Evil Creature gathering the governments of the earth and their armies to fight against the one sitting on the horse and his army.


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And the Evil Creature was captured, and with him the False Prophet, who could do mighty miracles when the Evil Creature was present--miracles that deceived all who had accepted the Evil Creature's mark, and who worshiped his statue. Both of them--the Evil Creature and his False Prophet--were thrown alive into the Lake of Fire that burns with sulphur.


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And their entire army was killed with the sharp sword in the mouth of the one riding the white horse, and all the birds of heaven were gorged with their flesh.


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Then I saw an angel come down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand.


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He seized the Dragon--that old Serpent, the devil, Satan--and bound him in chains for a thousand years,


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and threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked so that he could not fool the nations any more until the thousand years were finished. Afterwards he would be released again for a little while.


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Then I saw thrones, and sitting on them were those who had been given the right to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus, for proclaiming the Word of God, and who had not worshiped the Creature or his statue, nor accepted his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They had come to life again and now they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.


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This is the First Resurrection. (The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years had ended.)


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Blessed and holy are those who share in the First Resurrection. For them the Second Death holds no terrors, for they will be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.


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He will go out to deceive the nations of the world and gather them together, with Gog and Magog, for battle--a mighty host, numberless as sand along the shore.


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They will go up across the broad plain of the earth and surround God's people and the beloved city of Jerusalem on every side. But fire from God in heaven will flash down on the attacking armies and consume them.


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Then the devil who had betrayed them will again be thrown into the Lake of Fire burning with sulphur where the Creature and False Prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.


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And I saw a great white throne and the one who sat upon it, from whose face the earth and sky fled away, but they found no place to hide.


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I saw the dead, great and small, standing before God; and The Books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to the things written in The Books, each according to the deeds he had done.


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The oceans surrendered the bodies buried in them; and the earth and the underworld gave up the dead in them. Each was judged according to his deeds.


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And if anyone's name was not found recorded in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the Lake of Fire.


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Then I saw a new earth (with no oceans!) and a new sky, for the present earth and sky had disappeared.


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And I, John, saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven. It was a glorious sight, beautiful as a bride at her wedding.


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I heard a loud shout from the throne saying, "Look, the home of God is now among men, and he will live with them and they will be his people; yes, God himself will be among them.


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He will wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor pain. All of that has gone forever."


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And the one sitting on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new!" And then he said to me, "Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true:


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It is finished! I am the A and the Z--the Beginning and the End. I will give to the thirsty the springs of the Water of Life--as a gift!


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Everyone who conquers will inherit all these blessings, and I will be his God and he will be my son.


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But cowards who turn back from following me, and those who are unfaithful to me, and the corrupt, and murderers, and the immoral, and those conversing with demons, and idol worshipers and all liars--their doom is in the Lake that burns with fire and sulphur. This is the Second Death."


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Then one of the seven angels who had emptied the flasks containing the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come with me and I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife."


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In a vision he took me to a towering mountain peak, and from there I watched that wondrous city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of the skies from God.


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It was filled with the glory of God and flashed and glowed like a precious gem, crystal clear like jasper.


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Its walls were broad and high, with twelve gates guarded by twelve angels. And the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written on the gates.


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The walls had twelve foundation stones, and on them were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.


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When he measured it, he found it was a square as wide as it was long; in fact it was in the form of a cube, for its height was exactly the same as its other dimensions--1,500 miles each way.


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Then he measured the thickness of the walls and found them to be 216 feet across (the angel called out these measurements to me, using standard units).


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and was built on twelve layers of foundation stones inlaid with gems:  The first layer with jasper;  The second with sapphire;  The third with chalcedony;  The fourth with emerald;


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The fifth with sardonyx;  The sixth layer with sardus;  The seventh with chrysolite;  The eighth with beryl;  The ninth with topaz;  The tenth with chrysoprase;  The eleventh with jacinth;  The twelfth with amethyst.


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The twelve gates were made of pearls--each gate from a single pearl! And the main street was pure, transparent gold, like glass.


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No temple could be seen in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are worshiped in it everywhere.


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And the city has no need of sun or moon to light it, for the glory of God and of the Lamb illuminate it.


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Its light will light the nations of the earth, and the rulers of the world will come and bring their glory to it.


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Nothing evil will be permitted in it--no one immoral or dishonest--but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.


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And he pointed out to me a river of pure Water of Life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb,


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coursing down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew Trees of Life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month; the leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.


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There shall be nothing in the city that is evil; for the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him.


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And there will be no night there--no need for lamps or sun--for the Lord God will be their light; and they shall reign forever and ever.


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Then the angel said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true: 'I am coming soon!' God, who tells his prophets what the future holds, has sent his angel to tell you this will happen soon.


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but again he said, "No, don't do anything like that. I, too, am a servant of Jesus as you are, and as your brothers the prophets are, as well as all those who heed the truth stated in this book. Worship God alone."


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And when that time comes, all doing wrong will do it more and more; the vile will become more vile; good men will be better; those who are holy will continue on in greater holiness."


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"See, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me, to repay everyone according to the deeds he has done.


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Blessed forever are all who are washing their robes, to have the right to enter in through the gates of the city and to eat the fruit from the Tree of Life.


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"Outside the city are those who have strayed away from God, and the sorcerers and the immoral and murderers and idolaters, and all who love to lie, and do so.


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"I, Jesus, have sent my angel to you to tell the churches all these things. I am both David's Root and his Descendant. I am the bright Morning Star.


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The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come.' Let each one who hears them say the same, 'Come.' Let the thirsty one come--anyone who wants to; let him come and drink the Water of Life without charge.


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And I solemnly declare to everyone who reads this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God shall add to him the plagues described in this book.


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And if anyone subtracts any part of these prophecies, God shall take away his share in the Tree of Life, and in the Holy City just described.


