# verses

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where he met Aquila, a Jewish man from Pontus. Not long before this, Aquila had come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Emperor Claudius had ordered the Jewish people to leave Rome. Paul went to see Aquila and Priscilla


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and found out that they were tent makers. Paul was a tent maker too. So he stayed with them, and they worked together.


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Every Sabbath, Paul went to the Jewish meeting place. He spoke to Jews and Gentiles and tried to win them over.


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But after Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, he spent all his time preaching to the Jews about Jesus the Messiah.


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Finally, they turned against him and insulted him. So he shook the dust from his clothes and told them, "Whatever happens to you will be your own fault! I am not to blame. From now on I am going to preach to the Gentiles."


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Paul then moved into the house of a man named Titius Justus, who worshiped God and lived next door to the Jewish meeting place.


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Crispus was the leader of the meeting place. He and everyone in his family put their faith in the Lord. Many others in Corinth also heard the message, and all the people who had faith in the Lord were baptized.


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One night, Paul had a vision, and in it the Lord said, "Don't be afraid to keep on preaching. Don't stop!


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While Gallio was governor of Achaia, some of the Jewish leaders got together and grabbed Paul. They brought him into court


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Even before Paul could speak, Gallio said, "If you were charging this man with a crime or some other wrong, I would have to listen to you.


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But since this concerns only words, names, and your own law, you will have to take care of it. I refuse to judge such matters."


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The crowd grabbed Sosthenes, the Jewish leader, and beat him up in front of the court. But none of this mattered to Gallio.


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After Paul had stayed for a while with the Lord's followers in Corinth, he told them good-by and sailed on to Syria with Aquila and Priscilla. But before he left, he had his head shaved at Cenchreae because he had made a promise to God.


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The three of them arrived in Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He then went into the Jewish meeting place to talk with the people there.


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After staying there for a while, he left and visited several places in Galatia and Phrygia. He helped the followers there to become stronger in their faith.


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A Jewish man named Apollos came to Ephesus. Apollos had been born in the city of Alexandria. He was a very good speaker and knew a lot about the Scriptures.


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He also knew much about the Lord's Way, and he spoke about it with great excitement. What he taught about Jesus was right, but all he knew was John's message about baptism.


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Apollos started speaking bravely in the Jewish meeting place. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him to their home and helped him understand God's Way even better.


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Apollos decided to travel through Achaia. So the Lord's followers wrote letters, encouraging the followers there to welcome him. After Apollos arrived in Achaia, he was a great help to everyone who had put their faith in the Lord Jesus because of God's kindness.


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He got into fierce arguments with the Jewish people, and in public he used the Scriptures to prove that Jesus is the Messiah.


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While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled across the hill country to Ephesus, where he met some of the Lord's followers.


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He asked them, "When you put your faith in Jesus, were you given the Holy Spirit?" "No!" they answered. "We have never even heard of the Holy Spirit."


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Paul replied, "John baptized people so that they would turn to God. But he also told them that someone else was coming, and that they should put their faith in him. Jesus is the one that John was talking about."


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Then Paul placed his hands on them. The Holy Spirit was given to them, and they spoke unknown languages and prophesied.


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For three months Paul went to the Jewish meeting place and talked bravely with the people about God's kingdom. He tried to win them over,


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but some of them were stubborn and refused to believe. In front of everyone they said terrible things about God's Way. Paul left and took the followers with him to the lecture hall of Tyrannus. He spoke there every day


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People even took handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched Paul's body, and they carried them to everyone who was sick. All of the sick people were healed, and the evil spirits went out.


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Some Jewish men started going around trying to force out evil spirits by using the name of the Lord Jesus. They said to the spirits, "Come out in the name of that same Jesus that Paul preaches about!"


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Then the man with the evil spirit jumped on them and beat them up. They ran out of the house, naked and bruised.


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When the Jews and Gentiles in Ephesus heard about this, they were so frightened that they praised the name of the Lord Jesus.


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Some who had been practicing witchcraft even brought their books and burned them in public. These books were worth about fifty thousand silver coins.


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After all of this had happened, Paul decided to visit Macedonia and Achaia on his way to Jerusalem. Paul had said, "From there I will go on to Rome."


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So he sent his two helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia. But he stayed on in Asia for a while.


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A silversmith named Demetrius had a business that made silver models of the temple of the goddess Artemis. Those who worked for him earned a lot of money.


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Demetrius brought together everyone who was in the same business and said: Friends, you know that we make a good living at this.


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But you have surely seen and heard how this man Paul is upsetting a lot of people, not only in Ephesus, but almost everywhere in Asia. He claims that the gods we humans make are not really gods at all.


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Everyone will start saying terrible things about our business. They will stop respecting the temple of the goddess Artemis, who is worshiped in Asia and all over the world. Our great goddess will be forgotten!


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When the workers heard this, they got angry and started shouting, "Great is Artemis, the goddess of the Ephesians!"


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Soon the whole city was in a riot, and some men grabbed Gaius and Aristarchus, who had come from Macedonia with Paul. Then everyone in the crowd rushed to the place where the town meetings were held.


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Some of the people in the meeting were shouting one thing, and others were shouting something else. Everyone was completely confused, and most of them did not even know why they were there.


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Several of the Jewish leaders pushed a man named Alexander to the front of the crowd and started telling him what to say. He motioned with his hand and tried to explain what was going on.


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But when the crowd saw that he was Jewish, they all shouted for two hours, "Great is Artemis, the goddess of the Ephesians!"


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Finally, a town official made the crowd be quiet. Then he said: People of Ephesus, who in the world doesn't know that our city is the center for worshiping the great goddess Artemis? Who doesn't know that her image which fell from heaven is right here?


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If Demetrius and his workers have a case against these men, we have courts and judges. Let them take their complaints there.


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We could easily be accused of starting a riot today. There is no excuse for it! We cannot even give a reason for this uproar.


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When the riot was over, Paul sent for the followers and encouraged them. He then told them good-by and left for Macedonia.


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As he traveled from place to place, he encouraged the followers with many messages. Finally, he went to Greece


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and stayed there for three months. Paul was about to sail to Syria. But some of the Jewish leaders plotted against him, so he decided to return by way of Macedonia.


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With him were Sopater, son of Pyrrhus from Berea, and Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica. Gaius from Derbe was also with him, and so were Timothy and the two Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus.


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After the Festival of Thin Bread, we sailed from Philippi. Five days later we met them in Troas and stayed there for a week.


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On the first day of the week we met to break bread together. Paul spoke to the people until midnight because he was leaving the next morning.


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A young man by the name of Eutychus was sitting on a window sill. While Paul was speaking, the young man got very sleepy. Finally, he went to sleep and fell three floors all the way down to the ground. When they picked him up, he was dead.


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After Paul had gone back upstairs, he broke bread, and ate with us. He then spoke until dawn and left.


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Paul decided to travel by land to Assos. The rest of us went on ahead by ship, and we were to take him aboard there.


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The next day we came to a place near Chios, and the following day we reached Samos. The day after that we sailed to Miletus.


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Paul had decided to sail on past Ephesus, because he did not want to spend too much time in Asia. He was in a hurry and wanted to be in Jerusalem in time for Pentecost.


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When they got there, he said: You know everything I did during the time I was with you when I first came to Asia.


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Some of the Jews plotted against me and caused me a lot of sorrow and trouble. But I served the Lord and was humble.


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When I preached in public or taught in your homes, I didn't hold back from telling anything that would help you.


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In every city I visit, I am told by the Holy Spirit that I will be put in jail and will be in trouble in Jerusalem.


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But I don't care what happens to me, as long as I finish the work that the Lord Jesus gave me to do. And that work is to tell the good news about God's great kindness.


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I have gone from place to place, preaching to you about God's kingdom, but now I know that none of you will ever see me again.


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Look after yourselves and everyone the Holy Spirit has placed in your care. Be like shepherds to God's church. It is the flock that he bought with the blood of his own Son.


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Be on your guard! Remember how day and night for three years I kept warning you with tears in my eyes.


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I now place you in God's care. Remember the message about his great kindness! This message can help you and give you what belongs to you as God's people.


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By everything I did, I showed how you should work to help everyone who is weak. Remember that our Lord Jesus said, "More blessings come from giving than from receiving."


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They were especially sad because Paul had told them, "You will never see me again." Then they went with him to the ship.


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After saying good-by, we sailed straight to Cos. The next day we reached Rhodes and from there sailed on to Patara.


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We came within sight of Cyprus and then sailed south of it on to the port of Tyre in Syria, where the ship was going to unload its cargo.


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We looked up the Lord's followers and stayed with them for a week. The Holy Spirit had told them to warn Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.


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But when the week was over, we started on our way again. All the men, together with their wives and children, walked with us from the town to the seashore. We knelt on the beach and prayed.


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The next day we went to Caesarea and stayed with Philip, the preacher. He was one of the seven men who helped the apostles,


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He took Paul's belt, and with it he tied up his own hands and feet. Then he told us, "The Holy Spirit says that some of the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will tie up the man who owns this belt. They will also hand him over to the Gentiles."


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But Paul answered, "Why are you crying and breaking my heart? I am not only willing to be put in jail for the Lord Jesus. I am even willing to die for him in Jerusalem!"


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Since we could not get Paul to change his mind, we gave up and prayed, "Lord, please make us willing to do what you want."


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Some of the followers from Caesarea went with us and took us to stay in the home of Mnason. He was from Cyprus and had been a follower from the beginning.


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Everyone who heard this praised God and said to Paul: My friend, you can see how many tens of thousands of the Jewish people have become followers! And all of them are eager to obey the Law of Moses.


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But they have been told that you are teaching those who live among the Gentiles to disobey this Law. They claim that you are telling them not to circumcise their sons or to follow Jewish customs.


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Join with them and prepare yourself for the ceremony that goes with the promises. Pay the cost for their heads to be shaved. Then everyone will learn that the reports about you are not true. They will know that you do obey the Law of Moses.


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Some while ago we told the Gentile followers what we think they should do. We instructed them not to eat anything offered to idols. They were told not to eat any meat with blood still in it or the meat of an animal that has been strangled. They were also told not to commit any terrible sexual sins.


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The next day Paul took the four men with him and got himself ready at the same time they did. Then he went into the temple and told when the final ceremony would take place and when an offering would be made for each of them.


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When the period of seven days for the ceremony was almost over, some of the Jewish people from Asia saw Paul in the temple. They got a large crowd together and started attacking him.


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They were shouting, "Friends, help us! This man goes around everywhere, saying bad things about our nation and about the Law of Moses and about this temple. He has even brought shame to this holy temple by bringing in Gentiles."


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Some of them thought that Paul had brought Trophimus from Ephesus into the temple, because they had seen them together in the city.


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The whole city was in an uproar, and the people turned into a mob. They grabbed Paul and dragged him out of the temple. Then suddenly the doors were shut.


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The people were about to kill Paul when the Roman army commander heard that all Jerusalem was starting to riot.


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So he quickly took some soldiers and officers and ran to where the crowd had gathered. As soon as the mob saw the commander and soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.


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The army commander went over and arrested him and had him bound with two chains. Then he tried to find out who Paul was and what he had done.


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Part of the crowd shouted one thing, and part of them shouted something else. But they were making so much noise that the commander could not find out a thing. Then he ordered Paul to be taken into the fortress.


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As they reached the steps, the crowd became so wild that the soldiers had to lift Paul up and carry him.


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When Paul was about to be taken into the fortress, he asked the commander, "Can I say something to you?" "How do you know Greek?" the commander asked.


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"Aren't you that Egyptian who started a riot not long ago and led four thousand terrorists into the desert?"


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"No!" Paul replied. "I am a Jew from Tarsus, an important city in Cilicia. Please let me speak to the crowd."


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The commander told him he could speak, so Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the people. When they were quiet, he spoke to them in Aramaic:


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I am a Jew, born and raised in the city of Tarsus in Cilicia. I was a student of Gamaliel and was taught to follow every single law of our ancestors. In fact, I was just as eager to obey God as any of you are today.


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I made trouble for everyone who followed the Lord's Way, and I even had some of them killed. I had others arrested and put in jail. I didn't care if they were men or women.


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The high priest and all the council members can tell you that this is true. They even gave me letters to the Jewish leaders in Damascus, so that I could arrest people there and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished.


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One day about noon I was getting close to Damascus, when a bright light from heaven suddenly flashed around me.


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"Who are you?" I answered. The Lord replied, "I am Jesus from Nazareth! I am the one you are so cruel to."


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I asked, "Lord, what do you want me to do?" Then he told me, "Get up and go to Damascus. When you get there, you will be told what to do."


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The light had been so bright that I couldn't see. And the other men had to lead me by the hand to Damascus.


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In that city there was a man named Ananias, who faithfully obeyed the Law of Moses and was well liked by all the Jewish people living there.


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Then Ananias told me, "The God that our ancestors worshiped has chosen you to know what he wants done. He has chosen you to see the One Who Obeys God and to hear his voice.


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of the Lord who said to me, "Hurry and leave Jerusalem! The people won't listen to what you say about me."


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I replied, "Lord, they know that in many of our meeting places I arrested and beat people who had faith in you.


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Stephen was killed because he spoke for you, and I stood there and cheered them on. I even guarded the clothes of the men who murdered him."


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The crowd listened until Paul said this. Then they started shouting, "Get rid of this man! He doesn't deserve to live."


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The Roman commander ordered Paul to be taken into the fortress and beaten with a whip. He did this to find out why the people were screaming at Paul.


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While the soldiers were tying Paul up to be beaten, he asked the officer standing there, "Is it legal to beat a Roman citizen before he has been tried in court?"


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When the officer heard this, he went to the commander and said, "What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen!"


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The commander then said, "I paid a lot of money to become a Roman citizen." But Paul replied, "I was born a Roman citizen."


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The men who were about to beat and question Paul quickly backed off. And the commander himself was frightened when he realized that he had put a Roman citizen in chains.


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The next day the commander wanted to know the real reason why the Jewish leaders had brought charges against Paul. So he had Paul's chains removed, and he ordered the chief priests and the whole council to meet. Then he had Paul led in and made him stand in front of them.


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Paul looked straight at the council members and said, "My friends, to this day I have served God with a clear conscience!"


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Paul turned to the high priest and said, "You whitewashed wall! God will hit you. You sit there to judge me by the Law of Moses. But at the same time you order men to break the Law by hitting me."


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Paul replied, "Oh! I didn't know he was the high priest. The Scriptures do tell us not to speak evil about a leader of our people."


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When Paul saw that some of the council members were Sadducees and others were Pharisees, he shouted, "My friends, I am a Pharisee and the son of a Pharisee. I am on trial simply because I believe that the dead will be raised to life."


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As soon as Paul said this, the Pharisees and the Sadducees got into a big argument, and the council members started taking sides.


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The Sadducees do not believe in angels or spirits or that the dead will rise to life. But the Pharisees believe in all of these,


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and so there was a lot of shouting. Some of the teachers of the Law of Moses were Pharisees. Finally, they became angry and said, "We don't find anything wrong with this man. Maybe a spirit or an angel really did speak to him."


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The argument became fierce, and the commander was afraid that Paul would be pulled apart. So he ordered the soldiers to go in and rescue Paul. Then they took him back into the fortress.


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That night the Lord stood beside Paul and said, "Don't worry! Just as you have told others about me in Jerusalem, you must also tell about me in Rome."


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The next morning more than forty Jewish men got together and vowed that they would not eat or drink anything until they had killed Paul.


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Then some of them went to the chief priests and the nation's leaders and said, "We have promised God that we would not eat a thing until we have killed Paul.


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You and everyone in the council must go to the commander and pretend that you want to find out more about the charges against Paul. Ask for him to be brought before your court. Meanwhile, we will be waiting to kill him before he gets there."


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So Paul said to one of the army officers, "Take this young man to the commander. He has something to tell him."


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The officer took him to the commander and said, "The prisoner named Paul asked me to bring this young man to you, because he has something to tell you."


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He answered, "Some men are planning to ask you to bring Paul down to the Jewish council tomorrow. They will claim that they want to find out more about him.


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But please don't do what they say. More than forty men are going to attack Paul. They have made a vow not to eat or drink anything until they have killed him. Even now they are waiting to hear what you decide."


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The commander sent the young man away after saying to him, "Don't let anyone know that you told me this."


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The commander called in two of his officers and told them, "By nine o'clock tonight have two hundred soldiers ready to go to Caesarea. Take along seventy men on horseback and two hundred foot soldiers with spears.


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Some Jews grabbed this man and were about to kill him. But when I found out that he was a Roman citizen, I took some soldiers and rescued him.


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and learned that the charges concern only their religious laws. This man isn't guilty of anything for which he should die or even be put in jail.


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As soon as I learned that there was a plot against him, I sent him to you and told their leaders to bring charges against him in your court.


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The soldiers obeyed the commander's orders, and that same night they took Paul to the city of Antipatris.


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The next day the foot soldiers returned to the fortress and let the soldiers on horseback take him the rest of the way.


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The governor said, "I will listen to your case as soon as the people come to bring their charges against you." After saying this, he gave orders for Paul to be kept as a prisoner in Herod's palace.


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Five days later Ananias the high priest, together with some of their leaders and a lawyer named Tertullus, went to the governor to present their case against Paul.


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So Paul was called in, and Tertullus stated the case against him: Honorable Felix, you have brought our people a long period of peace, and because of your concern our nation is much better off.


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This man has been found to be a real pest and troublemaker for Jews all over the world. He is also a leader of a group called Nazarenes.


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When he tried to disgrace the temple, we arrested him. If you question him, you will find out for yourself that our charges are true.


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The governor motioned for Paul to speak, and he began: I know that you have judged the people of our nation for many years, and I am glad to defend myself in your court.


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It was no more than twelve days ago that I went to worship in Jerusalem. You can find this out easily enough.


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Never once did the Jews find me arguing with anyone in the temple. I didn't cause trouble in the Jewish meeting places or in the city itself.


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I admit that their leaders think that the Lord's Way which I follow is based on wrong beliefs. But I still worship the same God that my ancestors worshiped. And I believe everything written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets.


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And because I am sure, I try my best to have a clear conscience in whatever I do for God or for people.


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After being away for several years, I returned here to bring gifts for the poor people of my nation and to offer sacrifices.


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This is what I was doing when I was found going through a ceremony in the temple. I wasn't with a crowd, and there was no uproar.


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Some Jews from Asia were there at that time, and if they have anything to say against me, they should be here now.


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Or ask the ones who are here. They can tell you that they didn't find me guilty of anything when I was tried by their own council.


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The only charge they can bring against me is what I shouted out in court, when I said, "I am on trial today because I believe that the dead will be raised to life!"


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Felix knew a lot about the Lord's Way. But he brought the trial to an end and said, "I will make my decision after Lysias the commander arrives."


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He then ordered the army officer to keep Paul under guard, but not to lock him up or to stop his friends from helping him.


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Several days later Felix and his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, went to the place where Paul was kept under guard. They sent for Paul and listened while he spoke to them about having faith in Christ Jesus.


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But Felix was frightened when Paul started talking to them about doing right, about self-control, and about the coming judgment. So he said to Paul, "That's enough for now. You may go. But when I have time I will send for you."


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After this, Felix often sent for Paul and talked with him, because he hoped that Paul would offer him a bribe.


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Two years later Porcius Festus became governor in place of Felix. But since Felix wanted to do the Jewish leaders a favor, he kept Paul in jail.


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There the chief priests and some Jewish leaders told him about their charges against Paul. They also asked Festus


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if he would be willing to bring Paul to Jerusalem. They begged him to do this because they were planning to attack and kill Paul on the way.


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Festus stayed in Jerusalem for eight or ten more days before going to Caesarea. Then the next day he took his place as judge and had Paul brought into court.


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As soon as Paul came in, the Jewish leaders from Jerusalem crowded around him and said he was guilty of many serious crimes. But they could not prove anything.


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Then Paul spoke in his own defense, "I have not broken the Law of my people. And I have not done anything against either the temple or the Emperor."


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Festus wanted to please the leaders. So he asked Paul, "Are you willing to go to Jerusalem and be tried by me on these charges?"


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Paul replied, "I am on trial in the Emperor's court, and that's where I should be tried. You know very well that I have not done anything to harm the Jewish nation.


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If I had done something deserving death, I would not ask to escape the death penalty. But I am not guilty of any of these crimes, and no one has the right to hand me over to these people. I now ask to be tried by the Emperor himself."


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After Festus had talked this over with members of his council, he told Paul, "You have asked to be tried by the Emperor, and to the Emperor you will go!"


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They had been there for several days, when Festus told the king about the charges against Paul. He said: Felix left a man here in jail,


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and when I went to Jerusalem, the chief priests and the Jewish leaders came and asked me to find him guilty.


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I told them that it isn't the Roman custom to hand a man over to people who are bringing charges against him. He must first have the chance to meet them face to face and to defend himself against their charges.


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So when they came here with me, I wasted no time. On the very next day I took my place on the judge's bench and ordered him to be brought in.


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But when the men stood up to make their charges against him, they did not accuse him of any of the crimes that I thought they would.


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Instead, they argued with him about some of their beliefs and about a dead man named Jesus, who Paul said was alive.


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Since I did not know how to find out the truth about all this, I asked Paul if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem and be put on trial there.


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But Paul asked to be kept in jail until the Emperor could decide his case. So I ordered him to be kept here until I could send him to the Emperor.


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Then Agrippa said to Festus, "I would also like to hear what this man has to say." Festus answered, "You can hear him tomorrow."


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The next day Agrippa and Bernice made a big show as they came into the meeting room. High ranking army officers and leading citizens of the town were also there. Festus then ordered Paul to be brought in


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and said: King Agrippa and other guests, look at this man! Every Jew from Jerusalem and Caesarea has come to me, demanding for him to be put to death.


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I have not found him guilty of any crime deserving death. But because he has asked to be judged by the Emperor, I have decided to send him to Rome.


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I have to write some facts about this man to the Emperor. So I have brought him before all of you, but especially before you, King Agrippa. After we have talked about his case, I will then have something to write.


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King Agrippa, I am glad for this chance to defend myself before you today on all these charges that my own people have brought against me.


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You know a lot about our religious customs and the beliefs that divide us. So I ask you to listen patiently to me.


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All the Jews have known me since I was a child. They know what kind of life I have lived in my own country and in Jerusalem. And if they were willing, they could tell you that I was a Pharisee, a member of a group that is stricter than any other.


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Day and night our twelve tribes have earnestly served God, waiting for his promised blessings. King Agrippa, because of this hope, the Jewish leaders have brought charges against me.


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I did this first in Jerusalem, and with the authority of the chief priests I put many of God's people in jail. I even voted for them to be killed.


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I often had them punished in our meeting places, and I tried to make them give up their faith. In fact, I was so angry with them, that I went looking for them in foreign cities.


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King Agrippa, one day I was on my way to Damascus with the authority and permission of the chief priests.


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About noon I saw a light brighter than the sun. It flashed from heaven on me and on everyone traveling with me.


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We all fell to the ground. Then I heard a voice say to me in Aramaic, "Saul, Saul, why are you so cruel to me? It's foolish to fight against me!"


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Now stand up. I have appeared to you, because I have chosen you to be my servant. You are to tell others what you have learned about me and what I will show you later."


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The Lord also said, "I will protect you from the Jews and from the Gentiles that I am sending you to.


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I want you to open their eyes, so that they will turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then their sins will be forgiven, and by faith in me they will become part of God's holy people."


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First I preached to the people in Damascus, and then I went to Jerusalem and all over Judea. Finally, I went to the Gentiles and said, "Stop sinning and turn to God! Then prove what you have done by the way you live."


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But all this time God has helped me, and I have preached both to the rich and to the poor. I have told them only what the prophets and Moses said would happen.


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I told them how the Messiah would suffer and be the first to be raised from death, so that he could bring light to his own people and to the Gentiles.


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Before Paul finished defending himself, Festus shouted, "Paul, you're crazy! Too much learning has driven you out of your mind."


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None of these things happened off in a corner somewhere. I am sure that King Agrippa knows what I am talking about. That's why I can speak so plainly to him."


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Paul answered, "Whether it takes a short time or a long time, I wish you and everyone else who hears me today would become just like me! Except, of course, for these chains."


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But before they left, they said, "This man isn't guilty of anything. He doesn't deserve to die or to be put in jail."


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Agrippa told Festus, "Paul could have been set free, if he had not asked to be tried by the Roman Emperor."


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When it was time for us to sail to Rome, Captain Julius from the Emperor's special troops was put in charge of Paul and the other prisoners.


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We went aboard a ship from Adramyttium that was about to sail to some ports along the coast of Asia. Aristarchus from Thessalonica in Macedonia sailed on the ship with us.


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The next day we came to shore at Sidon. Captain Julius was very kind to Paul. He even let him visit his friends, so they could give him whatever he needed.


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When we left Sidon, the winds were blowing against us, and we sailed close to the island of Cyprus to be safe from the wind.


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There the army captain found a ship from Alexandria that was going to Italy. So he ordered us to board that ship.


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We sailed along slowly for several days and had a hard time reaching Cnidus. The wind would not let us go any farther in that direction, so we sailed past Cape Salmone, where the island of Crete would protect us from the wind.


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We went slowly along the coast and finally reached a place called Fair Havens, not far from the town of Lasea.


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By now we had already lost a lot of time, and sailing was no longer safe. In fact, even the Great Day of Forgiveness was past.


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Then Paul spoke to the crew of the ship, "Men, listen to me! If we sail now, our ship and its cargo will be badly damaged, and many lives will be lost."


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The harbor at Fair Havens wasn't a good place to spend the winter. Because of this, almost everyone agreed that we should at least try to sail along the coast of Crete as far as Phoenix. It had a harbor that opened toward the southwest and northwest, and we could spend the winter there.


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When a gentle wind from the south started blowing, the men thought it was a good time to do what they had planned. So they pulled up the anchor, and we sailed along the coast of Crete.


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We went along the island of Cauda on the side that was protected from the wind. We had a hard time holding the lifeboat in place,


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but finally we got it where it belonged. Then the sailors wrapped ropes around the ship to hold it together. They lowered the sail and let the ship drift along, because they were afraid it might hit the sandbanks in the gulf of Syrtis.


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For several days we could not see either the sun or the stars. A strong wind kept blowing, and we finally gave up all hope of being saved.


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Since none of us had eaten anything for a long time, Paul stood up and told the men: You should have listened to me! If you had stayed on in Crete, you would not have had this damage and loss.


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to tell me, "Paul, don't be afraid! You will stand trial before the Emperor. And because of you, God will save the lives of everyone on the ship."


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For fourteen days and nights we had been blown around over the Mediterranean Sea. But about midnight the sailors realized that we were getting near land.


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They measured and found that the water was about one hundred twenty feet deep. A little later they measured again and found it was only about ninety feet.


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The sailors were afraid that we might hit some rocks, and they let down four anchors from the back of the ship. Then they prayed for daylight.


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The sailors wanted to escape from the ship. So they lowered the lifeboat into the water, pretending that they were letting down an anchor from the front of the ship.


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But Paul said to Captain Julius and the soldiers, "If the sailors don't stay on the ship, you won't have any chance to save your lives."


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Just before daylight Paul begged the people to eat something. He told them, "For fourteen days you have been so worried that you haven't eaten a thing.


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After Paul had said this, he took a piece of bread and gave thanks to God. Then in front of everyone, he broke the bread and ate some.


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Morning came, and the ship's crew saw a coast that they did not recognize. But they did see a cove with a beach. So they decided to try to run the ship aground on the beach.


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They cut the anchors loose and let them sink into the sea. At the same time they untied the ropes that were holding the rudders. Next, they raised the sail at the front of the ship and let the wind carry the ship toward the beach.


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But it ran aground on a sandbank. The front of the ship stuck firmly in the sand, and the rear was being smashed by the force of the waves.


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But Captain Julius wanted to save Paul's life, and he did not let the soldiers do what they had planned. Instead, he ordered everyone who could swim to dive into the water and head for shore.


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Then he told the others to hold on to planks of wood or parts of the ship. At last, everyone safely reached shore.


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The local people were very friendly, and they welcomed us by building a fire, because it was rainy and cold.


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After Paul had gathered some wood and had put it on the fire, the heat caused a snake to crawl out, and it bit him on the hand.


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When the local people saw the snake hanging from Paul's hand, they said to each other, "This man must be a murderer! He didn't drown in the sea, but the goddess of justice will kill him anyway."


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The people kept thinking that Paul would either swell up or suddenly drop dead. They watched him for a long time, and when nothing happened to him, they changed their minds and said, "This man is a god."


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The governor of the island was named Publius, and he owned some of the land around there. Publius was very friendly and welcomed us into his home for three days.


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His father was in bed, sick with fever and stomach trouble, and Paul went to visit him. Paul healed the man by praying and placing his hands on him.


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After this happened, everyone on the island brought their sick people to Paul, and they were all healed.


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Three months later we sailed in a ship that had been docked at Malta for the winter. The ship was from Alexandria in Egypt and was known as "The Twin Gods."


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From there we sailed to Rhegium. The next day a south wind began to blow, and two days later we arrived in Puteoli.


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There we found some of the Lord's followers, who begged us to stay with them. A week later we left for the city of Rome.


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Some of the followers in Rome heard about us and came to meet us at the Market of Appius and at the Three Inns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and was encouraged.


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Three days after we got there, Paul called together some of the Jewish leaders and said: My friends, I have never done anything to hurt our people, and I have never gone against the customs of our ancestors. But in Jerusalem I was handed over as a prisoner to the Romans.


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They looked into the charges against me and wanted to release me. They found that I had not done anything deserving death.


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The Jewish leaders disagreed, so I asked to be tried by the Emperor. But I don't have anything to say against my own nation.


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I am bound by these chains because of what we people of Israel hope for. That's why I have called you here to talk about this hope of ours.


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The leaders replied, "No one from Judea has written us a letter about you. And not one of them has come here to report on you or to say anything against you.


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But we would like to hear what you have to say. We understand that people everywhere are against this new group."


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They agreed on a time to meet with Paul, and many of them came to his house. From early morning until late in the afternoon, Paul talked to them about God's kingdom. He used the Law of Moses and the Books of the Prophets to try to win them over to Jesus.


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Since they could not agree among themselves, they started leaving. But Paul said, "The Holy Spirit said the right thing when he sent Isaiah the prophet


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to tell our ancestors, 'Go to these people and tell them: You will listen and listen, but never understand. You will look and look, but never see.


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All of you have stubborn hearts. Your ears are stopped up, and your eyes are covered. You cannot see or hear or understand. If you could, you would turn to me, and I would heal you.' "


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He bravely preached about God's kingdom and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ, and no one tried to stop him.


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From Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus. God chose me to be an apostle, and he appointed me to preach the good news


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This good news is about his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ! As a human, he was from the family of David. But the Holy Spirit proved that Jesus is the powerful Son of God, because he was raised from death.


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Jesus was kind to me and chose me to be an apostle, so that people of all nations would obey and have faith.


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This letter is to all of you in Rome. God loves you and has chosen you to be his very own people. I pray that God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!


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First, I thank God in the name of Jesus Christ for all of you. I do this because people everywhere in the world are talking about your faith.


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God has seen how I never stop praying for you, while I serve him with all my heart and tell the good news about his Son.


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I want to see you and share with you the same blessings that God's Spirit has given me. Then you will grow stronger in your faith.


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My friends, I want you to know that I have often planned to come for a visit. But something has always kept me from doing it. I want to win followers to Christ in Rome, as I have done in many other places.


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It doesn't matter if people are civilized and educated, or if they are uncivilized and uneducated. I must tell the good news to everyone. That's why I am eager to visit all of you in Rome.


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I am proud of the good news! It is God's powerful way of saving all people who have faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles.


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The good news tells how God accepts everyone who has faith, but only those who have faith. It is just as the Scriptures say, "The people God accepts because of their faith will live."


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From heaven God shows how angry he is with all the wicked and evil things that sinful people do to crush the truth.


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God's eternal power and character cannot be seen. But from the beginning of creation, God has shown what these are like by all he has made. That's why those people don't have any excuse.


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They know about God, but they don't honor him or even thank him. Their thoughts are useless, and their stupid minds are in the dark.


