# verses

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And when we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we reached Ptolemais, and greeted the brothers and stayed with them one day.


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On the morrow we started for Caesarea, where we went into the house of Philip, the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him.


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He came to us, and taking Pauls girdle, he bound his own feet and hands, saying, "Thus says the Holy Spirit, so will the Jews at Jerusalem bind the owner of this girdle, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles."


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As soon as we heard these words, both we and those who were standing near entreated Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.


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"What do you mean by thus breaking my heart with your grief?" answered Paul. "For I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord Jesus."


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And some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us. They led us to the house of Mnason, a Cypriote, a disciple of long standing, with whom we were to lodge.


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After saluting them Paul rehearsed, one by one, the things that God had done among the Gentiles by his ministry.


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And they, when they heard it, glorified God, and said to him. "You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews, of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law.


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"Now what they have been told about you, again and again, is that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles, to forsake Moses, and not to circumcise their children, nor to follow the old customs.


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"We have four men here under a vow; associate yourself with them, purify yourself with them, and pay their expenses so that they may have their heads shaved; then every one will know that there is no truth in the rumors that they have heard about you; but that you yourself walk orderly obeying the law.


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"As for the Gentile believers, we wrote giving judgment that they should abstain from anything sacrificed to an idol, from blood, from what is strangled, and from fornication."


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Then Paul took the men, and after purifying himself with them next day, went into the temple to declare the fulfilment of the days of purification, until the offering was offered for every one of them.


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But when the seven days were almost over, the Asiatic Jews caught sight of him in the temple, and began to stir up all the crowd, and laid hands on him, shouting.


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"Men of Israel, help! This is the man who goes everywhere preaching to everybody against the people, and the Law, and this place. And he has actually brought Gentiles even into the temple, and has desecrated the holy place."


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(For they had formerly seen Trophimus, the Ephesian, with him in the city, and supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.)


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The whole city was thrown into uproar. The mob surged together, seized Paul, and began to drag him outside the temple. Whereupon the doors were at once shut.


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While they were attempting to kill him, news came to the tribune commander of the garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.


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At once he took soldiers and centurions, and rushed down upon them. When they saw the tribune and the troops, they left off beating Paul.


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Then the tribune came up and seized him, and ordered that he be bound with two chains. "Who is he?" he began asking, "and what has he done?"


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Some among the crowd kept shouting one thing, some another; and when the tribune could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered Paul into the barracks.


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When was going up the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers, because of the violence of the mob,


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"Do you know Greek?" said the tribune; "Are you not, then, the Egyptian who in days gone by stirred up to sedition, and let into the wilderness the four thousand cutthroats?"


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"I am a Jew," answered Paul, "a native of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city. And I pray you, give me permission to speak to the people."


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So when he had given leave, Paul stood on the stairs, beckoning with his hands to the people. There came a great hush, and he spoke to them as follows, in Hebrew.


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"I am a Jew," he said, "born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strict manner of the Law of our forefathers, ardent for God, even as you all are this day.


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"I persecuted to the death this way, continually binding and delivering up to prisons both men and women.


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"To this the high priest and all the council of elders are witnesses. It was from them that I received letters to the brothers in Damascus, and I was already on my way to bring those also who were there back to Jerusalem, in bonds, for punishment.


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"But when, on my journey, I was nearing Damascus, about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone round about me.


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"And I said, What shall I do, Lord? and the Lord said to me, Rise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told about all that you are destined to do.


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"And as I was seeing nothing for the glory of the light, I was led by the hand of my companions, and so came into Damascus.


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"And a certain Ananias, a pious man according to the Law, well thought of by all the Jews who lived there,


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"came to me, and standing by me, said to me, "Brother Saul, receive your sight "In that very hour I regained my sight and looked up at him.


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"Then he said. "The God of our forefathers has appointed you to know his will; and to see the righteous One, and to hear a voice from his mouth.


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"I fell into a trance and saw him saying to me, "Make haste and go quickly out of Jerusalem, because they will not receive your testimony concerning me.


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"Lord, I replied, they themselves well know that I was beating and imprisoning in synagogue after synagogue those who believed in you,


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"and when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by and consenting, and holding the garments of his murders.


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Until they heard this last statement, the people were listening to Paul, but now they roared out. "Away with such a fellow from the earth! He is not fit to live!"


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the tribune ordered him to be brought into the barracks, and examined under the lash, to learn for what reason the people were thus crying out against him.


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But when they had tied him up with the thongs, Paul said to the centurion who was standing near, "If a man is a Roman citizen, and uncondemned, is it lawful for you to scourge him?"


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When the centurion heard that, he went to the tribune and said to him. "What are you intending to do? This man is a Roman citizen."


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"I paid a large sum to get this citizenship," said the tribune. "But I was citizen-born," said Paul.


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Then those who were about to scourge him, immediately left him. And the tribune too, was afraid, when he learned that Paul was a Roman citizen, for he had had him bound.


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The next day, as he wished to learn the real reason why the Jews accused Paul, he unbound him, and commanded the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to come together, and brought Paul down, and placed him before them.


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With a stedfast gaze at the Sanhedrin, Paul said, "Brothers, I have lived with a good conscience before God to this day."


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"You whited sepulcher," exclaimed Paul, "God will strike you! You are sitting there to judge me according to the law, are you? And do you command me to be struck, contrary to the Law?"


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"Brothers, I did not know that he was the high priest," exclaimed Paul, "for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of a ruler of my people."


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Then perceiving that half the Sanhedrin were Sadducees and the other half Pharisee, he cried out in the Sanhedrin. "Brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees! It is for the hope of the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial!"


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When he said this, there arose a quarrel between the Pharisees and Sadducees; the meeting was divided.


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For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit; the Pharisees affirm them all.


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Then a great clamor arose; some of the scribes who belonged to the Pharisaic party stood up, and contended. "We find nothing wrong in this man. What if a spirit has spoken to him, or an angel?"


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But when the dissension became violent, the tribune, fearing that they would tear Paul in pieces, ordered the troops to march down and take him by force from among them, and bring him into the barracks.


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And the following night the Lord stood by him and said. "Be of good courage; for as you have borne faithful witness concerning me at Jerusalem, so you must testify at Rome also."


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When day dawned the Jews made a conspiracy, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.


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They went to the high priests and elders, and said to them. "We have bound ourselves by a solemn oath to eat nothing until we have killed Paul.


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"Now do you and the Sanhedrin ask the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you would judge his case more exactly; and we are ready to kill him, before he comes near the place."


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But Pauls sisters son heard of their intended attack, and he went and got into the barracks, and told Paul.


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And Paul called one of the centurions, and said, "Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him."


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So he took him, and brought his to the tribune, and said, "Paul, the prisoner, called me to him, and begged me to bring this young man to you, because he has something to tell you."


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And the tribune took him by the hand, and going aside, asked him privately, "What is it that you have to tell me?"


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"The Jews," he answered, "have agreed to ask you to bring down Paul tomorrow to the Sanhedrin, as though they wish to examine his case in detail.


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"Now do not let them persuade, for more than forty men are lying in wait for him, who have bound themselves under a curse, not to eat nor drink until they have killed him; even now they are all ready, awaiting your consent."


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So the tribune sent the young man home with the injunction, "Tell no man that you have given me this information."


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Then he called two centurions to him and said. "Get ready by nine oclock tonight two hundred infantry to march as far as Caesarea, and also seventy troopers and two hundred spearmen."


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He further ordered them to provide horses on which to mount Paul, so as to bring him safely to Felix, the governor.


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"This man Paul had been seized by the Jews, and was about to be killed by them, when I came upon them with the troops, and rescued him, as I had learned that he was a Roman citizen.


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"Here I learned that he was accused about questions of their law, but was not charged with anything worthy of death or imprisonment.


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"Now when I received information that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him at once to you, charging his accusers also to speak against him before you."


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After reading the letter, he asked to what province he belonged, and when he understood that he was of Cilicia, he said,


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"I will hear your case when your accusers also are come." And he ordered him to be kept in custody in Herods palace.


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Five days later, Ananias the high priest came down to Caesarea with some of the elders, and with an orator, named Tertullus. They laid information before the governor against Paul.


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So Paul was sent for, and then Tertullus began to accuse him, saying. "As it is owing to your excellency that we enjoy profound peace, and that the state of this nation,


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"owing to your wise care, has been improved in every respect and in every place, we accept it with profound thankfulness.


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"For we have found this fellow a pest, an inciter of insurrection among all the Jews of the empire, and a ringleader in the heresy of the Nazarenes.


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From him you will be able, by examining Paul yourself, to learn the truth of all these charges we are bringing against him."


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Then at a nod from the governor, Paul spoke. "Because I know that for many years you have been a judge in this nation, I feel encouraged to make my defense.


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"For you have it in your power to know that it is not more than twelve days ago that I went up to Jerusalem to worship;


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"and that neither in the Temple, nor in the synagogues, nor in the city, did they find me disputing with any man or stirring up a crowd.


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"But this I confess to you, that I worship the God of our ancestors, according to the Way which they call a heresy, believing everything that is according to the Law, or is written in the Prophets,


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"and having hope toward God, which these also themselves look for, that there is to be a resurrection both of the just and the unjust.


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"While I was thus engaged, they found me in the temple, purified, with no crowd and no uproar. But there were certain Asiatic Jews


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"who ought to have been here before you, and to have made accusations if they had anything against me.


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"Unless it was for this one sentence which I uttered when I stood and cried, It is for the resurrection of the dead that I am on my trial today before you."


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At this point Felix, who had a pretty accurate knowledge of the Way, adjourned the case, saying to the Jews, "When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will go carefully into the matter."


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And he gave orders to the centurion that Paul should be kept in custody, but treated with indulgence, and that his personal friends were not to be forbidden to minister to him.


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Some days later Felix came, with his wife Drusilla, a Jewess; he sent for Paul, and listened to him concerning the faith in Christ Jesus.


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And as he reasoned about morality, self-control, and the future judgment, Felix was terrified, and said, "For the present go on your way, and when I find a convenient season, I will send for you."


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He was hoping that Paul would give him money, and for this reason he used to send for him often to converse with him.


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But after two full years Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, and because he wished to curry favor with the Jews, Felix left Paul still in prison.


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They urged him, asking it as a favor, to send for him to Jerusalem. They meant to lay in wait for him and kill him on the way.


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"Let those then," he said, "who are in authority among you, go down with me, and if there is anything amiss in the man, let them accuse him."


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After staying not more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to Caesarea, and the next day, after taking his seat upon the tribunal, he ordered Paul to be brought.


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When he came in, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him and brought a number of serious charges against him, which they could not prove.


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Paul said in his defense, "I have committed no crime against the Law of the Jews, against the Temple, or against Caesar."


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But Festus, wishing to ingratiate himself with the Jews, answered Paul and said, "Will you go up to Jerusalem and be tried there by me upon these charges?"


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"I am standing before Caesars tribunal," answered Paul, "where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you very well know.


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"If I am a criminal and have done anything for which I ought to die, I do not object to die. But if none of their charges is true, no man can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar."


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Then Festus, after conferring with the council, answered. "You have appealed to Caesar; to Caesar you shall go."


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And while they tarried many days, Festus laid Pauls case before the king. "There is a man here," he said, "whom Felix left a prisoner.


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"The chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me about him, when I was at Jerusalem, demanding a sentence against him.


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I told them that it was not the custom of the Romans to give any man up for punishment, before the accused had his accusers face to face, and had opportunity of defending himself against the charges that had been brought against him.


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"So when a number of them came together here, I made no delay, but the next day took my seat in the tribunal, and commanded the man to be brought.


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"But when his accusers stood up, they did not begin charging him with any of the crimes that I was expecting,


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but they kept quarreling with him about certain matters connected with their own religion, and about one Jesus who had died, but whom Paul affirmed over and over was alive.


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I was perplexed how to investigate such questions, and asked Paul whether he would go to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these matters.


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But when Paul appealed to have his case reviewed for the decision of the Emperor, I ordered him to be detained until I could send him up to Caesar."


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"I should like to hear the man, myself," said Agrippa to Festus. Festus answered, "You shall hear him tomorrow."


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So the next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp, and took their places in the hall of audience, accompanied by the tribunes and men of high rank in the city. At the command of Festus Paul was brought in.


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"King Agrippa," said Festus, "and all men who are present with us, you see here the man about whom the entire body of the Jews at Jerusalem, and here also, sent to me, crying out that he ought not to live any longer.


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"I could not find that he had done anything for which he ought to die; but as he himself has appealed to the Emperor, I have determined to send him.


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"Now I have nothing very definite to tell our sovereign about him. So I have brought the man before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, in order that, after examination, I may have something to write.


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Then Agrippa said to Paul, "You are permitted to speak for yourself." So Paul stretched forth his hand and began to make his defense.


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"I think myself happy, King Agrippa, that I am to make my defense before you this day, in regard to all the accusations brought against me by the Jews;


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"especially since you are an export in all Jewish customs and questions. I pray you, expert in all Jewish customs and questions. I pray you, hear me with patience.


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"The kind of life I have lived from my youth upward among my own nation and at Jerusalem, all that early life of mine, is well known to all the Jews.


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"They know me of old, if they are willing to testify, how that according to the strict sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee.


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"a promise which our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. It is concerning this hope, King Agrippa, that I am accused by the Jews.


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"I indeed once thought with myself that I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus, the Nazarene.


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"And this also I did in Jerusalem. Armed with authority from the chief priests, I shut up many of the saints in prison, and when they were condemned to death I gave my vote against them.


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"In all the synagogues also I punished them oftentimes, and tried to make them blaspheme; and in my mad fury I was pursuing them even to foreign cities.


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"On this errand I was traveling to Damascus one day, armed with authority and commission of the chief priests,


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"when at noon, as I journeyed, O King, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and around those who journeyed with me.


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"We all fell to the ground; and I heard a voice saying to me in Hebrew. "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goad.


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"But rise and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you in order to appoint you my minister and my witness both of what you have already seen and of those things in which I will appear to you.


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"I will deliver you from the Jewish people, and from the Gentiles to whom I am sending you to open their eyes


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"so that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, in order to receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.


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"but I proceeded to preach, first to those in Damascus, and then in Jerusalem and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they must repent and turn to God and do deeds worthy of repentance.


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"But having obtained the help that comes from God, I stand even to this day witnessing both to small and great, saying nothing except what the prophets and Moses said should come;


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"how that the Christ must suffer, and how he should be the first to rise from the dead, and should bring a message of light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles."


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As Paul thus made his defense, Festus exclaimed in a loud voice. "Paul, you are raving mad; your great learning is driving you mad."


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"I am speaking words of sober truth. For the King, to whom I am speaking freely, knows of these matters. I am persuaded that not one of these things has escaped his notice; for these things were not done in a corner.


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"Long or short," answered Paul, "my prayer to God is that not only you but all who are my hearers this day might become such as I am, save for these chains."


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When they had withdrawn they continued talking to one another. "This man is doing nothing," they said, "for which he deserves death or imprisonment."


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When it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they proceeded to hand over Paul and a few other prisoners to the custody of Julius, a centurion of the Imperial Regiment.


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We embarked in a ship of Adramyttium which was about to sail to the ports of the province of Asia, and put to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, accompanied us.


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The next day we touched at Sidon. There Julius treated Paul kindly, and gave him leave to visit his friends and refresh himself.


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For many days we sailed slowly, and then arrived with difficulty over against Cnidus; from this point, as the wind did not further favor us, we ran under the lee of Crete, off Cape Salmone;


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and coasting along with difficulty we reached a place called Fair Havens, not far from the town of Lasea.


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By this time the season was far advanced, and sailing had become dangerous (for the Autumn Fast was past); so Paul began to warn them.


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"Sirs," he said to them, "I perceive that the voyage will be attended with injury and serious loss, not only to the cargo and to the ship, but also to our own lives."


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But the centurion paid greater heed to the master and to the owner than to anything that was spoken by Paul;


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and as the harbor was ill adapted for winter quarters, the majority advised putting out to sea from thence, to see whether they could get to Phoenix and winter there, a harbor on the coast of Crete facing northeast and southeast.


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And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close in shore.


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Then we ran under the lee of a little island named Claudia, where with great difficulty we were able to secure the ships boat.


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After hauling it aboard, they used ropes to undergird the ship, and since they were fearful lest they should be driven upon the Syrtes, they lowered the gear and lay to.


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And as we were being terribly battered by the storm, the next day they began to throw the freight overboard,


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Then when for many days neither sun nor stars were seen, and a great tempest still beat upon us, all hope that we should be saved was now taken away from us.


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When for a long time they had been without food, Paul stood among them and said. "Men, you ought to have listened to me, and not have set sail from Crete, and so have spared yourselves this injury and loss.


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"Fear not, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. Behold, God has granted you the lives of all who are sailing with you.


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"So take courage, men! I believe God, I believe that things will turn out exactly as it has been told me.


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It was now the fourteenth night, and we were drifting through the Adriatic Sea when, about midnight, the sailors began to suspect that they were drawing near to some land.


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So they sounded and found twenty fathoms; and after a little they sounded again, and found fifteen fathoms.


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Then, fearing lest we should run ashore on the rocks, they threw out four anchors from the stern, and longed for day to come.


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And when the sailors were trying to flee from the ship, and had lowered the boat into the sea under pretext of laying anchors from the bow,


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Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, "Unless these men remain on the ship, you cannot be saved."


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And while day was dawning, Paul kept urging them all to take some food. "This is the fourteenth day," he said, "that you have been on the watch, fasting, having eaten nothing.


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"So I beg you to take some food, for this is for your safety. For there shall not a hair perish from the head of any one of you."


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When he had so said and had taken bread, he gave thanks to God before them all, and broke it and began to eat.


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When it was day they tried in vain to recognize the land, but they spied an inlet with a sandy beach, and they began conferring to see whether they could drive the ship into it.


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They cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, and unloosing at the same time the ropes that tied the rudders, they hoisted the foresail to the breeze, and headed for the beach.


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But coming to a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; the bow struck and remained fixed, but the stern began to break up under the violence of the waves.


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Now the soldiers were planning to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim off and so escape.


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But the centurion kept them from their purpose, because he wished to save Paul. He gave orders that those who could swim should first jump overboard and get to land;


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and that the rest should follow, some on planks and some on other bits of wreckage. And so it came to pass that all escaped safe to the land.


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The foreign-speaking people showed us uncommon kindness, for they lighted a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain and because of the cold.


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Now when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and thrown them on the fire, a viper crawled out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand.


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When the natives saw the reptile hanging on his hand, they began saying to one another, "No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped from the sea, yet justice does not allow him to live."


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But they kept expecting him to swell up or fall down dead suddenly. But after waiting a long time, and seeing no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said over and over that he was a god.


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Now in the neighborhood there were estates belonging to the governor of the island, whose name was Publius. He received us and entertained us for three days courteously.


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It happened however that the father of Publius was lying ill of fever and dysentery. So Paul went to see him and prayed and laid his hands on him and healed him.


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These loaded us with many honors and, when at last we set sail, they put on board such things as we needed.


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Three months passed before we set sail an Alexandrian ship which had wintered in the island. Its name was "The Twin Brothers."


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From thence, tacking round, we reached Rhegium. Next day a south wind sprang up, which brought us in a day to Puteoli.


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From there the brothers, when they heard about us, came out to meet us as far as the Appian Forum and the Three Taverns. When Paul saw them he thanked God and took courage.


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Now three days later he called the leading Jews together, and when they were come together he said to them. "Brothers, I was delivered a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans, though I had done nothing against the people or the customs of your fathers.


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"Then when they had examined me they wanted to set me at liberty because there was no cause of death in me.


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"But when the Jews objected I was forced to appeal to Caesar, not that I had anything to accuse my nation of.


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This is the reason why I begged you to see and speak with me. For because of the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain."


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They said to him. "We neither received any letters about you from Judea nor has any brother come hither to report or speak any harm of you.


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"But we are eager to hear from you what it is that you believe; for we all know that as for this sect it is everywhere spoken against."


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So they arranged a day with him and came to him in his lodgings in great numbers. He expounded the matter to them; testifying to the Kingdom of God, and persuading them about Jesus, from morning till evening, both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets.


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Unable to agree among themselves, they began to go, but not before Paul had spoken a word to them, saying. "Right well did the Holy Spirit say to your ancestors, through the prophet Isaiah.


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"Go to the people and tell them, You will hear and hear, and by no means understand; And will look, and by no means see.


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For this peoples heart is grown obtuse, Their ears are heavy of hearing, Their eyes have they closed, Lest they should see with their eyes And hear with their ears, Lest they understand with their heart, And turn again, and heal them.


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"Be fully assured, therefore, that this salvation of God is now sent unto the Gentiles. They will listen to it."


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After this Paul lived for two whole years in his own rented house, and used to receive all who came to see him.


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He continued to preach the kingdom of God, and to teach about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, quite unmolested.


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this gospel is concerning his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of Davids posterity in respect of his bodily nature,


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but was by his resurrection from the dead instated as Son of God, with power, in respect of his spirit of holiness.


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It is through him, even Jesus Christ our Lord, that I received grace and apostleship to promote obedience to the faith among all the Gentiles, for his names sake;


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To all that are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints. May God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, bless you, and give you peace.


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First I thank my God, through Jesus Christ, for all of you, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout all the world.


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God is my witness, to whom I render holy service in my spirit in the gospel of his Son, how unceasingly I am ever making mention of you in my prayers,


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always entreating him that now at length, if such be his will, the way may be made clear for me to come to you.


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For I am longing so to see you, in order to impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established;


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I want you to know, brothers, that many a time I have planned to come to you - though until now I have been hindered - so as to have some harvest-fruit among you also, even as I have among the rest of the Gentiles.


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FOR I AM PROUD OF THE GOSPEL. IT IS GODS SAVING POWER FOR EVERY ONE WHO BELIEVES. FOR THE JEW FIRST, AND ALSO FOR THE GENTILE.


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FOR IN IT IS BEING REVEALED A RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH PROCEEDS FROM GOD, FROM FAITH UNTO FAITH; AS IT IS WRITTEN.


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For Gods wrath is ever being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who smother the truth by their unrighteousness.


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This is so because that which may be known of God is manifest among them; for God has made it manifest to them.


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For ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, even his everlasting power and divinity, has been clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made. So they have no excuse.


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For although they knew God, yet they did not glorify him as God, nor give him thanks; but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless minds were darkened.


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and exchanged the majesty of the imperishable God for an idol, graven in the likeness of perishable man, or of birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things.


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So God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their own bodies;


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because they exchanged the truth of God for an untruth, and worshiped and served the creature, rather than the Creator who is blessed forever. Amen.


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That is why God has given them up to passions of dishonor; for on the one hand their women actually changed the natural function of sex into that which is against nature;


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and on the other hand their men likewise abandoned the natural use of women, and were ablaze with passion for one another; men with men practising shameless acts and receiving in their own person that recompense of their wrong-doing which necessarily followed.


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And just as they refused to continue to retain God in their knowledge, so did God cast them out to an outcast mind, to do those things which were indecent.


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They were overflowing with every kind of iniquity, depravity, greed, and malice. They were full of envy, murder, quarreling, deceit, and malignity.


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They became whisperers, back-biters, hated of God, insolent, haughty, boastful. They invented sins. They were disobedient to parents.


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Though they knew well the ordinance of God, that those who practise such vices are worthy of death, they not only continue to do the same, but were even applauding those who practise vice.


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You are therefore inexcusable, O man, whoever you are, that sits in judgment; for in judging another you are condemning yourself. You, the judge, are habitually practising the very same things.


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"We know that Gods judgment against those who practise such vices is in accord with the truth," you say?


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Very well; and do you suppose, you who judge those that practise such vices, and are doing the very same, that you will elude the judgment of God?


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Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and long patience? Do you not know that the kindness of God is leading you to repentance?


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In your hardness and impenitence of heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath on the Day of Wrath, when the righteous judgment of God is revealed.


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Anguish and calamity will be upon every soul of man who practises evil, upon the Jew first, and also upon the Gentile;


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but glory and honor and peace to every man who does good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile.


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For all who have sinned without law will also perish without law; and all who have sinned under law will be judged by law.


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For it is not the hearers of law who are righteous in the eyes of God; nay, it is the doers of law who will be accounted righteous.


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For when Gentiles, who have no law, obey by natural instinct the commands of the Law, they even though they have no law, are a law to themselves.


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For they show that the work of the Law is written in their hearts, while their conscience bears them witness, as their reasonings accuse, or it may be defend, them,


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an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of the young, because you have in the Law the form of knowledge and of the truth - well then, you who are teaching others, do you ever teach yourself?


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You who keep saying that a man should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who hold idols in abhorrence, are you plundering their temples?


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You who are making your boast in the Law, do you habitually dishonor God through your transgressions of the Law?


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For the name of God is continually blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, even as the Scripture itself says.


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Circumcision does indeed profit, if you are obedient to the Law; but if you habitually break the Law, your circumcision is become uncircumcision.


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So if the uncircumcised keeps the ordinance of the Law, shall not his uncircumcision be reckoned equivalent to circumcision.


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And shall not those who are physically uncircumcised, but who keep the Law, condemn you who are a breaker of the Law, although you have a written law and circumcision?


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For the real Jew is not the man who is one outwardly, and the real circumcision is not outward in the flesh;


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but the real Jew is one inwardly, and real circumcision is heart- circumcision, spiritual, not literal, praised not by men, but by God.


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By no means! Be sure that God is ever true, though all mankind prove false. As it is written, That thou mayest be found just in thine argument, And gain thy cause when thou contendest.


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But if our unrighteousness thus brings out Gods righteousness, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous - I speak after the manner of men - when he inflicts his anger on us?


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But if by a falsehood of mine the truthfulness of God has been made to redound to his glory, why am I still tried as a sinner?


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And why not say (as I myself am slanderously reported to say), "Let us do evil that good may come out of it"? Such arguments are rightly condemned.


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What then? Are we Jews in a better position? Not at all, for I have already charged all, both Jews and Gentiles, with being under sin.


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All have swerved from the right path; Every one of them has become corrupt. There is none that practises good, no, not one.


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Their throat is an open grave; With their tongues they have used deceit. The venom of asps is under their lips.


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Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law; so that every mouth may be shut, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God.


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For no man will be justified in Gods sight by works of the Law; for through the Law comes the consciousness of sin.


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But now, quite apart from any law, a righteousness coming from God has been fully brought to light, continually witnessed to by the Law and the Prophets.


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I mean a righteousness coming from God through faith in Jesus Christ, for all who believe. For there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile,


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For God openly set him forth for himself as an offering of atonement through faith, by means of his blood, in order to show forth his righteousness - since in his forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed - to show forth his righteousness,


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I say, at this present time; that he himself might be just, and yet the justifier of him who has faith in Jesus.


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Then what becomes of boasting? It is shut out. What sort of law forbids it? A law of works? No, but a law of faith.


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Is God then the God of the Jews alone, and not of the Gentiles also? He is God of the Gentiles also,


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since there is one God who will justify the circumcised through faith, and by their faith will he justify the uncircumcised.


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For what does Scripture say? And Abraham believed God, and it was set down to his account as righteousness.


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Now if a man earn his pay by his work, it is not counted to him as a favor, but it is paid him as a debt;


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but a man who does not "work," but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, has his faith imputed to him for righteousness.


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Just as David also speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from actions.


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Is this blessing, then, for the circumcised alone? or for the uncircumcised also? Abrahams faith, I say, was imputed to him for righteousness.


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How then was it imputed to him? When he was circumcised? or uncircumcised? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision;


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and he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the faith- righteousness which he had while he was in uncircumcision; in order that he might be the father of all who believe, even though they are uncircumcised; so that righteousness might be imputed to them.


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He is the father of circumcision to those who are not merely circumcised, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham which he held while he was as yet uncircumcised.


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For the promise that he should be heir of the world did not come to Abraham or to his posterity through law, but through faith- righteousness.


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This is why righteousness is of faith, that it may be a free gift; so that the promise stands firm to all Abrahams posterity; not to his children of his faith. For in the sight of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead, and calls into being that which is not, Abraham is the father of us all both Jews and Gentiles,


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For Abraham, hoping against hope, had faith to the end that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, So numberless shall your descendants be.


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Though he was about a hundred years old, his faith did not fail him when he regarded his own body, now as good as dead. and remembered Sarahs barrenness.


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Nor did he with regard to the promise of God waver in unbelief, but he waxed strong in faith, while he gave God glory,


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For it will be "reckoned for righteousness." to us also, who believe on him that raised from the dead our Lord Jesus;


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Since we stand justified as the result of faith, let us continue to enjoy the peace we have with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.


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Through him also we have had our access into this grace in which we have taken our stand, and are exulting in hope of the glory of God.


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And not only so, but we are actually exulting also even in our troubles; for we know that trouble works fortitude,


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a hope which never disappoints us. For through the Holy Spirit who has given to us, the "brimming river of the love of God" has overflowed in our hearts.


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Why, a man will hardly give his life for another, even for a righteous man, though perchance for a good man one might even take it upon himself to die.


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But God gives proof of his love to us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.


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By how much more, then, being now justified in his blood, shall we be saved through him from the wrath of God.


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For if, when we were Gods enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved in his life.


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And not only that, but we exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now obtained our reconciliation.


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Thus, then, sin came into the world through one man, and through sin came death and so death spread to all men, because all had sinned.


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For prior to the Law, sin actually existed in the world, but sin was not set down to mans account when there was no law.


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Nevertheless, from Adam to Moses death reigned as king, even over those who had not sinned after the likeness of Adams transgression. Now Adam is a type of Him who was to come.


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But the free gift is not like the transgression; for if through the transgression of that one man the rest on men died, much more did the grace of God and the gift given in his grace in the one Man, Jesus Christ, overflow unto the rest of men.


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And it is not with the free gift as it was through the one that sinned; for the judgment came from one transgression unto condemnation; but the free gift came from many transgressions unto acquittal.


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For if through the transgression of the one, death reigned as king through the one, much more shall those who receive the overflowing grace and gift of righteousness reign as kings in life through One, through Jesus Christ.


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It follows then, as through the transgression of one man came condemnation unto all men, even so through the act of righteousness of One came acquittal and life to all men.


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For just as through the disobedience of one man the rest were made sinners; even so by the obedience of One shall all the rest be made righteous.


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Now law was brought in so that transgression might abound; but where sin abounded, grace super-abounded;


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in order that as sin has ruled as king in death, so also grace might rule as king in righteousness which issues in eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord, - ours!


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For do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Jesus Christ, have been baptized into his death?


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We have been buried together with him, then, through baptism into his death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we should live in a newness of life.


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For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, so we shall also be united with him in the likeness of his resurrection.


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For this we know, that our old self was crucified with Christ, in order that the slave of sin might be destroyed; so that we should no longer be in slavery to sin -


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For the death that he died, he died unto sin once for all; but the life that he lives he is living unto God.


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Do not continue to present any part of your body to sin to be used as a weapon of unrighteousness. On the contrary, be presenting yourselves to God, as alive from the dead, and the various parts of your bodies to be used as weapons of righteousness.


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For sin shall not lord it over you; for you are not under the rule of law, but under the rule of grace.


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What then? Shall we commit an act of sin because we are not under law, but under grace? Certainly not.


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Do you not know that when you surrender yourselves as slaves to any one to obey him, you are his slaves whom you obey; whether it be sin, whose end is death, or obedience, whose end is righteousness?


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But God be thanked that you who were once the slaves of sin have obeyed from your hearts that type of teaching to which you were appointed;


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I speak in these homely figures because of the weakness of your fleshly nature - just as you once surrendered your faculties into slavery to impurity and to all lawlessness, so now you must surrender your faculties into slavery to righteousness, unto deeds of holiness.


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What harvest-fruit then had you at that time in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.


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But now that you have been set free from sin and become slaves of God, the harvest-fruit which you are reaping tends to produce holiness, and it ends is life eternal.


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FOR THE POOR WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH, BUT THE FREE GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS, OUR MASTER.


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Surely, brothers, you know (for I am speaking to those who know what law means) that law governs a person only during his lifetime?


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For a married woman who has a husband is bound by law to her husband during his lifetime; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband.


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So then, if during her husband lifetime, she unites herself with another man, she will be counted an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the Law, so that she is no adulteress, even if she unites herself with another man.


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So also, my brother, you were made dead to the Law through the body of Christ; that you should be joined to another, even to Him who was raised from the dead that we might bear fruit for God.


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For while we were unspiritual, the sinful passions, aroused by the Law, were ever active in every part of our bodies, leading us to bear fruit unto death.


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But now we have been released from the Law, because we are dead to that in which we were held; so that we are now in thraldom in new and spiritual conditions, and not under the old written code.


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What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? Certainly not. On the contrary I should not have become acquainted with sin had it not been for the Law; for except the Law had repeatedly said, "Thou shalt not lust," I should never have known the sin of lust.


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But when sin had gained a vantage-ground, by means of the commandment, it stirred up within me all manner of lust; for where there is no law, sin is dead.


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For sin, when it had gained a vantage-ground through the commandment, beguiled me, and through it slew me.


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Did then that which was good become for me death? Never! but sin did; that it might be manifest as sin, by that the unutterable malignity of sin might become plain through the commandment.


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For we know that the Law is spiritual; but as for me, I am a creature of flesh, bought and sold under the dominion of sin.


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For what I perform I know not; what I practise is not what I intend to do, but what I detest, that I habitually do.


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For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, no good thing has its home; for while to will is present with me, to carry out that which is right is not.


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For the good that I intend to do, I do not; but the evil which I do not; but the evil which I do not intend to do, that I am ever practising.


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But if I do the very thing I do not intend to do, it is no more I who practise it, but sin which has its home in me.


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but I find a different law in my bodily faculties, waging war with the law of my will, and taking me prisoner to that law of sin which is in my bodily faculties.


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Oh, thank God! it is through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I myself in my will am in thraldom to the law of God; yet in my animal nature I am in thraldom to the law of sin.


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For God has done what the Law could not do, weakened as it was by flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and on account of sin, he condemned sin in the flesh;


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in order that the Law might be fulfilled in us who order our lives not after the flesh, but after the spirit.


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For they who live after the flesh, give their attention to the things of the flesh; But they who live after the spirit, give their attention to spiritual things.


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For to be earthly minded is enmity against God; For such a mind is not subject to the Law of God, Nor can it be;


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But you are not earthly, but spiritual, if indeed the Spirit of God is really dwelling in you. If any one does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.


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But if Christ is in you, though your bodily self is dead because of sin, your spirit is full of life because of righteousness.


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But if the Spirit of Him who raised up Jesus from dead is dwelling in you, He who raised up Jesus from the dead is dwelling in you, He who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also make your dying bodily self live by his indwelling Spirit in your lives.


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for if you go on living according to the flesh, you are on the road to die; but if by the Spirit you keep putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.


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For you have not received a spirit of slavery in order that you should once more be afraid; but you have received a spirit of adoption, in which we cry out, "My Father, my dear Father!"


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and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ; but to share his glory, we must now be sharing his sufferings.


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For I count as nothing what we now suffer, in comparison with the glory which will soon be unveiled to us.


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For nature was subjected to imperfection, not by its own will, but by the will of Him who thus made it subject -


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yet not without the hope that some day nature itself also will be freed from the thraldom of decay, into the freedom which belongs to the glory of the children of God.


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And not only that, we ourselves, although we are grasping the first- fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves are inwardly groaning, while we are waiting for adoption, the redemption of our body.


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Who hopes for what he clearly sees? But if we hope for something that we do not see, we then patiently wait for it.


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In the same way the Spirit also takes hold with us in our weakness; for we know knot how to pray as we ought; but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.


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And the Searcher of Hearts knows what the Sprits meaning is, because his intercessions for the saints are according to the will of God.


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Now we know that all things continually work together for good to to those who love God, to those who have been the called according to his purpose.


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For whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, so that he might be the eldest of a great brotherhood;


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and whom he foreordained, those he also called; and whom he called, those he also justified; and whom he justified, those he also glorified.


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He that spared not his own Son, But freely delivered him up for us all, How shall he not with him also freely give us all things?


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Who is there to condemn them? Will Christ who died? Yes, and who rose from the dead, The Christ who is also at the right hand of God, And is interceding for us?


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What shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall anguish, or calamity, or persecution, or famine? Shall nakedness, or peril, or sword?


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Even as it is written. For thy sake we are killed all the day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.


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For I am fully persuaded that neither death nor life, Neither angels nor principalities, nor powers, Neither the present world nor the world to come, Nor the powers of Nature,


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Nor height, nor depth, Nor any other created thing, Shall be able to separate us from the love of God Which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.


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I am speaking the truth in Christ, it is no lie. My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have deep sorrow


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For I was on the point of praying to be accursed from Christ on behalf of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.


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For they are Israelites; to them belong the sonship, the Shekinah glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law; the service of the temple, and the promises;


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theirs are the patriarchs, and of them, as concerning the flesh, is Christ, who is over all, God, blessed forever, Amen.


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It is not, however, as though Gods word had failed! For they are not all Israel who have sprung from Israel;


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they are not all children of Abraham because they are Abrahams descendants. The promise was, In Isaac shall thy posterity be called.


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That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as his posterity.


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And not only so, but when Rebecca was pregnant by our forefather Isaac, though one man was the father of both children,


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and even though they were still unborn, and had done nothing either good or bad, in order that the purpose of God might stand according to election, not of works, but of Him who called,


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His words to Moses are. I will have mercy on whom I choose to have mercy; I will have compassion on whom I choose to have compassion.