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They don't worship the glorious and eternal God. Instead, they worship idols that are made to look like humans who cannot live forever, and like birds, animals, and reptiles.


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So God let these people go their own way. They did what they wanted to do, and their filthy thoughts made them do shameful things with their bodies.


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They gave up the truth about God for a lie, and they worshiped God's creation instead of God, who will be praised forever. Amen.


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God let them follow their own evil desires. Women no longer wanted to have sex in a natural way, and they did things with each other that were not natural.


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Men behaved in the same way. They stopped wanting to have sex with women and had strong desires for sex with other men. They did shameful things with each other, and what has happened to them is punishment for their foolish deeds.


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Since these people refused even to think about God, he let their useless minds rule over them. That's why they do all sorts of indecent things.


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They are evil, wicked, and greedy, as well as mean in every possible way. They want what others have, and they murder, argue, cheat, and are hard to get along with. They gossip,


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say cruel things about others, and hate God. They are proud, conceited, and boastful, always thinking up new ways to do evil. These people don't respect their parents.


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They know God has said that anyone who acts this way deserves to die. But they keep on doing evil things, and they even encourage others to do them.


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Some of you accuse others of doing wrong. But there is no excuse for what you do. When you judge others, you condemn yourselves, because you are guilty of doing the very same things.


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You surely don't think much of God's wonderful goodness or of his patience and willingness to put up with you. Don't you know that the reason God is good to you is because he wants you to turn to him?


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But you are stubborn and refuse to turn to God. So you are making things even worse for yourselves on that day when he will show how angry he is and will judge the world with fairness.


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He will give eternal life to everyone who has patiently done what is good in the hope of receiving glory, honor, and life that lasts forever.


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But he will show how angry and furious he can be with every selfish person who rejects the truth and wants to do evil.


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All who are wicked will be punished with trouble and suffering. It doesn't matter if they are Jews or Gentiles.


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But all who do right will be rewarded with glory, honor, and peace, whether they are Jews or Gentiles.


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Those people who don't know about God's Law will still be punished for what they do wrong. And the Law will be used to judge everyone who knows what it says.


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This proves that the conscience is like a law written in the human heart. And it will show whether we are forgiven or condemned,


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And since there is knowledge and truth in God's Law, you think you can instruct fools and teach young people.


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But how can you teach others when you refuse to learn? You preach that it is wrong to steal. But do you steal?


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You say people should be faithful in marriage. But are you faithful? You hate idols, yet you rob their temples.


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Being circumcised is worthwhile, if you obey the Law. But if you don't obey the Law, you are no better off than people who are not circumcised.


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So everyone who obeys the Law, but has never been circumcised, will condemn you. Even though you are circumcised and have the Law, you still don't obey its teachings.


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To be a real Jew you must obey the Law. True circumcision is something that happens deep in your heart, not something done to your body. And besides, you should want praise from God and not from humans.


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It is true that some of them did not believe the message. But does this mean that God cannot be trusted, just because they did not have faith?


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No, indeed! God tells the truth, even if everyone else is a liar. The Scriptures say about God, "Your words will be proven true, and in court you will win your case."


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If our evil deeds show how right God is, then what can we say? Is it wrong for God to become angry and punish us? What a foolish thing to ask.


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Since your lies bring great honor to God by showing how truthful he is, you may ask why God still says you are a sinner.


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You might as well say, "Let's do something evil, so that something good will come of it!" Some people even claim that we are saying this. But God is fair and will judge them as well.


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What does all this mean? Does it mean that we Jews are better off than the Gentiles? No, it doesn't! Jews, as well as Gentiles, are ruled by sin, just as I have said.


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Their words are like an open pit, and their tongues are good only for telling lies. Each word is as deadly as the fangs of a snake,


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We know that everything in the Law was written for those who are under its power. The Law says these things to stop anyone from making excuses and to let God show that the whole world is guilty.


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God doesn't accept people simply because they obey the Law. No, indeed! All the Law does is to point out our sin.


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Now we see how God does make us acceptable to him. The Law and the Prophets tell how we become acceptable, and it isn't by obeying the Law of Moses.


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But God treats us much better than we deserve, and because of Christ Jesus, he freely accepts us and sets us free from our sins.


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God sent Christ to be our sacrifice. Christ offered his life's blood, so that by faith in him we could come to God. And God did this to show that in the past he was right to be patient and forgive sinners. This also shows that God is right when he accepts people who have faith in Jesus.


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What is left for us to brag about? Not a thing! Is it because we obeyed some law? No! It is because of faith.


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We see that people are acceptable to God because they have faith, and not because they obey the Law.


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If he became acceptable to God because of what he did, then he would have something to brag about. But he would never be able to brag about it to God.


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But you cannot make God accept you because of something you do. God accepts sinners only because they have faith in him.


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In the Scriptures David talks about the blessings that come to people who are acceptable to God, even though they don't do anything to deserve these blessings. David says,


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Are these blessings meant for circumcised people or for those who are not circumcised? Well, the Scriptures say that God accepted Abraham because Abraham had faith in him.


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Abraham let himself be circumcised to show that he had been accepted because of his faith even before he was circumcised. This makes Abraham the father of all who are acceptable to God because of their faith, even though they are not circumcised.


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This also makes Abraham the father of everyone who is circumcised and has faith in God, as Abraham did before he was circumcised.


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God promised Abraham and his descendants that he would give them the world. This promise wasn't made because Abraham had obeyed a law, but because his faith in God made him acceptable.


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If Abraham and his descendants were given this promise because they had obeyed a law, then faith would mean nothing, and the promise would be worthless.


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Everything depends on having faith in God, so that God's promise is assured by his great kindness. This promise isn't only for Abraham's descendants who have the Law. It is for all who are Abraham's descendants because they have faith, just as he did. Abraham is the ancestor of us all.


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The Scriptures say that Abraham would become the ancestor of many nations. This promise was made to Abraham because he had faith in God, who raises the dead to life and creates new things.


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God promised Abraham a lot of descendants. And when it all seemed hopeless, Abraham still had faith in God and became the ancestor of many nations.


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Abraham's faith never became weak, not even when he was nearly a hundred years old. He knew that he was almost dead and that his wife Sarah could not have children.


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But Abraham never doubted or questioned God's promise. His faith made him strong, and he gave all the credit to God.


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They were written for us, since we will also be accepted because of our faith in God, who raised our Lord Jesus to life.


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God gave Jesus to die for our sins, and he raised him to life, so that we would be made acceptable to God.


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By faith we have been made acceptable to God. And now, because of our Lord Jesus Christ, we live at peace with God.


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Christ has also introduced us to God's undeserved kindness on which we take our stand. So we are happy, as we look forward to sharing in the glory of God.


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that will never disappoint us. All of this happens because God has given us the Holy Spirit, who fills our hearts with his love.


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No one is really willing to die for an honest person, though someone might be willing to die for a truly good person.


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But there is more! Now that God has accepted us because Christ sacrificed his life's blood, we will also be kept safe from God's anger.


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Even when we were God's enemies, he made peace with us, because his Son died for us. Yet something even greater than friendship is ours. Now that we are at peace with God, we will be saved by his Son's life.


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And in addition to everything else, we are happy because God sent our Lord Jesus Christ to make peace with us.


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Adam sinned, and that sin brought death into the world. Now everyone has sinned, and so everyone must die.


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Yet death still had power over all who lived from the time of Adam to the time of Moses. This happened, though not everyone disobeyed a direct command from God, as Adam did. In some ways Adam is like Christ who came later.


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But the gift that God was kind enough to give was very different from Adam's sin. That one sin brought death to many others. Yet in an even greater way, Jesus Christ alone brought God's gift of kindness to many people.


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There is a lot of difference between Adam's sin and God's gift. That one sin led to punishment. But God's gift made it possible for us to be acceptable to him, even though we have sinned many times.


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Death ruled like a king because Adam had sinned. But that cannot compare with what Jesus Christ has done. God has been so kind to us, and he has accepted us because of Jesus. And so we will live and rule like kings.


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Everyone was going to be punished because Adam sinned. But because of the good thing that Christ has done, God accepts us and gives us the gift of life.


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Adam disobeyed God and caused many others to be sinners. But Jesus obeyed him and will make many people acceptable to God.


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The Law came, so that the full power of sin could be seen. Yet where sin was powerful, God's kindness was even more powerful.


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Sin ruled by means of death. But God's kindness now rules, and God has accepted us because of Jesus Christ our Lord. This means that we will have eternal life.


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What should we say? Should we keep on sinning, so that God's wonderful kindness will show up even better?


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When we were baptized, we died and were buried with Christ. We were baptized, so that we would live a new life, as Christ was raised to life by the glory of God the Father.


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We know that the persons we used to be were nailed to the cross with Jesus. This was done, so that our sinful bodies would no longer be the slaves of sin.


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We know that death no longer has any power over Christ. He died and was raised to life, never again to die.


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In the same way, you must think of yourselves as dead to the power of sin. But Christ Jesus has given life to you, and you live for God.


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or let any part of it become a slave of evil. Give yourselves to God, as people who have been raised from death to life. Make every part of your body a slave that pleases God.


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What does all this mean? Does it mean we are free to sin, because we are ruled by God's wonderful kindness and not by the Law? Certainly not!


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Don't you know that you are slaves of anyone you obey? You can be slaves of sin and die, or you can be obedient slaves of God and be acceptable to him.


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You used to be slaves of sin. But I thank God that with all your heart you obeyed the teaching you received from me.


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I am using these everyday examples, because in some ways you are still weak. You used to let the different parts of your body be slaves of your evil thoughts. But now you must make every part of your body serve God, so that you will belong completely to him.


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But what good did you receive from the things you did? All you have to show for them is your shame, and they lead to death.


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Now you have been set free from sin, and you are God's slaves. This will make you holy and will lead you to eternal life.


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My friends, you surely understand enough about law to know that laws only have power over people who are alive.


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For example, the Law says that a man's wife must remain his wife as long as he lives. But once her husband is dead, she is free


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to marry someone else. However, if she goes off with another man while her husband is still alive, she is said to be unfaithful.


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That is how it is with you, my friends. You are now part of the body of Christ and are dead to the power of the Law. You are free to belong to Christ, who was raised to life so that we could serve God.


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When we thought only of ourselves, the Law made us have sinful desires. It made every part of our bodies into slaves who are doomed to die.


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But the Law no longer rules over us. We are like dead people, and it cannot have any power over us. Now we can serve God in a new way by obeying his Spirit, and not in the old way by obeying the written Law.


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Does this mean that the Law is sinful? Certainly not! But if it had not been for the Law, I would not have known what sin is really like. For example, I would not have known what it means to want something that belongs to someone else, unless the Law had told me not to do that.


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It was sin that used this command as a way of making me have all kinds of desires. But without the Law, sin is dead.


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Am I saying that something good caused my death? Certainly not! It was sin that killed me by using something good. Now we can see how terrible and evil sin really is.


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In fact, I don't understand why I act the way I do. I don't do what I know is right. I do the things I hate.


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I know that my selfish desires won't let me do anything that is good. Even when I want to do right, I cannot.


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And so, if I don't do what I know is right, I am no longer the one doing these evil things. The sin that lives in me is what does them.


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But in every part of me I discover something fighting against my mind, and it makes me a prisoner of sin that controls everything I do.


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Thank God! Jesus Christ will rescue me. So with my mind I serve the Law of God, although my selfish desires make me serve the law of sin.


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The Holy Spirit will give you life that comes from Christ Jesus and will set you free from sin and death.


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The Law of Moses cannot do this, because our selfish desires make the Law weak. But God set you free when he sent his own Son to be like us sinners and to be a sacrifice for our sin. God used Christ's body to condemn sin.


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He did this, so that we would do what the Law commands by obeying the Spirit instead of our own desires.


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People who are ruled by their desires think only of themselves. Everyone who is ruled by the Holy Spirit thinks about spiritual things.


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If our minds are ruled by our desires, we will die. But if our minds are ruled by the Spirit, we will have life and peace.


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You are no longer ruled by your desires, but by God's Spirit, who lives in you. People who don't have the Spirit of Christ in them don't belong to him.


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But Christ lives in you. So you are alive because God has accepted you, even though your bodies must die because of your sins.


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Yet God raised Jesus to life! God's Spirit now lives in you, and he will raise you to life by his Spirit.


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If you do, you will die. But you will live, if by the help of God's Spirit you say "No" to your desires.


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God's Spirit doesn't make us slaves who are afraid of him. Instead, we become his children and call him our Father.


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His Spirit lets us know that together with Christ we will be given what God has promised. We will also share in the glory of Christ, because we have suffered with him.


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Meanwhile, creation is confused, but not because it wants to be confused. God made it this way in the hope


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The Spirit makes us sure about what we will be in the future. But now we groan silently, while we wait for God to show that we are his children. This means that our bodies will also be set free.


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And this hope is what saves us. But if we already have what we hope for, there is no need to keep on hoping.


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In certain ways we are weak, but the Spirit is here to help us. For example, when we don't know what to pray for, the Spirit prays for us in ways that cannot be put into words.


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All of our thoughts are known to God. He can understand what is in the mind of the Spirit, as the Spirit prays for God's people.


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We know that God is always at work for the good of everyone who loves him. They are the ones God has chosen for his purpose,


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and he has always known who his chosen ones would be. He had decided to let them become like his own Son, so that his Son would be the first of many children.


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God then accepted the people he had already decided to choose, and he has shared his glory with them.


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God did not keep back his own Son, but he gave him for us. If God did this, won't he freely give us everything else?


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Or can anyone condemn them? No indeed! Christ died and was raised to life, and now he is at God's right side, speaking to him for us.


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Can anything separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble, suffering, and hard times, or hunger and nakedness, or danger and death?


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It is exactly as the Scriptures say, "For you we face death all day long. We are like sheep on their way to be butchered."


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I am sure that nothing can separate us from God's love--not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future,


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and not powers above or powers below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God's love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord!


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I am a follower of Christ, and the Holy Spirit is a witness to my conscience. So I tell the truth and I am not lying when I say


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I would gladly be placed under God's curse and be separated from Christ for the good of my own people.


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They are the descendants of Israel, and they are also God's chosen people. God showed them his glory. He made agreements with them and gave them his Law. The temple is theirs and so are the promises that God made to them.


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They have those famous ancestors, who were also the ancestors of Jesus Christ. I pray that God, who rules over all, will be praised forever! Amen.


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It cannot be said that God broke his promise. After all, not all of the people of Israel are the true people of God.


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In fact, when God made the promise to Abraham, he meant only Abraham's descendants by his son Isaac. God was talking only about Isaac when he promised


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Even before they were born or had done anything good or bad, the Lord told Rebekah that her older son would serve the younger one. The Lord said this to show that he makes his own choices and that it wasn't because of anything either of them had done.


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In the Scriptures the Lord says to Pharaoh of Egypt, "I let you become king, so that I could show you my power and be praised by all people on earth."


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Everything depends on what God decides to do, and he can either have pity on people or make them stubborn.


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But, my friend, I ask, "Who do you think you are to question God? Does the clay have the right to ask the potter why he shaped it the way he did?


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Doesn't a potter have the right to make a fancy bowl and a plain bowl out of the same lump of clay?"


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God wanted to show his anger and reveal his power against everyone who deserved to be destroyed. But instead, he patiently put up with them.


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He did this by showing how glorious he is when he has pity on the people he has chosen to share in his glory.


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just as the Lord says in the book of Hosea, "Although they are not my people, I will make them my people. I will treat with love those nations that have never been loved.


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"Once they were told, 'You are not my people.' But in that very place they will be called children of the living God."


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And this is what the prophet Isaiah said about the people of Israel, "The people of Israel are as many as the grains of sand along the beach. But only a few who are left will be saved.


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Isaiah also said, "If the Lord All-Powerful had not spared some of our descendants, we would have been destroyed like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah."


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What does all of this mean? It means that the Gentiles were not trying to be acceptable to God, but they found that he would accept them if they had faith.


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It also means that the people of Israel were not acceptable to God. And why not? It was because they were trying to be acceptable by obeying the Law instead of by having faith in God. The people of Israel fell over the stone that makes people stumble,


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just as God says in the Scriptures, "Look! I am placing in Zion a stone to make people stumble and fall. But those who have faith in that one will never be disappointed."


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what makes people acceptable to him. So they refuse to trust God, and they try to be acceptable by obeying the Law.


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Moses said that a person could become acceptable to God by obeying the Law. He did this when he wrote, "If you want to live, you must do all that the Law commands."


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But people whose faith makes them acceptable to God will never ask, "Who will go up to heaven to bring Christ down?"


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All who are acceptable because of their faith simply say, "The message is as near as your mouth or your heart." And this is the same message we preach about faith.


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So you will be saved, if you honestly say, "Jesus is Lord," and if you believe with all your heart that God raised him from death.


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no matter if that person is a Jew or a Gentile. There is only one Lord, and he is generous to everyone who asks for his help.


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How can people have faith in the Lord and ask him to save them, if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear, unless someone tells them?


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And how can anyone tell them without being sent by the Lord? The Scriptures say it is a beautiful sight to see even the feet of someone coming to preach the good news.


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Yet not everyone has believed the message. For example, the prophet Isaiah asked, "Lord, has anyone believed what we said?"


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But am I saying that the people of Israel did not hear? No, I am not! The Scriptures say, "The message was told everywhere on earth. It was announced all over the world."


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Did the people of Israel understand or not? Moses answered this question when he told that the Lord had said, "I will make Israel jealous of people who are a nation of nobodies. I will make them angry at people who don't understand a thing."


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Isaiah was fearless enough to tell that the Lord had said, "I was found by people who were not looking for me. I appeared to the ones who were not asking about me."


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And Isaiah said about the people of Israel, "All day long the Lord has reached out to people who are stubborn and refuse to obey."


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Am I saying that God has turned his back on his people? Certainly not! I am one of the people of Israel, and I myself am a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin.


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God did not turn his back on his chosen people. Don't you remember reading in the Scriptures how Elijah complained to God about the people of Israel?


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He said, "Lord, they killed your prophets and destroyed your altars. I am the only one left, and now they want to kill me."


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It is the same way now. God was kind to the people of Israel, and so a few of them are still his followers.


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This happened because of God's undeserved kindness and not because of anything they have done. It could not have happened except for God's kindness.


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This means that only a chosen few of the people of Israel found what all of them were searching for. And the rest of them were stubborn,


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just as the Scriptures say, "God made them so stupid that their eyes are blind, and their ears are still deaf."


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Then David said, "Turn their meals into bait for a trap, so that they will stumble and be given what they deserve.


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Blindfold their eyes! Don't let them see. Bend their backs beneath a burden that will never be lifted."


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Do I mean that the people of Israel fell, never to get up again? Certainly not! Their failure made it possible for the Gentiles to be saved, and this will make the people of Israel jealous.


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But if the rest of the world's people were helped so much by Israel's sin and loss, they will be helped even more by their full return.


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I am now speaking to you Gentiles, and as long as I am an apostle to you, I will take pride in my work.


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When Israel rejected God, the rest of the people in the world were able to turn to him. So when God makes friends with Israel, it will be like bringing the dead back to life.


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If part of a batch of dough is made holy by being offered to God, then all of the dough is holy. If the roots of a tree are holy, the rest of the tree is holy too.


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You Gentiles are like branches of a wild olive tree that were made to be part of a cultivated olive tree. You have taken the place of some branches that were cut away from it. And because of this, you enjoy the blessings that come from being part of that cultivated tree.


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But don't think you are better than the branches that were cut away. Just remember that you are not supporting the roots of that tree. Its roots are supporting you.


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That's true enough. But they were cut away because they did not have faith, and you are where you are because you do have faith. So don't be proud, but be afraid.


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Now you see both how kind and how hard God can be. He was hard on those who fell, but he was kind to you. And he will keep on being kind to you, if you keep on trusting in his kindness. Otherwise, you will be cut away too.


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If those other branches will start having faith, they will be made a part of that tree again. God has the power to put them back.


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After all, it wasn't natural for branches to be cut from a wild olive tree and to be made part of a cultivated olive tree. So it is much more likely that God will join the natural branches back to the cultivated olive tree.


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My friends, I don't want you Gentiles to be too proud of yourselves. So I will explain the mystery of what has happened to the people of Israel. Some of them have become stubborn, and they will stay like that until the complete number of you Gentiles has come in.


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In this way all of Israel will be saved, as the Scriptures say, "From Zion someone will come to rescue us. Then Jacob's descendants will stop being evil.


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The people of Israel are treated as God's enemies, so that the good news can come to you Gentiles. But they are still the chosen ones, and God loves them because of their famous ancestors.


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At one time you Gentiles rejected God. But now Israel has rejected God, and you have been shown mercy.


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All people have disobeyed God, and that's why he treats them as prisoners. But he does this, so that he can have mercy on all of them.


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Who can measure the wealth and wisdom and knowledge of God? Who can understand his decisions or explain what he does?


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Everything comes from the Lord. All things were made because of him and will return to him. Praise the Lord forever! Amen.


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Dear friends, God is good. So I beg you to offer your bodies to him as a living sacrifice, pure and pleasing. That's the most sensible way to serve God.


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Don't be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him.


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I realize how kind God has been to me, and so I tell each of you not to think you are better than you really are. Use good sense and measure yourself by the amount of faith that God has given you.


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That's how it is with us. There are many of us, but we each are part of the body of Christ, as well as part of one another.


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God has also given each of us different gifts to use. If we can prophesy, we should do it according to the amount of faith we have.


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If we can encourage others, we should encourage them. If we can give, we should be generous. If we are leaders, we should do our best. If we are good to others, we should do it cheerfully.


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Be sincere in your love for others. Hate everything that is evil and hold tight to everything that is good.


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Be friendly with everyone. Don't be proud and feel that you are smarter than others. Make friends with ordinary people.


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Dear friends, don't try to get even. Let God take revenge. In the Scriptures the Lord says, "I am the one to take revenge and pay them back."


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The Scriptures also say, "If your enemies are hungry, give them something to eat. And if they are thirsty, give them something to drink. This will be the same as piling burning coals on their heads."


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Obey the rulers who have authority over you. Only God can give authority to anyone, and he puts these rulers in their places of power.


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Rulers are a threat to evil people, not to good people. There is no need to be afraid of the authorities. Just do right, and they will praise you for it.


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After all, they are God's servants, and it is their duty to help you. If you do something wrong, you ought to be afraid, because these rulers have the right to punish you. They are God's servants who punish criminals to show how angry God is.


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But you should obey the rulers because you know it is the right thing to do, and not just because of God's anger.


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You must also pay your taxes. The authorities are God's servants, and it is their duty to take care of these matters.


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In the Law there are many commands, such as, "Be faithful in marriage. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not want what belongs to others." But all of these are summed up in the command that says, "Love others as much as you love yourself."


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You know what sort of times we live in, and so you should live properly. It is time to wake up. You know that the day when we will be saved is nearer now than when we first put our faith in the Lord.


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Night is almost over, and day will soon appear. We must stop behaving as people do in the dark and be ready to live in the light.


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So behave properly, as people do in the day. Don't go to wild parties or get drunk or be vulgar or indecent. Don't quarrel or be jealous.


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Let the Lord Jesus Christ be as near to you as the clothes you wear. Then you won't try to satisfy your selfish desires.


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Welcome all the Lord's followers, even those whose faith is weak. Don't criticize them for having beliefs that are different from yours.


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Some think it is all right to eat anything, while those whose faith is weak will eat only vegetables.


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What right do you have to criticize someone else's servants? Only their Lord can decide if they are doing right, and the Lord will make sure that they do right.


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Some of the Lord's followers think one day is more important than another. Others think all days are the same. But each of you should make up your own mind.


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Any followers who count one day more important than another day do it to honor their Lord. And any followers who eat meat give thanks to God, just like the ones who don't eat meat.


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This is because Christ died and rose to life, so that he would be the Lord of the dead and of the living.


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Why do you criticize other followers of the Lord? Why do you look down on them? The day is coming when God will judge all of us.


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In the Scriptures God says, "I swear by my very life that everyone will kneel down and praise my name!"


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The Lord Jesus has made it clear to me that God considers all foods fit to eat. But if you think some foods are unfit to eat, then for you they are not fit.


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If you are hurting others by the foods you eat, you are not guided by love. Don't let your appetite destroy someone Christ died for.


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God's kingdom isn't about eating and drinking. It is about pleasing God, about living in peace, and about true happiness. All this comes from the Holy Spirit.


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Don't let your appetite destroy what God has done. All foods are fit to eat, but it is wrong to cause problems for others by what you eat.


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It is best not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else that causes problems for other followers of the Lord.


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What you believe about these things should be kept between you and God. You are fortunate, if your actions don't make you have doubts.


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But if you do have doubts about what you eat, you are going against your beliefs. And you know that is wrong, because anything you do against your beliefs is sin.


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If our faith is strong, we should be patient with the Lord's followers whose faith is weak. We should try to please them instead of ourselves.


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Even Christ did not try to please himself. But as the Scriptures say, "The people who insulted you also insulted me."


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God is the one who makes us patient and cheerful. I pray that he will help you live at peace with each other, as you follow Christ.


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I tell you that Christ came as a servant of the Jews to show that God has kept the promises he made to their famous ancestors. Christ also came,


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so that the Gentiles would praise God for being kind to them. It is just as the Scriptures say, "I will tell the nations about you, and I will sing praises to your name."


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Again the Scriptures say, "Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles. All you nations, come and worship him."


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Isaiah says, "Someone from David's family will come to power. He will rule the nations, and they will put their hope in him."


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I pray that God, who gives hope, will bless you with complete happiness and peace because of your faith. And may the power of the Holy Spirit fill you with hope.


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My friends, I am sure that you are very good and that you have all the knowledge you need to teach each other.


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But I have spoken to you plainly and have tried to remind you of some things. God was so kind to me!


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He chose me to be a servant of Christ Jesus for the Gentiles and to do the work of a priest in the service of his good news. God did this so that the Holy Spirit could make the Gentiles into a holy offering, pleasing to him.


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In fact, all I will talk about is how Christ let me speak and work, so that the Gentiles would obey him.


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Indeed, I will tell how Christ worked miracles and wonders by the power of the Holy Spirit. I have preached the good news about him all the way from Jerusalem to Illyricum.


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But I have always tried to preach where people have never heard about Christ. I am like a builder who doesn't build on anyone else's foundation.


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It is just as the Scriptures say, "All who haven't been told about him will see him, and those who haven't heard about him will understand."


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Now there is nothing left for me to do in this part of the world, and for years I have wanted to visit you.


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So I plan to stop off on my way to Spain. Then after a short, but refreshing, visit with you, I hope you will quickly send me on.


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I am now on my way to Jerusalem to deliver the money that the Lord's followers in Macedonia and Achaia collected for God's needy people.


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This is something they really wanted to do. But sharing their money with the Jews was also like paying back a debt, because the Jews had already shared their spiritual blessings with the Gentiles.


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My friends, by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the love that comes from the Holy Spirit, I beg you to pray sincerely with me and for me.


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Pray that God will protect me from the unbelievers in Judea, and that his people in Jerusalem will be pleased with what I am doing.


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Welcome her in a way that is proper for someone who has faith in the Lord and is one of God's own people. Help her in any way you can. After all, she has proved to be a respected leader for many others, including me.


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but they have even risked their lives for me. I am grateful for them and so are all the Gentile churches.


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Greet the church that meets in their home. Greet my dear friend Epaenetus, who was the first person in Asia to have faith in Christ.


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Greet my relatives Andronicus and Junias, who were in jail with me. They are highly respected by the apostles and were followers of Christ before I was.


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Greet Herodion, who is a relative of mine. Greet Narcissus and the others in his family, who have faith in the Lord.


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Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who work hard for the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis. She also works hard for the Lord.


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Greet Rufus, that special servant of the Lord, and greet his mother, who has been like a mother to me.


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Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all of God's people who are with them.


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My friends, I beg you to watch out for anyone who causes trouble and divides the church by refusing to do what all of you were taught. Stay away from them!


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They want to serve themselves and not Christ the Lord. Their flattery and fancy talk fool people who don't know any better.


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I am glad that everyone knows how well you obey the Lord. But still, I want you to understand what is good and not have anything to do with evil.


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Then God, who gives peace, will soon crush Satan under your feet. I pray that our Lord Jesus will be kind to you.


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Timothy, who works with me, sends his greetings, and so do my relatives, Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater.


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Gaius welcomes me and the whole church into his home, and he sends his greetings. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our dear friend Quartus send their greetings too.


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Praise God! He can make you strong by means of my good news, which is the message about Jesus Christ. For ages and ages this message was kept secret,


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but now at last it has been told. The eternal God commanded his prophets to write about the good news, so that all nations would obey and have faith.


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From Paul, chosen by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from Sosthenes, who is also a follower.


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To God's church in Corinth. Christ Jesus chose you to be his very own people, and you worship in his name, as we and all others do who call him Lord.


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My prayer is that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!


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My dear friends, as a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ, I beg you to get along with each other. Don't take sides. Always try to agree in what you think.


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Several people from Chloe's family have already reported to me that you keep arguing with each other.


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They have said that some of you claim to follow me, while others claim to follow Apollos or Peter or Christ.


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Christ did not send me to baptize. He sent me to tell the good news without using big words that would make the cross of Christ lose its power.


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The message about the cross doesn't make any sense to lost people. But for those of us who are being saved, it is God's power at work.


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As God says in the Scriptures, "I will destroy the wisdom of all who claim to be wise. I will confuse those who think they know so much."


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What happened to those wise people? What happened to those experts in the Scriptures? What happened to the ones who think they have all the answers? Didn't God show that the wisdom of this world is foolish?


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God was wise and decided not to let the people of this world use their wisdom to learn about him. Instead, God chose to save only those who believe the foolish message we preach.


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But we preach that Christ was nailed to a cross. Most Jews have problems with this, and most Gentiles think it is foolish.


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Even when God is foolish, he is wiser than everyone else, and even when God is weak, he is stronger than everyone else.


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My dear friends, remember what you were when God chose you. The people of this world didn't think that many of you were wise. Only a few of you were in places of power, and not many of you came from important families.


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But God chose the foolish things of this world to put the wise to shame. He chose the weak things of this world to put the powerful to shame.


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What the world thinks is worthless, useless, and nothing at all is what God has used to destroy what the world considers important.


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Friends, when I came and told you the mystery that God had shared with us, I didn't use big words or try to sound wise.


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In fact, while I was with you, I made up my mind to speak only about Jesus Christ, who had been nailed to a cross.


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When I talked with you or preached, I didn't try to prove anything by sounding wise. I simply let God's Spirit show his power.


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We do use wisdom when speaking to people who are mature in their faith. But it isn't the wisdom of this world or of its rulers, who will soon disappear.


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We speak of God's hidden and mysterious wisdom that God decided to use for our glory long before the world began.


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The rulers of this world didn't know anything about this wisdom. If they had known about it, they would not have nailed the glorious Lord to a cross.


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But it is just as the Scriptures say, "What God has planned for people who love him is more than eyes have seen or ears have heard. It has never even entered our minds!"


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God's Spirit has shown you everything. His Spirit finds out everything, even what is deep in the mind of God.


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You are the only one who knows what is in your own mind, and God's Spirit is the only one who knows what is in God's mind.


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But God has given us his Spirit. That's why we don't think the same way that the people of this world think. That's also why we can recognize the blessings that God has given us.


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Every word we speak was taught to us by God's Spirit, not by human wisdom. And this same Spirit helps us teach spiritual things to spiritual people.


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That's why only someone who has God's Spirit can understand spiritual blessings. Anyone who doesn't have God's Spirit thinks these blessings are foolish.


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People who are guided by the Spirit can make all kinds of judgments, but they cannot be judged by others.


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The Scriptures ask, "Has anyone ever known the thoughts of the Lord or given him advice?" But we understand what Christ is thinking.


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My friends, you are acting like the people of this world. That's why I could not speak to you as spiritual people. You are like babies as far as your faith in Christ is concerned.


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So I had to treat you like babies and feed you milk. You could not take solid food, and you still cannot,


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because you are not yet spiritual. You are jealous and argue with each other. This proves that you are not spiritual and that you are acting like the people of this world.