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For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, It is for this very purpose that I have raised you up, To show in you my power, And to proclaim my name far and wide, in all the earth.


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"Nay, but who are you, O man, that replies to God? Shall the thing formed say unto him who formed it, "Why did you do me like this?"


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Or has not the potter power over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for noble, and another for ignoble uses?


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But what if God, while intending to show forth his wrath, and to make known his power, yet endured, with much long-suffering, vessels of wrath, fitted to destruction?


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And what if he thus purposed to make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he had before prepared for glory?


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As he also said in Hosea. Those who were not my people I will call "my people," And her "beloved" who was not beloved;


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And in that very spot where it was told them, "You are not my people," There they shall be called "Sons of the living God."


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And in regard to Israel, Isaiah exclaims. Though the number of the sons of Israel be like the sands of the sea, it is but a remnant of those who shall be saved;


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Even as in an earlier passage, Isaiah says, Except the Lord of Sabbath had us some few descendants, we should have become like Sodom, and should have fared like Gomorrah.


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What then shall we say? That Gentiles who never pursed righteousness have overtaken it, even the righteousness of faith?


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But that the descendants of Israel, who were in pursuit of a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law?


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And why? Because they sought it not by faith, but thought to gain it by works. They stumbled at the stone of stumbling;


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even as it is written. Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense; but he that believes on Him shall not be put to shame.


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Brothers, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for my countrymen, that they may be saved.


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For because they were ignorant of Gods righteousness, and sought to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit themselves to the righteousness of God.


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For Moses writes concerning the righteousness of the Law, saying, The man that doeth it shall live by it.


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But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way. Say not in thine heart, "Who shall ascend to heaven?" - that is, to bring Christ down;


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But what does it say? The word is near thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the very word of faith which we preach;


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Confess with your mouth "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God actually raised him from the dead, and you will be saved.


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For with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.


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For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile, because the same Lord Jesus is all over, and is rich unto all who call upon Him;


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How then shall thy call upon Him in whom they do not believe? And how are they to believe in One of whom they have never heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?


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And how can men preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who bring a glad gospel.


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And yet they did not all hearken to the good news; for Isaiah said, Lord, who hath believed our message?


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But I ask, Did they fail to hear? Yes, truly, Their sound has gone out unto all the earth, And their words unto the ends of the world.


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But I say, Did Israel not know? First Moses says. I will provoke you to jealousy with that which is no nation; Against a Gentile nation, void of understanding, will I anger you.


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But Isaiah speaks very boldly, I was found of those who were not seeking me, I was made manifest to those who were not asking for me.


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But to Israel he says, All day long I have been spreading out my hands unto a disobedient and contrary people.


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Then I ask, Did God cast off his people? No indeed. For I also am an Israelite, a son of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.


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God did not cast off his people whom he foreknew. For do you not know what is said in the Scripture about Elijah? how he pleaded with God against Israel, saying,


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Lord, they have killed thy prophets, they have overthrown thine altars; And now I alone am left, and they seek my life.


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But what was the answer of God to him? I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.


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What then? that which Israel has been seeking for, that he has not obtained; but the chosen have obtained it, and the rest have been hardened.


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According as it is written, God has given them a spirit of slumber, Eyes that they should not see, Ears that they should not hear, unto this day.


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As David says. Let their table be made a snare and a trap, And a stumbling-block and a recompense unto them;


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I ask then, "Have they stumbled so as to fall?" No indeed; but by their lapse salvation has come unto Gentiles, "to provoke Israel to jealousy."


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Now if their stumbling enriches the world, and their loss enriches the Gentiles, how much more must their fulness do!


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For to you who are Gentiles I say that since I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I glorify my ministry,


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For if their casting out is the reconciliation of the world to God, what will their restoration be but life out of death?


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Now if the first-fruits of the dough Abraham and the Patriarchs are holy, so also is the whole mass their descendants. And if the root of a tree Abraham is holy, so also are the branches his descendants.


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Supposing that some of the branches have been broken off, and you, although you were but a wild olive, have been grafted in among the branches and have become a partaker with them of the fatness of the olive tree, do not glory over the branches;


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or if you are glorying, remember that it is not you who uphold the root, but the root which upholds you.


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True, through their unbelief they were broken off, and by your faith you stand. Do not be puffed up, but fear;


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Fix your gaze, therefore, on the goodness and the severity of God; towards those who fell, severity, but towards you, Gods goodness, if you continue stedfast in his goodness; otherwise you, too, will be cut off.


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And they also those Jews, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in again; for God is able to graft them in again.


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For if you were cut out of that which is by nature a mere wild olive tree, and have been grafted, contrary to nature, into a fruitful olive tree, how much more shall these, the natural branches, be regrafted into their own olive tree?


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For I would not, my brothers, have you ignorant of this hidden truth, for fear that you become wise in your own conceits. that a hardening in part has befallen Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles is come in.


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And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written. The deliver will come from Zion, He will banish all ungodliness from Jacob;


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In relation to the gospel, the Jews are Gods enemies for your sake; but in relation to the election, they are dearly loved for their forefathers sake.


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And as in times past you were yourselves disobedient to God, but now, thanks to their disobedience, have obtained mercy;


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even so they also have now been disobedient, that by the mercy shown to you they also may now obtain mercy.


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Oh, the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unfathomable are his judgments, and how unsearchable his paths!


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I entreat you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies to Him as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. This is your reasonable service of worship.


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And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.


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For, through the grace that was given to me, I tell every man among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but so to think, as to think soberly, according to the measure of faith which God has given him.


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But we have gifts differing according to the grace which was given to us. He that has the gift of prophecy, let him prophesy according to the proportion of his faith.


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Let the teacher give himself to his teaching; and he who exhorts others to his exhortation. He who gives, let him do it in singleness of mind. He who rules, let him rule with diligence; and he who shows mercy must be cheerful.


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Have full sympathy with one another. Set not your minds on high affairs, but associate with lowly folk. Do not be wise in your own conceits.


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Never revenge yourself, beloved, but leave the field clear for Gods wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay," says the Lord.


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On the contrary, therefore, If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will be heaping burning coals on his head.


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Every one should be in the higher authorities; for there is no authority apart from God. The authorities that now exist have been appointed by God.


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Therefore the man who rebels against authority is opposing the divine ordinances; and those who withstand will bring judgment on themselves.


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For rulers are no terror to good deeds, but to evil. Would you be fearless of the rulers authority? Do what is good, and you will have his praise.


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For the ruler is Gods minister appointed for your good. But if you are a wrong-doer, be afraid; he does not carry the sword to no purpose; he is Gods servant, appointed to vengeance upon the guilty.


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This too, is the reason why you pay taxes; because the authorities are ministers of Gods service, attending continually upon this very thing.


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Render to all their dues; taxes to whom taxes, customs to whom customs, respect to whom respect, and homage to whom homage is due.


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Never owe any one anything save the debt of brotherly love; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the Law.


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For the Law which says, Thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet, and whatever other commandment there be - is all summed up in this one saying, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.


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Carry out these injunctions because you know the crisis that we are in, that now it is high time for you to awake out of sleep; for now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed.


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The night is far spent; The day is at hand. Let is therefore take off the deeds of darkness, Let us put on the armor of light.


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Let us live honestly, as in the day, Not in reveling and drunkenness, Not in lust and licentiousness, Not is strife and jealousy;


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But clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, And make no provisions for your earthly nature And the gratification of its lusts.


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He who eats meat must not despise the man who abstains; and let not the man who abstains judge him who eats; for God has received him.


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Who are you just that judges the household-servant of another? To his own lord he stands or falls. And stand he will, for his Master has power to make him stand.


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There are some who esteem one day above another; there are others who esteem all days alike; let each other be fully persuaded in his own mind.


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He who regards the day, regards it unto his Lord; and he who regards it not, disregards it unto his Lord. He who eats meat, eats unto his Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who abstains, abstains unto his Lord, since he, too, gives God thanks.


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If we live, we live unto our Lord; if we die, we die unto our Lord. So then, whether we live or die, we belong to our Lord.


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For this purpose Christ died and became alive again, that he might be the Lord both of the dead and of the living.


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But you the abstainer, why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you again the non-abstainer, why do you despise yours? For we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of God.


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For it is written, "As I live," says the Lord, "to me every knee shall bow, And to God shall every tongue confess."


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So let us no longer pass judgment on one another; rather let this be your judgment, that no one put a stumbling-block in his brothers way, nor any cause of falling.


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I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is in itself unclean; but any food is "unclean" for one who considers it "unclean."


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If your brother is continually pained because of your food, you are not conducting yourself any longer in love. Do not, by what you eat, persist in destroying a man for whom Christ died.


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For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.


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Those who are slaving for Christ devotedly in these ways, are well pleasing to God and highly commended by man.


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Do not, for the sake of food, be tearing down Gods work. All food indeed is ceremonially clean, but a man is in the wrong if his food proves a stumbling-block.


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The right course is not to eat meat, nor to drink wine, nor to do anything through which your brother is made to stumble.


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Have you faith? Keep it to yourself as in the presence of God. He is a happy man who does not condemn himself in that which he approves.


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But he who has misgivings, and yet eats meat, is condemned already, because his action is not based on faith; and whatever is not based on faith is sin.


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For even Christ pleased not himself; but as it is written, The reproaches of those who were reproaching thee fell upon me.


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For everything that was written of old has been written for our instruction, that through patience, and through the comfort of the Scriptures, we might have hope.


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Now the God of patience and of comfort grant you to be in full sympathy with one another, in accordance with the example of Jesus Christ;


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so that with one heart and with one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.


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Wherefore always receive one another into fellowship, to the glory of God, even as Christ also received you.


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For I say that Christ has been made a minister of the Circumcision the people of Israel, in vindication of Gods truth, so that he may confirm the promises given to our forefathers;


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and so that the Gentiles also should praise God for his mercy, as it is written, Therefore I will offer praise to thee among the Gentiles, And sing to thy name.


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Or again, as Isaiah says. There shall be the root of Jesse, And he that arises to rule over the Gentiles; On him shall the Gentiles hope.


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Now the God of all hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may be overflowing with hope in the power of the Holy Spirit.


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And I myself also am confident regarding you, my brothers, that you yourselves are already full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and well able to give advice to one another.


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Still I have written unto you the more boldly, in part, by way of reminding you, because of that gift of grace which God bestowed upon me, in making me a priest of Jesus Christ unto the Gentiles.


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I act as priest of the gospel of God; so that the Gentiles, when offered before him, may be an acceptable sacrifice, because consecrated by the Holy Spirit.


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For I will not dare to speak of any thing except that which Christ has done through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed,


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through the might of signs and wonders, in the power of the Holy Spirit. So that beginning at Jerusalem and its environs, I have proclaimed without reserve the gospel of Christ, even as far as Illyricum.


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My ambition has been, however, to preach the gospel where Christs name was not already known, so that I might not build upon another mans foundation.


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But, as Scripture says, He shall be seen by those to whom no news about him ever came, And those who have never heard of him shall understand.


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But now, since I have no more any "opening" in these parts, and since I have longed for many years to come to you


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whenever I go to Spain, I am hoping to see you on my way there, and to be set forward by you on my way there, and to be set forward by you on my journey thither, after I have enjoyed your company for a little while.


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For it has been the good pleasure of Macedonia and Achaia to make an offering for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem.


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Yes, it has been made their good pleasure, and their debt, too. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual riches, they owe it to them also to minister to them the Jews in worldly goods.


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When, therefore, I have settled this, and have secured to them the poor at Jerusalem the fruit of this collection, I shall come on by you into Spain.


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Brothers, I beseech you, by Jesus Christ our Lord, and by the love which the Spirit gives, to help me in my struggle by your prayers to God on my behalf,


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that I may be delivered from the disobedient in Judea; that my mission to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the saints;


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I beg you to give her a Christian welcome, as the saints should; and to assist her in any matter in which she may have need of you. For she herself has been made an overseer to many people, including myself.


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but by all the churches among the Gentiles. Salute likewise the church that meets in their home. Salute Epaenetus, my dearly beloved, the first man in Roman Asia to believe in Christ.


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and Andronicus and Junia, my kinsfolk and fellow prisoners, who are notable among the apostles, and who became Christians before I did.


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Salute Trypheana and Tryphosa, who are ever toiling in the Lord. Salute dear Persis, who has toiled terribly in the Lords service.


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Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who are associated with them.


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Salute Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, Olympas, and all the saints associated with them.


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I exhort you, brothers, to keep watch of those who are causing the divisions among you, and occasions of stumbling, contrary to the teaching which you have learned.


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Turn away from them. For men of that stamp are not the slaves of Christ, but are slaves to their own appetites. By their smooth and fair speech they beguile the hearts of the innocent.


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I say this, for the tidings of your obedience have been told throughout the world. On your own behalf, then, I rejoice; but I want you to be wise unto the good, but innocents in evil.


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The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.


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Gaius, my host, and the host of the church, salutes you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, salutes you, and so does brother Quartus.


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Now I commend you to Him who is able to keep you stedfast, according to my gospel, and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, whereby is unveiled the secret truth which was kept secret through immemorial ages,


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but now has been brought to light, and by command of the eternal God made known to the Gentiles by the scriptures of the Prophets, so that the Gentiles might hold obedience of the faith.


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to the Church of God at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all, wherever they are, who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus.


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He will also keep you perfectly stedfast unto the end, so that you will be unreprovable in the Day of our Lord Jesus Christ.


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Now I beg you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to speak in accord, all of you, and to have no divisions among you, but to be knit together in a common mind and temper.


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For it has been plainly told me concerning you, my brothers, by Chloes people, that there are dissensions among you.


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I mean by this that one of you says, "I am a follower of Paul"; another, "I of Apollos"; another, "I of Cephas"; another, "I of Christ."


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Has Christ been divided? Paul, was he crucified for you? or was it into the name of Paul that you were baptized?


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For Christ did not think I baptized any one else. For Christ did not send me forth to baptize, but to proclaim the gospel; and that not in philosophic words, lest the Cross of Christ should be made an empty thing.


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For the message of the Cross is indeed for those on their way to destruction, foolishness; but for us who are on our way to salvation it is the power of God.


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For thus it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the philosophers, And the prudence of the prudent will I confound.


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Sage, rabbi, skeptic of this present age - where are they all? Has not God made foolish the philosophy of the world?


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For when, in the wisdom of God, the world by its philosophy knew not God, the world by its philosophy knew not God, it pleased God, by the foolishness of preaching, to save those who believe.


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but to those who are the called, whether Jews or Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God.


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For consider your own calling, brothers, that not many wise in earthly wisdom, not many powerful, not many of noble birth, have been called.


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No, God has chosen the worlds folly to confound its philosophy; and the worlds weakness to confound its strength.


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The worlds base things has God chosen, and the things that are not, to bring to naught the things that are;


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It is of him that you are in Christ Jesus, whom God made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption,


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And when I came to you, brothers, I came not to proclaim Gods great secret purpose in fine language of philosophy;


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My message and my preaching were not in the persuasive language of philosophy, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power;


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Notwithstanding, among those who are mature I do teach philosophy; though not the philosophy of the present age, nor of its rulers who are coming to nought.


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No, it is Gods wisdom that I utter, that hidden wisdom which God had decreed before the world began, unto our glory.


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None of the rulers of the present age understands it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory.


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Nay, as it is written. Eye has not seen, Nor ear heard, Neither have entered into mans heart The things which God has prepared For those who love him.


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Yet God has unveiled them to us by his Spirit. For the Spirit fathoms everything, even the abysmal depths of God.


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For what man knows the depths of man except the mans own inner Spirit? Even so, also, the Spirit of God knows the deeps profound of God.


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But we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which comes forth from God, that we may realize the blessings freely given us by God.


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Of these high themes we speak in words not taught by human philosophy, but by the Spirit; interpreting spiritual things to spiritual men.


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The unspiritual man rejects the teachings of Gods Spirit; for him it is folly. He cannot understand it, for it is spiritually discerned,


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As for me, brothers, I could not talk to you as spiritual men, but as to creatures of flesh, mere babes in Christ.


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You are not able even now, for you are still unspiritual. While there is among you jealousy and strife, are you not still unspiritual, and behaving like worldlings?


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What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Just ministers through whom you have believed, and each doing the work that the Lord gave him.


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So neither is he who planted anything, nor he who watered, but God alone, who is making the seed grow.


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Now, though he who plants and he who waters are one, each will receive his own reward, according to his own service.


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According to the grace of God vouchsafed me, like a skillful master- builder, I have laid a foundation; but another will be building upon it. Let each take heed how he builds on it.


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On that foundation, if a man proceeds to build gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, each mans work will be made manifest.


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The Day will disclose it, for it dawns in fire, and the fire will test each mans work, of what quality it is.


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If any mans work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, as it were through the flames.


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If any one tear down Gods sanctuary, God will tear him down; for the sanctuary of God is holy, and that is what you are.


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Let no one deceive himself. If any one of you supposes that he is wise in the philosophy of the present age, let him become foolish, so that he may be wise.


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For the philosophy of this world is foolishness in Gods sight. It is written, He snares the wise in their own craftiness,


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Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life, death, things present or things to come; all things are yours;


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Indeed I do not even judge myself; for though I know nothing against myself, yet that does not vindicate me; for he who judges me is the Lord.


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So make no hasty judgment until the Lord come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make plain the purpose of mens hearts. Then each mans due praise will come to him from God.


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Now these things, brothers, I have applied in a figure to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that in us you might learn not to go beyond what is written; that none of you be puffed up for the one, against the other.


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For who makes you a differ, brother? Or what have you that you did not receive? But if you did receive it, why are you boasting as if you had not received it?


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But you, forsooth, are already full, are you? You are already rich? Without us you are already reigning? Yes, and I would that you did reign, so that we also might reign with you.


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But it seems to me that God has exhibited us apostles, last of all, like men doomed to death; for we are made a spectacle to the whole world, both to men and to angels.


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For Christs sake we are fools, but you are quite philosophic in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong; you are honorable, but we are outcast.


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When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when defamed, we conciliate. We have been made, as it were, scum-o-the-earth, the very refuse of the world, to this very hour!


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For though you have ten thousand tutors in Christ Jesus, you can have but one father. For in Christ Jesus I begot you through the gospel.


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With this in mind I have sent Timothy to you. He is my dear and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ; the manner in which I ever teach everywhere in every church.


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But come to you I will, and that soon, if it please the Lord, and then I shall learn not the talk of these boasters, but their power.


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It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and such immorality as is not even among the heathen - that a man has taken his fathers wife!


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Yet you are puffed up instead of mourning and removing from among you the man who has done this thing.


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For I, although absent in body, yet present in spirit, have already passed sentence, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, on him who has done this thing.


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When you are gathered together, and my spirit is with you together with the power of our Lord Jesus,


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I have handed over such a man to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, that his spirit may be saved, in the day of the Lord Jesus.