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Some of you say that you follow me, and others claim to follow Apollos. Isn't that how ordinary people behave?


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Apollos and I are merely servants who helped you to have faith. It was the Lord who made it all happen.


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The one who plants is just as important as the one who waters. And each one will be paid for what they do.


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God was kind and let me become an expert builder. I laid a foundation on which others have built. But we must each be careful how we build,


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Whatever we build on that foundation will be tested by fire on the day of judgment. Then everyone will find out if we have used gold, silver, and precious stones, or wood, hay, and straw.


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But if it is destroyed by the fire, we will lose everything. Yet we ourselves will be saved, like someone escaping from flames.


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Don't fool yourselves! If any of you think you are wise in the things of this world, you will have to become foolish before you can be truly wise.


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This is because God considers the wisdom of this world to be foolish. It is just as the Scriptures say, "God catches the wise when they try to outsmart him."


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So stop bragging about what anyone has done. Paul and Apollos and Peter all belong to you. In fact, everything is yours, including the world, life, death, the present, and the future. Everything belongs to you,


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it doesn't matter to me if I am judged by you or even by a court of law. In fact, I don't judge myself.


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So don't judge anyone until the Lord returns. He will show what is hidden in the dark and what is in everyone's heart. Then God will be the one who praises each of us.


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Friends, I have used Apollos and myself as examples to teach you the meaning of the saying, "Follow the rules." I want you to stop saying that one of us is better than the other.


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What is so special about you? What do you have that you were not given? And if it was given to you, how can you brag?


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Are you already satisfied? Are you now rich? Have you become kings while we are still nobodies? I wish you were kings. Then we could have a share in your kingdom.


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It seems to me that God has put us apostles in the worst possible place. We are like prisoners on their way to death. Angels and the people of this world just laugh at us.


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Because of Christ we are thought of as fools, but Christ has made you wise. We are weak and hated, but you are powerful and respected.


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Even today we go hungry and thirsty and don't have anything to wear except rags. We are mistreated and don't have a place to live.


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We work hard with our own hands, and when people abuse us, we wish them well. When we suffer, we are patient.


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When someone curses us, we answer with kind words. Until now we are thought of as nothing more than the trash and garbage of this world.


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I am not writing to embarrass you. I want to help you, just as parents help their own dear children.


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Ten thousand people may teach you about Christ, but I am your only father. You became my children when I told you about Christ Jesus,


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That's why I sent Timothy to you. I love him like a son, and he is a faithful servant of the Lord. Timothy will tell you what I do to follow Christ and how it agrees with what I always teach about Christ in every church.


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But if the Lord lets me come, I will soon be there. Then I will find out if the ones who are doing all this bragging really have any power.


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I have heard terrible things about some of you. In fact, you are behaving worse than the Gentiles. A man is even sleeping with his own stepmother.


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I am with you only in my thoughts. But in the name of our Lord Jesus I have already judged this man, as though I were with you in person. So when you meet together and the power of the Lord Jesus is with you, I will be there too.


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You must then hand that man over to Satan. His body will be destroyed, but his spirit will be saved when the Lord Jesus returns.


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Get rid of the old yeast! Then you will be like fresh bread made without yeast, and that is what you are. Our Passover lamb is Christ, who has already been sacrificed.


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So don't celebrate the festival by being evil and sinful, which is like serving bread made with yeast. Be pure and truthful and celebrate by using bread made without yeast.


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But I wasn't talking about the people of this world. You would have to leave this world to get away from everyone who is immoral or greedy or who cheats or worships idols.


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I was talking about your own people who are immoral or greedy or worship idols or curse others or get drunk or cheat. Don't even eat with them!


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When one of you has a complaint against another, do you take your complaint to a court of sinners? Or do you take it to God's people?


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Don't you know that God's people will judge the world? And if you are going to judge the world, can't you settle small problems?


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I say this to your shame. Aren't any of you wise enough to act as a judge between one follower and another?


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When one of you takes another to court, all of you lose. It would be better to let yourselves be cheated and robbed.


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Don't you know that evil people won't have a share in the blessings of God's kingdom? Don't fool yourselves! No one who is immoral or worships idols or is unfaithful in marriage or is a pervert or behaves like a homosexual


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will share in God's kingdom. Neither will any thief or greedy person or drunkard or anyone who curses and cheats others.


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Some of you used to be like that. But now the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and the power of God's Spirit have washed you and made you holy and acceptable to God.


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Some of you say, "We can do anything we want to." But I tell you that not everything is good for us. So I refuse to let anything have power over me.


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You also say, "Food is meant for our bodies, and our bodies are meant for food." But I tell you that God will destroy them both. We are not supposed to do indecent things with our bodies. We are to use them for the Lord who is in charge of our bodies.


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Don't you know that your bodies are part of the body of Christ? Is it right for me to join part of the body of Christ to a prostitute? No, it isn't!


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Don't you know that a man who does that becomes part of her body? The Scriptures say, "The two of them will be like one person."


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Don't be immoral in matters of sex. That is a sin against your own body in a way that no other sin is.


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You surely know that your body is a temple where the Holy Spirit lives. The Spirit is in you and is a gift from God. You are no longer your own.


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Now I will answer the questions that you asked in your letter. You asked, "Is it best for people not to marry?"


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A wife belongs to her husband instead of to herself, and a husband belongs to his wife instead of to himself.


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So don't refuse sex to each other, unless you agree not to have sex for a little while, in order to spend time in prayer. Then Satan won't be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control.


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In my opinion that is what should be done, though I don't know of anything the Lord said about this matter.


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Here is my advice for people who have never been married and for widows. You should stay single, just as I am.


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But if you don't have enough self-control, then go ahead and get married. After all, it is better to marry than to burn with desire.


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I instruct married couples to stay together, and this is exactly what the Lord himself taught. A wife who leaves her husband


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I don't know of anything else the Lord said about marriage. All I can do is to give you my own advice. If your wife isn't a follower of the Lord, but is willing to stay with you, don't divorce her.


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Your husband or wife who isn't a follower is made holy by having you as a mate. This also makes your children holy and keeps them from being unclean in God's sight.


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If your husband or wife isn't a follower of the Lord and decides to divorce you, then you should agree to it. You are no longer bound to that person. After all, God chose you and wants you to live at peace.


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In every church I tell the people to stay as they were when the Lord Jesus chose them and God called them to be his own. Now I say the same thing to you.


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If you are already circumcised, don't try to change it. If you are not circumcised, don't get circumcised.


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Being circumcised or uncircumcised isn't really what matters. The important thing is to obey God's commands.


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When the Lord chooses slaves, they become his free people. And when he chooses free people, they become slaves of Christ.


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I don't know of anything that the Lord said about people who have never been married. But I will tell you what I think. And you can trust me, because the Lord has treated me with kindness.


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It isn't wrong to marry, even if you have never been married before. But those who marry will have a lot of trouble, and I want to protect you from that.


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My friends, what I mean is that the Lord will soon come, and it won't matter if you are married or not.


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It will be all the same if you are crying or laughing, or if you are buying or are completely broke.


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It won't make any difference how much good you are getting from this world or how much you like it. This world as we know it is now passing away.


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But a married man has more worries. He must worry about the things of this world, because he wants to please his wife.


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So he is pulled in two directions. Unmarried women and women who have never been married worry only about pleasing the Lord, and they keep their bodies and minds pure. But a married woman worries about the things of this world, because she wants to please her husband.


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What I am saying is for your own good--it isn't to limit your freedom. I want to help you to live right and to love the Lord above all else.


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But suppose you are engaged to someone old enough to be married, and you want her so much that all you can think about is getting married. Then go ahead and marry. There is nothing wrong with that.


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A wife should stay married to her husband until he dies. Then she is free to marry again, but only to a man who is a follower of the Lord.


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In your letter you asked me about food offered to idols. All of us know something about this subject. But knowledge makes us proud of ourselves, while love makes us helpful to others.


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Even though food is offered to idols, we know that none of the idols in this world are alive. After all, there is only one God.


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Many things in heaven and on earth are called gods and lords, but none of them really are gods or lords.


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We have only one God, and he is the Father. He created everything, and we live for him. Jesus Christ is our only Lord. Everything was made by him, and by him life was given to us.


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Not everyone knows these things. In fact, many people have grown up with the belief that idols have life in them. So when they eat meat offered to idols, they are bothered by a weak conscience.


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But food doesn't bring us any closer to God. We are no worse off if we don't eat, and we are no better off if we do.


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Don't cause problems for someone with a weak conscience, just because you have the right to eat anything.


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You know all this, and so it doesn't bother you to eat in the temple of an idol. But suppose a person with a weak conscience sees you and decides to eat food that has been offered to idols.


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We each have the right to marry one of the Lord's followers and to take her along with us, just as the other apostles and the Lord's brothers and Peter do.


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Do soldiers pay their own salaries? Don't people who raise grapes eat some of what they grow? Don't shepherds get milk from their own goats?


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I am not saying this on my own authority. The Law of Moses tells us not to muzzle an ox when it is grinding grain. But was God concerned only about an ox?


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No, he wasn't! He was talking about us. This was written in the Scriptures so that all who plow and all who grind the grain will look forward to sharing in the harvest.


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When we told the message to you, it was like planting spiritual seed. So we have the right to accept material things as our harvest from you.


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If others have the right to do this, we have an even greater right. But we haven't used this right of ours. We are willing to put up with anything to keep from causing trouble for the message about Christ.


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Don't you know that people who work in the temple make their living from what is brought to the temple? Don't you know that a person who serves at the altar is given part of what is offered?


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In the same way, the Lord wants everyone who preaches the good news to make a living from preaching this message.


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But I have never used these privileges of mine, and I am not writing this because I want to start now. I would rather die than have someone rob me of the right to take pride in this.


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I don't have any reason to brag about preaching the good news. Preaching is something God told me to do, and if I don't do it, I am doomed.


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If I preach because I want to, I will be paid. But even if I don't want to, it is still something God has sent me to do.


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What pay am I given? It is the chance to preach the good news free of charge and not to use the privileges that are mine because I am a preacher.


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I am not anyone's slave. But I have become a slave to everyone, so that I can win as many people as possible.


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When I am with the Jews, I live like a Jew to win Jews. They are ruled by the Law of Moses, and I am not. But I live by the Law to win them.


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And when I am with people who are not ruled by the Law, I forget about the Law to win them. Of course, I never really forget about the law of God. In fact, I am ruled by the law of Christ.


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When I am with people whose faith is weak, I live as they do to win them. I do everything I can to win everyone I possibly can.


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Athletes work hard to win a crown that cannot last, but we do it for a crown that will last forever.


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I keep my body under control and make it my slave, so I won't lose out after telling the good news to others.


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Friends, I want to remind you that all of our ancestors walked under the cloud and went through the sea.


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and drank the same spiritual drink, which flowed from the spiritual rock that followed them. That rock was Christ.


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But most of them did not please God. So they died, and their bodies were scattered all over the desert.


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They worshiped idols, just as the Scriptures say, "The people sat down to eat and drink. Then they got up to dance around." So don't worship idols.


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Some of those people did shameful things, and in a single day about twenty-three thousand of them died. Don't do shameful things as they did.


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These things happened to them as a warning to us. All this was written in the Scriptures to teach us who live in these last days.


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You are tempted in the same way that everyone else is tempted. But God can be trusted not to let you be tempted too much, and he will show you how to escape from your temptations.


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When we drink from the cup that we ask God to bless, isn't that sharing in the blood of Christ? When we eat the bread that we break, isn't that sharing in the body of Christ?


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Aren't the people of Israel sharing in the worship when they gather around the altar and eat the sacrifices offered there?


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No, I am not! That food is really sacrificed to demons and not to God. I don't want you to have anything to do with demons.


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You cannot drink from the cup of demons and still drink from the Lord's cup. You cannot eat at the table of demons and still eat at the Lord's table.


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Some of you say, "We can do whatever we want to!" But I tell you that not everything may be good or helpful.


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However, when you buy meat in the market, go ahead and eat it. Keep your conscience clear by not asking where the meat came from.


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If an unbeliever invites you to dinner, and you want to go, then go. Eat whatever you are served. Don't cause a problem for someone's conscience by asking where the food came from.


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But if you are told that it has been sacrificed to idols, don't cause a problem by eating it. I don't mean a problem for yourself, but for the one who told you. Why should my freedom be limited by someone else's conscience?


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Now I want you to know that Christ is the head over all men, and a man is the head over a woman. But God is the head over Christ.


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This means that any man who prays or prophesies with something on his head brings shame to his head.


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But any woman who prays or prophesies without something on her head brings shame to her head. In fact, she may as well shave her head.


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A woman should wear something on her head. It is a disgrace for a woman to shave her head or cut her hair. But if she refuses to wear something on her head, let her cut off her hair.


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Men were created to be like God and to bring honor to God. This means that a man should not wear anything on his head. Women were created to bring honor to men.


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And so, because of this, and also because of the angels, a woman ought to wear something on her head, as a sign of her authority.


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It is true that the first woman came from a man, but all other men have been given birth by women. Yet God is the one who created everything.


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This is how things are done in all of God's churches, and that's why none of you should argue about what I have said.


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I am told that you can't get along with each other when you worship, and I am sure that some of what I have heard is true.


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You even start eating before everyone gets to the meeting, and some of you go hungry, while others get drunk.


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Don't you have homes where you can eat and drink? Do you hate God's church? Do you want to embarrass people who don't have anything? What can I say to you? I certainly cannot praise you.


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I have already told you what the Lord Jesus did on the night he was betrayed. And it came from the Lord himself. He took some bread in his hands.


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Then after he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is given for you. Eat this and remember me."


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After the meal, Jesus took a cup of wine in his hands and said, "This is my blood, and with it God makes his new agreement with you. Drink this and remember me."


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The Lord meant that when you eat this bread and drink from this cup, you tell about his death until he comes.


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But if you eat the bread and drink the wine in a way that isn't worthy of the Lord, you sin against his body and blood.


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If you fail to understand that you are the body of the Lord, you will condemn yourselves by the way you eat and drink.


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But when the Lord judges and punishes us, he does it to keep us from being condemned with the rest of the world.


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If you really are hungry, you can eat at home. Then you won't condemn yourselves when you meet together. After I arrive, I will instruct you about the other matters.


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I want you to remember that before you became followers of the Lord, you were led in all the wrong ways by idols that cannot even talk.


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Now I want you to know that if you are led by God's Spirit, you will say that Jesus is Lord, and you will never curse Jesus.


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and we can each do different things. Yet the same God works in all of us and helps us in everything we do.


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Some of us can speak with wisdom, while others can speak with knowledge, but these gifts come from the same Spirit.


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or the power to work mighty miracles. Some of us are prophets, and some of us recognize when God's Spirit is present. Others can speak different kinds of languages, and still others can tell what these languages mean.


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Some of us are Jews, and others are Gentiles. Some of us are slaves, and others are free. But God's Spirit baptized each of us and made us part of the body of Christ. Now we each drink from that same Spirit.


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Suppose a foot says, "I'm not a hand, and so I'm not part of the body." Wouldn't the foot still belong to the body?


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Or suppose an ear says, "I'm not an eye, and so I'm not part of the body." Wouldn't the ear still belong to the body?


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If our bodies were only an eye, we couldn't hear a thing. And if they were only an ear, we couldn't smell a thing.


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That's why the eyes cannot say they don't need the hands. That's also why the head cannot say it doesn't need the feet.


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but we don't have to be modest about other parts. God put our bodies together in such a way that even the parts that seem the least important are valuable.


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He did this to make all parts of the body work together smoothly, with each part caring about the others.


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If one part of our body hurts, we hurt all over. If one part of our body is honored, the whole body will be happy.


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First, God chose some people to be apostles and prophets and teachers for the church. But he also chose some to work miracles or heal the sick or help others or be leaders or speak different kinds of languages.


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Not everyone is an apostle. Not everyone is a prophet. Not everyone is a teacher. Not everyone can work miracles.


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Not everyone can heal the sick. Not everyone can speak different kinds of languages. Not everyone can tell what these languages mean.


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What if I could speak all languages of humans and of angels? If I did not love others, I would be nothing more than a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.


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What if I could prophesy and understand all secrets and all knowledge? And what if I had faith that moved mountains? I would be nothing, unless I loved others.


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What if I gave away all that I owned and let myself be burned alive? I would gain nothing, unless I loved others.


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Love never fails! Everyone who prophesies will stop, and unknown languages will no longer be spoken. All that we know will be forgotten.


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When we were children, we thought and reasoned as children do. But when we grew up, we quit our childish ways.


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Now all we can see of God is like a cloudy picture in a mirror. Later we will see him face to face. We don't know everything, but then we will, just as God completely understands us.


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Love should be your guide. Be eager to have the gifts that come from the Holy Spirit, especially the gift of prophecy.


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If you speak languages that others don't know, God will understand what you are saying, though no one else will know what you mean. You will be talking about mysteries that only the Spirit understands.


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But when you prophesy, you will be understood, and others will be helped. They will be encouraged and made to feel better.


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By speaking languages that others don't know, you help only yourself. But by prophesying you help everyone in the church.


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I am glad for you to speak unknown languages, although I had rather for you to prophesy. In fact, prophesying does much more good than speaking unknown languages, unless someone can help the church by explaining what you mean.


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My friends, what good would it do, if I came and spoke unknown languages to you and didn't explain what I meant? How would I help you, unless I told you what God had shown me or gave you some knowledge or prophecy or teaching?


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If all musical instruments sounded alike, how would you know the difference between a flute and a harp?


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That's how it is when you speak unknown languages. If no one can understand what you are talking about, you will only be talking to the wind.


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But if I don't understand the language that someone is using, we will be like foreigners to each other.


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When we speak languages that others don't know, we should pray for the power to explain what we mean.


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Then what should I do? There are times when I should pray with my spirit, and times when I should pray with my mind. Sometimes I should sing with my spirit, and at other times I should sing with my mind.


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Suppose some strangers are in your worship service, when you are praising God with your spirit. If they don't understand you, how will they know to say, "Amen"?


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But words that make sense can help the church. That's why in church I had rather speak five words that make sense than to speak ten thousand words in a language that others don't know.


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My friends, stop thinking like children. Think like mature people and be as innocent as tiny babies.


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In the Scriptures the Lord says, "I will use strangers who speak unknown languages to talk to my people. They will speak to them in foreign languages, but still my people won't listen to me."


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Languages that others don't know may mean something to unbelievers, but not to the Lord's followers. Prophecy, on the other hand, is for followers, not for unbelievers.


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Suppose everyone in your worship service started speaking unknown languages, and some outsiders or some unbelievers come in. Won't they think you are crazy?


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But suppose all of you are prophesying when those unbelievers and outsiders come in. They will realize that they are sinners, and they will want to change their ways because of what you are saying.


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They will tell what is hidden in their hearts. Then they will kneel down and say to God, "We are certain that you are with these people."


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My friends, when you meet to worship, you must do everything for the good of everyone there. That's how it should be when someone sings or teaches or tells what God has said or speaks an unknown language or explains what the language means.


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No more than two or three of you should speak unknown languages during the meeting. You must take turns, and someone should always be there to explain what you mean.


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If someone sitting there receives a message from God, the speaker must stop and let the other person speak.


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the women must not be allowed to speak. They must keep quiet and listen, as the Law of Moses teaches.


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If there is something they want to know, they can ask their husbands when they get home. It is disgraceful for women to speak in church.


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If you think of yourself as a prophet or a spiritual person, you will know that I am writing only what the Lord has commanded.


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My friends, be eager to prophesy and don't stop anyone from speaking languages that others don't know.


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You will be saved by this message, if you hold firmly to it. But if you don't, your faith was all for nothing.


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I told you the most important part of the message exactly as it was told to me. That part is: Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures say.


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After this, he appeared to more than five hundred other followers. Most of them are still alive, but some have died.


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I am the least important of all the apostles. In fact, I caused so much trouble for God's church that I don't even deserve to be called an apostle.


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But God was kind! He made me what I am, and his wonderful kindness wasn't wasted. I worked much harder than any of the other apostles, although it was really God's kindness at work and not me.


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But it doesn't matter if I preached or if they preached. All of you believed the message just the same.


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If we preach that Christ was raised from death, how can some of you say that the dead will not be raised to life?


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If the dead won't be raised to life, we have told lies about God by saying that he raised Christ to life, when he really did not.


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But Christ has been raised to life! And he makes us certain that others will also be raised to life.


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But we must each wait our turn. Christ was the first to be raised to life, and his people will be raised to life when he returns.


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Then after Christ has destroyed all powers and forces, the end will come, and he will give the kingdom to God the Father.


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When the Scriptures say that he will put everything under his power, they don't include God. It was God who put everything under the power of Christ.


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After everything is under the power of God's Son, he will put himself under the power of God, who put everything under his Son's power. Then God will mean everything to everyone.


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If the dead are not going to be raised to life, what will people do who are being baptized for them? Why are they being baptized for those dead people?


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and face death every day? The pride that I have in you because of Christ Jesus our Lord is what makes me say this.


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What do you think I gained by fighting wild animals in Ephesus? If the dead are not raised to life, "Let's eat and drink. Tomorrow we die."


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Be sensible and stop sinning. You should be embarrassed that some people still don't know about God.


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Everything in the heavens has a body, and so does everything on earth. But each one is very different from all the others.


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That's how it will be when our bodies are raised to life. These bodies will die, but the bodies that are raised will live forever.


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As surely as there are physical bodies, there are spiritual bodies. And our physical bodies will be changed into spiritual bodies.


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The first man was named Adam, and the Scriptures tell us that he was a living person. But Jesus, who may be called the last Adam, is a life-giving spirit.


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We see that the one with a spiritual body did not come first. He came after the one who had a physical body.


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Everyone on earth has a body like the body of the one who was made from the dust of the earth. And everyone in heaven has a body like the body of the one who came from heaven.


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Just as we are like the one who was made out of earth, we will be like the one who came from heaven.


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My friends, I want you to know that our bodies of flesh and blood will decay. This means that they cannot share in God's kingdom, which lasts forever.


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It will happen suddenly, quicker than the blink of an eye. At the sound of the last trumpet the dead will be raised. We will all be changed, so that we will never die again.


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The bodies we now have are weak and can die. But they will be changed into bodies that are eternal. Then the Scriptures will come true, "Death has lost the battle!


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My dear friends, stand firm and don't be shaken. Always keep busy working for the Lord. You know that everything you do for him is worthwhile.


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When you collect money for God's people, I want you to do exactly what I told the churches in Galatia to do.


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That is, each Sunday each of you must put aside part of what you have earned. If you do this, you won't have to take up a collection when I come.


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Choose some followers to take the money to Jerusalem. I will send them on with the money and with letters which show that you approve of them.


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and visit with you for a while. I may even stay all winter, so that you can help me on my way to wherever I will be going next.


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If the Lord lets me, I would rather come later for a longer visit than to stop off now for only a short visit.


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because there is a wonderful opportunity for me to do some work here. But there are also many people who are against me.


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Don't let anyone mistreat him. I am looking for him to return to me together with the other followers. So when he leaves, send him off with your blessings.


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I have tried hard to get our friend Apollos to visit you with the other followers. He doesn't want to come just now, but he will come when he can.


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You know that Stephanas and his family were the first in Achaia to have faith in the Lord. They have done all they can for God's people. My friends, I ask you


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They made me feel much better, just as they made you feel better. You should appreciate people like them.


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Greetings from the churches in Asia. Aquila and Priscilla, together with the church that meets in their house, send greetings in the name of the Lord.


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From Paul, chosen by God to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, and from Timothy, who is also a follower. To God's church in Corinth and to all of God's people in Achaia.


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I pray that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!


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Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! The Father is a merciful God, who always gives us comfort.


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He comforts us when we are in trouble, so that we can share that same comfort with others in trouble.


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We suffer in the hope that you will be comforted and saved. And because we are comforted, you will also be comforted, as you patiently endure suffering like ours.


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You never disappoint us. You suffered as much as we did, and we know that you will be comforted as we were.


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My friends, I want you to know what a hard time we had in Asia. Our sufferings were so horrible and so unbearable that death seemed certain.


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In fact, we felt sure that we were going to die. But this made us stop trusting in ourselves and start trusting God, who raises the dead to life.


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Please help us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks for the blessings we receive in answer to all these prayers.


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We can be proud of our clear conscience. We have always lived honestly and sincerely, especially when we were with you. And we were guided by God's wonderful kindness instead of by the wisdom of this world.


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just as you already partly understand us. Then when our Lord Jesus returns, you can be as proud of us as we are of you.


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I was so sure of your pride in us that I had planned to visit you first of all. In this way you would have the blessing of two visits from me.


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Do you think I couldn't make up my mind about what to do? Or do I seem like someone who says "Yes" or "No" simply to please others?


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God can be trusted, and so can I, when I say that our answer to you has always been "Yes" and never "No."


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This is because Jesus Christ the Son of God is always "Yes" and never "No." And he is the one that Silas, Timothy, and I told you about.


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Christ says "Yes" to all of God's promises. That's why we have Christ to say "Amen" for us to the glory of God.


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And so God makes it possible for you and us to stand firmly together with Christ. God is also the one who chose us


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We are not bosses who tell you what to believe. We are working with you to make you glad, because your faith is strong.


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The reason I want to be happy is to make you happy. I wrote as I did because I didn't want to visit you and be made to feel bad, when you should make me feel happy.


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At the time I wrote, I was suffering terribly. My eyes were full of tears, and my heart was broken. But I didn't want to make you feel bad. I only wanted to let you know how much I cared for you.


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I don't want to be hard on you. But if one of you has made someone feel bad, I am not really the one who has been made to feel bad. Some of you are the ones.


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Most of you have already pointed out the wrong that person did, and that is punishment enough for what was done.


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I will forgive anyone you forgive. Yes, for your sake and with Christ as my witness, I have forgiven whatever needed to be forgiven.


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When I went to Troas to preach the good news about Christ, I found that the Lord had already prepared the way.


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But I was worried when I didn't find my friend Titus there. So I left the other followers and went on to Macedonia.


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I am grateful that God always makes it possible for Christ to lead us to victory. God also helps us spread the knowledge about Christ everywhere, and this knowledge is like the smell of perfume.


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In fact, God thinks of us as a perfume that brings Christ to everyone. For people who are being saved, this perfume has a sweet smell and leads them to a better life. But for people who are lost, it has a bad smell and leads them to a horrible death. No one really has what it takes to do this work.


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A lot of people try to get rich from preaching God's message. But we are God's sincere messengers, and by the power of Christ we speak our message with God as our witness.


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Are we once again bragging about ourselves? Do we need letters to you or from you to tell others about us? Some people do need letters that tell about them.


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You are like a letter written by Christ and delivered by us. But you are not written with pen and ink or on tablets made of stone. You are written in our hearts by the Spirit of the living God.


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We don't have the right to claim that we have done anything on our own. God gives us what it takes to do all that we do.


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He makes us worthy to be the servants of his new agreement that comes from the Holy Spirit and not from a written Law. After all, the Law brings death, but the Spirit brings life.


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The Law of Moses brought only the promise of death, even though it was carved on stones and given in a wonderful way. Still the Law made Moses' face shine so brightly that the people of Israel could not look at it, even though it was a fading glory.


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If something that brings the death sentence is glorious, won't something that makes us acceptable to God be even more glorious?


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The Law was given with a glory that faded away. But the glory of the new agreement is much greater, because it will never fade away.


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We are not like Moses. His face was shining, but he covered it to keep the people of Israel from seeing the brightness fade away.


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The people were stubborn, and something still keeps them from seeing the truth when the Law is read. Only Christ can take away the covering that keeps them from seeing.


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So our faces are not covered. They show the bright glory of the Lord, as the Lord's Spirit makes us more and more like our glorious Lord.


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We don't do shameful things that must be kept secret. And we don't try to fool anyone or twist God's message around. God is our witness that we speak only the truth, so others will be sure that we can be trusted.


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The god who rules this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers. They cannot see the light, which is the good news about our glorious Christ, who shows what God is like.


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We are not preaching about ourselves. Our message is that Jesus Christ is Lord. He also sent us to be your servants.


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The Scriptures say, "God commanded light to shine in the dark." Now God is shining in our hearts to let you know that his glory is seen in Jesus Christ.


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We are like clay jars in which this treasure is stored. The real power comes from God and not from us.


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We face death every day because of Jesus. Our bodies show what his death was like, so that his life can also be seen in us.


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In the Scriptures it says, "I spoke because I had faith." We have that same kind of faith. So we speak


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because we know that God raised the Lord Jesus to life. And just as God raised Jesus, he will also raise us to life. Then he will bring us into his presence together with you.


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All of this has been done for you, so that more and more people will know how kind God is and will praise and honor him.


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We never give up. Our bodies are gradually dying, but we ourselves are being made stronger each day.


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These little troubles are getting us ready for an eternal glory that will make all our troubles seem like nothing.


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Things that are seen don't last forever, but things that are not seen are eternal. That's why we keep our minds on the things that cannot be seen.


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Our bodies are like tents that we live in here on earth. But when these tents are destroyed, we know that God will give each of us a place to live. These homes will not be buildings that someone has made, but they are in heaven and will last forever.


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These tents we now live in are like a heavy burden, and we groan. But we don't do this just because we want to leave these bodies that will die. It is because we want to change them for bodies that will never die.


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God is the one who makes all of this possible. He has given us his Spirit to make us certain that he will do it.


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After all, Christ will judge each of us for the good or the bad that we do while living in these bodies.


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We know what it means to respect the Lord, and we encourage everyone to turn to him. God himself knows what we are like, and I hope you also know what kind of people we are.


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We are not trying once more to brag about ourselves. But we want you to be proud of us, when you are with those who are not sincere and brag about what others think of them.


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If we seem out of our minds, it is between God and us. But if we are in our right minds, it is for your good.


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We are ruled by Christ's love for us. We are certain that if one person died for everyone else, then all of us have died.


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And Christ did die for all of us. He died so we would no longer live for ourselves, but for the one who died and was raised to life for us.


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We are careful not to judge people by what they seem to be, though we once judged Christ in that way.


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God has done it all! He sent Christ to make peace between himself and us, and he has given us the work of making peace between himself and others.


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What we mean is that God was in Christ, offering peace and forgiveness to the people of this world. And he has given us the work of sharing his message about peace.


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We were sent to speak for Christ, and God is begging you to listen to our message. We speak for Christ and sincerely ask you to make peace with God.


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Christ never sinned! But God treated him as a sinner, so that Christ could make us acceptable to God.


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In the Scriptures God says, "When the time came, I listened to you, and when you needed help, I came to save you." That time has come. This is the day for you to be saved.


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But in everything and in every way we show that we truly are God's servants. We have always been patient, though we have had a lot of trouble, suffering, and hard times.


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We have been beaten, put in jail, and hurt in riots. We have worked hard and have gone without sleep or food.


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But we have kept ourselves pure and have been understanding, patient, and kind. The Holy Spirit has been with us, and our love has been real.


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We have spoken the truth, and God's power has worked in us. In all our struggles we have said and done only what is right.


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Whether we were honored or dishonored or praised or cursed, we always told the truth about ourselves. But some people said we did not.


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We are unknown to others, but well known to you. We seem to be dying, and yet we are still alive. We have been punished, but never killed,


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and we are always happy, even in times of suffering. Although we are poor, we have made many people rich. And though we own nothing, everything is ours.


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Stay away from people who are not followers of the Lord! Can someone who is good get along with someone who is evil? Are light and darkness the same?


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Is Christ a friend of Satan? Can people who follow the Lord have anything in common with those who don't?


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Do idols belong in the temple of God? We are the temple of the living God, as God himself says, "I will live with these people and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people."


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The Lord also says, "Leave them and stay away! Don't touch anything that isn't clean. Then I will welcome you


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My friends, God has made us these promises. So we should stay away from everything that keeps our bodies and spirits from being clean. We should honor God and try to be completely like him.


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Make a place for us in your hearts! We haven't mistreated or hurt anyone. We haven't cheated anyone.


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I am not saying this to be hard on you. But, as I have said before, you will always be in our thoughts, whether we live or die.


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I trust you completely. I am always proud of you, and I am greatly encouraged. In all my trouble I am still very happy.