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Then get rid of the old leaven, so that you may be like a new lump, as you are now unleavened. For our Paschal Lamb has already been sacrificed, Christ himself.


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So let us keep the unending feast, not with any old leaven, neither with leaven of malice and vice, but with unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.


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Not that in this world you were actually to have no contact with the immoral, the avaricious, the thievish, or with idolaters; for then you would have to leave the world, altogether.


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But what I wrote was that you were not to associate with any so- called brother who is immoral, or avaricious, or idolatrous, or abusive, or a drunkard, or an extortioner. No, with such persons do not even sit at table.


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What have I to do with the judging of outsiders? Must not you judge those who are within the church, while God judges outsiders?


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Dare any one of you who has a grievance against his neighbor go to law before heathen judges, instead of before the saints?


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Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be tried by you, are you unfit to try such trifling cases?


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Why then, if you have cases relating to earthly affairs which need to be decided, is it men who are absolutely nothing in the church whom you make your judges?


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I say this to shame you. Is it so that there is not among you a single wise man, capable of deciding between a man and his brother?


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Indeed, to say nothing more, the fact that you have lawsuits with one another is altogether a defect in you. Why not rather suffer injustice? Why not rather endure being cheated?


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Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. None who are immoral, or idolaters, or adulterers, or catamites, or sodomites,


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or thieves, or avaricious men, or drunkards, or foul-mouthed men, or extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.


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Such were some of you, but you have washed away your stains, you have been consecrated, you have been justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.


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"All things are lawful for me"? Yes, but not all things are good for me. "All things are lawful for me"? Yes, but I will not let myself be enslaved by the power of any.


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"Food is meant for the stomach, and the stomach for food"? Yes, but God will soon put an end both to the one and to the other. The body, however, exists not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body;


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You know, do you not, that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them members of a harlot? God forbid!


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Do you not know that he who joins himself to a harlot is one with her in body? (For God says, The two shall become one flesh.)


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Flee from immorality. Every other sin that a man commits lies outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.


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Do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is within you, the Spirit whom you have from God?


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Now concerning the question in your letter. It is well for a man to have no intercourse with a woman,


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but because there is so much immorality let each man have his own wife; and let each women have her own husband.


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Let the husband give his wife her due, and likewise the wife her husband. The wife is not mistress of her own person,


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but her husband is; and in the same way the husband is not master of his own person, but his wife is.


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Do not refuse one another, unless it is only temporary and by mutual consent, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again, lest through your lack of self-control Satan begin to tempt you to sin.


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I would that every one lived as I do; but each man has his own special gift from God, one this, another that.


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If, however, they are not exercising self-control, by all means let them marry; for marriage is better than the fever of passion.


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But to those already married my commandment is - and not mine, but the Lords - that a wife is not to leave her husband;


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(or if she has already left him let her either remain as she is, or be reconciled to him), and also that a husband is not to put away his wife.


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To the rest it is I who am speaking, not the Lord. If any brother has a wife who is not a believer, if he is willing to live with her, let him not send her away.


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And a woman whose husband is not a believer, if he is willing to live with her, let her not separate from him.


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For the unbelieving husband is consecrated through union with his believing wife; and the unbelieving wife, through union with her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unholy, but now they are consecrated to God.


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But if the unbelieving partner be determined to leave, separation let it be. In such cases the believing husband or wife is not under bondage. But it is into peace that God has called us.


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For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?


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Only whatever be the lot in life to which God has assigned each one - and whatever the condition in which he was living when God called him- -in that let him continue. Such is the rule I give in all the churches.


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So, was any man called, being circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Was any man called when he was uncircumcised? Let him not be circumcised.


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Were you called in slavery? Let not that trouble you; but if you can become free make use of the opportunity.


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For the slave who has been called in the Lord is the Lords freedman; and in the same way, the free man who is called is Christs slave.


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I have no command from the Lord to give you concerning unmarried women; but I give you my opinion, and it is that of a man who, through the Lords mercy, is deserving of your confidence.


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I think then, that in view of the time of suffering now imminent, it is best for a man to remain as he is.


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Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from the marriage bond? Do not seek for a wife.


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Yet if you do not marry, you have not done wrong; and if a girl marries, she has not done wrong. Such people, however, will have trouble in worldy affairs, and I wish to spare you.


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Indeed, brothers, the time that remains to us has been shortened; so let those who have wives live as if they had none,


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let those who weep be as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess,


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and those who use the world as though using it sparingly. For the present phase of the world is passing away.


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So I want you to be free from all anxieties. An unmarried man is anxious about the Lords business, how he may please the Lord;


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but a married man is anxious about worldly affairs, how he may please his wife, and he is divided in his mind.


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Again, the woman who is widow, or the maid, is anxious about the Lords business, how she may be pure in body and in mind; but the married woman is anxious about worldly affairs, how she may please her husband.


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It is in your own interest that I say this; not that I may entangle you in a snare, but that I may help you to serve the Lord with fitting and undistracted service.


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If, however, a father feels that he is not treating his virgin daughter in a seemly manner, in leaving her unmarried beyond the flower of her age, and so the matter is urgent, let him do what she desires; he commits no sin. Let the marriage take place.


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On the other hand, he who is firm in his purpose and is under no compulsion, but is free to carry out his own wishes, and who has determined to keep his daughter unmarried, does well.


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So he that gives his daughter in marriage is doing right, and he who keeps her unmarried will be doing right, and he who keeps her unmarried will be doing better.


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A wife is bound to her husband during his lifetime; but if her husband dies, she is free to marry whomever she will, provided it be in the Lord.


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But she is happier, in my judgment, if she remains as she is; and I think that I, too, have the Spirit of God.


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Now in regard to food which has been offered to idols, we are sure of course that "we all have knowledge." But knowledge puffs up, while love builds up.


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Now as to eating food that has been offered to idols, we know well that an idol has no real existence in the universe, and that there is no God but One.


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For though there be so-called "gods," celestial of terrestrial, as indeed there are gods many and lords many,


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yet for there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we for him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.


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But that "knowledge" is not possessed by all; but some, accustomed until now to the idol, eat food as that which has actually been offered to an idol, and so their conscience, being still weak, is defiled.


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Now food does not bring us nearness to God. Neither if we eat do we gain any advantage, nor if we eat not, do we lose any.


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For if any one should see you, the possessor of "knowledge," reclining at table in an idols temple, would not his conscience, if he were weak, be emboldened to eat things sacrificed to idols?


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In so sinning against your brothers, and in ever and again wounding their weak consciences, you are sinning against Christ.


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Therefore, if what I eat makes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, lest I make my brother to stumble.


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Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?


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Even if I am not an apostle to others, to you at least I am; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.


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Have I no right to take a believing wife with me on my journey, as the rest of the apostles and the Lords brothers and Peter do?


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What soldier ever serves at his own expense? What farmer ever plants a vineyard and his flock and does not taste the milk?


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Yea, in the Law of Moses it is written, Thou shalt not muzzle an ox while he is treading out the grain.


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Is it the oxen that God is thinking about, or is it really said for our sakes? It was written for us; because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher in hope of getting a share of the crop.


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If I have sown for you the seeds of spiritual good, is it a great thing if I reap from you temporal goods?


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If others share this authority over you, do not I far more? Yet I have not availed myself of it, but am patiently enduring; so that I may not in any way hinder the progress of Christs gospel.


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You know, do you not, that those who minister in the temple, and those who serve at the altar, get their portion of the sacrifices?


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But for my part, I have never availed myself of any of these rights. I do not say this to bring it about in my own case. I would rather die than let any one make void this boast of mine.


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Proclaiming the gospel gives me no ground of boasting; for necessity is laid upon me; woe is me if I preach not the gospel.


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For if I do this of my own accord, I have my pay; but if unwilling, I have at least discharged my stewardship.


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What then is my wage? This, that I can make the gospel free where I carry it; and that I can refrain from using my rights as a preacher of the gospel.


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To the Jews I am become like a Jew, that I may win Jews; to those under the Law, like one under the Law, though I am not under the Law, myself;


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to those outside the Law, as one outside the Law, to win those outside the Law (though I am not outside the law of God, but inside the law of Christ).


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I am become weak to the weak, to win the weak. I am become all these things to all men that, by any and by all means, I may save some.


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Do you not know that in a foot-race, though all run, only one receives the prize? So run that you may win.


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Every man who contends in the games continually trains himself by all manner of self-restraint. Now they do it to get a fading garland, but we, one that is unfading.


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but I bruise my body and keep it in subjection, lest having called others to the contest, I should myself be disqualified.


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For I would not have you ignorant, brothers, how our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea,


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and all drank from the same spiritual stream, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.


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And you must not be idolaters like some of them. as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, And they rose up for idol dances.


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Nor must we act licentiously, as some of them did, and fell in a single day, twenty-three thousand of them.


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Neither must we presume upon the patience of our Lord, as some of them presumed, and were destroyed by the serpents;


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Now these things were happening to them typically, but were written down for our admonition who stand at the meeting of the ages.


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No temptation has overtaken you that is beyond mans power; but God is faithful, who will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but will, with every temptation, provide the way of escape also, so that you may be able to withstand.


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The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a common participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a common participation in the body of Christ?


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Look at Israel according to the flesh; are not those who eat the sacrifices in communion with the altar?


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What then shall we say? that an offering to an idol is anything? or that an idol is really anything?


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On the contrary, what the heathen sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have communion with demons.


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You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and also the cup of demons; you cannot be partakers in the Lords table and in the table of demons.


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"All things are lawful," you say? But not all things are expedient; "all things are lawful"; but not all build up.


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If one who is not a believer invites you to his house, and you wish to go, eat everything that is set before you, without asking questions for conscience sake.


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But if any one tells you, "This food has been offered in sacrifice," do not eat it, for the sake of him who told you,


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and for your conscience sake - his conscience, not your own. "But," you may object, "why should my freedom be decided upon anothers scruples of conscience?


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Because whether you are eating or whether you are drinking, you are to do it all for the glory of God.


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For so I also try to please all men in every way, not by seeking my own good, but the good of the many, that they may be saved.


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Indeed I praise you for remembering me in everything, and because you are holding fast to the traditions just as you received them.


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But I wish you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, and of a wife her husband is head; and that God is head of Christ.


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but every woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled dishonors her head (her husband). for it is one and the same thing as if she were shaven.


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If a woman does not wear a veil, let her also cut off her hair; now if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her be veiled.


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A man, indeed, ought not to have his head veiled, for he is an image and glory of God; but woman is a glory of man.


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for just as the woman was made from the man, so also is the man born of the woman, while they both come from God.


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Judge of this for your own selves. It is fitting that a woman should pray to God with her head unveiled.


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If, however, any one is inclined to be disputatious regarding such a custom, let him know that neither I nor the churches of God hold to such a custom.


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But in giving you the following instructions, I cannot praise you; your solemn assemblies do more harm than good.


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To begin with, I am told - and I believe there is some truth in it - that when you meet at a church there are divisions among you.


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For there must needs be also parties among you, in order that the good may be tested and made known.


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What! Have you no houses in which to eat or drink? or do you wish to show your contempt for the church of God, and to shame those who have no homes to eat in? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I certainly do not praise you.


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For I passed on to you the account, which I myself received from the Lord; how the Lord Jesus, on the very night he was betrayed, took bread,


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and when he had given thanks, he broke it, saying, "This is my body, broken for you; this do in memory of me."


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In the same way also, he took the cup after supper, saying. "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in memory of me."


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For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming your Lords death until he come.


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So he that eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthy must answer for a sin against the body and blood of the Lord.


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If any one is hungry, let him eat at home, so that your meetings do not bring condemnation upon you. The other matters I will adjust when I come.


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Wherefore I want you to understand that no one who speaks in the Spirit of God says, "Jesus is accursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except in the Holy Spirit.


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For to one man by the Spirit has been given a word of wisdom, to another a word of insight by the same Spirit;


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to another the powers which work miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits; to another varieties of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.


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For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, although they be many, are one body; so also is Christ.


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And we can see this, for in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jew or Gentile, whether slave or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.


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If the foot should say, "Because I am a hand, I am not part a part the body," would it not indeed be a part of the body?


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Or if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body," would it be any less a part of the body?


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And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you". nor again of head to the feet, "I have no need for you."


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upon those parts of the body which we esteem less honorable, we bestow more abundant honor, and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.


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For whereas our comely parts have no need, God has tempered the body together, giving more abundant honor to that member in which lacked;


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When one member suffers, all the others suffer with it; and when one member is honored, all the members are glad with it.


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And God has appointed those in the church to be first of all apostles, second, prophets, third, teachers. then workers of miracles, healers, helpers, administrators, users of various kinds of "tongues."


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Though I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have no love, I am become a clanging brass, or a clashing cymbal.


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Though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.


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And though I sell all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it avails me nothing.


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is not rude, nor selfish, nor easily provoked. Love bears no malice, never rejoices over wrong-doing,


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Love never fails; but though there are prophecies, they will fail; though there are tongues, they will cease; though there is knowledge, it will be superseded.


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When I was a child I spoke like a child, felt like a child, thought like a child; now that I am become a man, I have done with childish things.


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For now we see as in a mirror, and are baffled, but then face to face; now I know in fragments, but then shall I understand even as I also have been understood.


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For he who speaks in a "tongue" speaks not to man but to God, for no one understands him, but in the Spirit he utters secret truths.


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Now I should like you all to speak with "tongues"; but I should rather that you prophesied, For he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may be built up.


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Now brothers, if I should come to you speaking with tongues, what should I benefit you, unless I speak to you some revelation, or knowledge, or prophecy, or teaching?


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For if lifeless instruments such as the flute or the harp give no distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is fluted or harped?


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In the same way with you, if you utter unintelligible words with your tongue, how can what you say be understood? You will be speaking to the winds!


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If then I do not know the force of expression, I shall seem a barbarian to the one who uses it, and he will seem a barbarian to me.


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So also in your case, since you are ambitious for spiritual gifts, seek to excel in them for the upbuilding of the church.


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What then? I will pray with my spirit, and I will pray also with my mind. I will praise God with my spirit, but I will praise him with my mind, also.


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For if you in your spirit bless God, how shall he who fills the place of the unlearned say the Amen to your thanksgiving, when he does not know what you are talking about?


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but in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, so as to instruct others, than ten thousand in an unknown tongue.


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Brothers, do not become children in understanding; be babes in malice, but in understanding become mature men.


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In the Law it is written. With men of other tongues, and by the lips of strangers, will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.


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So then the gift of tongues is for a sign, not to believers, but to unbelievers; but prophecy is not for unbelievers, but for those who believe.


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Accordingly, when the whole church assemblies, and everybody is speaking "with tongues," if there enter men unlearned or unbelieving, will they not say that you are mad?


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But if all are prophesying when an unlearned or unbelieving man enters, he is convicted in conscience by your speaker, he feels himself judged by all,


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and the secret depths of his heart are laid open. So he will fall upon his face and worship God, saying, "Of a truth, God is with you."


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What follows, then, brothers? Whenever you meet together, each contributes something; a psalm, a sermon, a revelation, a tongue, an interpretation. Let all be done for edification.


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If any one speaks in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that in turn, and let some one interpret.


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But if there is no one to interpret, let them keep silence in the church, and speak to themselves and to God.


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for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace. This custom prevails in all the churches of the saints.


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"In your congregation" you write, "as in all the churches of the saints, let the women keep silence in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak. On the contrary let them be subordinate, as also says the law.


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And if they want to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home, for it is shameful for a women to speak in church."


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If any one thinks himself a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that what I am now writing you is a command of the Lord.


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Now I am calling to your remembrance, brothers, the gospel which I preached to you, which you also received, and on which you have taken your stand,;47 The first man is of the earth, earthly; the second Man is of heaven.


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by which also you are saved, if you are holding fast the message which I preached to you; unless indeed you have believed in vain.


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For the very first thing I taught you was that I had myself been taught, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture,


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Afterward he was seen at one time by more than five hundred brethren, most of whom are still alive, but some are fallen asleep.


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For I am the least of the apostles, I who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.


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But by the grace of God I am what I am, and that grace of his, bestowed upon me, did not prove ineffectual. I labored more abundantly than all the rest, yet not I, but by the grace of God that is with me.


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If then, we are preaching Christ, that he rose from the dead, how are some of you saying that there is no resurrection from the dead?


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More than that, we are detected in bearing false witness against God; because we testified of God that he raised Christ from the dead, whom he did not raise, if indeed the dead rise not.


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But each in his own order; Christ the first-fruits, then those who belong to Christ at his appearing.


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And then the end, when he shall hand over his kingdom to God his Father, after he has abolished all rule and authority and power.


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For He hast put all things under his feet, but in that quotation All things are put under him, it is evident that God is excepted, who put all things under Him.


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For when everything is subjected to him, then the Son himself shall subject himself to Him who made them subject, that God may be all in all.


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Else what shall they do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are really not raised, why are they baptized for them?


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Every day I am facing death, my brothers, I affirm it by that pride in you which I have through Christ Jesus our Lord.


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If after the manner of men I have fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what good does it do me? If the dead do not rise, Let us eat and drink, For we shall be dead tomorrow.


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Wake up, do justly, cease from sin; for I say to your shame that some of you have no acquaintance with God.


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And when you sow the seed you are not sowing the body that it will become, but bare grain, of wheat perhaps, or some other grain.


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All flesh is not the same flesh; there is human flesh, another of fishes of animals, another of birds, another of fishes.


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There are both celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial; but the splendor of the celestial is one thing, and the splendor of the terrestrial is another.


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There is one glory of the sun, another of the moon, and another of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.


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The body sown is animal The body is raised is spiritual. If there is an animal body, there is also a spiritual body.


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Thus it is written. The first man, Adam, became a living being, the last Adam, a life-giving Spirit.


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As we have borne the likeness of him who was of earth, so also let us bear the likeness of Him who is of heaven.


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I tell you this, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor can corruption inherit incorruption.


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in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, when the last trumpet sounds. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised, incorruptible, and we shall be changed.


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For this corruptible must be clothed with incorruption, and this mortal must be clothed with immortality.


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And when this mortal has been clothed with immortality, then will the words of Scripture come to pass, Death has been swallowed up in victory.


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So, my brothers beloved, stand firm, immovable, always abounding in work for the Lord, because you know that your toil is not fruitless in the Lord.


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On the first day of each week let each of you put aside something, keeping it in store as he may prosper, so that when I come there may be no collections going on.


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I shall remain some time with you; possibly spending the winter, in order that you may help me forward in whatever journey I take.


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For I do not wish at this present time to see you merely in passing; but if the Lord permits, I hope to remain some time with you.


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If Timothy come, see to it that he is among you without trepidation; for he is doing the Lords work, as I am, so let no one disparage him.


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Whenever he comes to me, send him on his way in peace, for I am expecting him with the other brothers.


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As for our Apollos, I have many times urged him to go to you with the others, but he was always unwilling to go to you at this time. He will come, however, whenever he has a good opportunity.