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After we came to Macedonia, we didn't have any chance to rest. We were faced with all kinds of problems. We were troubled by enemies and troubled by fears.


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Of course, we were glad to see Titus, but what really made us glad is the way you cheered him up. He told how sorry you were and how concerned you were about me. And this made me even happier.


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I don't feel bad anymore, even though my letter hurt your feelings. I did feel bad at first, but I don't now. I know that the letter hurt you for a while.


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Now I am happy, but not because I hurt your feelings. It is because God used your hurt feelings to make you turn back to him, and none of you were harmed by us.


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When God makes you feel sorry enough to turn to him and be saved, you don't have anything to feel bad about. But when this world makes you feel sorry, it can cause your death.


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Just look what God has done by making you feel sorry! You sincerely want to prove that you are innocent. You are angry. You are shocked. You are eager to see that justice is done. You have proved that you were completely right in this matter.


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When I wrote you, it wasn't to accuse the one who was wrong or to take up for the one who was hurt. I wrote, so that God would show you how much you do care for us.


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And we were greatly encouraged. Although we were encouraged, we felt even better when we saw how happy Titus was, because you had shown that he had nothing to worry about.


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We had told him how much we thought of you, and you did not disappoint us. Just as we have always told you the truth, so everything we told him about you has also proved to be true.


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Titus loves all of you very much, especially when he remembers how you obeyed him and how you trembled with fear when you welcomed him.


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And they did more than we had hoped. They gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us, just as God wanted them to do.


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Titus was the one who got you started doing this good thing, so we begged him to have you finish what you had begun.


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You do everything better than anyone else. You have stronger faith. You speak better and know more. You are eager to give, and you love us better. Now you must give more generously than anyone else.


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I am not ordering you to do this. I am simply testing how real your love is by comparing it with the concern that others have shown.


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You know that our Lord Jesus Christ was kind enough to give up all his riches and become poor, so that you could become rich.


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A year ago you were the first ones to give, and you gave because you wanted to. So listen to my advice.


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I think you should finish what you started. If you give according to what you have, you will prove that you are as eager to give as you were to think about giving.


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It doesn't matter how much you have. What matters is how much you are willing to give from what you have.


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for you to share with them when you have so much, and they have so little. Later, when they have more than enough, and you are in need, they can share with you. Then everyone will have a fair share,


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just as the Scriptures say, "Those who gathered too much had nothing left. Those who gathered only a little had all they needed."


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With Titus we are also sending one of the Lord's followers who is well known in every church for spreading the good news.


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The churches chose this follower to travel with us while we carry this gift that will bring praise to the Lord and show how much we hope to help.


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We are also sending someone else with Titus and the other follower. We approve of this man. In fact, he has already shown us many times that he wants to help. And now he wants to help even more than ever, because he trusts you so much.


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Titus is my partner, who works with me to serve you. The other two followers are sent by the churches, and they bring honor to Christ.


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Treat them in such a way that the churches will see your love and will know why we bragged about you.


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I know how eager you are to give. And I have proudly told the Lord's followers in Macedonia that you people in Achaia have been ready for a whole year. Now your desire to give has made them want to give.


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That's why I am sending Titus and the two others to you. I want you to be ready, just as I promised. This will prove that we were not wrong to brag about you.


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Some followers from Macedonia may come with me, and I want them to find that you have the money ready. If you don't, I would be embarrassed for trusting you to do this. But you would be embarrassed even more.


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So I have decided to ask Titus and the others to spend some time with you before I arrive. This way they can arrange to collect the money you have promised. Then you will have the chance to give because you want to, and not because you feel forced to.


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Each of you must make up your own mind about how much to give. But don't feel sorry that you must give and don't feel that you are forced to give. God loves people who love to give.


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God can bless you with everything you need, and you will always have more than enough to do all kinds of good things for others.


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God gives seed to farmers and provides everyone with food. He will increase what you have, so that you can give even more to those in need.


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You will be blessed in every way, and you will be able to keep on being generous. Then many people will thank God when we deliver your gift.


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What you are doing is much more than a service that supplies God's people with what they need. It is something that will make many others thank God.


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The way in which you have proved yourselves by this service will bring honor and praise to God. You believed the message about Christ, and you obeyed it by sharing generously with God's people and with everyone else.


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Do you think I am a coward when I am with you and brave when I am far away? Well, I ask you to listen, because Christ himself was humble and gentle.


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Some people have said that we act like the people of this world. So when I arrive, I expect I will have to be firm and forceful in what I say to them. Please don't make me treat you that way.


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or fight our battles with the weapons of this world. Instead, we use God's power that can destroy fortresses. We destroy arguments


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and every bit of pride that keeps anyone from knowing God. We capture people's thoughts and make them obey Christ.


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You judge by appearances. If any of you think you are the only ones who belong to Christ, then think again. We belong to Christ as much as you do.


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Maybe I brag a little too much about the authority that the Lord gave me to help you and not to hurt you. Yet I am not embarrassed to brag.


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Some of you are saying, "Paul's letters are harsh and powerful. But in person, he is a weakling and has nothing worth saying."


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Those people had better understand that when I am with you, I will do exactly what I say in my letters.


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We won't dare compare ourselves with those who think so much of themselves. But they are foolish to compare themselves with themselves.


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We won't brag about something we don't have a right to brag about. We will only brag about the work that God has sent us to do, and you are part of that work.


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We don't brag about what others have done, as if we had done those things ourselves. But I hope that as you become stronger in your faith, we will be able to reach many more of the people around you. That has always been our goal.


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Then we will be able to preach the good news in other lands where we cannot take credit for work someone else has already done.


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But now I fear that you will be tricked, just as Eve was tricked by that lying snake. I am afraid that you might stop thinking about Christ in an honest and sincere way.


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We told you about Jesus, and you received the Holy Spirit and accepted our message. But you let some people tell you about another Jesus. Now you are ready to receive another spirit and accept a different message.


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I may not speak as well as they do, but I know as much. And this has already been made perfectly clear to you.


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Even when I was in need, I still didn't bother you. In fact, some of the Lord's followers from Macedonia brought me what I needed. I have not been a burden to you in the past, and I will never be a burden.


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I plan to go on doing just what I have always done. Then those people won't be able to brag about doing the same things we are doing.


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Anyway, they are no more than false apostles and dishonest workers. They only pretend to be apostles of Christ.


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So why does it seem strange for Satan's servants to pretend to do what is right? Someday they will get exactly what they deserve.


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I don't want any of you to think that I am a fool. But if you do, then let me be a fool and brag a little.


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In fact, you let people make slaves of you and cheat you and steal from you. Why, you even let them strut around and slap you in the face.


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I am ashamed to say that we are too weak to behave in such a way. If they can brag, so can I, but it is a foolish thing to do.


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Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Jews? So am I. Are they from the family of Abraham? Well, so am I.


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Are they servants of Christ? I am a fool to talk this way, but I serve him better than they do. I have worked harder and have been put in jail more times. I have been beaten with whips more and have been in danger of death more often.


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Three times the Romans beat me with a big stick, and once my enemies stoned me. I have been shipwrecked three times, and I even had to spend a night and a day in the sea.


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During my many travels, I have been in danger from rivers, robbers, my own people, and foreigners. My life has been in danger in cities, in deserts, at sea, and with people who only pretended to be the Lord's followers.


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I have worked and struggled and spent many sleepless nights. I have gone hungry and thirsty and often had nothing to eat. I have been cold from not having enough clothes to keep me warm.


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The governor of Damascus at the time of King Aretas had the city gates guarded, so that he could capture me.


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I have to brag. There is nothing to be gained by it, but I must brag about the visions and other things that the Lord has shown me.


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I know about one of Christ's followers who was taken up into the third heaven fourteen years ago. I don't know if the man was still in his body when it happened, but God certainly knows.


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Yet even if I did brag, I would not be foolish. I would simply be speaking the truth. But I will try not to say too much. That way, none of you will think more highly of me than you should because of what you have seen me do and say.


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Of course, I am now referring to the wonderful things I saw. One of Satan's angels was sent to make me suffer terribly, so that I would not feel too proud.


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But he replied, "My kindness is all you need. My power is strongest when you are weak." So if Christ keeps giving me his power, I will gladly brag about how weak I am.


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Yes, I am glad to be weak or insulted or mistreated or to have troubles and sufferings, if it is for Christ. Because when I am weak, I am strong.


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I have been making a fool of myself. But you forced me to do it, when you should have been speaking up for me. I may be nothing at all, but I am as good as those super apostles.


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When I was with you, I was patient and worked all the powerful miracles and signs and wonders of a true apostle.


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You missed out on only one blessing that the other churches received. That is, you didn't have to support me. Forgive me for doing you wrong.


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I am planning to visit you for the third time. But I still won't make a burden of myself. What I really want is you, and not what you have. Children are not supposed to save up for their parents, but parents are supposed to take care of their children.


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So I will gladly give all that I have and all that I am. Will you love me less for loving you too much?


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You agree that I wasn't a burden to you. Maybe that's because I was trying to catch you off guard and trick you.


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I urged Titus to visit you, and I sent another follower with him. But Titus didn't cheat you, and we felt and behaved the same way he did.


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Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? Actually, we have been speaking to God as followers of Christ. But, my friends, we did it all for your good.


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I am afraid that when I come, we won't be pleased with each other. I fear that some of you may be arguing or jealous or angry or selfish or gossiping or insulting each other. I even fear that you may be proud and acting like a mob.


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I am afraid God will make me ashamed when I visit you again. I will feel like crying because many of you have never given up your old sins. You are still doing things that are immoral, indecent, and shameful.


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I am on my way to visit you for the third time. And as the Scriptures say, "Any charges must be proved true by at least two or three witnesses."


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During my second visit I warned you that I would punish you and anyone else who doesn't stop sinning. I am far away from you now, but I give you the same warning.


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This should prove to you that I am speaking for Christ. When he corrects you, he won't be weak. He will be powerful!


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Although he was weak when he was nailed to the cross, he now lives by the power of God. We are weak, just as Christ was. But you will see that we will live by the power of God, just as Christ does.


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Test yourselves and find out if you really are true to your faith. If you pass the test, you will discover that Christ is living in you. But if Christ isn't living in you, you have failed.


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We pray that you will stop doing evil things. We don't pray like this to make ourselves look good, but to get you to do right, even if we are failures.


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I am writing these things to you before I arrive. This way I won't have to be hard on you when I use the authority that the Lord has given me. I was given this authority, so that I could help you and not destroy you.


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Good-by, my friends. Do better and pay attention to what I have said. Try to get along and live peacefully with each other. Now I pray that God, who gives love and peace, will be with you.


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I pray that the Lord Jesus Christ will bless you and be kind to you! May God bless you with his love, and may the Holy Spirit join all your hearts together.


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From the apostle Paul and from all the Lord's followers with me. I was chosen to be an apostle by Jesus Christ and by God the Father, who raised him from death. No mere human chose or appointed me to this work. To the churches in Galatia.


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I pray that God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!


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Christ obeyed God our Father and gave himself as a sacrifice for our sins to rescue us from this evil world.


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I am shocked that you have so quickly turned from God, who chose you because of his wonderful kindness. You have believed another message,


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when there is really only one true message. But some people are causing you trouble and want to make you turn away from the good news about Christ.


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I pray that God will punish anyone who preaches anything different from our message to you! It doesn't matter if that person is one of us or an angel from heaven.


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I have said it before, and I will say it again. I hope God will punish anyone who preaches anything different from what you have already believed.


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I am not trying to please people. I want to please God. Do you think I am trying to please people? If I were doing that, I would not be a servant of Christ.


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It wasn't given or taught to me by some mere human. My message came directly from Jesus Christ when he appeared to me.


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I was a much better Jew than anyone else my own age, and I obeyed every law that our ancestors had given us.


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to show me his Son, so that I would announce his message to the Gentiles. I didn't talk this over with anyone.


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I didn't say a word, not even to the men in Jerusalem who were apostles before I was. Instead, I went at once to Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus.


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They had only heard that the one who had been cruel to them was now preaching the message that he had once tried to destroy.


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But I went there because God had told me to go, and I explained the good news that I had been preaching to the Gentiles. Then I met privately with the ones who seemed to be the most important leaders. I wanted to make sure that my work in the past and my future work would not be for nothing.


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We went there because of those who pretended to be followers and had sneaked in among us as spies. They had come to take away the freedom that Christ Jesus had given us, and they were trying to make us their slaves.


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But we wanted you to have the true message. That's why we didn't give in to them, not even for a second.


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Some of them were supposed to be important leaders, but I didn't care who they were. God doesn't have any favorites! None of these so-called special leaders added anything to my message.


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They realized that God had sent me with the good news for Gentiles, and that he had sent Peter with the same message for Jews.


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James, Peter, and John realized that God had given me the message about his undeserved kindness. And these men are supposed to be the backbone of the church. They even gave Barnabas and me a friendly handshake. This was to show that we would work with Gentiles and that they would work with Jews.


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He used to eat with Gentile followers of the Lord, until James sent some Jewish followers. Peter was afraid of the Jews and soon stopped eating with Gentiles.


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But when I saw that they were not really obeying the truth that is in the good news, I corrected Peter in front of everyone and said: Peter, you are a Jew, but you live like a Gentile. So how can you force Gentiles to live like Jews?


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But we know that God accepts only those who have faith in Jesus Christ. No one can please God by simply obeying the Law. So we put our faith in Christ Jesus, and God accepted us because of our faith.


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When we Jews started looking for a way to please God, we discovered that we are sinners too. Does this mean that Christ is the one who makes us sinners? No, it doesn't!


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It was the Law itself that killed me and freed me from its power, so that I could live for God. I have been nailed to the cross with Christ.


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I have died, but Christ lives in me. And I now live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave his life for me.


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I don't turn my back on God's undeserved kindness. If we can be acceptable to God by obeying the Law, it was useless for Christ to die.


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You stupid Galatians! I told you exactly how Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross. Has someone now put an evil spell on you?


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I want to know only one thing. How were you given God's Spirit? Was it by obeying the Law of Moses or by hearing about Christ and having faith in him?


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How can you be so stupid? Do you think that by yourself you can complete what God's Spirit started in you?


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God gives you his Spirit and works miracles in you. But does he do this because you obey the Law of Moses or because you have heard about Christ and have faith in him?


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Long ago the Scriptures said that God would accept the Gentiles because of their faith. That's why God told Abraham the good news that all nations would be blessed because of him.


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This means that everyone who has faith will share in the blessings that were given to Abraham because of his faith.


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Anyone who tries to please God by obeying the Law is under a curse. The Scriptures say, "Everyone who doesn't obey everything in the Law is under a curse."


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No one can please God by obeying the Law. The Scriptures also say, "The people God accepts because of their faith will live."


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But Christ rescued us from the Law's curse, when he became a curse in our place. This is because the Scriptures say that anyone who is nailed to a tree is under a curse.


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And because of what Jesus Christ has done, the blessing that was promised to Abraham was taken to the Gentiles. This happened so that by faith we would be given the promised Holy Spirit.


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My friends, I will use an everyday example to explain what I mean. Once someone agrees to something, no one else can change or cancel the agreement.


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That is how it is with the promises God made to Abraham and his descendant. The promises were not made to many descendants, but only to one, and that one is Christ.


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What I am saying is that the Law cannot change or cancel God's promise that was made 430 years before the Law was given.


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If we have to obey the Law in order to receive God's blessings, those blessings don't really come to us because of God's promise. But God was kind to Abraham and made him a promise.


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What is the use of the Law? It was given later to show that we sin. But it was only supposed to last until the coming of that descendant who was given the promise. In fact, angels gave the Law to Moses, and he gave it to the people.


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Does the Law disagree with God's promises? No, it doesn't! If any law could give life to us, we could become acceptable to God by obeying that law.


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But the Scriptures say that sin controls everyone, so that God's promises will be for anyone who has faith in Jesus Christ.


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In fact, the Law was our teacher. It was supposed to teach us until we had faith and were acceptable to God.


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And when you were baptized, it was as though you had put on Christ in the same way you put on new clothes.


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Faith in Christ Jesus is what makes each of you equal with each other, whether you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a man or a woman.


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So if you belong to Christ, you are now part of Abraham's family, and you will be given what God has promised.


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Children who are under age are no better off than slaves, even though everything their parents own will someday be theirs.


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This is because children are placed in the care of guardians and teachers until the time their parents have set.


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But when the time was right, God sent his Son, and a woman gave birth to him. His Son obeyed the Law,


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Now that we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts. And his Spirit tells us that God is our Father.


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But now you know God, or better still, God knows you. How can you turn back and become the slaves of those weak and pitiful powers?


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when I first preached to you? No you didn't, even though you knew I had come there because I was sick.


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My illness must have caused you some trouble, but you didn't hate me or turn me away because of it. You welcomed me as though I were one of God's angels or even Christ Jesus himself.


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Where is that good feeling now? I am sure that if it had been possible, you would have taken out your own eyes and given them to me.


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Those people may be paying you a lot of attention, but it isn't for your good. They only want to keep you away from me, so you will pay them a lot of attention.


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In the Scriptures we learn that Abraham had two sons. The mother of one of them was a slave, while the mother of the other one had always been free.


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The son of the slave woman was born in the usual way. But the son of the free woman was born because of God's promise.


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All of this has another meaning as well. Each of the two women stands for one of the agreements God made with his people. Hagar, the slave woman, stands for the agreement that was made at Mount Sinai. Everyone born into her family is a slave.


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Hagar also stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and for the present city of Jerusalem. She and her children are slaves.


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The Scriptures say about her, "You have never had children, but now you can be glad. You have never given birth, but now you can shout. Once you had no children, but now you will have more children than a woman who has been married for a long time."


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But the child who was born in the natural way made trouble for the child who was born because of the Spirit. The same thing is happening today.


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The Scriptures say, "Get rid of the slave woman and her son! He won't be given anything. The son of the free woman will receive everything."


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Christ has set us free! This means we are really free. Now hold on to your freedom and don't ever become slaves of the Law again.


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And if you try to please God by obeying the Law, you have cut yourself off from Christ and his wonderful kindness.


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If you are a follower of Christ Jesus, it makes no difference whether you are circumcised or not. All that matters is your faith that makes you love others.


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but you belong to the Lord. That makes me certain that you will do what I say, instead of what someone else tells you to do. Whoever is causing trouble for you will be punished.


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My friends, if I still preach that people need to be circumcised, why am I in so much trouble? The message about the cross would no longer be a problem, if I told people to be circumcised.


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I wish that everyone who is upsetting you would not only get circumcised, but would cut off much more!


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My friends, you were chosen to be free. So don't use your freedom as an excuse to do anything you want. Use it as an opportunity to serve each other with love.


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But if you keep attacking each other like wild animals, you had better watch out or you will destroy yourselves.


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The Spirit and your desires are enemies of each other. They are always fighting each other and keeping you from doing what you feel you should.


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They worship idols, practice witchcraft, hate others, and are hard to get along with. People become jealous, angry, and selfish. They not only argue and cause trouble, but they are


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envious. They get drunk, carry on at wild parties, and do other evil things as well. I told you before, and I am telling you again: No one who does these things will share in the blessings of God's kingdom.


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My friends, you are spiritual. So if someone is trapped in sin, you should gently lead that person back to the right path. But watch out, and don't be tempted yourself.


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Do your own work well, and then you will have something to be proud of. But don't compare yourself with others.


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If you follow your selfish desires, you will harvest destruction, but if you follow the Spirit, you will harvest eternal life.


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Don't get tired of helping others. You will be rewarded when the time is right, if you don't give up.


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Those people who are telling you to get circumcised are only trying to show how important they are. And they don't want to get into trouble for preaching about the cross of Christ.


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They are circumcised, but they don't obey the Law of Moses. All they want is to brag about having you circumcised.


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But I will never brag about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his cross, the world is dead as far as I am concerned, and I am dead as far as the world is concerned.


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If you follow this rule, you will belong to God's true people. God will treat you with undeserved kindness and will bless you with peace.


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On my own body are scars that prove I belong to Christ Jesus. So I don't want anyone to bother me anymore.


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From Paul, chosen by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. To God's people who live in Ephesus and are faithful followers of Christ Jesus.


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I pray that God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!


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Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for the spiritual blessings that Christ has brought us from heaven!


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Before the world was created, God had Christ choose us to live with him and to be his holy and innocent and loving people.


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Christ sacrificed his life's blood to set us free, which means that our sins are now forgiven. Christ did this because God was so kind to us. God has great wisdom and understanding,


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Then when the time is right, God will do all that he has planned, and Christ will bring together everything in heaven and on earth.


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He did this so that we Jews would bring honor to him and be the first ones to have hope because of him.


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Christ also brought you the truth, which is the good news about how you can be saved. You put your faith in Christ and were given the promised Holy Spirit to show that you belong to God.


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The Spirit also makes us sure that we will be given what God has stored up for his people. Then we will be set free, and God will be honored and praised.


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I ask the glorious Father and God of our Lord Jesus Christ to give you his Spirit. The Spirit will make you wise and let you understand what it means to know God.


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My prayer is that light will flood your hearts and that you will understand the hope that was given to you when God chose you. Then you will discover the glorious blessings that will be yours together with all of God's people.


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I want you to know about the great and mighty power that God has for us followers. It is the same wonderful power he used


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There Christ rules over all forces, authorities, powers, and rulers. He rules over all beings in this world and will rule in the future world as well.


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God has put all things under the power of Christ, and for the good of the church he has made him the head of everything.


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You followed the ways of this world and obeyed the devil. He rules the world, and his spirit has power over everyone who doesn't obey God.


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Once we were also ruled by the selfish desires of our bodies and minds. We had made God angry, and we were going to be punished like everyone else.


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But God was merciful! We were dead because of our sins, but God loved us so much that he made us alive with Christ, and God's wonderful kindness is what saves you.


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God raised us from death to life with Christ Jesus, and he has given us a place beside Christ in heaven.


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God did this so that in the future world he could show how truly good and kind he is to us because of what Christ Jesus has done.


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You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better than we deserve. This is God's gift to you, and not anything you have done on your own.


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God planned for us to do good things and to live as he has always wanted us to live. That's why he sent Christ to make us what we are.


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Don't forget that you are Gentiles. In fact, you used to be called "uncircumcised" by those who take pride in being circumcised.


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At that time you did not know about Christ. You were foreigners to the people of Israel, and you had no part in the promises that God had made to them. You were living in this world without hope and without God,


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and you were far from God. But Christ offered his life's blood as a sacrifice and brought you near God.


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Christ has made peace between Jews and Gentiles, and he has united us by breaking down the wall of hatred that separated us. Christ gave his own body


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to destroy the Law of Moses with all its rules and commands. He even brought Jews and Gentiles together as though we were only one person, when he united us in peace.


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On the cross Christ did away with our hatred for each other. He also made peace between us and God by uniting Jews and Gentiles in one body.


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Christ came and preached peace to you Gentiles, who were far from God, and peace to us Jews, who were near God.


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You Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens with everyone else who belongs to the family of God.


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You are like a building with the apostles and prophets as the foundation and with Christ as the most important stone.


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Christ is the one who holds the building together and makes it grow into a holy temple for the Lord.


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As you read the letter, you will also find out how well I really do understand the mystery about Christ.


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And the mystery is this: Because of Christ Jesus, the good news has given the Gentiles a share in the promises that God gave to the Jews. God has also let the Gentiles be part of the same body.


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I am the least important of all God's people. But God was kind and chose me to tell the Gentiles that because of Christ there are blessings that cannot be measured.


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God, who created everything, wanted me to help everyone understand the mysterious plan that had always been hidden in his mind.


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Then God would use the church to show the powers and authorities in the spiritual world that he has many different kinds of wisdom.


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God did this according to his eternal plan. And he was able to do what he had planned because of all that Christ Jesus our Lord had done.


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That's why you should not be discouraged when I suffer for you. After all, it will bring honor to you.


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and that Christ will live in your hearts because of your faith. Stand firm and be deeply rooted in his love.


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I pray that you and all of God's people will understand what is called wide or long or high or deep.


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I want you to know all about Christ's love, although it is too wonderful to be measured. Then your lives will be filled with all that God is.


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I pray that Christ Jesus and the church will forever bring praise to God. His power at work in us can do far more than we dare ask or imagine. Amen.


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As a prisoner of the Lord, I beg you to live in a way that is worthy of the people God has chosen to be his own.


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All of you are part of the same body. There is only one Spirit of God, just as you were given one hope when you were chosen to be God's people.


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There is one God who is the Father of all people. Not only is God above all others, but he works by using all of us, and he lives in all of us.


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As the Scriptures say, "When he went up to the highest place, he led away many prisoners and gave gifts to people."


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This also means that the one who went deep into the earth is the same one who went into the highest heaven, so that he would fill the whole universe.


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This will continue until we are united by our faith and by our understanding of the Son of God. Then we will be mature, just as Christ is, and we will be completely like him.


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We must stop acting like children. We must not let deceitful people trick us by their false teachings, which are like winds that toss us around from place to place.


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Love should always make us tell the truth. Then we will grow in every way and be more like Christ, the head


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of the body. Christ holds it together and makes all of its parts work perfectly, as it grows and becomes strong because of love.


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Their minds are in the dark, and they are stubborn and ignorant and have missed out on the life that comes from God. They no longer have any feelings about what is right,


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But that isn't what you were taught about Jesus Christ. He is the truth, and you heard about him and learned about him.


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You were told that your foolish desires will destroy you and that you must give up your old way of life with all its bad habits.


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and make you into a new person. You were created to be like God, and so you must please him and be truly holy.


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If you are a thief, quit stealing. Be honest and work hard, so you will have something to give to people in need.


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Don't make God's Spirit sad. The Spirit makes you sure that someday you will be free from your sins.


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Stop being bitter and angry and mad at others. Don't yell at one another or curse each other or ever be rude.


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Let love be your guide. Christ loved us and offered his life for us as a sacrifice that pleases God.


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Being greedy, indecent, or immoral is just another way of worshiping idols. You can be sure that people who behave in this way will never be part of the kingdom that belongs to Christ and to God.


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Don't let anyone trick you with foolish talk. God punishes everyone who disobeys him and says foolish things.


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You used to be like people living in the dark, but now you are people of the light because you belong to the Lord. So act like people of the light


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Don't take part in doing those worthless things that are done in the dark. Instead, show how wrong they are.


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Light shows up everything, just as the Scriptures say, "Wake up from your sleep and rise from death. Then Christ will shine on you."


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When you meet together, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, as you praise the Lord with all your heart.


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A husband is the head of his wife, as Christ is the head and the Savior of the church, which is his own body.


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Christ did this, so that he would have a glorious and holy church, without faults or spots or wrinkles or any other flaws.


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In the same way, a husband should love his wife as much as he loves himself. A husband who loves his wife shows that he loves himself.


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None of us hate our own bodies. We provide for them and take good care of them, just as Christ does for the church,


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As the Scriptures say, "A man leaves his father and mother to get married, and he becomes like one person with his wife."


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So each husband should love his wife as much as he loves himself, and each wife should respect her husband.


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Children, you belong to the Lord, and you do the right thing when you obey your parents. The first commandment with a promise says,


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Parents, don't be hard on your children. Raise them properly. Teach them and instruct them about the Lord.


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Slaves, you must obey your earthly masters. Show them great respect and be as loyal to them as you are to Christ.


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Try to please them at all times, and not just when you think they are watching. You are slaves of Christ, so with your whole heart you must do what God wants you to do.


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Slave owners, you must treat your slaves with this same respect. Don't threaten them. They have the same Master in heaven that you do, and he doesn't have any favorites.


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We are not fighting against humans. We are fighting against forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual world.


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So put on all the armor that God gives. Then when that evil day comes, you will be able to defend yourself. And when the battle is over, you will still be standing firm.


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Be ready! Let the truth be like a belt around your waist, and let God's justice protect you like armor.


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Let your faith be like a shield, and you will be able to stop all the flaming arrows of the evil one.


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Let God's saving power be like a helmet, and for a sword use God's message that comes from the Spirit.


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Never stop praying, especially for others. Always pray by the power of the Spirit. Stay alert and keep praying for God's people.


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Pray that I will be given the message to speak and that I may fearlessly explain the mystery about the good news.


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I was sent to do this work, and that's the reason I am in jail. So pray that I will be brave and will speak as I should.


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I want you to know how I am getting along and what I am doing. That's why I am sending Tychicus to you. He is a dear friend, as well as a faithful servant of the Lord. He will tell you how I am doing, and he will cheer you up.


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I pray that God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will give peace, love, and faith to every follower!


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From Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus. To all of God's people who belong to Christ Jesus at Philippi and to all of your church officials and officers.


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This is because you have taken part with me in spreading the good news from the first day you heard about it.


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God is the one who began this good work in you, and I am certain that he won't stop before it is complete on the day that Christ Jesus returns.


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You have a special place in my heart. So it is only natural for me to feel the way I do. All of you have helped in the work that God has given me, as I defend the good news and tell about it here in jail.


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God himself knows how much I want to see you. He knows that I care for you in the same way that Christ Jesus does.


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how to make the right choices. Then you will still be pure and innocent when Christ returns. And until that day,


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My dear friends, I want you to know that what has happened to me has helped to spread the good news.


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Some are preaching about Christ because they are jealous and envious of us. Others are preaching because they want to help.


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But the ones who are jealous of us are not sincere. They just want to cause trouble for me while I am in jail.


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But that doesn't matter. All that matters is that people are telling about Christ, whether they are sincere or not. That is what makes me glad. I will keep on being glad,


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because I know that your prayers and the help that comes from the Spirit of Christ Jesus will keep me safe.


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I honestly expect and hope that I will never do anything to be ashamed of. Whether I live or die, I always want to be as brave as I am now and bring honor to Christ.


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But I know that all of you still need me. That's why I am sure I will stay on to help you grow and be happy in your faith.


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Then, when I visit you again, you will have good reason to take great pride in Christ Jesus because of me.


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Above all else, you must live in a way that brings honor to the good news about Christ. Then, whether I visit you or not, I will hear that all of you think alike. I will know that you are working together and that you are struggling side by side to get others to believe the good news.


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Be brave when you face your enemies. Your courage will show them that they are going to be destroyed, and it will show you that you will be saved. God will make all of this happen,


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Christ encourages you, and his love comforts you. God's Spirit unites you, and you are concerned for others.


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Now make me completely happy! Live in harmony by showing love for each other. Be united in what you think, as if you were only one person.


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My dear friends, you always obeyed when I was with you. Now that I am away, you should obey even more. So work with fear and trembling to discover what it really means to be saved.


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Then you will be the pure and innocent children of God. You live among people who are crooked and evil, but you must not do anything that they can say is wrong. Try to shine as lights among the people of this world,


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as you hold firmly to the message that gives life. Then on the day when Christ returns, I can take pride in you. I can also know that my work and efforts were not useless.


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Your faith in the Lord and your service are like a sacrifice offered to him. And my own blood may have to be poured out with the sacrifice. If this happens, I will be glad and rejoice with you.


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I want to be encouraged by news about you. So I hope the Lord Jesus will soon let me send Timothy to you.


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But you know what kind of person Timothy is. He has worked with me like a son in spreading the good news.


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I think I ought to send my dear friend Epaphroditus back to you. He is a follower and a worker and a soldier of the Lord, just as I am. You sent him to look after me,


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In fact, he was very sick and almost died. But God was kind to him, and also to me, and he kept me from being burdened down with sorrow.


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Now I am more eager than ever to send Epaphroditus back again. You will be glad to see him, and I won't have to worry any longer.


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Finally, my dear friends, be glad that you belong to the Lord. It doesn't bother me to write the same things to you that I have written before. In fact, it is for your own good.


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Watch out for those people who behave like dogs! They are evil and want to do more than just circumcise you.


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But we are the ones who are truly circumcised, because we worship by the power of God's Spirit and take pride in Christ Jesus. We don't brag about what we have done,


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although I could. Others may brag about themselves, but I have more reason to brag than anyone else.


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I was circumcised when I was eight days old, and I am from the nation of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin. I am a true Hebrew. As a Pharisee, I strictly obeyed the Law of Moses.


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And I was so eager that I even made trouble for the church. I did everything the Law demands in order to please God.


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Nothing is as wonderful as knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have given up everything else and count it all as garbage. All I want is Christ


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and to know that I belong to him. I could not make myself acceptable to God by obeying the Law of Moses. God accepted me simply because of my faith in Christ.


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All I want is to know Christ and the power that raised him to life. I want to suffer and die as he did,


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I have not yet reached my goal, and I am not perfect. But Christ has taken hold of me. So I keep on running and struggling to take hold of the prize.


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My friends, I don't feel that I have already arrived. But I forget what is behind, and I struggle for what is ahead.


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I run toward the goal, so that I can win the prize of being called to heaven. This is the prize that God offers because of what Christ Jesus has done.


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All of us who are mature should think in this same way. And if any of you think differently, God will make it clear to you.


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My friends, I want you to follow my example and learn from others who closely follow the example we set for you.


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I often warned you that many people are living as enemies of the cross of Christ. And now with tears in my eyes, I warn you again


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that they are headed for hell! They worship their stomachs and brag about the disgusting things they do. All they can think about are the things of this world.


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But we are citizens of heaven and are eagerly waiting for our Savior to come from there. Our Lord Jesus Christ


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Dear friends, I love you and long to see you. Please keep on being faithful to the Lord. You are my pride and joy.


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And, my true partner, I ask you to help them. These women have worked together with me and with Clement and with the others in spreading the good news. Their names are now written in the book of life.


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Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God.


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Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel.


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Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don't ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise.


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You know the teachings I gave you, and you know what you heard me say and saw me do. So follow my example. And God, who gives peace, will be with you.


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The Lord has made me very grateful that at last you have thought about me once again. Actually, you were thinking about me all along, but you didn't have any chance to show it.


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I know what it is to be poor or to have plenty, and I have lived under all kinds of conditions. I know what it means to be full or to be hungry, to have too much or too little.


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My friends at Philippi, you remember what it was like when I started preaching the good news in Macedonia. After I left there, you were the only church that became my partner by giving blessings and by receiving them in return.


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I am not trying to get something from you, but I want you to receive the blessings that come from giving.


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I have been paid back everything, and with interest. I am completely satisfied with the gifts that you had Epaphroditus bring me. They are like a sweet-smelling offering or like the right kind of sacrifice that pleases God.


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I pray that God will take care of all your needs with the wonderful blessings that come from Christ Jesus!


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Give my greetings to all who are God's people because of Christ Jesus. The Lord's followers here with me send you their greetings.


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From Paul, chosen by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from Timothy, who is also a follower.


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To God's people who live in Colossae and are faithful followers of Christ. I pray that God our Father will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!


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because what you hope for is kept safe for you in heaven. You first heard about this hope when you believed the true message, which is the good news.


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The good news is spreading all over the world with great success. It has spread in that same way among you, ever since the first day you learned the truth about God's wonderful kindness


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from our good friend Epaphras. He works together with us for Christ and is a faithful worker for you.


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We have not stopped praying for you since the first day we heard about you. In fact, we always pray that God will show you everything he wants you to do and that you may have all the wisdom and understanding that his Spirit gives.


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Then you will live a life that honors the Lord, and you will always please him by doing good deeds. You will come to know God even better.


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His glorious power will make you patient and strong enough to endure anything, and you will be truly happy.


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I pray that you will be grateful to God for letting you have part in what he has promised his people in the kingdom of light.


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Everything was created by him, everything in heaven and on earth, everything seen and unseen, including all forces and powers, and all rulers and authorities. All things were created by God's Son, and everything was made for him.


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He is the head of his body, which is the church. He is the very beginning, the first to be raised from death, so that he would be above all others.


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And God was pleased for him to make peace by sacrificing his blood on the cross, so that all beings in heaven and on earth would be brought back to God.


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But his Son became a human and died. So God made peace with you, and now he lets you stand in his presence as people who are holy and faultless and innocent.


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But you must stay deeply rooted and firm in your faith. You must not give up the hope you received when you heard the good news. It was preached to everyone on earth, and I myself have become a servant of this message.


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I am glad that I can suffer for you. I am pleased also that in my own body I can continue the suffering of Christ for his body, the church.


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God's plan was to make me a servant of his church and to send me to preach his complete message to you.


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For ages and ages this message was kept secret from everyone, but now it has been explained to God's people.


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God did this because he wanted you Gentiles to understand his wonderful and glorious mystery. And the mystery is that Christ lives in you, and he is your hope of sharing in God's glory.


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We announce the message about Christ, and we use all our wisdom to warn and teach everyone, so that all of Christ's followers will grow and become mature.


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I want you to know what a struggle I am going through for you, for God's people at Laodicea, and for all of those followers who have never met me.


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I do it to encourage them. Then as their hearts are joined together in love, they will be wonderfully blessed with complete understanding. And they will truly know Christ. Not only is he the key to God's mystery,


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Even though I am not with you, I keep thinking about you. I am glad to know that you are living as you should and that your faith in Christ is strong.


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Plant your roots in Christ and let him be the foundation for your life. Be strong in your faith, just as you were taught. And be grateful.


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Don't let anyone fool you by using senseless arguments. These arguments may sound wise, but they are only human teachings. They come from the powers of this world and not from Christ.


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And when you were baptized, it was the same as being buried with Christ. Then you were raised to life because you had faith in the power of God, who raised Christ from death.


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You were dead, because you were sinful and were not God's people. But God let Christ make you alive, when he forgave all our sins.


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God wiped out the charges that were against us for disobeying the Law of Moses. He took them away and nailed them to the cross.


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There Christ defeated all powers and forces. He let the whole world see them being led away as prisoners when he celebrated his victory.


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Don't let anyone tell you what you must eat or drink. Don't let them say that you must celebrate the New Moon festival, the Sabbath, or any other festival.


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Don't be cheated by people who make a show of acting humble and who worship angels. They brag about seeing visions. But it is all nonsense, because their minds are filled with selfish desires.


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They are no longer part of Christ, who is the head of the whole body. Christ gives the body its strength, and he uses its joints and muscles to hold it together, as it grows by the power of God.


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You died with Christ. Now the forces of the universe don't have any power over you. Why do you live as if you had to obey such rules as,


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After these things are used, they are no longer good for anything. So why be bothered with the rules that humans have made up?


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Obeying these rules may seem to be the smart thing to do. They appear to make you love God more and to be very humble and to have control over your body. But they don't really have any power over our desires.


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You have been raised to life with Christ. Now set your heart on what is in heaven, where Christ rules at God's right side.


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Don't be controlled by your body. Kill every desire for the wrong kind of sex. Don't be immoral or indecent or have evil thoughts. Don't be greedy, which is the same as worshiping idols.


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But now you must stop doing such things. You must quit being angry, hateful, and evil. You must no longer say insulting or cruel things about others.


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Each of you is now a new person. You are becoming more and more like your Creator, and you will understand him better.


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It doesn't matter if you are a Greek or a Jew, or if you are circumcised or not. You may even be a barbarian or a Scythian, and you may be a slave or a free person. Yet Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.


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God loves you and has chosen you as his own special people. So be gentle, kind, humble, meek, and patient.


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Each one of you is part of the body of Christ, and you were chosen to live together in peace. So let the peace that comes from Christ control your thoughts. And be grateful.


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Let the message about Christ completely fill your lives, while you use all your wisdom to teach and instruct each other. With thankful hearts, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.


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Whatever you say or do should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, as you give thanks to God the Father because of him.


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Slaves, you must always obey your earthly masters. Try to please them at all times, and not just when you think they are watching. Honor the Lord and serve your masters with your whole heart.


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Do your work willingly, as though you were serving the Lord himself, and not just your earthly master.


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Be sure to pray that God will make a way for us to spread his message and explain the mystery about Christ, even though I am in jail for doing this.


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Be pleasant and hold their interest when you speak the message. Choose your words carefully and be ready to give answers to anyone who asks questions.


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Tychicus is the dear friend, who faithfully works and serves the Lord with us, and he will give you the news about me.


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Onesimus, that dear and faithful follower from your own group, is coming with him. The two of them will tell you everything that has happened here.


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Aristarchus is in jail with me. He sends greetings to you, and so does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. You have already been told to welcome Mark, if he visits you.


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Jesus, who is known as Justus, sends his greetings. These three men are the only Jewish followers who have worked with me for the kingdom of God. They have given me much comfort.


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Your own Epaphras, who serves Christ Jesus, sends his greetings. He always prays hard that you may fully know what the Lord wants you to do and that you may do it completely.


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I have seen how much trouble he has gone through for you and for the followers in Laodicea and Hierapolis.


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Give my greetings to the followers at Laodicea, especially to Nympha and the church that meets in her home.


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After this letter has been read to your people, be sure to have it read in the church at Laodicea. And you should read the letter that I have sent to them.


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I am signing this letter myself: PAUL. Don't forget that I am in jail. I pray that God will be kind to you.


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From Paul, Silas, and Timothy. To the church in Thessalonica, the people of God the Father and of the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that God will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!


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we tell God our Father about your faith and loving work and about your firm hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.


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When we told you the good news, it was with the power and assurance that come from the Holy Spirit, and not simply with words. You knew what kind of people we were and how we helped you.


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So, when you accepted the message, you followed our example and the example of the Lord. You suffered, but the Holy Spirit made you glad.


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And because of you, the Lord's message has spread everywhere in those regions. Now the news of your faith in God is known all over the world, and we don't have to say a thing about it.


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Everyone is talking about how you welcomed us and how you turned away from idols to serve the true and living God.


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They also tell how you are waiting for his Son Jesus to come from heaven. God raised him from death, and on the day of judgment Jesus will save us from God's anger.


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As you remember, we had been mistreated and insulted at Philippi. But God gave us the courage to tell you the good news about him, even though many people caused us trouble.


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God was pleased to trust us with his message. We didn't speak to please people, but to please God who knows our motives.


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You also know that we didn't try to flatter anyone. God himself knows that what we did wasn't a cover-up for greed.


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But as apostles, we could have demanded help from you. After all, Christ is the one who sent us. We chose to be like children or like a mother nursing her baby.


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We cared so much for you, and you became so dear to us, that we were willing to give our lives for you when we gave you God's message.


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My dear friends, you surely haven't forgotten our hard work and hardships. You remember how night and day we struggled to make a living, so that we could tell you God's message without being a burden to anyone.


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Both you and God are witnesses that we were pure and honest and innocent in our dealings with you followers of the Lord.


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We begged, encouraged, and urged each of you to live in a way that would honor God. He is the one who chose you to share in his own kingdom and glory.


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We always thank God that you believed the message we preached. It came from him, and it isn't something made up by humans. You accepted it as God's message, and now he is working in you.


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My friends, you did just like God's churches in Judea and like the other followers of Christ Jesus there. And so, you were mistreated by your own people, in the same way they were mistreated by their people.


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Those Jews killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and they even chased us away. God doesn't like what they do and neither does anyone else.


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They keep us from speaking his message to the Gentiles and from leading them to be saved. The Jews have always gone too far with their sins. Now God has finally become angry and will punish them.


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My friends, we were kept from coming to you for a while, but we never stopped thinking about you. We were eager to see you and tried our best to visit you in person.


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After all, when the Lord Jesus appears, who else but you will give us hope and joy and be like a glorious crown for us?


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and send our friend Timothy to you. He works with us as God's servant and preaches the good news about Christ. We wanted him to make you strong in your faith and to encourage you.


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We didn't want any of you to be discouraged by all these troubles. You knew we would have to suffer,


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At last, when I could not wait any longer, I sent Timothy to find out about your faith. I hoped that Satan had not tempted you and made all our work useless.


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Timothy has come back from his visit with you and has told us about your faith and love. He also said that you always have happy memories of us and that you want to see us as much as we want to see you.


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My friends, even though we have a lot of trouble and suffering, your faith makes us feel better about you.


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Day and night we sincerely pray that we will see you again and help you to have an even stronger faith.


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May the Lord make your love for each other and for everyone else grow by leaps and bounds. That's how our love for you has grown.


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And when our Lord comes with all of his people, I pray that he will make your hearts pure and innocent in the sight of God the Father.


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Finally, my dear friends, since you belong to the Lord Jesus, we beg and urge you to live as we taught you. Then you will please God. You are already living that way, but try even harder.


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You must not cheat any of the Lord's followers in matters of sex. Remember, we warned you that he punishes everyone who does such things.


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So if you don't obey these rules, you are not really disobeying us. You are disobeying God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.


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and you already have shown your love for all of his people in Macedonia. But, my dear friends, we ask you to do even more.


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Try your best to live quietly, to mind your own business, and to work hard, just as we taught you to do.


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Then you will be respected by people who are not followers of the Lord, and you won't have to depend on anyone.


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My friends, we want you to understand how it will be for those followers who have already died. Then you won't grieve over them and be like people who don't have any hope.


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We believe that Jesus died and was raised to life. We also believe that when God brings Jesus back again, he will bring with him all who had faith in Jesus before they died.


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Our Lord Jesus told us that when he comes, we won't go up to meet him ahead of his followers who have already died.


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With a loud command and with the shout of the chief angel and a blast of God's trumpet, the Lord will return from heaven. Then those who had faith in Christ before they died will be raised to life.


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Next, all of us who are still alive will be taken up into the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the sky. From that time on we will all be with the Lord forever.


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People will think they are safe and secure. But destruction will suddenly strike them like the pains of a woman about to give birth. And they won't escape.


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But we belong to the day. So we must stay sober and let our faith and love be like a suit of armor. Our firm hope that we will be saved is our helmet.


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My friends, we ask you to be thoughtful of your leaders who work hard and tell you how to live for the Lord.


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My friends, we beg you to warn anyone who isn't living right. Encourage anyone who feels left out, help all who are weak, and be patient with everyone.


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Don't be hateful to people, just because they are hateful to you. Rather, be good to each other and to everyone else.


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I pray that God, who gives peace, will make you completely holy. And may your spirit, soul, and body be kept healthy and faultless until our Lord Jesus Christ returns.


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From Paul, Silas, and Timothy. To the church in Thessalonica, the people of God our Father and of the Lord Jesus Christ.


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My dear friends, we always have good reason to thank God for you, because your faith in God and your love for each other keep growing all the time.


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That's why we brag about you to all of God's churches. We tell them how patient you are and how you keep on having faith, even though you are going through a lot of trouble and suffering.


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All of this shows that God judges fairly and that he is making you fit to share in his kingdom for which you are suffering.


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but he will give you relief from your troubles. He will do the same for us, when the Lord Jesus comes from heaven with his powerful angels


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and with a flaming fire. Our Lord Jesus will punish anyone who doesn't know God and won't obey his message.


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Their punishment will be eternal destruction, and they will be kept far from the presence of our Lord and his glorious strength.


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This will happen on that day when the Lord returns to be praised and honored by all who have faith in him and belong to him. This includes you, because you believed what we said.


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God chose you, and we keep praying that God will make you worthy of being his people. We pray for God's power to help you do all the good things that you hope to do and that your faith makes you want to do.


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Then, because God and our Lord Jesus Christ are so kind, you will bring honor to the name of our Lord Jesus, and he will bring honor to you.


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not to be easily upset or disturbed by people who claim that the Lord has already come. They may say that they heard this directly from the Holy Spirit, or from someone else, or even that they read it in one of our letters.


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But don't be fooled! People will rebel against God. Then before the Lord returns, the wicked one who is doomed to be destroyed will appear.


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He will brag and oppose everything that is holy or sacred. He will even sit in God's temple and claim to be God.


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His mysterious power is already at work, but someone is holding him back. And the wicked one won't appear until that someone is out of the way.


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Then he will appear, but the Lord Jesus will kill him simply by breathing on him. He will be completely destroyed by the Lord's glorious return.


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Lost people will be fooled by his evil deeds. They could be saved, but they will refuse to love the truth and accept it.


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My friends, the Lord loves you, and it is only natural for us to thank God for you. God chose you to be the first ones to be saved. His Spirit made you holy, and you put your faith in the truth.


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My friends, that's why you must remain faithful and follow closely what we taught you in person and by our letters.


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God our Father loves us. He is kind and has given us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope. We pray that our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father


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Finally, our friends, please pray for us. This will help the message about the Lord to spread quickly, and others will respect it, just as you do.


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My dear friends, in the name of the Lord Jesus, I beg you not to have anything to do with any of your people who loaf around and refuse to obey the instructions we gave you.


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and we didn't accept food from anyone without paying for it. We didn't want to be a burden to any of you, so night and day we worked as hard as we could.


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Now we learn that some of you just loaf around and won't do any work, except the work of a busybody.


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So, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, we ask and beg these people to settle down and start working for a living.


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Be on your guard against any followers who refuse to obey what we have written in this letter. Put them to shame by not having anything to do with them.


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I pray that the Lord, who gives peace, will always bless you with peace. May the Lord be with all of you.


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From Paul. God our Savior and Christ Jesus commanded me to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, who gives us hope.


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Timothy, because of our faith, you are like a son to me. I pray that God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ will be kind and merciful to you. May they bless you with peace!


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When I was leaving for Macedonia, I asked you to stay on in Ephesus and warn certain people there to stop spreading their false teachings.


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You needed to warn them to stop wasting their time on senseless stories and endless lists of ancestors. Such things only cause arguments. They don't help anyone to do God's work that can only be done by faith.


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They want to be teachers of the Law of Moses. But they don't know what they are talking about, even though they think they do.


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We also understand that it wasn't given to control people who please God, but to control lawbreakers, criminals, godless people, and sinners. It is for wicked and evil people, and for murderers, who would even kill their own parents.


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The Law was written for people who are sexual perverts or who live as homosexuals or are kidnappers or liars or won't tell the truth in court. It is for anything else that opposes the correct teaching


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I thank Christ Jesus our Lord. He has given me the strength for my work because he knew that he could trust me.


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I used to say terrible and insulting things about him, and I was cruel. But he had mercy on me because I didn't know what I was doing, and I had not yet put my faith in him.


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Christ Jesus our Lord was very kind to me. He has greatly blessed my life with faith and love just like his own.


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"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." This saying is true, and it can be trusted. I was the worst sinner of all!


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But since I was worse than anyone else, God had mercy on me and let me be an example of the endless patience of Christ Jesus. He did this so that others would put their faith in Christ and have eternal life.


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I pray that honor and glory will always be given to the only God, who lives forever and is the invisible and eternal King! Amen.


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Timothy, my son, the instructions I am giving you are based on what some prophets once said about you. If you follow these instructions, you will fight like a good soldier.


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You will be faithful and have a clear conscience. Some people have made a mess of their faith because they didn't listen to their consciences.


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Two of them are Hymenaeus and Alexander. I have given these men over to the power of Satan, so they will learn not to oppose God.


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First of all, I ask you to pray for everyone. Ask God to help and bless them all, and tell God how thankful you are for each of them.


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Pray for kings and others in power, so that we may live quiet and peaceful lives as we worship and honor God.


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There is only one God, and Christ Jesus is the only one who can bring us to God. Jesus was truly human, and he gave himself to rescue all of us.


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This is why God chose me to be a preacher and an apostle of the good news. I am telling the truth. I am not lying. God sent me to teach the Gentiles about faith and truth.


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I want everyone everywhere to lift innocent hands toward heaven and pray, without being angry or arguing with each other.


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I would like for women to wear modest and sensible clothes. They should not have fancy hairdos, or wear expensive clothes, or put on jewelry made of gold or pearls.


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and the man Adam wasn't the one who was fooled. It was the woman Eve who was completely fooled and sinned.


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That's why officials must have a good reputation and be faithful in marriage. They must be self-controlled, sensible, well-behaved, friendly to strangers, and able to teach.


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They must not be heavy drinkers or troublemakers. Instead, they must be kind and gentle and not love money.


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Church officials must be in control of their own families, and they must see that their children are obedient and always respectful.


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They must not be new followers of the Lord. If they are, they might become proud and be doomed along with the devil.


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Finally, they must be well-respected by people who are not followers. Then they won't be trapped and disgraced by the devil.


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They must first prove themselves. Then if no one has anything against them, they can serve as officers.


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Women must also be serious. They must not gossip or be heavy drinkers, and they must be faithful in everything they do.


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Church officers must be faithful in marriage. They must be in full control of their children and everyone else in their home.


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Those who serve well as officers will earn a good reputation and will be highly respected for their faith in Christ Jesus.


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so that if I am delayed, you will know how everyone who belongs to God's family ought to behave. After all, the church of the living God is the strong foundation of truth.


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Here is the great mystery of our religion: Christ came as a human. The Spirit proved that he pleased God, and he was seen by angels. Christ was preached to the nations. People in this world put their faith in him, and he was taken up to glory.


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God's Spirit clearly says that in the last days many people will turn from their faith. They will be fooled by evil spirits and by teachings that come from demons.


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They will also be fooled by the false claims of liars whose consciences have lost all feeling. These liars


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will forbid people to marry or to eat certain foods. But God created these foods to be eaten with thankful hearts by his followers who know the truth.


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If you teach these things to other followers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus. You will show that you have grown up on the teachings about our faith and on the good instructions you have obeyed.


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As the saying goes, "Exercise is good for your body, but religion helps you in every way. It promises life now and forever." These words are worthwhile and should not be forgotten.


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We have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of everyone, but especially of those who have faith. That's why we work and struggle so hard.


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Don't let anyone make fun of you, just because you are young. Set an example for other followers by what you say and do, as well as by your love, faith, and purity.


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Until I arrive, be sure to keep on reading the Scriptures in worship, and don't stop preaching and teaching.


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Use the gift you were given when the prophets spoke and the group of church leaders blessed you by placing their hands on you.


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Be careful about the way you live and about what you teach. Keep on doing this, and you will save not only yourself, but the people who hear you.


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Don't correct an older man. Encourage him, as you would your own father. Treat younger men as you would your own brother,


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and treat older women as you would your own mother. Show the same respect to younger women that you would to your sister.


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But if a widow has children or grandchildren, they should learn to serve God by taking care of her, as she once took care of them. This is what God wants them to do.


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A widow who is really in need is one who doesn't have any relatives. She has faith in God, and she keeps praying to him night and day, asking for his help.


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People who don't take care of their relatives, and especially their own families, have given up their faith. They are worse than someone who doesn't have faith in the Lord.


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For a widow to be put on the list of widows, she must be at least sixty years old, and she must have been faithful in marriage.


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She must also be well-known for doing all sorts of good things, such as raising children, giving food to strangers, welcoming God's people into her home, helping people in need, and always making herself useful.


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Don't put young widows on the list. They may later have a strong desire to get married. Then they will turn away from Christ


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Besides, they will become lazy and get into the habit of going from house to house. Next, they will start gossiping and become busybodies, talking about things that are none of their business.


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I would prefer that young widows get married, have children, and look after their families. Then the enemy won't have any reason to say insulting things about us.


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If a woman who is a follower has any widows in her family, she should help them. This will keep the church from having that burden, and then the church can help widows who are really in need.


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Church leaders who do their job well deserve to be paid twice as much, especially if they work hard at preaching and teaching.


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It is just as the Scriptures say, "Don't muzzle an ox when you are using it to grind grain." You also know the saying, "Workers are worth their pay."


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Don't listen to any charge against a church leader, unless at least two or three people bring the same charges.


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But if any of the leaders should keep on sinning, they must be corrected in front of the whole group, as a warning to everyone else.


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In the presence of God and Christ Jesus and their chosen angels, I order you to follow my instructions! Be fair with everyone, and don't have any favorites.


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Don't be too quick to accept people into the service of the Lord by placing your hands on them. Don't sin because others do, but stay close to God.


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Stop drinking only water. Take a little wine to help your stomach trouble and the other illnesses you always have.


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Some people get caught in their sins right away, even before the time of judgment. But other people's sins don't show up until later.


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If you are a slave, you should respect and honor your owner. This will keep people from saying bad things about God and about our teaching.


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If any of you slaves have owners who are followers, you should show them respect. After all, they are also followers of Christ, and he loves them. So you should serve and help them the best you can. These are the things you must teach and tell the people to do.


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Anyone who teaches something different disagrees with the correct and godly teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ.


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Those people who disagree are proud of themselves, but they don't really know a thing. Their minds are sick, and they like to argue over words. They cause jealousy, disagreements, unkind words, evil suspicions,


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and nasty quarrels. They have wicked minds and have missed out on the truth. These people think religion is supposed to make you rich.


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People who want to be rich fall into all sorts of temptations and traps. They are caught by foolish and harmful desires that drag them down and destroy them.


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The love of money causes all kinds of trouble. Some people want money so much that they have given up their faith and caused themselves a lot of pain.


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Timothy, you belong to God, so keep away from all these evil things. Try your best to please God and to be like him. Be faithful, loving, dependable, and gentle.


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Fight a good fight for the faith and claim eternal life. God offered it to you when you clearly told about your faith, while so many people listened.


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Now I ask you to make a promise. Make it in the presence of God, who gives life to all, and in the presence of Jesus Christ, who openly told Pontius Pilate about his faith.


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Promise to obey completely and fully all that you have been told until our Lord Jesus Christ returns.


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The glorious God is the only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords. At the time that God has already decided, he will send Jesus Christ back again.


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Only God lives forever! And he lives in light that no one can come near. No human has ever seen God or ever can see him. God will be honored, and his power will last forever. Amen.


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Warn the rich people of this world not to be proud or to trust in wealth that is easily lost. Tell them to have faith in God, who is rich and blesses us with everything we need to enjoy life.


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Instruct them to do as many good deeds as they can and to help everyone. Remind the rich to be generous and share what they have.


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Timothy, guard what God has placed in your care! Don't pay any attention to that godless and stupid talk that sounds smart but really isn't.


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Some people have even lost their faith by believing this talk. I pray that the Lord will be kind to all of you!


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From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus. God himself chose me to be an apostle, and he gave me the promised life that Jesus Christ makes possible.


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Timothy, you are like a dear child to me. I pray that God our Father and our Lord Christ Jesus will be kind and merciful to you and will bless you with peace!


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Night and day I mention you in my prayers. I am always grateful for you, as I pray to the God my ancestors and I have served with a clear conscience.


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I also remember the genuine faith of your mother Eunice. Your grandmother Lois had the same sort of faith, and I am sure that you have it as well.


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So I ask you to make full use of the gift that God gave you when I placed my hands on you. Use it well.


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Don't be ashamed to speak for our Lord. And don't be ashamed of me, just because I am in jail for serving him. Use the power that comes from God and join with me in suffering for telling the good news.


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God saved us and chose us to be his holy people. We did nothing to deserve this, but God planned it because he is so kind. Even before time began God planned for Christ Jesus to show kindness to us.


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Now Christ Jesus has come to show us the kindness of God. Christ our Savior defeated death and brought us the good news. It shines like a light and offers life that never ends.


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That's why I am suffering now. But I am not ashamed! I know the one I have faith in, and I am sure that he can guard until the last day what he has trusted me with.


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Now follow the example of the correct teaching I gave you, and let the faith and love of Christ Jesus be your model.


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You have been trusted with a wonderful treasure. Guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit, who lives within you.


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I pray that the Lord will be kind to the family of Onesiphorus. He often cheered me up and wasn't ashamed of me when I was put in jail.


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I pray that the Lord Jesus will ask God to show mercy to Onesiphorus on the day of judgment. You know how much he helped me in Ephesus.


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You have often heard me teach. Now I want you to tell these same things to followers who can be trusted to tell others.


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Keep your mind on Jesus Christ! He was from the family of David and was raised from death, just as my good news says.


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And because of this message, I am locked up in jail and treated like a criminal. But God's good news isn't locked in jail,


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and so I am willing to put up with anything. Then God's special people will be saved. They will be given eternal glory because they belong to Christ Jesus.


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If we don't give up, we will rule with him. If we deny that we know him, he will deny that he knows us.


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Don't let anyone forget these things. And with God as your witness, you must warn them not to argue about words. These arguments don't help anyone. In fact, they ruin everyone who listens to them.


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Do your best to win God's approval as a worker who doesn't need to be ashamed and who teaches only the true message.


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That sort of talk is like a sore that won't heal. And Hymenaeus and Philetus have been talking this way


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by teaching that the dead have already been raised to life. This is far from the truth, and it is destroying the faith of some people.


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But the foundation that God has laid is solid. On it is written, "The Lord knows who his people are. So everyone who worships the Lord must turn away from evil."


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In a large house some dishes are made of gold or silver, while others are made of wood or clay. Some of these are special, and others are not.


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That's also how it is with people. The ones who stop doing evil and make themselves pure will become special. Their lives will be holy and pleasing to their Master, and they will be able to do all kinds of good deeds.


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Run from temptations that capture young people. Always do the right thing. Be faithful, loving, and easy to get along with. Worship with people whose hearts are pure.


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and God's servants must not be troublemakers. They must be kind to everyone, and they must be good teachers and very patient.


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Be humble when you correct people who oppose you. Maybe God will lead them to turn to him and learn the truth.


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People will love only themselves and money. They will be proud, stuck-up, rude, and disobedient to their parents. They will also be ungrateful, godless,


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heartless, and hateful. Their words will be cruel, and they will have no self-control or pity. These people will hate everything that is good.


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They will be sneaky, reckless, and puffed up with pride. Instead of loving God, they will love pleasure.


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Even though they will make a show of being religious, their religion won't be real. Don't have anything to do with such people.


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Some men fool whole families, just to get power over those women who are slaves of sin and are controlled by all sorts of desires.


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Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, these people are enemies of the truth. Their minds are sick, and their faith isn't real.


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But they won't get very far with their foolishness. Soon everyone will know the truth about them, just as Jannes and Jambres were found out.


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Timothy, you know what I teach and how I live. You know what I want to do and what I believe. You have seen how patient and loving I am, and how in the past I put up with


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trouble and suffering in the cities of Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. Yet the Lord rescued me from all those terrible troubles.


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But evil people who pretend to be what they are not will become worse than ever, as they fool others and are fooled themselves.


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Keep on being faithful to what you were taught and to what you believed. After all, you know who taught you these things.


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Since childhood, you have known the Holy Scriptures that are able to make you wise enough to have faith in Christ Jesus and be saved.


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Everything in the Scriptures is God's Word. All of it is useful for teaching and helping people and for correcting them and showing them how to live.


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When Christ Jesus comes as king, he will be the judge of everyone, whether they are living or dead. So with God and Christ as witnesses, I command you


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to preach God's message. Do it willingly, even if it isn't the popular thing to do. You must correct people and point out their sins. But also cheer them up, and when you instruct them, always be patient.


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The time is coming when people won't listen to good teaching. Instead, they will look for teachers who will please them by telling them only what they are itching to hear.


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But you must stay calm and be willing to suffer. You must work hard to tell the good news and to do your job well.


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Now the time has come for me to die. My life is like a drink offering being poured out on the altar.


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So a crown will be given to me for pleasing the Lord. He judges fairly, and on the day of judgment he will give a crown to me and to everyone else who wants him to appear with power.


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Demas loves the things of this world so much that he left me and went to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus has gone to Dalmatia.


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Only Luke has stayed with me. Mark can be very helpful to me, so please find him and bring him with you.


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When you come, bring the coat I left at Troas with Carpus. Don't forget to bring the scrolls, especially the ones made of leather.


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Alexander, the metalworker, has hurt me in many ways. But the Lord will pay him back for what he has done.


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When I was first put on trial, no one helped me. In fact, everyone deserted me. I hope it won't be held against them.


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But the Lord stood beside me. He gave me the strength to tell his full message, so that all Gentiles would hear it. And I was kept safe from hungry lions.


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The Lord will always keep me from being harmed by evil, and he will bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. Praise him forever and ever! Amen.


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Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, and Claudia send you their greetings, and so do the rest of the Lord's followers.


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From Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. I encourage God's own people to have more faith and to understand the truth about religion.


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Titus, because of our faith, you are like a son to me. I pray that God our Father and Christ Jesus our Savior will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!


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I left you in Crete to do what had been left undone and to appoint leaders for the churches in each town. As I told you,


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they must have a good reputation and be faithful in marriage. Their children must be followers of the Lord and not have a reputation for being wild and disobedient.


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Church officials are in charge of God's work, and so they must also have a good reputation. They must not be bossy, quick-tempered, heavy drinkers, bullies, or dishonest in business.


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Instead, they must be friendly to strangers and enjoy doing good things. They must also be sensible, fair, pure, and self-controlled.