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I beg you this, my brothers - you know the household of Stephanus, that they were the first-fruits of Achaia, and that they devoted themselves to the service of the saints -


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I am glad that Stephanus and Fortunatus and Achaicus have arrived, for they have made up for your absence.


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The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla (Prisca), with the church that meets in their house, greet you heartily in the Lord.


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To the Church of God which is in Corinth, and to all the saints throughout Greece. from Paul, by Gods will an apostle of Christ, and from brother Timothy.


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Thanks be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of tender mercies and the God of all comfort,


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who ever comforts me in all my troubles, so that I may be continually able to comfort those who are in any trouble by the comfort with which God is ever comforting me.


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For just as I have more than my share in the sufferings of the Christ, so also through the Christ I have more than my share of comfort.


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If I am afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if I am receiving comfort, it is for your comfort - a comfort produced within you by your patient fortitude, under the same sufferings which I also am enduring.


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My hope for you is firm; for I know that as you are comrades in my sufferings, so also are you comrades in my comfort.


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Now, brothers, I want you to know about the troubles which befell me in Asia; how I was burdened altogether beyond my strength, so that I renounced all hope even of life itself.


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Indeed, I had in myself, and still have, the sentence of death, in order that I might not rely on myself, but on God who raises the dead to life.


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He delivered me from such a death, and will deliver me. On him I have set my hopes that he will continue to deliver me,


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while all of you also are helping me by your prayers; so that from many lips thanksgiving may rise on my behalf for the blessings vouchsafed to me through the intercessions of many.


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For this is my proud boast, the testimony of my conscience, that it was in holiness and with pure motives before God, not in worldly wisdom, but in the grace of God, that I have conducted myself in the world, and above all in my relations with you.


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For I am writing to you nothing different from what you read aloud and very well recognize, and I hope will continue to recognize to the very end,


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as some indeed did recognize in part at last, that I am your cause of boasting, just as you will be mine on the Day of Jesus our Lord.


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And in this confidence I intended to visit you, before going elsewhere, that you might have a pleasure twice over.


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I intended to go by you into Macedonia, and to come again to you from Macedonia, and by you to be sent forward on my way to Judea.


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In purposing this did I display "caprice"? Or what I purpose do I purpose in a worldly way,so that it may mean either "Yes, yes," or "No, no"?


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For Jesus Christ, Son of God, who was proclaimed among you by us, that is, by Silvanus and Timothy and me, was not wavering between "Yes" and "No," but in him is the everlasting "Yes."


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For however many are the promises of God, in him they are "Yes." Therefore also through him let the Amen be said by our voices to the glory of God.


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But for my part I call God to witness, as my soul shall answer for it, that it was to spare you that I came not to Corinth


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(not that I am attempting to lord it over your faith, but rather to work with you for your happiness); for your faith is stedfast.


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And for this very reason I wrote you, that I might not come only to be grieved by those who ought to give me joy; and because I trusted in you all, that my joy is the joy of all of you.


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For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart, through many tears; not to pain you, but to convince you of my love, my abundant love for you.


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As to him who has been, and now is, causing pain, it is not I whom he has pained, but all of you - at least some of you (not to overstate the case).


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so that now you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest he should be overwhelmed by the excess of his grief.


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For this very purpose also I wrote you (before), that I might test you, to see if you were obedient in every respect.


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If you forgive the man, I forgive him, too; for whatever I have forgiven has been forgiven in the presence of Christ,


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Now when I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, although a door was opened to me in the Lord,


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I could get no peace of mind because I failed to find Titus, my brother. So I bade them good-bye and started off for Macedonia.


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But thanks be to God, who in every place is leading me in the train of Christs triumph, and is making manifest through me the knowledge of him, an odor of incense everywhere.


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I am Christs fragrance upwafted unto God, among those who are being saved and those who are perishing;


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to these latter an odor of death to death, to the former, of life to life. For such service as this, who is sufficient?


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I am; for I am not like most, trafficking in the word of God, but rather from a sincere heart, like a man of God, I speak in Christ, in the very presence of God.


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Am I beginning again to "recommend" myself? Or do I need, as some do, letters of commendation either to you or from you?


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Since all can see that you are a letter of Christ transcribed by men, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts as tablets.


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Not that I am sufficient in myself to reach any conclusion in my own wisdom; but my sufficiency is from God.


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It is he who has also made me sufficient as a minister of a new covenant; not of a letter but of a spirit; for the letter kills, but the spirit makes alive.


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If, however, the administration of death, written with letters and engraved on stones, began in glory, so that the children of Israel could not gaze steadily on the face of Moses, because of the glory of his face - a glory even then fading -


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For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, far more is the ministry of righteousness radiant in glory.


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I do not do as Moses did, who used to cover his face with a veil to keep the children of Israel from beholding the passing of a fading glory.


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Nay, their minds were made dull; for to this very day, at the public reading of the Old Testament, the same veil rests thereon, because it is not revealed to them that in Christ the veil is taken away.


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And we all, with unveiled faces, reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are ourselves continually being transformed into the same likeness, from glory to glory, as by the Lord, the Spirit.


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I have renounced the hidden things of shame, not spending my life in craftiness, nor adulterating the word of God; but setting forth the truth openly, I strive to commend myself to every mans conscience as in the sight of God.


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But even if my gospel, too, is "veiled," it is among those who are on the way to perish that it is "veiled."


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Among them the god of this age has blinded the understanding of the unbelieving so that the sunshine of the gospel of God, should not dawn upon them.


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It is not myself that I proclaim, but Christ Jesus as Master, and myself that I proclaim, and myself your slave for Jesus sake.


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For God who said, "Out of darkness light shall shine," is he who has shone in my heart, that the sunrise of the knowledge of God may shine forth in the face of Christ.


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But I hold this treasure in an earthen vessel, in order that the surpassing greatness of the power may be from God, and not from myself.


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Wherever I go, I am always carrying about in my body the dying of Jesus, in order that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in this body of mine.


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For, alive though I am, I am always given over to death for the sake of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may shine forth in my dying flesh.


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But having the same spirit of faith of which it is written, I believed, and therefore have spoken, I also believe and so I speak.


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For I know that He who raised from the dead the Lord Jesus, will raise me also with Jesus, and set me at your side in his presence.


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For everything is for your sakes, so that more abundant grace, because of the thanksgiving of many voices, might overflow to the glory of God.


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For this reason, as I have said, I do not lose courage, but even though my outward man is wasting away, my inward man is being renewed, day by day.


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For my light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working out for me a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,


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while I am gazing not at things seen, but at things unseen; for things seen are temporal, but things unseen are eternal.


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For I know, if this earthly tent of mine were struck, I have a mansion built by God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.


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For in this tent I am groaning, earnestly longing to be under the cover of my heavenly habitation; if so be that being so covered,


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For in this tent of mine I am groaning in deep trouble; not that I wish to be unclothed, but to be clothed upon, that what is mortal may be swallowed up in life.


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Therefore I am always of good courage, because I well know that while I am at home in the body, I am in banishment from the Lord,


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So I have good courage, and am well pleased rather, to be in banishment from the body and to be at home with the Lord.


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For we must all be made manifest, in our true characters, before the Judgment-seat of Christ; so that each one may receive according to that which he has done in his body, whether good or evil.


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So, because I know the fear of God, I "persuade men." What I am is manifest to God, and I hope manifest also to your conscience.


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I am not "commending myself to you again," but I am giving you an occasion of boasting on my behalf, so that you may have an answer ready for those who boast in externals, and not in the heart.


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For the love of Christ overmasters me; because I thus judge that if One has died for all, then all have died;


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and that he died for all in order that the living may live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again for them.


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Therefore henceforth I know no one simply as a man - even if I have known Christ as a man, yet now I do so no longer.


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So there is a new creation when any man is in Christ. The old life has passed away, behold, the new is come.


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And all this is from God, who through Christ reconciled me to himself, and gave me the ministry of reconciliation;


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how that God was in Christ reconciling a world to himself, not reckoning to men their trespasses; and that to me he has entrusted the message of that reconciliation.


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On Christs behalf, then, I come as ambassador. It is as though God was entreating you, through me, on Christs behalf I beg you to be reconciled to God.


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Him who knew no sin, in our behalf he has made to be sin; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.


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For he said. In an acceptable time have I heard thee, And in the day of salvation have I succored thee. Behold, now is the acceptable time! behold, now is the day of salvation!


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but in every way I am striving to commend myself as Gods minister by stedfast endurance, by afflictions, by troubles, by distresses,


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by a true teaching and an energy divine; by the weapons of righteousness, for attack or for defense,


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as unknown and yet well known; as at deaths door, yet, strange to tell, I live on; as chastened, but not killed;


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as grieved, but always glad; as poor, but making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.


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I pray you, therefore, in fair exchange (I speak as to my children), let your hearts also be wide open to me.


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Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers; for what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? what communion has light with darkness?


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And what compact has Gods temple with idols? For we are a temple of the living God, as he has said. I will dwell among them, and walk about among them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.


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Therefore, Come out from among them and separate yourselves, saith the Lord, touch not what is unclean;


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then I will receive you and will be to you a Father, and you shall be to me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.


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As these promises are ours, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and of spirit, and perfect our holiness in the fear of God.


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Make room for me in your hearts! I have wronged no man, I have ruined no man, I have defrauded no man.


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I am not saying this to blame you, for as I have already said, I hold you in my heart to live together and to die together.


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Great is my faith in you; great is my cheerful assurance in you. I am filled with comfort; in spite of all my troubles, my heart is overflowing with joy.


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For even after I reached Macedonia, my flesh had no rest, but I was troubled on every hand. Without were fights; within were, fears.


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and not alone by his coming, but also by the comfort you had been to him. For he told me of your eager longing, of your penitence, and of your zeal on my behalf, so that I was happier still.


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Even if I caused you pain by my letter, I do not regret; though I did regret it when I saw that my letter had caused you pain, even for a time.


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For your pain came from God, and so you took no harm from me. For the pain which is from God works repentance leading to salvation, a repentance never to be regretted. But the worlds pain works death.


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Note the results of this pain which God permitted; what earnestness it has called forth in you, what explanations, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what fervor, what punishment of wrong. In every way you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter.


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So then, even if I did write to you, it was not for the sake of the wrong-doer, or of him who had been wronged, but to make clear to yourselves in the sight of God your earnest care for me.


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This is what comforts me. In addition to this comfort of mine, I have been made still happier by the happiness of Titus; because his spirit was refreshed by you all.


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Although I have been boasting a little to him about you, I have not been put to shame. But as in every matter I have spoken the truth to you, so also my boast to Titus has been proved to be the truth.


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And his tender affection is all the greater toward you, when he calls to mind the obedience of you all, and the fear and trembling with which you received him.


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Now, brothers, I wish to tell you about the grace of God which has been manifest in the churches of Macedonia.


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For although in heavy trial of affliction, their overbrimming happiness, even in spite of their deep poverty, abounded to the opulence of their unselfishness.


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For I can testify that according to their ability, and even beyond their ability, of their own free will, too, they have given help.


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With earnest entreaty they craved of me the privilege of a share in ministering to the saints in Jerusalem.


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And this not as I had expected, but in accordance with the will of God, they first gave themselves to God and to me.


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With the result that I have been begging Titus that, as he had been the one to begin the work with you, so he should complete among you this grace also.


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Now then, as you excel in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge and all zeal and in your love to me, see to it that you excel in this grace also.


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I do not say this by way of command, but by the zeal of others I am trying to prove the reality of your love.


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For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, how though he was rich, for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich.


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And I will give you my opinion in this matter; for this offering is fitting in your case, considering that you made a beginning before others, not only in the willingness to do something but also in actually doing something a year ago.


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So now complete the doing of it also, in order that just as there was the readiness to will, so there may be the accomplishment according to your means.


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For if there be first willing mind, the gift is accepted according to what a man has, and not according to what he has not.


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but burdens are to be equalized. Now your abundance at this present time present time is a supply for their want, in supply for your want; and so burdens be equalized,


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even as it is written, He who gathered much had nothing over, and he who gathered little did not lack.


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But thanks be to God who has inspired in the heart of Titus the same zeal on your behalf that I have.


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For he not only consented to my request, but being thoroughly in earnest, comes to you of his own accord.


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And I am sending with him that brother whose fame in the service of the gospel is spread through all the churches.


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More than that, he is the one chosen by the churches to accompany me on my journey, in administering this gift of yours for the Lords glory. And this has my full consent,


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because I am on my guard in this, that no one should blame me, in respect to this bounty which I am administering.


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With them I am sending our brother of whose zeal I have often had proof in many ways, and who is now zealous because of his great confidence in you.


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As for Titus, remember that he is a partner of mine, and is also my associate in labors for you. As for the other brothers, remember that they are delegates from the churches, men in whom Christ is glorified.


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So show to the churches an evidence of your love, and a justification to these brothers of my boasting about you.


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It is indeed unnecessary for me to write you in regard to the ministration to the saints at Jerusalem,


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for I know how ready you are, and am always boasting about you to the Macedonians, telling them that Greece has been ready for a year past; and your zeal has been a spur to the majority of them.


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Nevertheless I am sending the brothers in order that my boast about you may not prove vain in this instance; so that, as I kept saying, you may be prepared.


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For if any Macedonians come with me and find you not ready, shame would come upon me (not to speak of you) in respect to this confidence.


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So I have thought that I must ask these brothers to visit you beforehand, and get your promised contribution ready in advance. I want it to be given of your bounty, not extorted from your covetousness.


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Mark this; he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.


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But let each give according to the purpose of his heart; not grudgingly of under compulsion. It is a cheerful giver that God loves.


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And God is able to give you an overflowing measure of every grace, so that all your wants of every kind may be supplied at all times, and you may give of your abundance to every good work;


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He who ever supplies seed to the sower, and bread for the food of man, will supply and make plentous your seed, and increase the harvest springing up from your almsgiving.


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You yourselves will be enriched with all good things, that you may give ungrudgingly; and your gifts, of which I am the agent, will make men give thanks to God.


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Because the ministry of this contribution not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also overflows in many a thanksgiving to God.


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For this ministration proves you. On account of it men glorify God for your faithfulness to your professions of the gospel of Christ, and for the liberality of your gifts to them and to all.


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Moreover, in their prayers for you they will be longing after you, because of the exceeding grace of God that is resting upon you.


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Now I Paul, myself, appeal to you by the humble-heartedness and selflessness of Christ - Paul who "in your presence is humble, but bold enough when he is absent" -


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I beseech you, and I say, do not make me show my boldness, when I come in the boldness with which I think I shall show my courage against some who think that I am walking on the low level of the flesh.


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for the weapons of my warfare are not weapons of the flesh, but mighty for God, in pulling down all fortresses.


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For I pull down imaginations and every crag that lifts itself against the knowledge of God. And I carry every thought away into captivity and subjection to Christ;


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and I am fully prepared to punish every act of disobedience, when once your submission has been put beyond question.


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Look these facts in the face. If any man is fully persuaded as regards himself that he belongs to Christ, let him consider again with himself, that just as he is Christs, so also am I.


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If, however, I were to boast more loudly concerning the authority which the Lord gave me (not to cast you down, but to build you up), I should have no cause for shame.


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"His letters indeed," says one, "are mighty and forcible, but his personality is weak, and his speech contemptible."


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Let such a man assure himself that my actions, when I am present, will be just like my words in my letters when I am absent.


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I have not indeed the audacity to class myself among, or compare myself with, certain of the self-commenders; yet they are not wise in measuring themselves by one another and in comparing themselves with one another.


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I, however, will not indulge in undue boasting, but will confine it within the limits of the sphere to which God has assigned me - a sphere which reaches even to you.


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For I am not overstepping the limits of my authority, as though I reached you not; since I have already come even as far as Corinth to proclaim the gospel of Christ.


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I am not "boasting beyond measure in the labors of others," but it is my hope that, as your faith goes on increasing among yourselves, by the enlargement of my appointed limits,


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I may carry the gospel to countries beyond you; and not be boasting of work made ready to my hand within another mans limit.


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I have a divine jealousy on your behalf; for I betrothed you to one only husband, even to Christ, that I might present you to him, a chaste virgin.


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But I fear lest, just as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, so your minds should be seduced from your single-mindedness and purity toward Christ.


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If indeed some one is coming to preach another Jesus, whom I did not preach, or you are receiving a Spirit other than you once received, or another gospel which you did not accept before, you would do well to bear with me.


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Yes, though I be unskilled in speech, at least I am not in knowledge; indeed I made this perfectly plain to you in all things and among all men.


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Is it a sin, forsooth, that I humbled myself that you might be exalted, in preaching the gospel to you free of cost?


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Even when I lacked the actual necessities of life while I was with you, I was a burden to no one; for whatever I lacked, the brothers from Macedonia supplied, when they came. So I kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so.


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As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine shall not be stopped within the boundaries of Greece!


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I am doing and will continue to do this in order to cut away the ground from under those who wish some cause for slander; and that the ground of their boasting may appear as does mine.


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It is no great marvel, then, if his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness. Their end will be according to their works.


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I say again, let no one think me a fool. Or, if you must, at least bear with me as a fool, that I, too, may do a little boasting.


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What I am about to say I am not speaking by the Lords command, but as it were in pure folly, in this boldness of boasting.


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You put up with it, though they make slaves of you, live on you, seize your property, lord it over you, even strike you in the face, in the way of degradation!


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I say that I was weak, and yet for whatever reason any one is bold (I speak in mere folly) I too am bold.


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Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they descendants of Israel? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.


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Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as though I were beside myself), such, far, more, am I; in labors more abundant, in imprisonments also more abundant, in floggings beyond measure, in deaths often.


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Three times I have been scourged by the Romans; once I have been stoned; three times have I been shipwrecked; a night and a day have I been adrift in the open sea.


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My journeys have been many; in perils of rivers, in perils of bandits; in perils from my countrymen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness; in perils on the sea, in perils among false brothers;


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in toil and weariness, often in sleepless watching, in hunger and thirst, often without anything to eat; in cold and in nakedness.


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Not to mention other things, there is the crowding pressure of each day upon me, the care of all the churches.


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In Damascus, the governor under Aretas the King, kept guard over the city of the Damascus, to arrest me;


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I am forced to boast, though it is unprofitable, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.;18 I urged Titus to go, and with him I sent our brother. Did Titus make gain of you? And did I not walk in the same spirit as he did? Did I not take the very same steps?


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I know a Christian man who, fourteen years ago (whether in the body I know not, or out of the body, I know not. God knows), was caught up- -this man of whom I speak - even into the third heaven.


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who was caught up into Paradise, and heard unutterable words which no human being is permitted to utter.


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If I should choose to continue boasting I should not be foolish, for I should be speaking the truth. But I refrain, lest by the stupendous grandeur of the revelation any one should estimate me beyond what he sees in me, or hears from me.


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It was for this reason, lest I should be over-elated, that there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to buffet me, lest I should be over-elated.


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but he has answered me. "My grace is sufficient for you; it is in weakness that my power is perfected."


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Most gladly therefore will I boast rather of my weakness, that over me like a tent may be pitched the power of Christ. That is why I rejoice in weakness, in ill-treatment, in troubles, in persecutions and calamities for Christs sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong.


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I am become a fool - you have forced me to; for you yourselves ought to have been my vindicators. In no respect am I inferior to these superapostolic apostles, even though I am nothing.


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In truth the signs of the true apostle were wrought among you in all patience by signs and marvels and powers.


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In what respect, then, were you inferior to the other churches, except that I myself was not a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong!


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And now for the third time I am preparing to visit you. I will not be a burden to you, for I am not seeking yours, but you. For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.


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For my part, I will most gladly spend, yea, and will myself be spent, for your souls. If I love you more abundantly, am I to be loved the less?


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But though it be granted that I was not a burden to you, yet, you say, this was my cunning with which I caught you by a trick.


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Do you think that all this time I am defending myself to you? It is before the presence of God that I am speaking in Christ; and all, beloved, for your upbuilding.


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For I dread that perhaps, when I come, I may not find you to be such as I wish, and that I may be found by you such as you do not wish; I dread lest there should be quarrels, jealousy, tempers, party spirit, slandering, gossip, arrogance, tumults;


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and lest when I come again my God may humble me before you, and lest I shall mourn for many those who have sinned before, and have not repented of the impurity and immorality and wantonness which they have practised.


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This will be my third visit to you. Out of the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be confirmed.


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I have said formerly, and I now forewarn you as when I was present the second time, so now when I am absent the second time, so now when I am absent, saying to those who had sinned before, and to all the rest, "If I come again, I will not spare,"


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Since you want a proof of Christ who is speaking in me, he who is not feeble toward you, but powerful among you.


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For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he now lives through the power of God. I also am weak, sharing in his weakness, but I shall live with him by the power of God.


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Examine yourselves to see if you are in the faith; put your own selves to the proof. Or do you not know, your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you, unless indeed you fail to abide the proof?


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And my prayer to God is that you may do no evil; not in order that I may appear approved, but that you may do what is noble, though I should seem unable to abide the proof.


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For I am always glad whenever I am weak, but you are strong. For this also I am praying, for your perfect reformation.


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For this reason I am writing thus while absent, so that when I come, I may not have to deal sharply, according to the authority which the Lord gave me for building up, and not for pulling down.


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Finally, brothers, farewell. Aim at perfection, take courage, be of one mind, live in peace; so shall the God of love and peace be with you.


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The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.


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Paul, an apostle sent not from men nor by any man, but by Jesus Christ and by God the Father who raised him from the dead;


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who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil age in accordance with the will of our God and Father,


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I am amazed that you are so soon shifting your ground, and deserting him who called you by the grace of Christ,


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for another gospel, which indeed is not another; only there are certain individuals who are troubling you, and desiring to pervert the gospel of Christ.


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But even though I myself or an angel from heaven were to preach any gospel other than that which I did preach to you, let him be accursed.


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I have said it before, and I now repeat it, if any one is preaching a gospel to you other than that which you have received, let him be accursed.


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Think you that I am now trying to conciliate men or God? Or am I "seeking to please men"? If I were still seeking to please men, I should not be a slave of Christ.


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for neither did I myself receive it from man, nor by man was I taught it, but by a revelation an apocalypse of Jesus Christ.


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For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how furiously I used to persecute the church of God, and how I kept seeking to root it out;


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and how in my zeal for Judaism I outstripped many of my own age and nation, in my special zeal for the traditions of my forefathers.


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and had called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me, so that I might preach his gospel among the Gentiles, without consulting a human being,


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or even going up to Jerusalem to see those who had been apostles before me, I went off at once to Arabia, and on my return came back to Damascus.


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Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter, and spent two weeks with him.


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only they used to hear it said, "He who was once persecuting us is now preaching the gospel of the very faith which he once tried to ruin."


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(I went up at that time in obedience to a revelation). And I laid before them the gospel which I am wont to preach among the Gentiles. I did this privately before those in authority, lest by any means I should be running, or should already have run, in vain.


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Yet there were false brethren who had crept in to spy out the freedom we enjoy in Christ Jesus, in order to enslave us again.


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To them we did not yield submission even for an hour, in order that the truth of the gospel might abide unshaken among you.


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But those in authority - what they once were makes no difference to me; God is no respecter of persons - those I say who were in authority had no additions to make my message.


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On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter has with the gospel for the circumcised


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(for he who has equipped Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised, equipped me also for the apostleship to the Gentiles),


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and when they recognized the grace which had been given to me, James and Cephas and John, then thought to be pillars, gave to Barnabas and to me the right hand of fellowship. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the Jews.


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They stipulated only that we should remember the poor, which very thing indeed I was quite eager to do.


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For until certain men came from James he used to eat with the Gentile Christians, but when they came, he began to draw back and to separate himself, because he was afraid of the circumcision party.


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And the rest of the Jewish Christians also dissimulated with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.


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But when I saw that they were not walking a straight path, in the presence of the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all. "If you, although you are a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, why do you try to compel the Gentiles to become Jews?


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"yet because we know that no man is justified by the works of the Law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, we ourselves also have put our faith in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the Law; for "By the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified."


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But if while seeking to be justified in Christ we ourselves also have been found to be sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? Far from it!


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I have been crucified with Christ, so it is no longer I who am living, but it is Christ who is living in me; and the life I am now living in the flesh, I am living in faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me.


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I do not annul the grace of God; for if righteousness comes by way of the Law, then indeed Christ died Christ for nothing.


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O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? You, before whose very eyes Jesus Christ was placarded as crucified!


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Answer me this one question. "When you received the Spirit, was it from doing what the Law commands or from believing the message heard?"


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Does he then who supplies you with his Spirit and works miracles among you, do it because you do what the law commands of because you believe the message heard?


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And the Scripture, anticipating Gods justification of the Gentiles by faith, announced the gospel to Abraham beforehand in the words, In thee shall all the Gentiles be blessed.


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but a curse rests on those who have their root in the works of the Law; for it is written. Cursed is every one that continues not in all the things written in the Book of the Law, to do them.


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And it is manifest that by the Law no man is justified in the sight of God. because The just shall live by faith,


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and the Law has nothing to do with faith, but declares, The man that has done these things shall live therein.


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Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us (for it is written, Cursed is every one who is hanged upon a tree),


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to the end that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, so that through faith we might receive the promised Spirit.


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Let me illustrate, brothers, from every-day life. When once a human testament is made, and formally ratified, no one sets it aside or adds to it.


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Now it was to Abraham that the promises were spoken, and to his offspring. God did not say, "offsprings" as if speaking of many, but "and to your offspring," as of one; and this is Christ.


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I mean to say that the testament which God has already ratified could not be annulled by the Law which came four hundred and thirty years later, so as to make the Promise void.


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For if the inheritance comes from law, it no longer comes from a promise; but God did give it as a free gift to Abraham by a promise.


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To what purpose, then, was the Law? It was imposed later for the sake of transgressions, until the "Offspring" should come to whom the promise had been made. It was arranged through angels by the hand of a mediator.


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Is the Law then opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not; for if a law had been given which could make alive, then righteousness would actually have come from law;


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but the Scripture has shut up the whole world in prison together under sin, in order that the promise due to faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who have faith.


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Before the Faith came we were perpetual prisoners under the Law, in preparation for the destined faith about to be revealed.


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So the Law has been our tutor-slave our pedagogue to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith;


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In him there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.


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And if you belong to Christ, then you are the descendants of Abraham, heirs according to the promise.


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What I mean is this. As long as the heir is a child, he differs in no respect from a slave, though he be the owner of the whole inheritance;


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So we Jews also, when we were children, were held in bondage under the empty externalities of the world.


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And because you are sons, God sent forth the spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, "Dear, dear Father!"


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So each one of you is no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir, too, through Gods grace.


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But once, when you Gentiles had no knowledge of God, you were slaves to gods which have no real being.


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Now, however, when you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you are beginning to turn back to those weak and beggarly externalities, eager to be in bondage to them again?


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Brothers, I beseech you, become as I am, because I also have become as you are. You never did me any wrong;


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on the contrary, you know that although it was illness which brought about my preaching the gospel to you at my first visit,


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and although my bodily affliction was a trial to you, you did not scoff at it nor spurn me, but welcomed me like an angel of God, like Christ Jesus himself.


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Why then did you account yourselves so happy? (For I bear you witness that if you could you would have torn out your own eyes and given them to me.)


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These men are courting your favor to no good purpose. They want to isolate you, so that you will be courting their favor.


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It is always an honorable thing to have your favor sought in an honorable cause, always, and not only when I am with you.


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but while the son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, the son by the free woman was born in fulfilment of a promise.


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Now all this is an allegory, for these women are the two covenants; one from Mount Sinai, which is Hagar bearing children into bondage


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(for the word Hagar stands for Mt. Sinai in Arabia and represents the present Jerusalem who with her children is in bondage.)


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For it is written, Rejoice, O thou barren one who dost never bear, Break forth in joy, thou that dost not travail; For the children of the desolate woman are many. Yea, more than hers who has a husband.


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but just as in old times the son born by the flesh used to persecute the son born by the power of the Spirit, so also it is now.


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But what does the Scripture say? Send away the slave-woman and her son; for the slaves son shall not be heir along with the son of the free woman.


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So, brothers, we are the children of no slave woman, but of free woman. For freedom did not Christ set us free;


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Listen to me! I, Paul, declare to you that if you are to continue to follow the rite of circumcision, Christ will be no profit to you.


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I solemnly testify to every man who submits to circumcision that he obligates himself to keep the whole Law.


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But we are not, for we through the Spirit are eagerly waiting by faith for a hope of righteousness (a hope well founded);


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because in Christ neither circumcision has any value, nor uncircumcision, but faith which works through love.


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As for me, I am fully trusting you in the Lord that you will be no otherwise minded; but he who is trying to unsettle you will have to bear his punishment, whoever he may be.


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But I, brothers, if I "still preach circumcision," why am I still persecuted? Then surely the stumbling-block of the Cross has ceased to be an obstacle!


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For you, brothers, were called for freedom; only do not make your freedom an excuse for self-indulgence, but in love enslave yourselves to one another.


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But if you are always biting and devouring one another, take heed lest you be utterly consumed one by another.


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This is my meaning. Let your steps be guided by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.


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For the desire of the flesh is against that of the Spirit, and the desire of the Spirit is against that of the flesh, for they two are antagonistic, so that you may not do those things that you wish.


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idol-worship, sorcery, quarrels, party-spirit, jealousy, passionate anger, intrigues, factions, sectarianism,


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envy, drunkenness, revelings, and things like these. I tell you beforehand, as I have already told you, that those who practise such sins shall not inherit the kingdom of God.


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But the harvest-fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long- suffering, kindness, goodness, fidelity, gentleness, and self-control;


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Even if any one should be overtaken in a fault, brothers, you that are spiritual ought, in a gentle spirit, to restore such a one, each one of you looking to himself, lest you too be tempted.


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Let each one test his own work, and he will then have something to be proud of by comparing himself with himself, and not with any one else;


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He, however, who is being taught in the message, should always share with his instructor in all the good things which he possesses.


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The man who is sowing to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption; but he who is sowing to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap life eternal.


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So then, as we have opportunity, let is do good to all men, but especially to those who are of the household of faith.


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Those who are trying to compel you to be circumcised are such as wish to make a fair show in the flesh, only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.


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Even those who are being circumcised, are not themselves keeping the Law, but they want you to be circumcised so that they may glory in your flesh.


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God forbid that I should glory in anything except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, upon which the world has been crucified to me and I have been crucified to the world.


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From this time forth let no one trouble me, for I bear branded in my body the marks of Jesus, my Master.


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Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus,


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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ.


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Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish in his sight.


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For in his love he predestined us (such was the good pleasure of his will) to adoption for himself as sons through Jesus Christ,


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for the government of the fulness of the ages, that all things in heaven and earth are alike should be gathered up in Christ, as Head.


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It is he in whom we Jews also have our inheritance, having been chosen beforehand according to the purpose of Him who executes all things according to the counsel of his will,


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And in him, because you listened to the proclamation of the truth, the evangel of your salvation, and trusted it, you Gentiles too were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,


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who for the praise of his glory is the pledge of our common heritage, unto the complete redemption of his purchased property.


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For this reason I also, from the time when I heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which prevails among you, and your love to all the saints,


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I am praying that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father most glorious, may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation, through an intimate knowledge of himself;


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and that the eyes of your heart may be flooded with light so that you may understand what is the hope of his calling, what the wealth of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,


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and what the surpassing greatness of his might in us who believe, as seen in the energy of that resistless might


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which he exercised in raising Christ from the dead, and in seating him at his right hand in the heavenly heights,


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far above all hierarchies and authorities and powers and dominions and every name that is named, not only in this age but in that which is to come.


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in which you passed your lives after the way of this world, under the sway of the Prince of the Powers of the Air, the spirit who is now working among the sons of disobedience.


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And among them we all once passed our lives, indulging the passions of our flesh, carrying out the dictates of our senses and temperament, and were by nature the children of wrath like all the rest.


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even while we were dead in our trespasses, made us live together with Christ (it is by grace you have been saved).


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together with him He raised us from the dead, and together with Christ Jesus seated us in the heavenly realm,


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in order that he might show to the ages to come the amazing riches of his grace by his goodness to us in Christ Jesus.


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for we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good deeds, which God predestined us to make our daily way of life.


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Do not forget then, that you Gentiles in the flesh, who are called "uncircumcision" by the "circumcision" made in flesh by mans hand,


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were once upon a time without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants of the Promise, without hope and without God in the world.


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For he is our Peace, who has made the two of us Jew and Gentile one, and has broken down the party-wall of partition between us.


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In his own body he abolished the cause of our enmity, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, in order to make the two into one new man in himself, so making peace.


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So he came preaching "Peace" to you Gentiles who were afar off, and "Peace" to us Jews who were near;


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Take notice then that no longer are you strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of Gods household.


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You are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone.


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and in him you, too, are continuously built together for a dwelling- place of God through his Spirit.


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You have heard how by direct revelation the secret truth was made known to me, as I have already briefly written you.


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which was not disclosed to the sons of men in former generations, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets,


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namely, that in Christ Jesus the Gentiles form one body with us the Jews, and are coheirs and copartners in the promise, through the gospel.


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It is of this gospel I became a minister according to the gift of the power of the grace of God, bestowed on me by the energy of his power.


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To me, who am less than the least of all saints, has this grace been given, that I should proclaim among the Gentiles the gospel of the unsearchable riches of Christ;


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and should make all men see the new dispensation of that secret purpose, hidden from eternity in the God who founded the universe,


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in order that now his manifold wisdom should, through the church, be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly sphere,


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praying him to grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in your inmost being;


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that Christ may make his home in your hearts through your faith; that you may be so deeply rooted and so firmly grounded in love,


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that you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is "the breadth," "the length," "the depth," and "the height,"


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and may know the love of Christ which transcends all knowing, so that you may be filled with all the "plenitude" of God.


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Now unto him who, according to his might that is at work within us, is able to do infinitely more than all we ask or even think,


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I summon you then, I the prisoner in the Lord, to live lives worthy of the calling to which you were called.


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It is he who made some men apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,


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till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to the maturity of manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.


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So we shall no longer be children, tossed up and down, and blown about by every wind of teaching, tricked by the craft of men in the snares of misleading error;


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From him the whole body (knit together and compacted by all its joints) makes continual growth of the body so as to build itself up in love, through the energy of his bounteous provision, according to the need of each several part.


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This then I tell you and implore you in the Masters name, to pass your lives no longer as the Gentiles do in the perverseness of their minds;


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having their understanding darkened, alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their hearts.


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These being past feeling have given themselves over to sensuality, in order to practise every form of impurity with greedy zest.


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You have learned to lay aside, with your former manner of living, the old self who was on his way to ruin, as he followed the desires which deceive;


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and to put on the new self, created after Gods likeness, in the uprightness and holiness of the truth.


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So then put away falseness and speak every man the truth to his neighbor, for we are members one of another.


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Let him who stole steal no more, but let him work, and in honest industry toil with his hands, so that he may have something to give to the needy.


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From your lips let no evil words come forth, but such as occasion warrants, such as are good for upbuilding and give a blessing to the hearers.


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Banish from among you all bitterness and passion and anger and clamor and slander, as well as all malice;


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and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ has forgiven you.


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and to lead lives of love, just as Christ also loved you and gave himself up for you, an offering and sacrifice unto God, for you, an offering and sacrifice unto God, for "an odor of sweetness."


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As for sexual vice and every kind of impurity or lust, it is unbecoming for you as Christians even to mention them;


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so too with vulgarity and buffoonery and foolish jesting. Such words become you not, but rather thanksgiving.


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For be well assured that no one guilty of fornication or impurity or covetousness which is idolatry, has any heritage in the kingdom of Christ and of God.


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Let no man deceive you with empty arguments, for it is these vices that bring down the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience;


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Lead the life of children of light, for the fruit of the light consists in every kind of goodness and uprightness and truth.


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but all these things, when exposed, are by the light made manifest, and what is made manifest is light.


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For this reason it is said, "Awake, thou sleeper! Arise from the dead; And Christ shall shine upon thee!"


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when you talk together; with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and with all your hearts making music unto the Lord;


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and at all times for all things give thanks to God, the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.


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because a husband is the head of his wife even as Christ is head of the church, his body, which he saves.


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so as to present her to himself, the church glorified, without spot or wrinkle or any such blemish; but on the contrary holy and faultless.


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That is how husbands ought to love their wives, as they love their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.


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For this cause shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.


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But as for you individually, you must each one of you love his own wife exactly as if she were yourself; and the wife, on her part, should reverence her husband.


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And you fathers, do not irritate your children, but bring them up in the nature and admonition of the Lord.


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Slaves, be obedient to those who are your earthly masters, with reverence and humility, in singleness of heart as if to Christ himself;


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because you know that whatever good any man does, the same shall he receive from the Lord, whether he be slave or free man.


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And you masters, show the same spirit to your slaves, and stop threatening them; for you know that your masters and theirs is in heaven, and that there is no respect of persons with him.


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Put on all the panoply of God, so that you may be able to stand your ground against the stratagems of the devil.


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For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the despotisms, the empires, the rulers of this present darkness, the spirit-hosts of evil in the heavenly realm.


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Therefore take up the panoply of God, so that when the evil day comes you may be able to withstand them, and having overthrown them all, to stand your ground.


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And take up to cover you the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming darts of the Evil One.


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Continue to pray at all times, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching for it with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;


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and for me, that utterance may be given me to open my mouth boldly, and to make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador,


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But that you also may know my affairs and how I do, Tychicus, my beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make everything known to you.