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They must stick to the true message they were taught, so that their good teaching can help others and correct everyone who opposes it.


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There are many who don't respect authority, and they fool others by talking nonsense. This is especially true of some Jewish followers.


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But you must make them be quiet. They are after money, and they upset whole families by teaching what they should not.


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It is like one of their own prophets once said, "The people of Crete always tell lies. They are greedy and lazy like wild animals."


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That surely is a true saying. And you should be hard on such people, so you can help them grow stronger in their faith.


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Don't pay any attention to any of those senseless Jewish stories and human commands. These are made up by people who won't obey the truth.


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Everything is pure for someone whose heart is pure. But nothing is pure for an unbeliever with a dirty mind. That person's mind and conscience are destroyed.


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Such people claim to know God, but their actions prove that they really don't. They are disgusting. They won't obey God, and they are too worthless to do anything good.


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Tell the older men to have self-control and to be serious and sensible. Their faith, love, and patience must never fail.


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Tell the older women to behave as those who love the Lord should. They must not gossip about others or be slaves of wine. They must teach what is proper,


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Each of the younger women must be sensible and kind, as well as a good homemaker, who puts her own husband first. Then no one can say insulting things about God's message.


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Use clean language that no one can criticize. Do this, and your enemies will be too ashamed to say anything against you.


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Tell slaves always to please their owners by obeying them in everything. Slaves must not talk back to their owners


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or steal from them. They must be completely honest and trustworthy. Then everyone will show great respect for what is taught about God our Savior.


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He taught us to give up our wicked ways and our worldly desires and to live decent and honest lives in this world.


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We are filled with hope, as we wait for the glorious return of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.


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He gave himself to rescue us from everything that is evil and to make our hearts pure. He wanted us to be his own people and to be eager to do right.


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Teach these things, as you use your full authority to encourage and correct people. Make sure you earn everyone's respect.


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Remind your people to obey the rulers and authorities and not to be rebellious. They must always be ready to do something helpful


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We used to be stupid, disobedient, and foolish, as well as slaves of all sorts of desires and pleasures. We were evil and jealous. Everyone hated us, and we hated everyone.


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He saved us because of his mercy, and not because of any good things that we have done. God washed us by the power of the Holy Spirit. He gave us new birth and a fresh beginning.


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Jesus treated us much better than we deserve. He made us acceptable to God and gave us the hope of eternal life.


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This message is certainly true. These teachings are useful and helpful for everyone. I want you to insist that the people follow them, so that all who have faith in God will be sure to do good deeds.


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But don't have anything to do with stupid arguments about ancestors. And stay away from disagreements and quarrels about the Law of Moses. Such arguments are useless and senseless.


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I plan to send Artemas or Tychicus to you. After he arrives, please try your best to meet me at Nicopolis. I have decided to spend the winter there.


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When Zenas the lawyer and Apollos get ready to leave, help them as much as you can, so they won't have need of anything.


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Greetings to you from everyone here. Greet all of our friends who share in our faith. I pray that the Lord will be kind to all of you!


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From Paul, who is in jail for serving Christ Jesus, and from Timothy, who is like a brother because of our faith. Philemon, you work with us and are very dear to us. This letter is to you


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and to the church that meets in your home. It is also to our dear friend Apphia and to Archippus, who serves the Lord as we do.


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As you share your faith with others, I pray that they may come to know all the blessings Christ has given us.


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My friend, your love has made me happy and has greatly encouraged me. It has also cheered the hearts of God's people.


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I would like to keep him here with me, where he could take your place in helping me while I am here in prison for preaching the good news.


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But I won't do anything unless you agree to it first. I want your act of kindness to come from your heart, and not be something you feel forced to do.


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but not as a slave. Onesimus is much more than a slave. To me he is a dear friend, but to you he is even more, both as a person and as a follower of the Lord.


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But now at last, God sent his Son to bring his message to us. God created the universe by his Son, and everything will someday belong to the Son.


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God's Son has all the brightness of God's own glory and is like him in every way. By his own mighty word, he holds the universe together. After the Son had washed away our sins, he sat down at the right side of the glorious God in heaven.


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He had become much greater than the angels, and the name he was given is far greater than any of theirs.


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God has never said to any of the angels, "You are my Son, because today I have become your Father!" Neither has God said to any of them, "I will be his Father, and he will be my Son!"


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And when God speaks about the angels, he says, "I change my angels into wind and my servants into flaming fire."


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But God says about his Son, "You are God, and you will rule as King forever! Your royal power brings about justice.


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You loved justice and hated evil, and so I, your God, have chosen you. I appointed you and made you happier than any of your friends."


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The Scriptures also say, "In the beginning, Lord, you were the one who laid the foundation of the earth and created the heavens.


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You will roll them up like a robe and change them like a garment. But you are always the same, and you will live forever."


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God never said to any of the angels, "Sit at my right side until I make your enemies into a footstool for you!"


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The message spoken by angels proved to be true, and all who disobeyed or rejected it were punished as they deserved.


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So if we refuse this great way of being saved, how can we hope to escape? The Lord himself was the first to tell about it, and people who heard the message proved to us that it was true.


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God himself showed that his message was true by working all kinds of powerful miracles and wonders. He also gave his Holy Spirit to anyone he chose to.


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Somewhere in the Scriptures someone says to God, "What makes you care about us humans? Why are you concerned for weaklings such as we?


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And you have put everything under our power!" God has put everything under our power and has not left anything out of our power. But we still don't see it all under our power.


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What we do see is Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels. Because of God's wonderful kindness, Jesus died for everyone. And now that Jesus has suffered and died, he is crowned with glory and honor!


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Everything belongs to God, and all things were created by his power. So God did the right thing when he made Jesus perfect by suffering, as Jesus led many of God's children to be saved and to share in his glory.


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Jesus and the people he makes holy all belong to the same family. That is why he isn't ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters.


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He even said to God, "I will tell them your name and sing your praises when they come together to worship."


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We are people of flesh and blood. That is why Jesus became one of us. He died to destroy the devil, who had power over death.


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He had to be one of us, so that he could serve God as our merciful and faithful high priest and sacrifice himself for the forgiveness of our sins.


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My friends, God has chosen you to be his holy people. So think about Jesus, the one we call our apostle and high priest!


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Jesus was faithful to God, who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in serving all of God's people.


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But Jesus deserves more honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house deserves more honor than the house.


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But Christ is the Son in charge of God's people. And we are those people, if we keep on being brave and don't lose hope.


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"Then God got tired of them and said, 'You people never show good sense, and you don't understand what I want you to do.'


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You must encourage one another each day. And you must keep on while there is still a time that can be called "today." If you don't, then sin may fool some of you and make you stubborn.


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We were sure about Christ when we first became his people. So let's hold tightly to our faith until the end.


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Who were those people that heard God's voice and rebelled? Weren't they the same ones that came out of Egypt with Moses?


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Who were the people that made God angry for forty years? Weren't they the ones that sinned and died in the desert?


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The promise to enter the place of rest is still good, and we must take care that none of you miss out.


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We have heard the message, just as they did. But they failed to believe what they heard, and the message did not do them any good.


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Only people who have faith will enter the place of rest. It is just as the Scriptures say, "God became angry and told the people, 'You will never enter my place of rest!' " God said this, even though everything has been ready from the time of creation.


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In fact, somewhere the Scriptures say that by the seventh day, God had finished his work, and so he rested.


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This means that the promise to enter is still good, because those who first heard about it disobeyed and did not enter.


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Much later God told David to make the promise again, just as I have already said, "If you hear his voice today, don't be stubborn!"


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If Joshua had really given the people rest, there would not be any need for God to talk about another day of rest.


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We should do our best to enter that place of rest, so that none of us will disobey and miss going there, as they did.


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What God has said isn't only alive and active! It is sharper than any double-edged sword. His word can cut through our spirits and souls and through our joints and marrow, until it discovers the desires and thoughts of our hearts.


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We have a great high priest, who has gone into heaven, and he is Jesus the Son of God. That is why we must hold on to what we have said about him.


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Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he did not sin!


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So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved kindness, and we will find help.


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Every high priest is appointed to help others by offering gifts and sacrifices to God because of their sins.


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But no one can have the honor of being a high priest simply by wanting to be one. Only God can choose a priest, and God is the one who chose Aaron.


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That is how it was with Christ. He became a high priest, but not just because he wanted the honor of being one. It was God who told him, "You are my Son, because today I have become your Father!"


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God had the power to save Jesus from death. And while Jesus was on earth, he begged God with loud crying and tears to save him. He truly worshiped God, and God listened to his prayers.


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Jesus is God's own Son, but still he had to suffer before he could learn what it really means to obey God.


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Much more could be said about this subject. But it is hard to explain, and all of you are slow to understand.


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By now you should have been teachers, but once again you need to be taught the simplest things about what God has said. You need milk instead of solid food.


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We must try to become mature and start thinking about more than just the basic things we were taught about Christ. We shouldn't need to keep talking about why we ought to turn from deeds that bring death and why we ought to have faith in God.


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And we shouldn't need to keep teaching about baptisms or about the laying on of hands or about people being raised from death and the future judgment.


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But what about people who turn away after they have already seen the light and have received the gift from heaven and have shared in the Holy Spirit? What about those who turn away after they have received the good message of God and the powers of the future world? There is no way to bring them back. What they are doing is the same as nailing the Son of God to a cross and insulting him in public!


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A field is useful to farmers, if there is enough rain to make good crops grow. In fact, God will bless that field.


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But land that produces only thornbushes is worthless. It is likely to fall under God's curse, and in the end it will be set on fire.


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My friends, we are talking this way. But we are sure that you are doing those really good things that people do when they are being saved.


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God is always fair. He will remember how you helped his people in the past and how you are still helping them. You belong to God, and he won't forget the love you have shown his people.


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Then you would never be lazy. You would be following the example of those who had faith and were patient until God kept his promise to them.


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When anyone wants to settle an argument, they make a vow by using the name of someone or something greater than themselves.


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So when God wanted to prove for certain that his promise to his people could not be broken, he made a vow.


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God cannot tell lies! And so his promises and vows are two things that can never be changed. We have run to God for safety. Now his promises should greatly encourage us to take hold of the hope that is right in front of us.


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This hope is like a firm and steady anchor for our souls. In fact, hope reaches behind the curtain and into the most holy place.


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Melchizedek was both king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He was the one who went out and gave Abraham his blessing, when Abraham returned from killing the kings.


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Then Abraham gave him a tenth of everything he had. The meaning of the name Melchizedek is "King of Justice." But since Salem means "peace," he is also "King of Peace."


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We are not told that he had a father or mother or ancestors or beginning or end. He is like the Son of God and will be a priest forever.


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Notice how great Melchizedek is! Our famous ancestor Abraham gave him a tenth of what he had taken from his enemies.


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The Law teaches that even Abraham's descendants must give a tenth of what they possess. And they are to give this to their own relatives, who are the descendants of Levi and are priests.


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Although Melchizedek wasn't a descendant of Levi, Abraham gave him a tenth of what he had. Then Melchizedek blessed Abraham, who had been given God's promise.


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Everyone agrees that a person who gives a blessing is greater than the one who receives the blessing.


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Priests are given a tenth of what people earn. But all priests die, except Melchizedek, and the Scriptures teach that he is alive.


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Levi's descendants are now the ones who receive a tenth from people. We could even say that when Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth, Levi also gave him a tenth.


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Even though the Law of Moses says that the priests must be descendants of Levi, those priests cannot make anyone perfect. So there needs to be a priest like Melchizedek, rather than one from the priestly family of Aaron.


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The person we are talking about is our Lord, who came from a tribe that had never had anyone to serve as a priest at the altar.


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Everyone knows he came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never said that priests would come from that tribe.


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because the Law cannot make anything perfect. At the same time, we are given a much better hope, and it can bring us close to God.


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God himself made a promise when this priest was appointed. But he did not make a promise like this when the other priests were appointed. The promise he made is, "I, the Lord, promise that you will be a priest forever! And I will never change my mind!"


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He is forever able to save the people he leads to God, because he always lives to speak to God for them.


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Jesus is the high priest we need. He is holy and innocent and faultless, and not at all like us sinners. Jesus is honored above all beings in heaven,


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and he is better than any other high priest. Jesus doesn't need to offer sacrifices each day for his own sins and then for the sins of the people. He offered a sacrifice once for all, when he gave himself.


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The Law appoints priests who have weaknesses. But God's promise, which came later than the Law, appoints his Son. And he is the perfect high priest forever.


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What I mean is that we have a high priest who sits at the right side of God's great throne in heaven.


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He also serves as the priest in the most holy place inside the real tent there in heaven. This tent of worship was set up by the Lord, not by humans.


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If he were here on earth, he would not be a priest at all, because here the Law appoints other priests to offer sacrifices.


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But the tent where they serve is just a copy and a shadow of the real one in heaven. Before Moses made the tent, he was told, "Be sure to make it exactly like the pattern you were shown on the mountain!"


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Now Christ has been appointed to serve as a priest in a much better way, and he has given us much assurance of a better agreement.


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If the first agreement with God had been all right, there would not have been any need for another one.


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But the Lord found fault with it and said, "I tell you the time will come, when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and the people of Judah.


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It won't be like the agreement that I made with their ancestors, when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. They broke their agreement with me, and I stopped caring about them!


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"But now I tell the people of Israel this is my new agreement: 'The time will come when I, the Lord, will write my laws on their minds and hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.


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Not one of them will have to teach another to know me, their Lord.' "All of them will know me, no matter who they are.


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When the Lord talks about a new agreement, he means that the first one is out of date. And anything that is old and useless will soon disappear.


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The first part of the tent was called the holy place, and a lampstand, a table, and the sacred loaves of bread were kept there.


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The gold altar that was used for burning incense was in this holy place. The gold-covered sacred chest was also there, and inside it were three things. First, there was a gold jar filled with manna. Then there was Aaron's walking stick that sprouted. Finally, there were the flat stones with the Ten Commandments written on them.


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On top of the chest were the glorious creatures with wings opened out above the place of mercy. Now isn't the time to go into detail about these things.


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But this is how everything was when the priests went each day into the first part of the tent to do their duties.


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However, only the high priest could go into the second part of the tent, and he went in only once a year. Each time he carried blood to offer for his sins and for any sins that the people had committed without meaning to.


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All of this is the Holy Spirit's way of saying that no one could enter the most holy place while the tent was still the place of worship.


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This also has a meaning for today. It shows that we cannot make our consciences clear by offering gifts and sacrifices.


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These rules are merely about such things as eating and drinking and ceremonies for washing ourselves. And rules about physical things will last only until the time comes to change them for something better.


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Christ came as the high priest of the good things that are now here. He also went into a much better tent that wasn't made by humans and that doesn't belong to this world.


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Then Christ went once for all into the most holy place and freed us from sin forever. He did this by offering his own blood instead of the blood of goats and bulls.


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According to the Law of Moses, those people who become unclean are not fit to worship God. Yet they will be considered clean, if they are sprinkled with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a sacrificed calf.


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But Christ was sinless, and he offered himself as an eternal and spiritual sacrifice to God. That's why his blood is much more powerful and makes our consciences clear. Now we can serve the living God and no longer do things that lead to death.


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Christ died to rescue those who had sinned and broken the old agreement. Now he brings his chosen ones a new agreement with its guarantee of God's eternal blessings!


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In fact, making an agreement of this kind is like writing a will. This is because the one who makes the will must die before it is of any use.


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Moses told the people all that the Law said they must do. Then he used red wool and a hyssop plant to sprinkle the people and the book of the Law with the blood of bulls and goats and with water.


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The Law says that almost everything must be sprinkled with blood, and no sins can be forgiven unless blood is offered.


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These things are only copies of what is in heaven, and so they had to be made holy by these ceremonies. But the real things in heaven must be made holy by something better.


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This is why Christ did not go into a tent that had been made by humans and was only a copy of the real one. Instead, he went into heaven and is now there with God to help us.


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Christ did not have to offer himself many times. He wasn't like a high priest who goes into the most holy place each year to offer the blood of an animal.


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If he had offered himself every year, he would have suffered many times since the creation of the world. But instead, near the end of time he offered himself once and for all, so that he could be a sacrifice that does away with sin.


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So Christ died only once to take away the sins of many people. But when he comes again, it will not be to take away sin. He will come to save everyone who is waiting for him.


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The Law of Moses is like a shadow of the good things to come. This shadow isn't the good things themselves, because it cannot free people from sin by the sacrifices that are offered year after year.


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If there were worshipers who already have their sins washed away and their consciences made clear, there would not be any need to go on offering sacrifices.


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But the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins. It only reminds people of their sins from one year to the next.


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When Christ came into the world, he said to God, "Sacrifices and offerings are not what you want, but you have given me my body.


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The Law teaches that offerings and sacrifices must be made because of sin. But why did Christ mention these things and say that God did not want them?


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Well, it was to do away with offerings and sacrifices and to replace them. That is what he meant by saying to God, "I have come to do what you want."


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The priests do their work each day, and they keep on offering sacrifices that can never take away sins.


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But Christ offered himself as a sacrifice that is good forever. Now he is sitting at God's right side,


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"When the time comes, I will make an agreement with them. I will write my laws on their minds and hearts.


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So let's come near God with pure hearts and a confidence that comes from having faith. Let's keep our hearts pure, our consciences free from evil, and our bodies washed with clean water.


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We must hold tightly to the hope that we say is ours. After all, we can trust the one who made the agreement with us.


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Some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other, especially since you know that the day of the Lord's coming is getting closer.


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If two or more witnesses accused someone of breaking the Law of Moses, that person could be put to death.


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But it is much worse to dishonor God's Son and to disgrace the blood of the promise that made us holy. And it is just as bad to insult the Holy Spirit, who shows us mercy.


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We know that God has said he will punish and take revenge. We also know that the Scriptures say the Lord will judge his people.


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Sometimes you were abused and mistreated in public, and at other times you shared in the sufferings of others.


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You were kind to people in jail. And you gladly let your possessions be taken away, because you knew you had something better, something that would last forever.


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The people God accepts will live because of their faith. But he isn't pleased with anyone who turns back."


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We are not like those people who turn back and get destroyed. We will keep on having faith until we are saved.


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Because of our faith, we know that the world was made at God's command. We also know that what can be seen was made out of what cannot be seen.


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Because Abel had faith, he offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. God was pleased with him and his gift, and even though Abel is now dead, his faith still speaks for him.


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Enoch had faith and did not die. He pleased God, and God took him up to heaven. That's why his body was never found.


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But without faith no one can please God. We must believe that God is real and that he rewards everyone who searches for him.


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Because Noah had faith, he was warned about something that had not yet happened. He obeyed and built a boat that saved him and his family. In this way the people of the world were judged, and Noah was given the blessings that come to everyone who pleases God.


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Abraham had faith and obeyed God. He was told to go to the land that God had said would be his, and he left for a country he had never seen.


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Because Abraham had faith, he lived as a stranger in the promised land. He lived there in a tent, and so did Isaac and Jacob, who were later given the same promise.


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Even when Sarah was too old to have children, she had faith that God would do what he had promised, and she had a son.


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Her husband Abraham was almost dead, but he became the ancestor of many people. In fact, there are as many of them as there are stars in the sky or grains of sand along the beach.


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Every one of those people died. But they still had faith, even though they had not received what they had been promised. They were glad just to see these things from far away, and they agreed that they were only strangers and foreigners on this earth.


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If they had been talking about the land where they had once lived, they could have gone back at any time.


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But they were looking forward to a better home in heaven. That's why God wasn't ashamed for them to call him their God. He even built a city for them.


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Abraham had been promised that Isaac, his only son, would continue his family. But when Abraham was tested, he had faith and was willing to sacrifice Isaac,


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because he was sure that God could raise people to life. This was just like getting Isaac back from death.


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Later, when Jacob was about to die, he leaned on his walking stick and worshiped. Then because of his faith he blessed each of Joseph's sons.


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And right before Joseph died, he had faith that God would lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. So he told them to take his bones with them.


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Because Moses' parents had faith, they kept him hidden until he was three months old. They saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king's orders.


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He chose to be mistreated with God's people instead of having the good time that sin could bring for a little while.


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Moses knew that the treasures of Egypt were not as wonderful as what he would receive from suffering for the Messiah, and he looked forward to his reward.


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Because of his faith, Moses left Egypt. Moses had seen the invisible God and wasn't afraid of the king's anger.


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His faith also made him celebrate Passover. He sprinkled the blood of animals on the doorposts, so that the first-born sons of the people of Israel would not be killed by the destroying angel.


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Because of their faith, the people walked through the Red Sea on dry land. But when the Egyptians tried to do it, they were drowned.


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God's people had faith, and when they had walked around the city of Jericho for seven days, its walls fell down.


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Rahab had been a prostitute, but she had faith and welcomed the spies. So she wasn't killed with the people who disobeyed.


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What else can I say? There isn't enough time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets.


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Their faith helped them conquer kingdoms, and because they did right, God made promises to them. They closed the jaws of lions


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and put out raging fires and escaped from the swords of their enemies. Although they were weak, they were given the strength and power to chase foreign armies away.


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Some women received their loved ones back from death. Many of these people were tortured, but they refused to be released. They were sure that they would get a better reward when the dead are raised to life.


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Still others were stoned to death or sawed in two or killed with swords. Some had nothing but sheep skins or goat skins to wear. They were poor, mistreated, and tortured.


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The world did not deserve these good people, who had to wander in deserts and on mountains and had to live in caves and holes in the ground.


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All of them pleased God because of their faith! But still they died without being given what had been promised.


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This was because God had something better in store for us. And he did not want them to reach the goal of their faith without us.


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Such a large crowd of witnesses is all around us! So we must get rid of everything that slows us down, especially the sin that just won't let go. And we must be determined to run the race that is ahead of us.


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We must keep our eyes on Jesus, who leads us and makes our faith complete. He endured the shame of being nailed to a cross, because he knew that later on he would be glad he did. Now he is seated at the right side of God's throne!


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So keep your mind on Jesus, who put up with many insults from sinners. Then you won't get discouraged and give up.


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But you have forgotten that the Scriptures say to God's children, "When the Lord punishes you, don't make light of it, and when he corrects you, don't be discouraged.


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Be patient when you are being corrected! This is how God treats his children. Don't all parents correct their children?


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God corrects all of his children, and if he doesn't correct you, then you don't really belong to him.


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Our earthly fathers correct us, and we still respect them. Isn't it even better to be given true life by letting our spiritual Father correct us?


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Our human fathers correct us for a short time, and they do it as they think best. But God corrects us for our own good, because he wants us to be holy, as he is.


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It is never fun to be corrected. In fact, at the time it is always painful. But if we learn to obey by being corrected, we will do right and live at peace.


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Make sure that no one misses out on God's wonderful kindness. Don't let anyone become bitter and cause trouble for the rest of you.


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You know how he later wanted it back. But there was nothing he could do to change things, even though he begged his father and cried.


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You have not come to a place like Mount Sinai that can be seen and touched. There is no flaming fire or dark cloud or storm


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because they could not obey its commands. They were even told to kill any animal that touched the mountain.


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You have now come to Mount Zion and to the heavenly Jerusalem. This is the city of the living God, where thousands and thousands of angels have come to celebrate.


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Here you will find all of God's dearest children, whose names are written in heaven. And you will find God himself, who judges everyone. Here also are the spirits of those good people who have been made perfect.


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And Jesus is here! He is the one who makes God's new agreement with us, and his sprinkled blood says much better things than the blood of Abel.


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Make sure that you obey the one who speaks to you. The people did not escape, when they refused to obey the one who spoke to them at Mount Sinai. Do you think you can possibly escape, if you refuse to obey the one who speaks to you from heaven?


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When God spoke the first time, his voice shook only the earth. This time he has promised to shake the earth once again, and heaven too.


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The words "once again" mean that these created things will someday be shaken and removed. Then what cannot be shaken will last.


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We should be grateful that we were given a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And in this kingdom we please God by worshiping him and by showing him great honor and respect.


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Be sure to welcome strangers into your home. By doing this, some people have welcomed angels as guests, without even knowing it.


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Remember the Lord's people who are in jail and be concerned for them. Don't forget those who are suffering, but imagine that you are there with them.


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Have respect for marriage. Always be faithful to your partner, because God will punish anyone who is immoral or unfaithful in marriage.


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Don't fall in love with money. Be satisfied with what you have. The Lord has promised that he will not leave us or desert us.


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That should make you feel like saying, "The Lord helps me! Why should I be afraid of what people can do to me?"


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Don't forget about your leaders who taught you God's message. Remember what kind of lives they lived and try to have faith like theirs.


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Don't be fooled by any kind of strange teachings. It is better to receive strength from God's undeserved kindness than to depend on certain foods. After all, these foods don't really help the people who eat them.


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After the high priest offers the blood of animals as a sin offering, the bodies of those animals are burned outside the camp.


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But don't forget to help others and to share your possessions with them. This too is like offering a sacrifice that pleases God.


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Obey your leaders and do what they say. They are watching over you, and they must answer to God. So don't make them sad as they do their work. Make them happy. Otherwise, they won't be able to help you at all.


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God gives peace, and he raised our Lord Jesus Christ from death. Now Jesus is like a Great Shepherd whose blood was used to make God's eternal agreement with his flock.


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I pray that God will make you ready to obey him and that you will always be eager to do right. May Jesus help you do what pleases God. To Jesus Christ be glory forever and ever! Amen.


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My friends, I have written only a short letter to encourage you, and I beg you to pay close attention to what I have said.


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By now you surely must know that our friend Timothy is out of jail. If he gets here in time, I will bring him with me when I come to visit you.


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Please give my greetings to your leaders and to the rest of the Lord's people. His followers from Italy send you their greetings.


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From James, a servant of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ. Greetings to the twelve tribes scattered all over the world.


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But you must learn to endure everything, so that you will be completely mature and not lacking in anything.


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If any of you need wisdom, you should ask God, and it will be given to you. God is generous and won't correct you for asking.


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But when you ask for something, you must have faith and not doubt. Anyone who doubts is like an ocean wave tossed around in a storm.


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If you are that kind of person, you can't make up your mind, and you surely can't be trusted. So don't expect the Lord to give you anything at all.


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But any who are rich should be glad when God makes them humble. Rich people will disappear like wild flowers


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scorched by the burning heat of the sun. The flowers lose their blossoms, and their beauty is destroyed. That is how the rich will disappear, as they go about their business.


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God will bless you, if you don't give up when your faith is being tested. He will reward you with a glorious life, just as he rewards everyone who loves him.


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Don't blame God when you are tempted! God cannot be tempted by evil, and he doesn't use evil to tempt others.


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Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father who created all the lights in the heavens. He is always the same and never makes dark shadows by changing.


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You must stop doing anything immoral or evil. Instead be humble and accept the message that is planted in you to save you.


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But you must never stop looking at the perfect law that sets you free. God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don't just hear and forget.


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If you think you are being religious, but can't control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and everything you do is useless.


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Religion that pleases God the Father must be pure and spotless. You must help needy orphans and widows and not let this world make you evil.


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My friends, if you have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, you won't treat some people better than others.


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Suppose a rich person wearing fancy clothes and a gold ring comes to one of your meetings. And suppose a poor person dressed in worn-out clothes also comes.


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You must not give the best seat to the one in fancy clothes and tell the one who is poor to stand at the side or sit on the floor.


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That is the same as saying that some people are better than others, and you would be acting like a crooked judge.


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My dear friends, pay attention. God has given a lot of faith to the poor people in this world. He has also promised them a share in his kingdom that he will give to everyone who loves him.


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You will do all right, if you obey the most important law in the Scriptures. It is the law that commands us to love others as much as we love ourselves.


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But if you treat some people better than others, you have done wrong, and the Scriptures teach that you have sinned.


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The same God who told us to be faithful in marriage also told us not to murder. So even if you are faithful in marriage, but murder someone, you still have broken God's Law.


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Do this, because on the day of judgment there will be no pity for those who have not had pity on others. But even in judgment, God is merciful!


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My friends, what good is it to say you have faith, when you don't do anything to show that you really do have faith? Can that kind of faith save you?


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you shouldn't just say, "I hope all goes well for you. I hope you will be warm and have plenty to eat." What good is it to say this, unless you do something to help?


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Suppose someone disagrees and says, "It is possible to have faith without doing kind deeds." I would answer, "Prove that you have faith without doing kind deeds, and I will prove that I have faith by doing them."


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You surely believe there is only one God. That's fine. Even demons believe this, and it makes them shake with fear.


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Now you see how Abraham's faith and deeds worked together. He proved that his faith was real by what he did.


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This is what the Scriptures mean by saying, "Abraham had faith in God, and God was pleased with him." That's how Abraham became God's friend.


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For example, Rahab had been a prostitute. But she pleased God when she welcomed the spies and sent them home by another way.


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My friends, we should not all try to become teachers. In fact, teachers will be judged more strictly than others.


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All of us do many wrong things. But if you can control your tongue, you are mature and able to control your whole body.


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It takes strong winds to move a large sailing ship, but the captain uses only a small rudder to make it go in any direction.


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Our tongues are small too, and yet they brag about big things. It takes only a spark to start a forest fire!


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The tongue is like a spark. It is an evil power that dirties the rest of the body and sets a person's entire life on fire with flames that come from hell itself.


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My dear friends, with our tongues we speak both praises and curses. We praise our Lord and Father, and we curse people who were created to be like God, and this isn't right.


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Can a fig tree produce olives or a grapevine produce figs? Does fresh water come from a well full of salt water?


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Are any of you wise or sensible? Then show it by living right and by being humble and wise in everything you do.


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But if your heart is full of bitter jealousy and selfishness, don't brag or lie to cover up the truth.


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That kind of wisdom doesn't come from above. It is earthly and selfish and comes from the devil himself.


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But the wisdom that comes from above leads us to be pure, friendly, gentle, sensible, kind, helpful, genuine, and sincere.


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Why do you fight and argue with each other? Isn't it because you are full of selfish desires that fight to control your body?


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You want something you don't have, and you will do anything to get it. You will even kill! But you still cannot get what you want, and you won't get it by fighting and arguing. You should pray for it.


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Yet even when you do pray, your prayers are not answered, because you pray just for selfish reasons.


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You people aren't faithful to God! Don't you know that if you love the world, you are God's enemies? And if you decide to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.


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In fact, God treats us with even greater kindness, just as the Scriptures say, "God opposes everyone who is proud, but he is kind to everyone who is humble."


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Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Clean up your lives, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you people who can't make up your mind.


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My friends, don't say cruel things about others! If you do, or if you condemn others, you are condemning God's Law. And if you condemn the Law, you put yourself above the Law and refuse to obey either it


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or God who gave it. God is our judge, and he can save or destroy us. What right do you have to condemn anyone?


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You should know better than to say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to the city. We will do business there for a year and make a lot of money!"


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What do you know about tomorrow? How can you be so sure about your life? It is nothing more than mist that appears for only a little while before it disappears.


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Your money has rusted, and the rust will be evidence against you, as it burns your body like fire. Yet you keep on storing up wealth in these last days.


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You refused to pay the people who worked in your fields, and now their unpaid wages are shouting out against you. The Lord All-Powerful has surely heard the cries of the workers who harvested your crops.


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While here on earth, you have thought only of filling your own stomachs and having a good time. But now you are like fat cattle on their way to be butchered.


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My friends, be patient until the Lord returns. Think of farmers who wait patiently for the spring and summer rains to make their valuable crops grow.


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My friends, follow the example of the prophets who spoke for the Lord. They were patient, even when they had to suffer.


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In fact, we praise the ones who endured the most. You remember how patient Job was and how the Lord finally helped him. The Lord did this because he is so merciful and kind.


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My friends, above all else, don't take an oath. You must not swear by heaven or by earth or by anything else. "Yes" or "No" is all you need to say. If you say anything more, you will be condemned.


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If you are sick, ask the church leaders to come and pray for you. Ask them to put olive oil on you in the name of the Lord.


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If you have faith when you pray for sick people, they will get well. The Lord will heal them, and if they have sinned, he will forgive them.


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If you have sinned, you should tell each other what you have done. Then you can pray for one another and be healed. The prayer of an innocent person is powerful, and it can help a lot.


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Elijah was just as human as we are, and for three and a half years his prayers kept the rain from falling.