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I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know about us, and that he may cheer your hearts.


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Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, and to the elders and deacons.


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in every petition of mine in your behalf I am offering my prayer with joy for your fellowship in forwarding the gospel,


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Of this I am fully persuaded, that He who has begun a good work in you will go on completing it until the day of Jesus Christ.


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It is but just that I should be thus mindful of you all, because I have you in my heart, and because in these fetters of mine and in my defense and confirmation of the gospel you are all my fellow partners in the privilege.


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I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has turned out rather to help than to the hindrance of the gospel.


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Throughout the whole Praetorian guard and among all the others it has become plain that these chains of mine are for the sake of Christ;


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and most of the brothers in the Lord, made confident in the Lord through my imprisonment, are much emboldened to speak Gods message with free and fearless confidence.


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but the former preach Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely, because they think they are adding bitterness to my bonds.


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What of it? In any case, whether in pretence or in honest truth, Christ is still preached, and in that I am rejoicing, yes, and will rejoice.


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For I know that these things will turn out to my salvation through your prayers and a rich supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.


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So it is my keen expectation and hope that I shall never feel ashamed, but that with fearless courage, now as hither to, Christ may be magnified in my body, whether by my life or by my death.


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but am in a quandary between the two. I am perplexed. I have a strong desire to break camp and to be with Christ, which is far better;


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And because I am convinced of this, I know that I shall live, and go on working side by side with you all for your progress and joy in the faith,


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so that you may find me fresh cause of exultation in Christ Jesus, because of my presence among you once more.


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Only do lead lives worthy of the gospel of Christ; so that whether I come to see you or hear reports concerning you in my absence, I may know that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one soul, enlisted in a common struggle for the faith of the gospel,


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and in no way terrorized by its enemies. For you fearlessness is a clear indication of coming ruin for them, but of salvation for you at the hands of God.


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For it has been granted you in Christs behalf, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake,


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If then there is any comfort in Christ, if there is any persuasive power in love, if there is any companionship of the Spirit, if there is any tenderness or pity,


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I entreat you to make my joy overflow by living in harmony; possessing the same love, and with one soul united in one purpose.


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Do nothing out of strife, nothing out of vanity, but let each one in true humility consider the others to be of more account than himself.


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who, though from the beginning he had the nature of God, did not reckon equality with God something to be forcibly retained,


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but emptied himself of his glory by taking the form of a slave, when he was born in the likeness of men.


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More than this, after he had shone himself in human form, he humbled himself in his obedience even to death; yes, and to death on a cross.


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And for this God highly exalted him, and graciously bestowed upon him the name which is above every name;


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And so, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, with reverence and self- distrust work out your own salvation;


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that you may become blameless and innocent, the sons of God, without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like stars in a dark world,


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holding out a message of life. Thus it will be my boast at the day of Christ that I have not run in vain, or toiled for nothing.


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Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you before long, so that I may be of good comfort when I learn the news concerning you.


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And you know Timothys worth, how he has shared my servitude in furtherance of the gospel, like a son helping his father.


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Epaphroditus, my brother and coworker and fellow soldier, who is your messenger and minister to my needs, I have thought it necessary to send to you;


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And indeed he was sick nigh unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not on him only, but on me also so that I should not have sorrow upon sorrow.


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Therefore I have been the more eager to send him, in order that you may rejoice in seeing him again, and that I may have one sorrow less.


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for it was through the work of the Lord that he came near to death; for he hazarded his very life to supply what was lacking in the help you sent me.


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Finally, my brothers, continue to rejoice in the Lord. To write the same thing is not indeed wearisome to me, and it is safe for you.


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For we are the true circumcision, who worship God in the spirit, and make our boast in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in outward rites,


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although I myself might have confidence in outward rites. If any one else claims a right to trust in them, far more may I;


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circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew sprung from the Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee;


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In very truth I count all things but loss compared to the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and esteem them but refuse that I may gain Christ,


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and be found in him; not having my own righteousness of the Law, but that alone which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which comes from God, founded upon faith.


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I long to know him in the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, by sharing the likeness of his death;


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I do not say that I have already won, or am already perfect, but I am passing on to lay hold on the prize for which also Christ has laid hold of me.


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Brothers, I do not regard myself to have yet laid hold of it; but this one thing I do, forgetting what is behind me, but straining every nerve toward that which lies ahead,


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Let us all then, who are mature Christians, strive for this! God will make this clear to any of you who are striving for other goals;


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Brothers, be comrades in imitating me, and study those whose life and walk is according to the pattern I have set you.


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For there are many - as I used often to tell you, and am now telling you even with tears - who live and walk as the enemies of the cross of Christ.


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Their end is destruction, their belly is their god, their glory is in their shame, and their minds are set on earthly things.


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But commonwealth is in heaven; and it is from heaven also that we are anxiously awaiting a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ,


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who will change the fashion of the body of our abasement into the likeness of his glorious body by the energy with which he is able even to subject all things to himself.


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Stand fast then, brothers, dearly loved and longed for, my joy and my crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved!


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yes, and I beg you also, my true yokefellow, to help them; for these women shared my toil in the furtherance of the gospel, together with Clement, and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life.


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Do not worry about anything; but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;


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and the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will stand guard over your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.


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Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if virtue is anything, if honor is anything, be always thinking about these.


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Put in practise also what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me; and the God of peace shall be with you.


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Moreover, I greatly rejoiced in the Lord that now once more your care for me blossomed afresh; though indeed you did take thought in this matter, but you lacked the opportunity of expression.


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Not that I speak as if I were in want, for at least have learned how to be content, whatever happens.


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I know how to live humbly, and I also know how to bear prosperity. In every place and under all circumstances I have been initiated into the secret of fulness and of hunger, of prosperity and of want.


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And you very well know, Philippians, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I had left Macedonia, no church but yourselves had fellowship with me in the matter of giving and receiving.


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It is not your gifts I am eager for, but I am eager for the abundant profit that accrues to your divine account.


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But I give you a receipt in full for all things abound. I am amply supplied with what you sent by Epaphroditus - an odor of sweet fragrance, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God.


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to the holy and believing brothers in Christ who are in Colosse. Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father.


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because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Long ago you heard of this hope in the message which came to you of the truth of the gospel.


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And just as it is spreading through the whole world, bearing fruit and increasing, so also is it among you, from the day in which you heard it, and came truly to know the grace of God,


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as you learned it from Epaphras, our dearly loved fellow slave. He is a faithful minister of Jesus Christ in your behalf,


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For this reason from the day I heard of it I have never ceased to pray for you, asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will with every kind of wisdom and spiritual insight;


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that you may walk worthy of the Lord in every kind of pleasing; that you may be fruitful in every kind of good work, and may increase in the knowledge of God;


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that you may be strengthened in every kind of strength by the might of his glory for every kind of patience and fortitude with good cheer.


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I ask that you may give thanks to the Father who has made us fit to receive our share of the heritage of the saints in the light.


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For he has delivered us out of the dominion of the darkness, and transplanted us into the kingdom of his dear Son,


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for in him was the universe created, things in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen, thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; by him and for him all have been created;


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He is the head of his Body, the Church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, in order that in all things he may become preeminent.


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and by him it chose to reconcile all things alike on earth or in heaven to himself; making peace by him, through the blood of his cross.


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he has now in his human body reconciled to God by his death, in order that he may bring you into his presence, holy and unblemished and irreproachable.


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And this he will do if, indeed, you continue in the faith, firmly founded and stedfast, and never moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, and which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, that gospel of which I, Paul, was made a minister.


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I am now rejoicing in my sufferings on your behalf; and I am filling up in my own body what is yet lacking of the sufferings of Christ in behalf of the church, his Body.


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It is of this I was made a minister, according to the stewardship entrusted to me by God for you, fully to declare Gods message;


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that secret truth, which, although hidden from ages and generations of old, has now been made manifest to his saints.


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To them God willed to make known among the Gentiles how glorious are the riches of that secret truth, which is "Christ in you, the hope of glory."


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Him I am ever proclaiming, warning every one and teaching every one, in all wisdom; that I may bring every man into his presence, full grown in Christ.


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For that end I am ever toiling, wrestling with all that energy of his which is mightily at work within me.


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For I would have you know how great a contest I am waging for you and the brethren in Laodicea, and for all who have never seen my face.


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May their hearts be comforted! May they be knit together in love! May they gain in all its riches the full assurance of their understanding! May they come to a perfect knowledge of the secret truth of God, which is Christ himself.


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For though I am absent from you in body, I am with you in spirit, happy to note your discipline and the solid front of your faith in Christ.


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since you are rooted in him, and in him continually built up. Be firmly established in the faith as you were taught it, and continually abound in it with thanksgiving.


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Take care lest any man drag you away captive by his philosophy which is a vain deceit, following the traditions of men and the worlds crude notions, and not Christ.


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In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands; even in putting off your sensual nature in Christs own circumcision,


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when you were buried with him in baptism. In baptism also you were raised with him, through your faith in the energy of that God who raised him from the dead.


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And you also, at one time dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your sensual nature, he has made alive together with himself. For he forgave us all our transgressions,


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blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that stood against us and was hostile to us, and took it out of our way, nailing it to his cross.


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Principalities and powers he disarmed, and openly displayed them as his trophies, when he triumphed over them in the cross.


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Therefore do not permit any one to sit in judgment on you in regard to what you may eat or drink, or in regard to feast-days or new moons or sabbaths.


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Let no man at his will defraud you of your prize through his false humility and worship of the angels, taking his stand on the visions he has seen, and vainly puffed up by his material mind;


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instead of keeping connection with the Head from the whole body draws nourishment for all its needs by the joints which bind it; and is knit together, and grows with a divine growth.


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If you died with Christ to the worlds rudimentary notions, why, as if you still lived in the world, do you submit yourselves to dogmatisms found on teachings and doctrines of men -


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For these precepts, although they have a show of wisdom with their self-imposed devotions and fastings and bodily austerities, are of no real value against the indulgence of the carnal appetites.


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If you then are risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ abides, seated on the right hand of God.


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So slay your baser inclinations. fornication, impurity, appetite, unnatural desires, and the greed which is idolatry.


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But now you also must renounce them all. Anger, passion, and ill- will must be put away; slander, too, and foul talk, so that they may never soil your lips.


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and put on that new self which is continually made over according to the likeness of its Creator, into full understanding.


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In it that new creation there is no "Greek and Jew," "circumcised and uncircumcised," "barbarian," "Scythian," "slave," "free man," but Christ is all, and in us all.


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Therefore, as Gods chosen people, consecrated and beloved, clothe yourselves with tenderness of heart, kindness, humility, gentleness, good temper;


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bearing with one another and forgiving each other, if any one has a grievance against another. Just as Christ the Lord forgave you, so must you forgive.


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Let the peace of Christ, to which also you were called in one body, rule in your hearts, and show yourselves thankful.


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Let the word of Christ have its home in you richly, in all wisdom. Teach and admonish one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, ever singing with grace in your hearts unto God.


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And whatever you do, whether in word of in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God our Father through him.


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Slaves, obey in all things your earthly masters, not with eye- service, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of purpose, out of reverence for your Lord.


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You know that from the Lord you will receive reward of the inheritance, for you are the Lord Christs slaves.


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Keep on praying for me, too, that God may open for me a door of utterance to speak the secret truth of Christ, for which I am a prisoner.


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Let your speech be always gracious, with a savor of salt, and learn how to give every man a fitting answer.


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Tychicus, my beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow slave in the Lord, will make known to you all that concerns me.


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I have sent him with Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, one of your own number, for this very purpose, to let you know how I am, and to cheer your hearts.


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Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, salutes you, and Marcus, the cousin of Barnabas (about whom you received instructions; if he comes to you, make him welcome), and Jesus surnamed Justas.


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These are my only fellow workers for the kingdom of God, belonging to the circumcision, who have been any comfort to me.


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Epaphras, one of yourselves, salutes you, a slave of Christ who is always agonizing for you in his prayers, that you may stand firm, mature, and fully assured in all the will of God.


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And when this letter has been read to you, see that it is read also in the church of Laodiceans, and that you also read the letter from Laodicea.


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And tell Archippas to take heed to the ministry which he has received in the Lord, that he may fulfill it.


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I, Paul, add this farewell in my own handwriting. Do not forget these chains of mine. Grace be with you.


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Paul and Silas and Timothy. To the church of the Thessalonians which is in God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be to you, and peace.


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as I call to mind your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the presence of our God and Father.


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for my gospel did not come to you in word only, but in power also, and in the Holy Spirit, and with deep conviction. For you know also the manner in which I behaved myself among you for your sakes.


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Moreover, you began to follow the pattern I set you, and the Lords also, receiving the word with joy in the Holy Spirit, although amid severe persecution.


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For the word of the Lord has been sounded forth from you, and its sound has been heard not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place where the tidings of your faith toward God have been spread abroad, so that I have no need to speak of it.


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For others, of their own accord, tell about the welcome I had from you, and how you turned to God from your idols, to be slaved of a true and living God,


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and to await for the coming of his Son from the heavens, the Son whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, our Deliverer from the wrath to come.


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for you remember that although I had already borne ill-treatment and insult at Philippi, I took courage in my God to tell you the gospel of God, in the face of much opposition.


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But as my fitness to be entrusted with the gospel has been tested and approved by God, I so speak, not to please men, but to please God, who is testing my motives.


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For as you well know, I never resorted to flattery, nor to any pretext for enriching myself. God is my witness!


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Now was I seeking glory from men, either yourselves or others, although I might have exercised authority as Christs apostle.


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On the contrary I showed myself among you as gentle as a mother, when she tenderly nurses her own children.


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So in my fond affection it was my joy to give you, not only the gospel of God, but my very life also, because you had become dear to me.


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You recall, brothers, my labor and toil; how, while working at my trade day and night, so as not to become a burden to any of you, I proclaimed to you the gospel of God.


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You are witnesses - and so is God - how pure and just and blameless was my behavior among you believers.


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exhorting and imploring and adjuring each one among you to lead a life worthy of the God who called you into his own kingdom and glory.


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For this reason also I am giving continual thanks to God, because when you heard from me the spoken word of God, you received it not as the word of men, but as the word of God (which in truth it is), who himself is effectually at work in you believe.


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For you, brothers, began to follow the example of the churches of God in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus; and you in your turn suffered at the hands of your fellow citizens persecutions like to those which they endured from the Jews -


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The men who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out - they are displeasing to God, and are the enemies of all mankind.


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They forbid me to speak to the Gentiles with a view to their salvation. They continue always to fill up the measure of their sins; but the wrath of God is come upon them to the full!


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But I, my brothers, although torn from you for a short season (in presence, not in heart), made eager efforts to behold you face to face with strong longing.


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For what is my hope, or joy? What is the victors wreath in which I exult? What but your own selves in the presence of our Lord Jesus, at his coming! For you are my pride and my delight.


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I sent Timothy, my brother and Gods fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen you and to hearten you in your faith.


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So that no one should be shaken by these troubles-for you know well that we are appointed to troubles.


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For even when I was with you I used to tell you beforehand that I was to suffer affliction; and so it proved, as you know.


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So, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to find out about your faith, fearing that the tempter had tempted you and that my labor had been in vain.


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But now that Timothy has returned from you to me, and has brought good news of your faith and love, and that you are still holding me in affectionate remembrance, always longing to see me as I also am longing to see you.


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I have been comforted, my brothers, in regard to you, in spite of all my distress and affliction over your faith.


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For what thanksgiving can I render again to God in your behalf, in return for all the joy which you cause me in the presence of my God?


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Night and day I am praying earnestly that I may see you face to face, and may perfect whatever is yet lacking in your faith.


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Meanwhile, may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love toward one another and toward all men, even as I do toward you.


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And so may he establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus, with all his saints.


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Finally then, my brothers, I continue to beseech and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that, as you learned of me how to walk so as to please God - and you are actually doing so - that you abound in it yet more and more.


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That no man overreach or take advantage of his brother in such matters, because "the Lord takes vengeance" in all these things, as also I repeatedly forewarned you and testified to you.


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It is not needed that I should write to you about brotherly love; for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another.


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As indeed you do love all the brothers in Macedonia. But I exhort you, brothers, to abound in this yet more.


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Also, that you endeavor to live quietly and to mind your own business, and to work with your hands (as I charged you).


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So that your conduct may be seemly toward those that are without, and that you may not need help from any man.


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But I would not have you ignorant, brothers, about those who are falling asleep. You must not sorrow like other men, who have no hope.


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For if we really believe that Jesus died and rose again, so even so will God through Jesus bring with him those also who have fallen asleep.


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For this I tell you by the word of the Lord, that we who are living, who survive unto the coming of the Lord, will in no wise precede those who have fallen asleep.


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For the Lord himself with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God will descend from heaven. Then the dead in Christ will rise first.


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And afterwards we who are alive, who remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.


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While men are saying "Peace and safety," then, like birth-pangs upon a woman with child, destruction will come upon them suddenly. In no wise will they escape.


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For those who are sleeping, sleep in the night, and those who are drunken, are drunken in the night.


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But let us who are of the day be self-controlled, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.


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He died for us, in order that whether we are keeping vigil in life or sleeping in death we may ever be living together with him.


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I entreat you, brothers, to acknowledge those who are toiling among you and are your leaders in the Lord, and give you counsel.


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And, brothers, we urge you to admonish the disorderly, comfort the faint-hearted, sustain the weak, lose patience with none.


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Take care that none of you ever return evil for evil, but always pursue what is kind to one another and to all.


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May the God of peace consecrate you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept altogether faultless until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.


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Paul and Silvanus and Timothy. To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.


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I ought always to thank God for you, brothers, as is fitting because of the abundant growth of your faith and of the overflowing love with which every one of you is filled toward one another.


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So that I myself am boasting about you among the churches of God, boasting of the stedfastness and faith which you are displaying in all the troubles and afflictions which you are enduring.


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They are an evidence of the righteous judgment of God, who will count you worthy of his kingdom, in behalf of which you are even now suffering.


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and give to you, who are now troubled, rest, along with me at the unveiling "apocalypse" of the Lord Jesus from heaven, with his mighty angels,


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in flaming fire. Then shall he take vengeance on those who know not God, even on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.


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They shall suffer punishment, even an eternal destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the brightness of his glorious majesty,


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when he comes to be glorified in his saints, and to be wondered at in all believers, on that Day; (for you also believed our testimony).


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To this end I am making my constant prayer for you, beseeching God to make you worthy of your calling, and to fulfil mightily every desire of goodness and effort of faith;


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so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in him, according to the grace of our God and of our Lord Jesus Christ.


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Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to meet him, I entreat you, brothers,


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not to be "quickly shaken out of your wits" and not to be agitated either by a spirit or by a message, or by an epistle purporting to be from me, saying, "The Day of the Lord is at hand."