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If you turn sinners from the wrong way, you will save them from death, and many of their sins will be forgiven.


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From Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. To God's people who are scattered like foreigners in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.


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God the Father decided to choose you as his people, and his Spirit has made you holy. You have obeyed Jesus Christ and are sprinkled with his blood. I pray that God will be kind to you and will keep on giving you peace!


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Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is so good, and by raising Jesus from death, he has given us new life and a hope that lives on.


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You have faith in God, whose power will protect you until the last day. Then he will save you, just as he has always planned to do.


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Your faith will be like gold that has been tested in a fire. And these trials will prove that your faith is worth much more than gold that can be destroyed. They will show that you will be given praise and honor and glory when Jesus Christ returns.


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You have never seen Jesus, and you don't see him now. But still you love him and have faith in him, and no words can tell how glad and happy


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Some prophets told how kind God would be to you, and they searched hard to find out more about the way you would be saved.


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The Spirit of Christ was in them and was telling them how Christ would suffer and would then be given great honor. So they searched to find out exactly who Christ would be and when this would happen.


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But they were told that they were serving you and not themselves. They preached to you by the power of the Holy Spirit, who was sent from heaven. And their message was only for you, even though angels would like to know more about it.


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Be alert and think straight. Put all your hope in how kind God will be to you when Jesus Christ appears.


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Behave like obedient children. Don't let your lives be controlled by your desires, as they used to be.


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You say that God is your Father, but God doesn't have favorites! He judges all people by what they do. So you must honor God while you live as strangers here on earth.


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You were rescued from the useless way of life that you learned from your ancestors. But you know that you were not rescued by such things as silver or gold that don't last forever.


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Christ was chosen even before the world was created, but because of you, he did not come until these last days.


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And when he did come, it was to lead you to have faith in God, who raised him from death and honored him in a glorious way. That's why you have put your faith and hope in God.


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You obeyed the truth, and your souls were made pure. Now you sincerely love each other. But you must keep on loving with all your heart.


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The Scriptures say, "Humans wither like grass, and their glory fades like wild flowers. Grass dries up, and flowers fall to the ground.


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Stop being hateful! Quit trying to fool people, and start being sincere. Don't be jealous or say cruel things about others.


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Be like newborn babies who are thirsty for the pure spiritual milk that will help you grow and be saved.


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Come to Jesus Christ. He is the living stone that people have rejected, but which God has chosen and highly honored.


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And now you are living stones that are being used to build a spiritual house. You are also a group of holy priests, and with the help of Jesus Christ you will offer sacrifices that please God.


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It is just as God says in the Scriptures, "Look! I am placing in Zion a choice and precious cornerstone. No one who has faith in that one will be disappointed."


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You are followers of the Lord, and that stone is precious to you. But it isn't precious to those who refuse to follow him. They are the builders who tossed aside the stone that turned out to be the most important one of all.


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But you are God's chosen and special people. You are a group of royal priests and a holy nation. God has brought you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Now you must tell all the wonderful things that he has done. The Scriptures say,


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"Once you were nobody. Now you are God's people. At one time no one had pity on you. Now God has treated you with kindness.


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Dear friends, you are foreigners and strangers on this earth. So I beg you not to surrender to those desires that fight against you.


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Always let others see you behaving properly, even though they may still accuse you of doing wrong. Then on the day of judgment, they will honor God by telling the good things they saw you do.


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You must also obey governors, because they are sent by the Emperor to punish criminals and to praise good citizens.


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You are free, but still you are God's servants, and you must not use your freedom as an excuse for doing wrong.


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Servants, you must obey your masters and always show respect to them. Do this, not only to those who are kind and thoughtful, but also to those who are cruel.


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You don't gain anything by being punished for some wrong you have done. But God will bless you, if you have to suffer for doing something good.


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After all, God chose you to suffer as you follow in the footsteps of Christ, who set an example by suffering for you.


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Although he was abused, he never tried to get even. And when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he had faith in God, who judges fairly.


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Christ carried the burden of our sins. He was nailed to the cross, so that we would stop sinning and start living right. By his cuts and bruises you are healed.


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You had wandered away like sheep. Now you have returned to the one who is your shepherd and protector.


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If you are a wife, you must put your husband first. Even if he opposes our message, you will win him over by what you do. No one else will have to say anything to him,


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Don't depend on things like fancy hairdos or gold jewelry or expensive clothes to make you look beautiful.


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Be beautiful in your heart by being gentle and quiet. This kind of beauty will last, and God considers it very special.


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Long ago those women who worshiped God and put their hope in him made themselves beautiful by putting their husbands first.


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For example, Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her true children, if you do right and don't let anything frighten you.


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If you are a husband, you should be thoughtful of your wife. Treat her with honor, because she isn't as strong as you are, and she shares with you in the gift of life. Then nothing will stand in the way of your prayers.


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Finally, all of you should agree and have concern and love for each other. You should also be kind and humble.


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Don't be hateful and insult people just because they are hateful and insult you. Instead, treat everyone with kindness. You are God's chosen ones, and he will bless you. The Scriptures say,


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"Do you really love life? Do you want to be happy? Then stop saying cruel things and quit telling lies.


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The Lord watches over everyone who obeys him, and he listens to their prayers. But he opposes everyone who does evil."


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Even if you have to suffer for doing good things, God will bless you. So stop being afraid and don't worry about what people might do.


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Honor Christ and let him be the Lord of your life. Always be ready to give an answer when someone asks you about your hope.


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Give a kind and respectful answer and keep your conscience clear. This way you will make people ashamed for saying bad things about your good conduct as a follower of Christ.


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Christ died once for our sins. An innocent person died for those who are guilty. Christ did this to bring you to God, when his body was put to death and his spirit was made alive.


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They had disobeyed God while Noah was building the boat, but God had been patient with them. Eight people went into that boat and were brought safely through the flood.


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Those flood waters were like baptism that now saves you. But baptism is more than just washing your body. It means turning to God with a clear conscience, because Jesus Christ was raised from death.


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Christ is now in heaven, where he sits at the right side of God. All angels, authorities, and powers are under his control.


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Christ suffered here on earth. Now you must be ready to suffer as he did, because suffering shows that you have stopped sinning.


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You have already lived long enough like people who don't know God. You were immoral and followed your evil desires. You went around drinking and partying and carrying on. In fact, you even worshiped disgusting idols.


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Now your former friends wonder why you have stopped running around with them, and they curse you for it.


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The good news has even been preached to the dead, so that after they have been judged for what they have done in this life, their spirits will live with God.


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Each of you has been blessed with one of God's many wonderful gifts to be used in the service of others. So use your gift well.


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If you have the gift of speaking, preach God's message. If you have the gift of helping others, do it with the strength that God supplies. Everything should be done in a way that will bring honor to God because of Jesus Christ, who is glorious and powerful forever. Amen.


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Dear friends, don't be surprised or shocked that you are going through testing that is like walking through fire.


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Be glad for the chance to suffer as Christ suffered. It will prepare you for even greater happiness when he makes his glorious return.


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Count it a blessing when you suffer for being a Christian. This shows that God's glorious Spirit is with you.


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God has already begun judging his own people. And if his judgment begins with us, imagine how terrible it will be for those who refuse to obey his message. The Scriptures say,


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If you suffer for obeying God, you must have complete faith in your faithful Creator and keep on doing right.


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Church leaders, I am writing to encourage you. I too am a leader, as well as a witness to Christ's suffering, and I will share in his glory when it is shown to us.


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Just as shepherds watch over their sheep, you must watch over everyone God has placed in your care. Do it willingly in order to please God, and not simply because you think you must. Let it be something you want to do, instead of something you do merely to make money.


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Then when Christ the Chief Shepherd returns, you will be given a crown that will never lose its glory.


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All of you young people should obey your elders. In fact, everyone should be humble toward everyone else. The Scriptures say, "God opposes proud people, but he helps everyone who is humble."


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Be on your guard and stay awake. Your enemy, the devil, is like a roaring lion, sneaking around to find someone to attack.


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But you must resist the devil and stay strong in your faith. You know that all over the world the Lord's followers are suffering just as you are.


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But God shows undeserved kindness to everyone. That's why he appointed Christ Jesus to choose you to share in his eternal glory. You will suffer for a while, but God will make you complete, steady, strong, and firm.


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Silvanus helped me write this short letter, and I consider him a faithful follower of the Lord. I wanted to encourage you and tell you how kind God really is, so that you will keep on having faith in him.


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Greetings from the Lord's followers in Babylon. They are God's chosen ones. Mark, who is like a son to me, sends his greetings too.


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From Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ. To everyone who shares with us in the privilege of believing that our God and Savior Jesus Christ will do what is just and fair.


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I pray that God will be kind to you and will let you live in perfect peace! May you keep learning more and more about God and our Lord Jesus.


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We have everything we need to live a life that pleases God. It was all given to us by God's own power, when we learned that he had invited us to share in his wonderful goodness.


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God made great and marvelous promises, so that his nature would become part of us. Then we could escape our evil desires and the corrupt influences of this world.


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If you keep growing in this way, it will show that what you know about our Lord Jesus Christ has made your lives useful and meaningful.


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But if you don't grow, you are like someone who is nearsighted or blind, and you have forgotten that your past sins are forgiven.


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My friends, you must do all you can to show that God has really chosen and selected you. If you keep on doing this, you won't stumble and fall.


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Then our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will give you a glorious welcome into his kingdom that will last forever.


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You are holding firmly to the truth that you were given. But I am still going to remind you of these things.


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When we told you about the power and the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, we were not telling clever stories that someone had made up. But with our own eyes we saw his true greatness.


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God, our great and wonderful Father, truly honored him by saying, "This is my own dear Son, and I am pleased with him."


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All of this makes us even more certain that what the prophets said is true. So you should pay close attention to their message, as you would to a lamp shining in some dark place. You must keep on paying attention until daylight comes and the morning star rises in your hearts.


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Sometimes false prophets spoke to the people of Israel. False teachers will also sneak in and speak harmful lies to you. But these teachers don't really belong to the Master who paid a great price for them, and they will quickly destroy themselves.


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They will be greedy and cheat you with smooth talk. But long ago God decided to punish them, and God doesn't sleep.


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God did not have pity on the angels that sinned. He had them tied up and thrown into the dark pits of hell until the time of judgment.


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And during Noah's time, God did not have pity on the ungodly people of the world. He destroyed them with a flood, though he did save eight people, including Noah, who preached the truth.


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God punished the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and this is a warning to anyone else who wants to sin.


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Lot lived right and was greatly troubled by the terrible way those wicked people were living. He was a good man, and day after day he suffered because of the evil things he saw and heard. So the Lord rescued him.


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This shows that the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their sufferings and to punish evil people while they wait for the day of judgment.


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The Lord is especially hard on people who disobey him and don't think of anything except their own filthy desires. They are reckless and proud and are not afraid of cursing the glorious beings in heaven.


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Although angels are more powerful than these evil beings, even the angels don't dare to accuse them to the Lord.


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These people are no better than senseless animals that live by their feelings and are born to be caught and killed. They speak evil of things they don't know anything about. But their own corrupt deeds will destroy them.


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They have done evil, and they will be rewarded with evil. They think it is fun to have wild parties during the day. They are immoral, and the meals they eat with you are spoiled by the shameful and selfish way they carry on.


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All they think about is having sex with someone else's husband or wife. There is no end to their wicked deeds. They trick people who are easily fooled, and their minds are filled with greedy thoughts. But they are headed for trouble!


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They have left the true road and have gone down the wrong path by following the example of the prophet Balaam. He was the son of Beor and loved what he got from being a crook.


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But a donkey corrected him for this evil deed. It spoke to him with a human voice and made him stop his foolishness.


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These people are like dried up water holes and clouds blown by a windstorm. The darkest part of hell is waiting for them.


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They brag out loud about their stupid nonsense. And by being vulgar and crude, they trap people who have barely escaped from living the wrong kind of life.


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They promise freedom to everyone. But they are merely slaves of filthy living, because people are slaves of whatever controls them.


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When they learned about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they escaped from the filthy things of this world. But they are again caught up and controlled by these filthy things, and now they are in worse shape than they were at first.


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They would have been better off if they had never known about the right way. Even after they knew what was right, they turned their backs on the holy commandments that they were given.


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What happened to them is just like the true saying, "A dog will come back to lick up its own vomit. A pig that has been washed will roll in the mud."


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My dear friends, this is the second letter I have written to encourage you to do some honest thinking. I don't want you to forget


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what God's prophets said would happen. You must never forget what the holy prophets taught in the past. And you must remember what the apostles told you our Lord and Savior has commanded us to do.


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But first you must realize that in the last days some people won't think about anything except their own selfish desires. They will make fun of you


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and say, "Didn't your Lord promise to come back? Yet the first leaders have already died, and the world hasn't changed a bit."


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They will say this because they want to forget that long ago the heavens and the earth were made at God's command. The earth came out of water and was made from water.


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But God has commanded the present heavens and earth to remain until the day of judgment. Then they will be set on fire, and ungodly people will be destroyed.


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Dear friends, don't forget that for the Lord one day is the same as a thousand years, and a thousand years is the same as one day.


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The Lord isn't slow about keeping his promises, as some people think he is. In fact, God is patient, because he wants everyone to turn from sin and no one to be lost.


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The day of the Lord's return will surprise us like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a loud noise, and the heat will melt the whole universe. Then the earth and everything on it will be seen for what they are.


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You should look forward to the day when God judges everyone, and you should try to make it come soon. On that day the heavens will be destroyed by fire, and everything else will melt in the heat.


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But God has promised us a new heaven and a new earth, where justice will rule. We are really looking forward to that!


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My friends, while you are waiting, you should make certain that the Lord finds you pure, spotless, and living at peace.


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Don't forget that the Lord is patient because he wants people to be saved. This is also what our dear friend Paul said when he wrote you with the wisdom that God had given him.


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Paul talks about these same things in all his letters, but part of what he says is hard to understand. Some ignorant and unsteady people even destroy themselves by twisting what he said. They do the same thing with other Scriptures too.


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My dear friends, you have been warned ahead of time! So don't let the errors of evil people lead you down the wrong path and make you lose your balance.


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Let the wonderful kindness and the understanding that come from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ help you to keep on growing. Praise Jesus now and forever! Amen.


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The Word that gives life was from the beginning, and this is the one our message is about. Our ears have heard, our own eyes have seen, and our hands touched this Word.


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The one who gives life appeared! We saw it happen, and we are witnesses to what we have seen. Now we are telling you about this eternal life that was with the Father and appeared to us.


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We are telling you what we have seen and heard, so that you may share in this life with us. And we share in it with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.


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If we say that we share in life with God and keep on living in the dark, we are lying and are not living by the truth.


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But if we live in the light, as God does, we share in life with each other. And the blood of his Son Jesus washes all our sins away.


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My children, I am writing this so that you won't sin. But if you do sin, Jesus Christ always does the right thing, and he will speak to the Father for us.


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My dear friends, I am not writing to give you a new commandment. It is the same one that you were first given, and it is the message you heard.


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But it really is a new commandment, and you know its true meaning, just as Christ does. You can see the darkness fading away and the true light already shining.


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If we hate others, we are living and walking in the dark. We don't know where we are going, because we can't see in the dark.


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Parents, I am writing you, because you have known the one who was there from the beginning. Young people, I am writing you, because you have defeated the evil one.


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Children, I am writing you, because you have known the Father. Parents, I am writing you, because you have known the one who was there from the beginning. Young people, I am writing you, because you are strong. God's message is firm in your hearts, and you have defeated the evil one.


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Don't love the world or anything that belongs to the world. If you love the world, you cannot love the Father.


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Our foolish pride comes from this world, and so do our selfish desires and our desire to have everything we see. None of this comes from the Father.


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Children, this is the last hour. You heard that the enemy of Christ would appear at this time, and many of Christ's enemies have already appeared. So we know that the last hour is here.


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These people came from our own group, yet they were not part of us. If they had been part of us, they would have stayed with us. But they left, which proves that they did not belong to our group.


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I did not need to write you about the truth, since you already know it. You also know that liars do not belong to the truth.


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And a liar is anyone who says that Jesus isn't truly Christ. Anyone who says this is an enemy of Christ and rejects both the Father and the Son.


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If we reject the Son, we reject the Father. But if we say that we accept the Son, we have the Father.


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Keep thinking about the message you first heard, and you will always be one in your heart with the Son and with the Father.


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But Christ has blessed you with the Holy Spirit. Now the Spirit stays in you, and you don't need any teachers. The Spirit is truthful and teaches you everything. So stay one in your heart with Christ, just as the Spirit has taught you to do.


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Children, stay one in your hearts with Christ. Then when he returns, we will have confidence and won't have to hide in shame.


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Think how much the Father loves us. He loves us so much that he lets us be called his children, as we truly are. But since the people of this world did not know who Christ is, they don't know who we are.


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My dear friends, we are already God's children, though what we will be hasn't yet been seen. But we do know that when Christ returns, we will be like him, because we will see him as he truly is.


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and people who stay one in their hearts with him won't keep on sinning. If they do keep on sinning, they don't know Christ, and they have never seen him.


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Anyone who keeps on sinning belongs to the devil. He has sinned from the beginning, but the Son of God came to destroy all that he has done.


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God's children cannot keep on being sinful. His life-giving power lives in them and makes them his children, so that they cannot keep on sinning.


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You can tell God's children from the devil's children, because those who belong to the devil refuse to do right or to love each other.


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Don't be like Cain, who belonged to the devil and murdered his own brother. Why did he murder him? He did it because his brother was good, and he was evil.


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Our love for each other proves that we have gone from death to life. But if you don't love each other, you are still under the power of death.


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We know what love is because Jesus gave his life for us. That's why we must give our lives for each other.


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If we have all we need and see one of our own people in need, we must have pity on that person, or else we cannot say we love God.


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When we love others, we know that we belong to the truth, and we feel at ease in the presence of God.


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God wants us to have faith in his Son Jesus Christ and to love each other. This is also what Jesus taught us to do.


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If we obey God's commandments, we will stay one in our hearts with him, and he will stay one with us. The Spirit that he has given us is proof that we are one with him.


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Dear friends, don't believe everyone who claims to have the Spirit of God. Test them all to find out if they really do come from God. Many false prophets have already gone out into the world,


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and you can know which ones come from God. His Spirit says that Jesus Christ had a truly human body.


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But when someone doesn't say this about Jesus, you know that person has a spirit that doesn't come from God and is the enemy of Christ. You knew that this enemy was coming into the world and now is already here.


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Children, you belong to God, and you have defeated these enemies. God's Spirit is in you and is more powerful than the one that is in the world.


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We belong to God, and everyone who knows God will listen to us. But the people who don't know God won't listen to us. That is how we can tell the Spirit that speaks the truth from the one that tells lies.


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My dear friends, we must love each other. Love comes from God, and when we love each other, it shows that we have been given new life. We are now God's children, and we know him.


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Real love isn't our love for God, but his love for us. God sent his Son to be the sacrifice by which our sins are forgiven.


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No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is truly in our hearts.


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God has given us his Spirit. That is how we know that we are one with him, just as he is one with us.


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God sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. We saw his Son and are now telling others about him.


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God stays one with everyone who openly says that Jesus is the Son of God. That's how we stay one with God


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and are sure that God loves us. God is love. If we keep on loving others, we will stay one in our hearts with God, and he will stay one with us.


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If we truly love others and live as Christ did in this world, we won't be worried about the day of judgment.


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A real love for others will chase those worries away. The thought of being punished is what makes us afraid. It shows that we have not really learned to love.


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But if we say we love God and don't love each other, we are liars. We cannot see God. So how can we love God, if we don't love the people we can see?


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If we believe that Jesus is truly Christ, we are God's children. Everyone who loves the Father will also love his children.


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Water and blood came out from the side of Jesus Christ. It wasn't just water, but water and blood. The Spirit tells about this, because the Spirit is truthful.


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We believe what people tell us. But we can trust what God says even more, and God is the one who has spoken about his Son.


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If we have faith in God's Son, we have believed what God has said. But if we don't believe what God has said about his Son, it is the same as calling God a liar.


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And so, if we have God's Son, we have this life. But if we don't have the Son, we don't have this life.


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All of you have faith in the Son of God, and I have written to let you know that you have eternal life.


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And if we know that God listens when we pray, we are sure that our prayers have already been answered.


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Suppose you see one of our people commit a sin that isn't a deadly sin. You can pray, and that person will be given eternal life. But the sin must not be one that is deadly.


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We are sure that God's children do not keep on sinning. God's own Son protects them, and the devil cannot harm them.


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We are certain that we come from God and that the rest of the world is under the power of the devil.


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We know that Jesus Christ the Son of God has come and has shown us the true God. And because of Jesus, we now belong to the true God who gives eternal life.


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From the church leader. To a very special woman and her children. I truly love all of you, and so does everyone else who knows the truth.


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I pray that God the Father and Jesus Christ his Son will be kind and merciful to us! May they give us peace and truth and love.


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I was very glad to learn that some of your children are obeying the truth, as the Father told us to do.


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Dear friend, I am not writing to tell you and your children to do something you have not done before. I am writing to tell you to love each other, which is the first thing you were told to do.


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Many liars have gone out into the world. These deceitful liars are saying that Jesus Christ did not have a truly human body. But they are liars and the enemies of Christ.


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Don't keep changing what you were taught about Christ, or else God will no longer be with you. But if you hold firmly to what you were taught, both the Father and the Son will be with you.


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I have much more to tell you, but I don't want to write it with pen and ink. I want to come and talk to you in person, because that will make us really happy.


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dear friend, and I pray that all goes well for you. I hope that you are as strong in body, as I know you are in spirit.


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It makes me very happy when the Lord's followers come by and speak openly of how you obey the truth.


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Dear friend, you have always been faithful in helping other followers of the Lord, even the ones you didn't know before.


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They have told the church about your love. They say you were good enough to welcome them and to send them on their mission in a way that God's servants deserve.


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When they left to tell others about the Lord, they decided not to accept help from anyone who wasn't a follower.


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We must support people like them, so that we can take part in what they are doing to spread the truth.


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I wrote to the church. But Diotrephes likes to be the number-one leader, and he won't pay any attention to us.


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So if I come, I will remind him of how he has been attacking us with gossip. Not only has he been doing this, but he refuses to welcome any of the Lord's followers who come by. And when other church members want to welcome them, he puts them out of the church.


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Dear friend, don't copy the evil deeds of others! Follow the example of people who do kind deeds. They are God's children, but those who are always doing evil have never seen God.


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Everyone speaks well of Demetrius, and so does the true message that he teaches. I also speak well of him, and you know what I say is true.


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I hope to see you soon, and then we can talk in person. (1:15) I pray that God will bless you with peace! Your friends send their greetings. Please give a personal greeting to each of our friends.


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From Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and the brother of James. To all who are chosen and loved by God the Father and are kept safe by Jesus Christ.


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My dear friends, I really wanted to write you about God's saving power at work in our lives. But instead, I must write and ask you to defend the faith that God has once for all given to his people.


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Some godless people have sneaked in among us and are saying, "God treats us much better than we deserve, and so it is all right to be immoral." They even deny that we must obey Jesus Christ as our only Master and Lord. But long ago the Scriptures warned that these godless people were doomed.


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Don't forget what happened to those people that the Lord rescued from Egypt. Some of them did not have faith, and he later destroyed them.


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You also know about the angels who didn't do their work and left their proper places. God chained them with everlasting chains and is now keeping them in dark pits until the great day of judgment.


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We should also be warned by what happened to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and the nearby towns. Their people became immoral and did all sorts of sexual sins. Then God made an example of them and punished them with eternal fire.


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The people I am talking about are behaving just like those dreamers who destroyed their own bodies. They reject all authority and insult angels.


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Even Michael, the chief angel, didn't dare to insult the devil, when the two of them were arguing about the body of Moses. All Michael said was, "The Lord will punish you!"


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But these people insult powers they don't know anything about. They are like senseless animals that end up getting destroyed, because they live only by their feelings.


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Now they are in for real trouble. They have followed Cain's example and have made the same mistake that Balaam did by caring only for money. They have also rebelled against God, just as Korah did. Because of all this, they will be destroyed.


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These people are filthy minded, and by their shameful and selfish actions they spoil the meals you eat together. They are like clouds blown along by the wind, but never bringing any rain. They are like leafless trees, uprooted and dead, and unable to produce fruit.


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Their shameful deeds show up like foam on wild ocean waves. They are like wandering stars forever doomed to the darkest pits of hell.


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Enoch was the seventh person after Adam, and he was talking about these people when he said: Look! The Lord is coming with thousands and thousands of holy angels


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to judge everyone. He will punish all those ungodly people for all the evil things they have done. The Lord will surely punish those ungodly sinners for every evil thing they have ever said about him.


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These people grumble and complain and live by their own selfish desires. They brag about themselves and flatter others to get what they want.


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And now these people are already making you turn against each other. They think only about this life, and they don't have God's Spirit.


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Dear friends, keep building on the foundation of your most holy faith, as the Holy Spirit helps you to pray.


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And keep in step with God's love, as you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to show how kind he is by giving you eternal life.


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Rescue any who need to be saved, as you would rescue someone from a fire. Then with fear in your own hearts, have mercy on everyone who needs it. But hate even the clothes of those who have been made dirty by their filthy deeds.


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Offer praise to God our Savior because of our Lord Jesus Christ! Only God can keep you from falling and make you pure and joyful in his glorious presence. Before time began and now and forevermore, God is worthy of glory, honor, power, and authority. Amen.


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This is what God showed to Jesus Christ, so that he could tell his servants what must happen soon. Christ then sent his angel with the message to his servant John.


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And John told everything that he had seen about God's message and about what Jesus Christ had said and done.


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God will bless everyone who reads this prophecy to others, and he will bless everyone who hears and obeys it. The time is almost here.


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From John to the seven churches in Asia. I pray that you will be blessed with kindness and peace from God, who is and was and is coming. May you receive kindness and peace from the seven spirits before the throne of God.


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May kindness and peace be yours from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness. Jesus was the first to conquer death, and he is the ruler of all earthly kings. Christ loves us, and by his blood he set us free from our sins.


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He lets us rule as kings and serve God his Father as priests. To him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen.


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Look! He is coming with the clouds. Everyone will see him, even the ones who stuck a sword through him. All people on earth will weep because of him. Yes, it will happen! Amen.


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The Lord God says, "I am Alpha and Omega, the one who is and was and is coming. I am God All-Powerful!"


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I am John, a follower together with all of you. We suffer because Jesus is our king, but he gives us the strength to endure. I was sent to Patmos Island, because I had preached God's message and had told about Jesus.


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On the Lord's day the Spirit took control of me, and behind me I heard a loud voice that sounded like a trumpet.


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The voice said, "Write in a book what you see. Then send it to the seven churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea."


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There with the lampstands was someone who seemed to be the Son of Man. He was wearing a robe that reached down to his feet, and a gold cloth was wrapped around his chest.


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His feet were glowing like bronze being heated in a furnace, and his voice sounded like the roar of a waterfall.


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He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp double-edged sword was coming from his mouth. His face was shining as bright as the sun at noon.


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When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead person. But he put his right hand on me and said: Don't be afraid! I am the first, the last,


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and the living one. I died, but now I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys to death and the world of the dead.


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I will explain the mystery of the seven stars that you saw at my right side and the seven gold lampstands. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the lampstands are the seven churches.


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This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Ephesus: I am the one who holds the seven stars in my right hand, and I walk among the seven gold lampstands. Listen to what I say.


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I know everything you have done, including your hard work and how you have endured. I know you won't put up with anyone who is evil. When some people pretended to be apostles, you tested them and found out that they were liars.


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Think about where you have fallen from, and then turn back and do as you did at first. If you don't turn back, I will come and take away your lampstand.


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If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will let everyone who wins the victory eat from the life-giving tree in God's wonderful garden.


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This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Smyrna: I am the first and the last. I died, but now I am alive! Listen to what I say.


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I know how much you suffer and how poor you are, but you are rich. I also know the cruel things being said about you by people who claim to be Jews. But they are not really Jews. They are a group that belongs to Satan.


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Don't worry about what you will suffer. The devil will throw some of you into jail, and you will be tested and made to suffer for ten days. But if you are faithful until you die, I will reward you with a glorious life.


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If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. Whoever wins the victory will not be hurt by the second death.


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This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Pergamum: I am the one who has the sharp double-edged sword! Listen to what I say.


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I know that you live where Satan has his throne. But you have kept true to my name. Right there where Satan lives, my faithful witness Antipas was taken from you and put to death. Even then you did not give up your faith in me.


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I do have a few things against you. Some of you are following the teaching of Balaam. Long ago he told Balak to teach the people of Israel to eat food that had been offered to idols and to be immoral.


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Turn back! If you don't, I will come quickly and fight against these people. And my words will cut like a sword.


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If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To everyone who wins the victory, I will give some of the hidden food. I will also give each one a white stone with a new name written on it. No one will know that name except the one who is given the stone.


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This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Thyatira: I am the Son of God! My eyes are like flames of fire, and my feet are like bronze. Listen to what I say.


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I know everything about you, including your love, your faith, your service, and how you have endured. I know that you are doing more now than you have ever done before.


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But I still have something against you because of that woman Jezebel. She calls herself a prophet, and you let her teach and mislead my servants to do immoral things and to eat food offered to idols.


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I am going to strike down Jezebel. Everyone who does these immoral things with her will also be punished, if they don't stop.


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I will even kill her followers. Then all the churches will see that I know everyone's thoughts and feelings. I will treat each of you as you deserve.


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Some of you in Thyatira don't follow Jezebel's teaching. You don't know anything about what her followers call the "deep secrets of Satan." So I won't burden you down with any other commands.


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I will give power over the nations to everyone who wins the victory and keeps on obeying me until the end.


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I will give each of them the same power that my Father has given me. They will rule the nations with an iron rod and smash those nations to pieces like clay pots. I will also give them the morning star.


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This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Sardis: I have the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. Listen to what I say. I know what you are doing. Everyone may think you are alive, but you are dead.


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Wake up! You have only a little strength left, and it is almost gone. So try to become stronger. I have found that you are not completely obeying God.


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Remember the teaching that you were given and that you heard. Hold firmly to it and turn from your sins. If you don't wake up, I will come when you least expect it, just as a thief does.


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A few of you in Sardis have not dirtied your clothes with sin. You will walk with me in white clothes, because you are worthy.


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Everyone who wins the victory will wear white clothes. Their names will not be erased from the book of life, and I will tell my Father and his angels that they are my followers.


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This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Philadelphia: I am the one who is holy and true, and I have the keys that belonged to David. When I open a door, no one can close it. And when I close a door, no one can open it. Listen to what I say.


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I know everything you have done. And I have placed before you an open door that no one can close. You were not very strong, but you obeyed my message and did not deny that you are my followers.


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Now you will see what I will do with those people who belong to Satan's group. They claim to be Jews, but they are liars. I will make them come and kneel down at your feet. Then they will know that I love you.


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You obeyed my message and endured. So I will protect you from the time of testing that everyone in all the world must go through.


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I am coming soon. So hold firmly to what you have, and no one will take away the crown that you will be given as your reward.


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Everyone who wins the victory will be made into a pillar in the temple of my God, and they will stay there forever. I will write on each of them the name of my God and the name of his city. It is the new Jerusalem that my God will send down from heaven. I will also write on them my own new name.


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This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Laodicea: I am the one called Amen! I am the faithful and true witness and the source of God's creation. Listen to what I say.


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I know everything you have done, and you are not cold or hot. I wish you were either one or the other.


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You claim to be rich and successful and to have everything you need. But you don't know how bad off you are. You are pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.


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Buy your gold from me. It has been refined in a fire, and it will make you rich. Buy white clothes from me. Wear them and you can cover up your shameful nakedness. Buy medicine for your eyes, so that you will be able to see.


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Listen! I am standing and knocking at your door. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and we will eat together.


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Everyone who wins the victory will sit with me on my throne, just as I won the victory and sat with my Father on his throne.


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After this, I looked and saw a door that opened into heaven. Then the voice that had spoken to me at first and that sounded like a trumpet said, "Come up here! I will show you what must happen next."


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Right then the Spirit took control of me, and there in heaven I saw a throne and someone sitting on it.


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The one who was sitting there sparkled like precious stones of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow that looked like an emerald surrounded the throne.


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Twenty-four other thrones were in a circle around that throne. And on each of these thrones there was an elder dressed in white clothes and wearing a gold crown.


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Flashes of lightning and roars of thunder came out from the throne in the center of the circle. Seven torches, which are the seven spirits of God, were burning in front of the throne.


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Also in front of the throne was something that looked like a glass sea, clear as crystal. Around the throne in the center were four living creatures covered front and back with eyes.


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The first creature was like a lion, the second one was like a bull, the third one had the face of a human, and the fourth was like a flying eagle.


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Each of the four living creatures had six wings, and their bodies were covered with eyes. Day and night they never stopped singing, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord, the all-powerful God, who was and is and is coming!"


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The living creatures kept praising, honoring, and thanking the one who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever.


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At the same time the twenty-four elders knelt down before the one sitting on the throne. And as they worshiped the one who lives forever, they placed their crowns in front of the throne and said,


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"Our Lord and God, you are worthy to receive glory, honor, and power. You created all things, and by your decision they are and were created."


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In the right hand of the one sitting on the throne I saw a scroll that had writing on the inside and on the outside. And it was sealed in seven places.


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Then one of the elders said to me, "Stop crying and look! The one who is called both the 'Lion from the Tribe of Judah' and 'King David's Great Descendant' has won the victory. He will open the book and its seven seals."


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Then I looked and saw a Lamb standing in the center of the throne that was surrounded by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb looked as if it had once been killed. It had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent out to all the earth.


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After he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders knelt down before him. Each of them had a harp and a gold bowl full of incense, which are the prayers of God's people.


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Then they sang a new song, "You are worthy to receive the scroll and open its seals, because you were killed. And with your own blood you bought for God people from every tribe, language, nation, and race.


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As I looked, I heard the voices of a lot of angels around the throne and the voices of the living creatures and of the elders. There were millions and millions of them,


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and they were saying in a loud voice, "The Lamb who was killed is worthy to receive power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and praise."


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Then I heard all beings in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and in the sea offer praise. Together, all of them were saying, "Praise, honor, glory, and strength forever and ever to the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb!"


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At the same time that I saw the Lamb open the first of the seven seals, I heard one of the four living creatures shout with a voice like thunder. It said, "Come out!"


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Then I saw a white horse. Its rider carried a bow and was given a crown. He had already won some victories, and he went out to win more.


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Then another horse came out. It was fiery red. And its rider was given the power to take away all peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another. He was also given a big sword.


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When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come out!" Then I saw a black horse, and its rider had a balance scale in one hand.


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I heard what sounded like a voice from somewhere among the four living creatures. It said, "A quart of wheat will cost you a whole day's wages! Three quarts of barley will cost you a day's wages too. But don't ruin the olive oil or the wine."


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When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come out!"


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Then I saw a pale green horse. Its rider was named Death, and Death's Kingdom followed behind. They were given power over one fourth of the earth, and they could kill its people with swords, famines, diseases, and wild animals.


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When the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of everyone who had been killed for speaking God's message and telling about their faith.


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They shouted, "Master, you are holy and faithful! How long will it be before you judge and punish the people of this earth who killed us?"


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Then each of those who had been killed was given a white robe and told to rest for a little while. They had to wait until the complete number of the Lord's other servants and followers would be killed.


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When I saw the Lamb open the sixth seal, I looked and saw a great earthquake. The sun turned as dark as sackcloth, and the moon became as red as blood.


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Then the sky was rolled up like a scroll, and all mountains and islands were moved from their places.


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The kings of the earth, its famous people, and its military leaders hid in caves or behind rocks on the mountains. They hid there together with the rich and the powerful and with all the slaves and free people.


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Then they shouted to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us! Hide us from the one who sits on the throne and from the anger of the Lamb.


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After this I saw four angels. Each one was standing on one of the earth's four corners. The angels held back the four winds, so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. These angels had also been given the power to harm the earth and the sea. Then I saw another angel come up from where the sun rises in the east, and he was ready to put the mark of the living God on people. He shouted to the four angels,


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"Don't harm the earth or the sea or any tree! Wait until I have marked the foreheads of the servants of our God."


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Then I heard how many people had been marked on the forehead. There were one hundred forty-four thousand, and they came from every tribe of Israel:


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After this, I saw a large crowd with more people than could be counted. They were from every race, tribe, nation, and language, and they stood before the throne and before the Lamb. They wore white robes and held palm branches in their hands,


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as they shouted, "Our God, who sits upon the throne, has the power to save his people, and so does the Lamb."


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The angels who stood around the throne knelt in front of it with their faces to the ground. The elders and the four living creatures knelt there with them. Then they all worshiped God


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and said, "Amen! Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power, and strength belong to our God forever and ever! Amen!"


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One of the elders asked me, "Do you know who these people are that are dressed in white robes? Do you know where they come from?"


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"Sir," I answered, "you must know." Then he told me: "These are the ones who have gone through the great suffering. They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and have made them white.


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And so they stand before the throne of God and worship him in his temple day and night. The one who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.


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They will never hunger or thirst again, and they won't be troubled by the sun or any scorching heat.


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The Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to streams of life-giving water, and God will wipe all tears from their eyes."


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Another angel, who had a gold container for incense, came and stood at the altar. This one was given a lot of incense to offer with the prayers of God's people on the gold altar in front of the throne.


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Then the smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God's people, went up to God from the hand of the angel.


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After this, the angel filled the incense container with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth. Thunder roared, lightning flashed, and the earth shook.


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When the first angel blew his trumpet, hail and fire mixed with blood were thrown down on the earth. A third of the earth, a third of the trees, and a third of all green plants were burned.


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When the second angel blew his trumpet, something like a great fiery mountain was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned to blood,


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When the third angel blew his trumpet, a great star fell from heaven. It was burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on a third of the springs of water.


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The name of the star was Bitter, and a third of the water turned bitter. Many people died because the water was so bitter.


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When the fourth angel blew his trumpet, a third of the sun, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars were struck. They each lost a third of their light. So during a third of the day there was no light, and a third of the night was also without light.


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Then I looked and saw a lone eagle flying across the sky. It was shouting, "Trouble, trouble, trouble to everyone who lives on earth! The other three angels are now going to blow their trumpets."


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When the fifth angel blew his trumpet, I saw a star fall from the sky to earth. It was given the key to the tunnel that leads down to the deep pit.


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As it opened the tunnel, smoke poured out like the smoke of a great furnace. The sun and the air turned dark because of the smoke.


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Locusts came out of the smoke and covered the earth. They were given the same power that scorpions have.


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The locusts were told not to harm the grass on the earth or any plant or any tree. They were to punish only those people who did not have God's mark on their foreheads.


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The locusts were allowed to make them suffer for five months, but not to kill them. The suffering they caused was like the sting of a scorpion.


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In those days people will want to die, but they will not be able to. They will hope for death, but it will escape from them.


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These locusts looked like horses ready for battle. On their heads they wore something like gold crowns, and they had human faces.


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On their chests they wore armor made of iron. Their wings roared like an army of horse-drawn chariots rushing into battle.


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Their tails were like a scorpion's tail with a stinger that had the power to hurt someone for five months.


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Their king was the angel in charge of the deep pit. In Hebrew his name was Abaddon, and in Greek it was Apollyon.


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Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet. I heard a voice speak from the four corners of the gold altar that stands in the presence of God.


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The voice spoke to this angel and said, "Release the four angels who are tied up beside the great Euphrates River."


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The four angels had been prepared for this very hour and day and month and year. Now they were set free to kill a third of all people.


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In my vision their riders wore fiery-red, dark-blue, and yellow armor on their chests. The heads of the horses looked like lions, with fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths.


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One-third of all people were killed by the three terrible troubles caused by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur.


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The people who lived through these terrible troubles did not turn away from the idols they had made, and they did not stop worshiping demons. They kept on worshiping idols that were made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood. Not one of these idols could see, hear, or walk.


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I saw another powerful angel come down from heaven. This one was covered with a cloud, and a rainbow was over his head. His face was like the sun, his legs were like columns of fire,


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and with his hand he held a little scroll that had been unrolled. He stood there with his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land.


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After the thunder stopped, I was about to write what it had said. But a voice from heaven shouted, "Keep it secret! Don't write these things."


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He made a promise in the name of God who lives forever and who created heaven, earth, the sea, and every living creature. The angel said, "You won't have to wait any longer.


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God told his secret plans to his servants the prophets, and it will all happen by the time the seventh angel sounds his trumpet."


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Once again the voice from heaven spoke to me. It said, "Go and take the open scroll from the hand of the angel standing on the sea and the land."


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When I went over to ask the angel for the little scroll, the angel said, "Take the scroll and eat it! Your stomach will turn sour, but the taste in your mouth will be as sweet as honey."


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I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. The taste was as sweet as honey, but my stomach turned sour.


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Then some voices said, "Keep on telling what will happen to the people of many nations, races, and languages, and also to kings."


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An angel gave me a measuring stick and said: Measure around God's temple. Be sure to include the altar and everyone worshiping there.


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But don't measure the courtyard outside the temple building. Leave it out. It has been given to those people who don't know God, and they will trample all over the holy city for forty-two months.


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My two witnesses will wear sackcloth, while I let them preach for one thousand two hundred sixty days.


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These two witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand in the presence of the Lord who rules the earth.


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They have the power to lock up the sky and to keep rain from falling while they are prophesying. And whenever they want to, they can turn water to blood and cause all kinds of terrible troubles on earth.


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After the two witnesses have finished preaching God's message, the beast that lives in the deep pit will come up and fight against them. It will win the battle and kill them.


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Their bodies will be left lying in the streets of the same great city where their Lord was nailed to a cross. And that city is spiritually like the city of Sodom or the country of Egypt.


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For three and a half days the people of every nation, tribe, language, and race will stare at the bodies of these two witnesses and refuse to let them be buried.


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Everyone on earth will celebrate and be happy. They will give gifts to each other, because of what happened to the two prophets who caused them so much trouble.


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But three and a half days later, God will breathe life into their bodies. They will stand up, and everyone who sees them will be terrified.


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The witnesses then heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, "Come up here." And while their enemies were watching, they were taken up to heaven in a cloud.


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At that same moment there was a terrible earthquake that destroyed a tenth of the city. Seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were frightened and praised the God who rules in heaven.


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At the sound of the seventh trumpet, loud voices were heard in heaven. They said, "Now the kingdom of this world belongs to our Lord and to his Chosen One! And he will rule forever and ever!"


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Then the twenty-four elders, who were seated on thrones in God's presence, knelt down and worshiped him.


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They said, "Lord God All-Powerful, you are and you were, and we thank you. You used your great power and started ruling.


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When the nations got angry, you became angry too! Now the time has come for the dead to be judged. It is time for you to reward your servants the prophets and all of your people who honor your name, no matter who they are. It is time to destroy everyone who has destroyed the earth."


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The door to God's temple in heaven was then opened, and the sacred chest could be seen inside the temple. I saw lightning and heard roars of thunder. The earth trembled and huge hailstones fell to the ground.


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Something important appeared in the sky. It was a woman whose clothes were the sun. The moon was under her feet, and a crown made of twelve stars was on her head.


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Something else appeared in the sky. It was a huge red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, and a crown on each of its seven heads.


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With its tail, it dragged a third of the stars from the sky and threw them down to the earth. Then the dragon turned toward the woman, because it wanted to eat her child as soon as it was born.


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The woman gave birth to a son, who would rule all nations with an iron rod. The boy was snatched away. He was taken to God and placed on his throne.


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The woman ran into the desert to a place that God had prepared for her. There she would be taken care of for one thousand two hundred sixty days.


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and were thrown down to the earth. Yes, that old snake and his angels were thrown out of heaven! That snake, who fools everyone on earth, is known as the devil and Satan.


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Then I heard a voice from heaven shout, "Our God has shown his saving power, and his kingdom has come! God's own Chosen One has shown his authority. Satan accused our people in the presence of God day and night. Now he has been thrown out!


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Our people defeated Satan because of the blood of the Lamb and the message of God. They were willing to give up their lives.


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The heavens should rejoice, together with everyone who lives there. But pity the earth and the sea, because the devil was thrown down to the earth. He knows his time is short, and he is very angry."


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When the dragon realized that it had been thrown down to the earth, it tried to make trouble for the woman who had given birth to a son.


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But the woman was given two wings like those of a huge eagle, so that she could fly into the desert. There she would escape from the snake and be taken care of for a time, two times, and half a time.


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This made the dragon terribly angry with the woman. So it started a war against the rest of her children. They are the people who obey God and are faithful to what Jesus did and taught.


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(12:18) (The dragon stood on the beach beside the sea.) I looked and saw a beast coming up from the sea. This one had ten horns and seven heads, and a crown was on each of its ten horns. On each of its heads were names that were an insult to God.


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The beast that I saw had the body of a leopard, the feet of a bear, and the mouth of a lion. The dragon handed over its own power and throne and great authority to this beast.


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One of its heads seemed to have been fatally wounded, but now it was well. Everyone on earth marveled at this beast,


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and they worshiped the dragon who had given its authority to the beast. They also worshiped the beast and said, "No one is like this beast! No one can fight against it."


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The beast cursed God, and it cursed the name of God. It even cursed the place where God lives, as well as everyone who lives in heaven with God.


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It was allowed to fight against God's people and defeat them. It was also given authority over the people of every tribe, nation, language, and race.


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The beast was worshiped by everyone whose name wasn't written before the time of creation in the book of the Lamb who was killed.


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If you are doomed to be captured, you will be captured. If you are doomed to be killed by a sword, you will be killed by a sword. This means that God's people must learn to endure and be faithful!


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I now saw another beast. This one came out of the ground. It had two horns like a lamb, but spoke like a dragon.


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It worked for the beast whose fatal wound had been healed. And it used all its authority to force the earth and its people to worship that beast.


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This second beast fooled people on earth by working miracles for the first one. Then it talked them into making an idol in the form of the beast that did not die after being wounded by a sword.


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It was allowed to put breath into the idol, so that it could speak. Everyone who refused to worship the idol of the beast was put to death.


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All people were forced to put a mark on their right hand or forehead. Whether they were powerful or weak, rich or poor, free people or slaves,


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they all had to have this mark, or else they could not buy or sell anything. This mark stood for the name of the beast and for the number of its name.


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You need wisdom to understand the number of the beast! But if you are smart enough, you can figure this out. Its number is six hundred sixty-six, and it stands for a person.


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I looked and saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion! With him were a hundred forty-four thousand, who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads.


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Then I heard a sound from heaven that was like a roaring flood or loud thunder or even like the music of harps.


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And a new song was being sung in front of God's throne and in front of the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn that song, except the one hundred forty-four thousand who had been rescued from the earth.


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All of these are pure virgins, and they follow the Lamb wherever he leads. They have been rescued to be presented to God and the Lamb as the most precious people on earth.


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I saw another angel. This one was flying across the sky and had the eternal good news to announce to the people of every race, tribe, language, and nation on earth.


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The angel shouted, "Worship and honor God! The time has come for him to judge everyone. Kneel down before the one who created heaven and earth, the oceans, and every stream."


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A second angel followed and said, "The great city of Babylon has fallen! This is the city that made all nations drunk and immoral. Now God is angry, and Babylon has fallen."


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Finally, a third angel came and shouted: Here is what will happen if you worship the beast and the idol and have the mark of the beast on your hand or forehead.


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You will have to drink the wine that God gives to everyone who makes him angry. You will feel his mighty anger, and you will be tortured with fire and burning sulfur, while the holy angels and the Lamb look on.


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If you worship the beast and the idol and accept the mark of its name, you will be tortured day and night. The smoke from your torture will go up forever and ever, and you will never be able to rest.


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Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Put this in writing. From now on, the Lord will bless everyone who has faith in him when they die." The Spirit answered, "Yes, they will rest from their hard work, and they will be rewarded for what they have done."


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I looked and saw a bright cloud, and someone who seemed to be the Son of Man was sitting on the cloud. He wore a gold crown on his head and held a sharp sickle in his hand.


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An angel came out of the temple and shouted, "Start cutting with your sickle! Harvest season is here, and all crops on earth are ripe."


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After this, an angel with power over fire came from the altar and shouted to the angel who had the sickle. He said, "All grapes on earth are ripe! Harvest them with your sharp sickle."


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The angel swung his sickle on earth and cut off its grapes. He threw them into a pit where they were trampled on as a sign of God's anger.


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The pit was outside the city, and when the grapes were mashed, blood flowed out. The blood turned into a river that was about two hundred miles long and almost deep enough to cover a horse.


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After this, I looked at the sky and saw something else that was strange and important. Seven angels were bringing the last seven terrible troubles. When these are ended, God will no longer be angry.


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Then I saw something that looked like a glass sea mixed with fire, and people were standing on it. They were the ones who had defeated the beast and the idol and the number that tells the name of the beast. God had given them harps,


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and they were singing the song that his servant Moses and the Lamb had sung. They were singing, "Lord God All-Powerful, you have done great and marvelous things. You are the ruler of all nations, and you do what is right and fair.


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Lord, who doesn't honor and praise your name? You alone are holy, and all nations will come and worship you, because you have shown that you judge with fairness."


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And the seven angels who were bringing the terrible troubles were coming out of it. They were dressed in robes of pure white linen and wore belts made of pure gold.


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One of the four living creatures gave each of the seven angels a bowl made of gold. These bowls were filled with the anger of God who lives forever and ever.


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The temple quickly filled with smoke from the glory and power of God. No one could enter it until the seven angels had finished pouring out the seven last troubles.


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From the temple I heard a voice shout to the seven angels, "Go and empty the seven bowls of God's anger on the earth."


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The first angel emptied his bowl on the earth. At once ugly and painful sores broke out on everyone who had the mark of the beast and worshiped the idol.


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The second angel emptied his bowl on the sea. Right away the sea turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died.


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Then I heard the angel, who has power over water, say, "You have always been, and you always will be the holy God. You had the right to judge in this way.


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They poured out the blood of your people and your prophets. So you gave them blood to drink, as they deserve!"


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After this, I heard the altar shout, "Yes, Lord God All-Powerful, your judgments are honest and fair."


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Everyone was scorched by its great heat, and all of them cursed the name of God who had power over these terrible troubles. But no one turned to God and praised him.


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The fifth angel emptied his bowl on the throne of the beast. At once darkness covered its kingdom, and its people began biting their tongues in pain.


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And because of their painful sores, they cursed the God who rules in heaven. But still they did not stop doing evil things.


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The sixth angel emptied his bowl on the great Euphrates River, and it completely dried up to make a road for the kings from the east.


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An evil spirit that looked like a frog came out of the mouth of the dragon. One also came out of the mouth of the beast, and another out of the mouth of the false prophet.


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These evil spirits had the power to work miracles. They went to every king on earth, to bring them together for a war against God All-Powerful. But that will be the day of God's great victory.


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Remember that Christ says, "When I come, it will surprise you like a thief! But God will bless you, if you are awake and ready. Then you won't have to walk around naked and be ashamed."


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As soon as the seventh angel emptied his bowl in the air, a loud voice from the throne in the temple shouted, "It's done!"


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The great city of Babylon split into three parts, and the cities of other nations fell. So God made Babylon drink from the wine cup that was filled with his anger.


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Hailstones, weighing about a hundred pounds each, fell from the sky on people. Finally, the people cursed God, because the hail was so terrible.


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One of the seven angels who had emptied the bowls came over and said to me, "Come on! I will show you how God will punish that shameless prostitute who sits on many oceans.


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Every king on earth has slept with her, and her shameless ways are like wine that has made everyone on earth drunk."


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With the help of the Spirit, the angel took me into the desert, where I saw a woman sitting on a red beast. The beast was covered with names that were an insult to God, and it had seven heads and ten horns.


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The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet robes, and she wore jewelry made of gold, precious stones, and pearls. In her hand she held a gold cup filled with the filthy and nasty things she had done.


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On her forehead a mysterious name was written: I AM THE GREAT CITY OF BABYLON, THE MOTHER OF EVERY IMMORAL AND FILTHY THING ON EARTH.


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I could tell that the woman was drunk on the blood of God's people who had given their lives for Jesus. This surprising sight amazed me,


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and the angel said: Why are you so amazed? I will explain the mystery about this woman and about the beast she is sitting on, with its seven heads and ten horns.


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The beast you saw is one that used to be and no longer is. It will come back from the deep pit, but only to be destroyed. Everyone on earth whose names were not written in the book of life before the time of creation will be amazed. They will see this beast that used to be and no longer is, but will be once more.


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Anyone with wisdom can figure this out. The seven heads that the woman is sitting on stand for seven hills. These heads are also seven kings.


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Five of the kings are dead. One is ruling now, and the other one has not yet come. But when he does, he will rule for only a little while.


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You also saw a beast that used to be and no longer is. That beast is one of the seven kings who will return as the eighth king, but only to be destroyed.


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The ten horns that you saw are ten more kings, who have not yet come into power, and they will rule with the beast for only a short time.


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These kings will go to war against the Lamb. But he will defeat them, because he is Lord over all lords and King over all kings. His followers are chosen and special and faithful.


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The oceans that you saw the prostitute sitting on are crowds of people from all races and languages.


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The ten horns and the beast will start hating the shameless woman. They will strip off her clothes and leave her naked. Then they will eat her flesh and throw the rest of her body into a fire.


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God is the one who made these kings all think alike and decide to give their power to the beast. And they will do this until what God has said comes true.


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I saw another angel come from heaven. This one had great power, and the earth was bright because of his glory.


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The angel shouted, "Fallen! Powerful Babylon has fallen and is now the home of demons. It is the den of every filthy spirit and of all unclean birds, and every dirty and hated animal.


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Babylon's evil and immoral wine has made all nations drunk. Every king on earth has slept with her, and every merchant on earth is rich because of her evil desires."


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Then I heard another voice from heaven shout, "My people, you must escape from Babylon. Don't take part in her sins and share her punishment.


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Treat her as she has treated others. Make her pay double for what she has done. Make her drink twice as much of what she mixed for others.


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That woman honored herself with a life of luxury. Reward her now with suffering and pain. "Deep in her heart Babylon said, 'I am the queen! Never will I be a widow or know what it means to be sad.'


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And so, in a single day she will suffer the pain of sorrow, hunger, and death. Fire will destroy her dead body, because her judge is the powerful Lord God."


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Every king on earth who slept with her and shared in her luxury will mourn. They will weep, when they see the smoke from that fire.


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Her sufferings will frighten them, and they will stand at a distance and say, "Pity that great and powerful city! Pity Babylon! In a single hour her judgment has come."


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There won't be anyone to buy their gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, sweet-smelling wood, fancy carvings of ivory and wood, as well as things made of bronze, iron, or marble.


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No one will buy their cinnamon, spices, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, chariots, slaves, and other humans.


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Babylon, the things your heart desired have all escaped from you. Every luxury and all your glory will be lost forever. You will never get them back.


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The merchants had become rich because of her. But when they saw her sufferings, they were terrified. They stood at a distance, crying and mourning.


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Then they shouted, "Pity the great city of Babylon! She dressed in fine linen and wore purple and scarlet cloth. She had jewelry made of gold and precious stones and pearls.


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Yet in a single hour her riches disappeared." Every ship captain and passenger and sailor stood at a distance, together with everyone who does business by traveling on the sea.


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They cried loudly, and in their sorrow they threw dust on their heads, as they said, "Pity the great city of Babylon! Everyone who sailed the seas became rich from her treasures. But in a single hour the city was destroyed.


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The heavens should be happy with God's people and apostles and prophets. God has punished her for them."


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A powerful angel then picked up a huge stone and threw it into the sea. The angel said, "This is how the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to rise again.


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The music of harps and singers and of flutes and trumpets will no longer be heard. No workers will ever set up shop in that city, and the sound of grinding grain will be silenced forever.


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Lamps will no longer shine anywhere in Babylon, and couples will never again say wedding vows there. Her merchants ruled the earth, and by her witchcraft she fooled all nations.


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On the streets of Babylon is found the blood of God's people and of his prophets, and everyone else."


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After this, I heard what sounded like a lot of voices in heaven, and they were shouting, "Praise the Lord! To our God belongs the glorious power to save,


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because his judgments are honest and fair. That filthy prostitute ruined the earth with shameful deeds. But God has judged her and made her pay the price for murdering his servants."


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After this, the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures all knelt before the throne of God and worshiped him. They said, "Amen! Praise the Lord!"


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From the throne a voice said, "If you worship and fear our God, give praise to him, no matter who you are."


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Then I heard what seemed to be a large crowd that sounded like a roaring flood and loud thunder all mixed together. They were saying, "Praise the Lord! Our Lord God All-Powerful now rules as king.


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So we will be glad and happy and give him praise. The wedding day of the Lamb is here, and his bride is ready.


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She will be given a wedding dress made of pure and shining linen. This linen stands for the good things God's people have done."


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Then the angel told me, "Put this in writing. God will bless everyone who is invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb." The angel also said, "These things that God has said are true."


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I knelt at the feet of the angel and began to worship him. But the angel said, "Don't do that! I am a servant, just like you and everyone else who tells about Jesus. Don't worship anyone but God. Everyone who tells about Jesus does it by the power of the Spirit."


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I looked and saw that heaven was open, and a white horse was there. Its rider was called Faithful and True, and he is always fair when he judges or goes to war.


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He had eyes like flames of fire, and he was wearing a lot of crowns. His name was written on him, but he was the only one who knew what the name meant.


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From his mouth a sharp sword went out to attack the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod and will show the fierce anger of God All-Powerful by trampling the grapes in the pit where wine is made.


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I then saw an angel standing on the sun, and he shouted to all the birds flying in the sky, "Come and join in God's great feast!


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You can eat the flesh of kings, rulers, leaders, horses, riders, free people, slaves, important people, and everyone else."


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I also saw the beast and all kings of the earth come together. They fought against the rider on the white horse and against his army.


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But the beast was captured and so was the false prophet. This is the same prophet who had worked miracles for the beast, so that he could fool everyone who had the mark of the beast and worshiped the idol. The beast and the false prophet were thrown alive into a lake of burning sulfur.


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But the rest of their army was killed by the sword that came from the mouth of the rider on the horse. Then birds stuffed themselves on the dead bodies.


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He chained the dragon for a thousand years. It is that old snake, who is also known as the devil and Satan.


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Then the angel threw the dragon into the pit. He locked and sealed it, so that a thousand years would go by before the dragon could fool the nations again. But after that, it would have to be set free for a little while.


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I saw thrones, and sitting on those thrones were the ones who had been given the right to judge. I also saw the souls of the people who had their heads cut off because they had told about Jesus and preached God's message. They were the same ones who had not worshiped the beast or the idol, and they had refused to let its mark be put on their hands or foreheads. They will come to life and rule with Christ for a thousand years.


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These people are the first to be raised to life, and they are especially blessed and holy. The second death has no power over them. They will be priests for God and Christ and will rule with them for a thousand years. No other dead people were raised to life until a thousand years later.


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He will fool the countries of Gog and Magog, which are at the far ends of the earth, and their people will follow him into battle. They will have as many followers as there are grains of sand along the beach,


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and they will march all the way across the earth. They will surround the camp of God's people and the city that his people love. But fire will come down from heaven and destroy the whole army.


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Then the devil who fooled them will be thrown into the lake of fire and burning sulfur. He will be there with the beast and the false prophet, and they will be in pain day and night forever and ever.


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I saw a great white throne with someone sitting on it. Earth and heaven tried to run away, but there was no place for them to go.


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I also saw all the dead people standing in front of that throne. Every one of them was there, no matter who they had once been. Several books were opened, and then the book of life was opened. The dead were judged by what those books said they had done.


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The sea gave up the dead people who were in it, and death and its kingdom also gave up their dead. Then everyone was judged by what they had done.


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I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had disappeared, and so had the sea.


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Then I saw New Jerusalem, that holy city, coming down from God in heaven. It was like a bride dressed in her wedding gown and ready to meet her husband.


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I heard a loud voice shout from the throne: God's home is now with his people. He will live with them, and they will be his own. Yes, God will make his home among his people.


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He will wipe all tears from their eyes, and there will be no more death, suffering, crying, or pain. These things of the past are gone forever.


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Then the one sitting on the throne said: I am making everything new. Write down what I have said. My words are true and can be trusted.


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Everything is finished! I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give water from the life-giving fountain to everyone who is thirsty.


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All who win the victory will be given these blessings. I will be their God, and they will be my people.


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But I will tell you what will happen to cowards and to everyone who is unfaithful or dirty-minded or who murders or is sexually immoral or uses witchcraft or worships idols or tells lies. They will be thrown into that lake of fire and burning sulfur. This is the second death.


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I saw one of the seven angels who had the bowls filled with the seven last terrible troubles. The angel came to me and said, "Come on! I will show you the one who will be the bride and wife of the Lamb."


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Then with the help of the Spirit, he took me to the top of a very high mountain. There he showed me the holy city of Jerusalem coming down from God in heaven.


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The glory of God made the city bright. It was dazzling and crystal clear like a precious jasper stone.


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The city had a high and thick wall with twelve gates, and each one of them was guarded by an angel. On each of the gates was written the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel.


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Three of these gates were on the east, three were on the north, three more were on the south, and the other three were on the west.


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The city was built on twelve foundation stones. On each of the stones was written the name of one of the Lamb's twelve apostles.


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The angel who spoke to me had a gold measuring stick to measure the city and its gates and its walls.


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The city was shaped like a cube, because it was just as high as it was wide. When the angel measured the city, it was about fifteen hundred miles high and fifteen hundred miles wide.


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Then the angel measured the wall, and by our measurements it was about two hundred sixteen feet high.


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Each of the twelve foundations was a precious stone. The first was jasper, the second was sapphire, the third was agate, the fourth was emerald,


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the fifth was onyx, the sixth was carnelian, the seventh was chrysolite, the eighth was beryl, the ninth was topaz, the tenth was chrysoprase, the eleventh was jacinth, and the twelfth was amethyst.


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Each of the twelve gates was a solid pearl. The streets of the city were made of pure gold, clear as crystal.


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And the city did not need the sun or the moon. The glory of God was shining on it, and the Lamb was its light.


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But nothing unworthy will be allowed to enter. No one who is dirty-minded or who tells lies will be there. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life will be in the city.


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The angel showed me a river that was crystal clear, and its waters gave life. The river came from the throne where God and the Lamb were seated.


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Then it flowed down the middle of the city's main street. On each side of the river are trees that grow a different kind of fruit each month of the year. The fruit gives life, and the leaves are used as medicine to heal the nations.


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God's curse will no longer be on the people of that city. He and the Lamb will be seated there on their thrones, and its people will worship God


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Never again will night appear, and no one who lives there will ever need a lamp or the sun. The Lord God will be their light, and they will rule forever.


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Then I was told: These words are true and can be trusted. The Lord God controls the spirits of his prophets, and he is the one who sent his angel to show his servants what must happen right away.


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My name is John, and I am the one who heard and saw these things. Then after I had heard and seen all this, I knelt down and began to worship at the feet of the angel who had shown it to me.


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But the angel said, Don't do that! I am a servant, just like you. I am the same as a follower or a prophet or anyone else who obeys what is written in this book. God is the one you should worship.


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Evil people will keep on being evil, and everyone who is dirty-minded will still be dirty-minded. But good people will keep on doing right, and God's people will always be holy.


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God will bless all who have washed their robes. They will each have the right to eat fruit from the tree that gives life, and they can enter the gates of the city.


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But outside the city will be dogs, witches, immoral people, murderers, idol worshipers, and everyone who loves to tell lies and do wrong.


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I am Jesus! And I am the one who sent my angel to tell all of you these things for the churches. I am David's Great Descendant, and I am also the bright morning star.


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The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" Everyone who hears this should say, "Come!" If you are thirsty, come! If you want life-giving water, come and take it. It's free!


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Here is my warning for everyone who hears the prophecies in this book: If you add anything to them, God will make you suffer all the terrible troubles written in this book.


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If you take anything away from these prophecies, God will not let you have part in the life-giving tree and in the holy city described in this book.