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Let no one deceive you by any means. For it will not come until after the Great Apostasy, and the revealing of the Man of Sin, the son of perdition,


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the adversary, who opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God, or is an object of worship; so that he takes his seat in the Temple of God, and vaunts himself as God.


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And now you know what is holding him back, to the end that he may be revealed in his appointed time.


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For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only there is one who is hindering and will continue to hinder till he be removed;


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and then the lawless one will be revealed. Him the Lord will consume with the breath of his lips, and destroy with the brightness of his appearing;


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and with all deceit of unrighteousness for those who are perishing, because they did not receive the love of the truth for their salvation.


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For this reason God is sending on them an energy of delusion, that they should put faith in a falsehood;


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But for you, brothers, whom the Lord loves, I ought to give thanks to God continually, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation in consecration of the Spirit and belief of the truth.


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For this he called you through my gospel, so that you might obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.


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So, brothers, stand fast, and hold fast the teachings which you have been taught by me, whether by word of mouth or by letter.


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And may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal encouragement and a good hope in grace,


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Finally, brothers, pray on for me, that Gods word may run swiftly, and be glorified as in your own case,


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Now we have fully fixed our faith on you in the Lord, that you are doing and will continue to do what we enjoin.


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I summon you, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to shun any brother who leads an idle and disorderly life, which is not according to the rule you received from me.


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I did not eat my food as a gift from any man, but in toil and travail, night and day, I worked, so that I might not be a burden to any of you.


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But I hear that there are those of your number who are leading idle and disorderly lives, who are not busy, but mere busybodies.


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Now all such I command and entreat, by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, to work in quietness. and to earn their own living.


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If any man does not give heed to what I have said in this letter, mark that man; do not associate with him, so as to make him feel ashamed;


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And may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with you all.


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to Timothy, my true son in the faith; Grace, mercy and peace from God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.


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As I begged you when I was setting out for Macedonia, stay where you are at Ephesus, and instruct certain individuals there not to be teaching heterodoxy,


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nor to be paying attention to myths and interminable genealogies, which tend to promote discussions rather than a stewardship entrusted by God, a stewardship which is in faith.


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Now the end of the exhortation is love, out of a pure heart and a good conscience and an undissembled faith.


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Although they desire to be teachers of the law, they understand neither the words they use nor the subjects they talk about.


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but he must remember that the Law is not enacted for a good man, but for the lawless and rebellious, for the irreligious and sinful, for the godless and profane, for parricides and murderers,


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for the immoral, for sexual perverts, for slave dealers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching,


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And I am thankful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has thus enabled me, that he accounted me faithful, and appointed me to his service,


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although I had formerly been a blasphemer and a persecutor and a doer of outrage. But I obtained mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief.


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Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners"! And there is no greater sinner than I!


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Yet for this very cause I obtained mercy, so that in me, the chief of sinners, Jesus Christ might display all his boundless patience as an illustration for those who should later believe in him, and so gain life eternal.


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Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be glory and honor forever and ever. Amen!


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This charge then, I am laying upon you, Timothy, my son, according to the predictions formerly made concerning you. Fight the good fight in the spirit of these predictions,


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keeping fast hold of faith and a good conscience; which certain individuals have cast aside, and so made shipwreck of their faith.


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Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have given over to Satan, so that they may be taught not to blaspheme.


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First of all then, I am urging that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be offered regularly for all men;


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for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and peaceful life in all godliness an gravity.


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It was for this testimony that I myself was appointed a herald and apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), to be a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.


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My wish, then, is that in every place the men should offer prayer, lifting up holy hands, free from anger and disputation;


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in like manner also the women. I desire women to clothe themselves in suitable apparel, adorning themselves with reverence and self- restraint; not with hair plaited with gold or pearls, or with expensive clothes,


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And it was not Adam who was deceived; but it was the woman who was thoroughly deceived, and who became involved in transgression.


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Notwithstanding she will be saved by the Child-bearing; (so will they all), if they live in faith and love and holiness, with self- restraint.


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This is a faithful saying, "If any man is seeking the office of a minister he is aspiring to a noble task."


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The minister should be a man of blameless character; he should be husband of but one wife; he should live a sober, self-restrained, orderly life; he should be hospitable, skilled in teaching;


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he should be a man who rules his own household well, and keeps his children ever under control and thoroughly well behaved.


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For if a man does not know how to rule his own household, how shall he take charge of a church of God?


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He should also have a good reputation among outsiders, lest he fall into reproach, and into a snare of the devil.


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They should first be tested, and after that, if they are found irreproachable, let them serve as deacons.


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Let deacons be the husband of but one wife, men who rule their children and their household properly.


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For those who have well discharged the duties of a deacon are gaining an honorable position for themselves, as well as much fearless confidence in the faith of Christ Jesus.


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I am writing this to you in case I should be detained, to let you see how you ought to behave in the household of God - the Church of the everliving God, the pillar and mainstay of the truth.


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Now the Spirit distinctly declares that in latter days there will be some who will fall away from the faith, by listening to spirits of error, and to teachings of demons


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who discourage marriage, and enjoin abstinence from foods which God created to be received with thankfulness, by those who believe, and have a clear knowledge of the truth.


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For everything that God has created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if only it is received with thankfulness.


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As you lay all these things before the brothers, you will be a noble minister of Christ Jesus, nourishing yourself in the precepts of the faith and that noble teaching which you have followed.


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Ever reject these profane and old womanish myths; and continually train yourself for the contest of godliness.


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For physical training is of some small service, but godliness is of service in everything; since it carries with it a promise of life, both here and hereafter.


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"We toil and agonize because our hopes are set on the ever-living God, who is the Saviour of all men. - of believers in particular.


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Let no one despise you on account of your youth, but become an example for the faithful in word, in life, in love, in faith, in purity.


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Never neglect the gift within you, which was given in fulfilment of prophecy at the time of the laying on of hands by the elders.


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Let these things be your care, give yourself wholly to them, so that your progress may be manifest to all.


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Give heed to yourself and to your teaching. Persevere in these things, for by doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.


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Do not reprimand an aged man, but continue pleading with him as if he were your father. Treat the young men as brothers,


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but if any widow has children or grandchildren, let these learn to show their piety first toward their own household, and to make some return to their parents, for that is pleasing in Gods sight.


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Now she who is a widow indeed, and desolate, has fixed her hope on God, and devotes herself to supplications and prayers, day and night.


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But if any one fails to provide for his own, and especially for his kindred, he has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel.


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A widow, to be placed upon the list, must be not less than sixty years old, and one who has been the wife of but one husband.


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She must be well reputed for good works, as one who has brought up a family, received strangers with hospitality, washed the feet of the saints, relieved the distressed, and diligently followed every good work.


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But exclude from the list the younger widows; for where they have become wanton against Christ, they desire to marry,


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Moreover, they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and are not only idlers, but gossips also, and busybodies, repeating things they ought not.


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It is my wish, then, that the younger widows marry, bear children, rule their houses, and give no occasion to our adversary for railing.


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Any believing woman, who has widowed relatives, ought to relieve them and not let the church be burdened with them; so that the church may relieve the really destitute widows.


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Let the elders who fill their offices well, be held worthy of twofold honor; especially those who have the task of preaching and teaching.


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For the Scripture says, You must not muzzle an ox when he is treading out the grain, and The worker is worth his wages.


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I charge you solemnly in the presence of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ and of the elect angels, that you observe these things without prejudice against any man, and do nothing out of partiality.


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Do not continue to drink nothing but water, but take a little wine for your stomachs sake, and your frequent attacks of illness.


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Some mens sins are notorious, and lead them straight on the way to condemnation; but others sins follow them up.


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Let those who are under the yoke as slaves esteem their masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teachings be not blasphemed.


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Those whose masters are Christian believers must not treat them with disrespect, because they are brothers; nay, rather slave for them the better because those who get the benefit of their services are believing and beloved. Continue to teach and preach this.


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If any one teaches heterodoxy, and refuses to consent to the wholesome words of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to the teachings of religion,


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he is puffed up with conceit and knows nothing, but is doting about disputations and a strife of words. These give rise to envy, quarrels, railings, evil suspicions,


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and wrangling between men whose minds are corrupt and destitute of the truth; who suppose that godliness is a source of gain.


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Those who desire to be rich fall into the snares of temptation and many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.


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For the love of money is a source of all kinds of evil; and in their eager desire to be rich some have been led astray form the faith, and have pierced themselves with many sorrows.


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But you, O servant of God, flee from these things, and run after integrity, piety, faith, love, stedfastness, gentleness.


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Keep contending in the noble contest of the faith; seize hold on eternal life, to which you were called when you confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.


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In the presence of God who gives life to all, and of Christ Jesus who bore witness to the good confession before Pontius Pilate,


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I charge you, keep your commission spotless and irreproachable until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.


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For in his own good time this will be brought about by that blessed and only potentate, King of kings and Lord of lords,


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who alone possesses immortality, who dwells in light that none can approach, whom no man has ever seen or can see; to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen.


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Charge the rich of this world not to be supercilious, nor to trust in uncertain riches, but in God, who provides all things richly for our use.


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laying up right good treasure for themselves in the world to come, in order that they may obtain the Life which is life indeed.


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O, Timothy, guard the treasure which is committed to you. Shun the profane babblings and contradictions of the falsely called "knowledge"


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Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, sent forth to proclaim the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus.


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To Timothy, my beloved child; Grace mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.


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I give thanks to God whom I worship with a pure conscience as my fathers did, when I remember you unceasingly in my prayers.


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I have been reminded of that sincere faith which is in your heart; which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, and, I am fully persuaded, dwells in you also.


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For this reason let me remind you to keep ever blazing that gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.


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


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Do not then be ashamed to bear witness for our Lord, nor for me, his prisoner. Nay, join with me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.


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He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not dealing with us according to our works,but according to his purpose and grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.


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This has now been made manifest through the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who has put an end to death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.


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Of the gospel I was appointed a herald, apostle, and teacher; and that is the reason I am now undergoing these sufferings.


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But I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have fully believed, and I am thoroughly persuaded that he is able to keep what I have given him until the Day.


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Hold fast the pattern of sound teaching you have heard from me in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.


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Guard the glorious trust which has been committed to you by the aid of the Holy Spirit who makes his home in us.


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You already know that all the Christians in Roman Asia forsook me, among them Phygellus and Hermogenes.


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The Lord show mercy to the house hold of Onesiphorus; for many a time he refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain.


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The Lord grant him to find mercy form the Lord in that Day! And you know better than I how many services he rendered in Ephesus.


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The teachings which you have heard from me, attested by many witnesses, deliver into the keeping of faithful men, who in their turn will be able to teach others also.


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A soldier in active service avoids entangling himself in the every- day affairs of life, so that he may please his commander.


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Always remember that Jesus Christ, a descendant of David, has been raised from the dead according to the gospel I proclaim.


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But Gods message is no prisoner. That is why I endure everything for the sake of the chosen, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.


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Always call these truths to mens mind; adjuring them in the presence of God to avoid controversy. It is a useless thing, and subverts those who listen to it.


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Strive earnestly to present yourself unto God, tested and proved worthy by trial, a workman unashamed, ever cutting a straight path for the message of the truth.


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Among such are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have gone astray concerning the truth by declaring that the resurrection is already past; and they are undermining the faith of some.


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Nevertheless Gods firm foundation stands unshaken, bearing this inscription, THE LORD KNOWS THOSE WHO ARE HIS, and this also, LET EVERY ONE WHO NAMES THE NAME OF THE LORD RENOUNCE WICKEDNESS.


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Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for noble, some for ignoble uses.


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If then a man keeps himself clear of these latter, he will be a vessel for honor, consecrated, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.


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Flee from the passions of youth, but run after righteousness, faith, love, and peace, in company with those who out of a pure heart call upon the Lord.


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He must be gentle when instructing opponents; for possibly God may give them a change of mind for the recognition of the truth,


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and they may come to their senses again, and escape the snare of the devil, as they are restored to life by God to do his will.


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For men will be selfish, mercenary, boastful, haughty, blasphemous, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, irreligious,


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They will hate goodness, they will be treacherous, reckless, blinded with pride, lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God.


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Turn away from all such. Some of them creep into private houses and lead captive silly women who, laden with sins,


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and led captive by ever-changing impulses, are always learning but never able to arrive at knowledge of truth.


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As Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so also do these men withstand the truth; being corrupt in mind and worthless in all that concerns the faith.


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But they will not get on; for their folly will be made as openly manifest to all as was that of Jannes and Jambres.


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But you, Timothy, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aims, my faith, patience, love, endurance,


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as well as the persecutions and sufferings which befell me at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. You know all the persecutions I endured, and how the Lord delivered me out of them all!


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But wicked men and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving others, and being themselves deceived.


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But do you hold fast what you have learned and have held to be true. You know those from whom you have learned it,


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and how from a child you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.


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Every Scripture, seeing that it is God-breathed, is also profitable for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness,


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I adjure you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is about to judge the living and the dead - by his appearing and his kingdom, I adjure you -;11 Luke only is with me. Pick up Mark, and bring him with you, for he is useful to me in my ministry.


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proclaim the message, be urgent in season and out of season; convince, rebuke, encourage, with never-failing patience and teaching.


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For a time will come when they will not listen to wholesome teaching, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will heap up for themselves teachers upon teachers to satisfy their own fancies.


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But as for you, be always self-controlled, face hardships, do the work of a missionary, discharge all the duties of your ministry.


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I for my part am a libation already being poured in sacrifice; and the time of my unmooring is at hand.


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Henceforth there is laid up for me the garland of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that Day, and not to me only, but also to all those who have loved his appearing.


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for Demas has deserted me for love of this present world, and is gone to Thessalonica; Crescens is gone to Galatia; Titus to Dalmatia.


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When you come, bring the cloak I left in Troas with Carpus; also my books, but especially my parchments.


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Alexander, the coppersmith, manifested bitter hostility toward me. The Lord will requite him according to his works.


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At the time of my first defense no one stood by me; on the contrary they all deserted me - may it not be laid to their charge!


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Nevertheless the Lord Jesus stood by me, and strengthened my heart, that through me full proclamation of the gospel might be made, and the Gentiles might hear it; and I was rescued from the lions jaws.


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And the Lord will rescue me from every evil assault, and will preserve me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever! Amen!


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Do try to come before winter. Eubulus greets you, and so do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brotherhood.


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To Titus, my true son in a common faith, from Paul, a slave of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of Gods elect, and to the knowledge of the truth which goes with piety;


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but manifested in his own time; that word of his in proclaiming which I have been entrusted by command of God our Saviour.


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I left you in Crete for this reason, that you might set right the things left unfinished, and appoint presbyters in every city as I had instructed you;


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men who are blameless, the husband of one wife, with believing children who are not accused of riot or insubordination.


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For indeed a presiding officer, as Gods steward, ought to be blameless, not self-willed or quick-tempered, not a drunkard or violent, or greedy of filthy lucre;


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He must hold to the faithful word according to the teaching, so that he may be able both to encourage by sound teaching, and to confute our opponents.


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For there are many individuals who are unruly, empty talkers and deceivers, particularly those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped;


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By one of their own number, by a prophet of their own, it has been said, "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, idle gluttons."


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so as to make them sound in the faith, not giving heed to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the truth.


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All things are pure to the pure; but to the contaminated and the faithless nothing is pure, nay, their very minds and consciences are tainted.


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They profess to know God, but by their deeds they disown him; in that they are detestable, disobedient, and reprobate for good work of any sort.


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that the older men be self-controlled, serious and sober-minded, sound in faith, in love, in patience;


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that older women likewise be reverent in demeanor, not slanderers or slaves to much wine, but teachers of what is right.


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to be sober-minded, chaste, workers at home, kind and submissive to their husbands, in order that Gods message be not maligned.


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The younger men exhort to be sober-minded; in every respect showing yourself an example of good works.


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Let the instruction that you give be sound and above reproach, so that our opponents may be ashamed because they find no evil things to say about us.


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Exhort slaves to be obedient to their own masters, and to be well- pleasing to them in every respect;


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not to contradict nor pilfer, but to exhibit praiseworthy trustworthiness in every thing, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.


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And schooling us to renounce impiety and evil passions, And to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age;


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While we look for the blessed hope and epiphany of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.


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He gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity, and to purify unto himself a people zealous of good works."


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Remind them to be submissive to their rulers and authorities; let them be obedient, ready for every good work;


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they must speak evil of none, they must not be quarrelsome, but gentle, showing perfect meekness toward all.


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For we were ourselves once foolish, disobedient, deceived, slaving for various lusts and pleasures, passing our lives in malice and envy. We were hateful, and we hated one another.


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He saved us, not because of any deeds that we had done in righteousness, But because of his own pity for us. He saved us by that washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit


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In order that being justified by his grace, We might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.


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This saying is trustworthy. On this I want you to firmly insist; that those who have faith in God must be careful to maintain honest occupations. Such counsels are good and profitable for men.


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But avoid foolish questionings and genealogies and dissensions and wranglings about the law; for these are unprofitable and empty.


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As soon as I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, join me in Nicopolis as quickly as you can, for I have arranged to winter there.


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Let them want nothing, and "let our people learn to devote themselves to honest work to supply the necessities of their teachers," so that they be not unfruitful.


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to my sister Apphia, to my fellow soldier Archippus, and to the church which meets at Philemons house. From Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and brother Timothy.


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because I am hearing of your love and of the faith which you hold, not only toward the Lord Jesus Christ, but toward all the saints.


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And I pray that your participation may become effectual, as you come to acknowledge every good thing which is in you to Christ.


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For I have great joy and comfort in your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed.


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I could wish to retain him at my side, so that he might minister to me in your stead, in my bonds for the gospel.


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But without your consent I was unwilling to do anything, so that your kindness to me might be of your own free will, and not of compulsion.


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Perhaps for this reason you were separated from him for an hour, in order that you might have him back forever,


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no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, as a brother beloved; especially dear to me, but how much more to you, both as a man and a fellow Christian.


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I Paul am writing this in my own handwriting, "I will repay you." But I will not mention that you owe me, over and over, your very soul.


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Because I am thoroughly persuaded of your obedience, I have written you, knowing full well that you will do by me what I am asking.


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God, who in ancient days spoke to our ancestors in the prophets, at many different times and by various methods,


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has at the end of these days spoken to us in a Son whom he appointed heir of all things; through whom also he made the universe.


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He being an emanation of Gods glory and stamp of his substance, and upholding the universe by the utterances of his power, after by himself making purification of our sins, has taken his seat on the right hand of the Majesty on High.


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For to what angel did God ever say, Thou art my son; this day have I become thy Father? and again, I will be a father to him, and he shall be to me a son?


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And further, when he brought the firstborn into the habitable world, he said, Let all the angels of God worship him.


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While of the angels he said, He makes his angels into winds, His ministering servants into flames of fire.


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But to the Son he says. Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, And the scepter of thy kingdom is the scepter of justice.


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Thou hast loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore did God, thy God, anoint thee with the oil of gladness beyond thy comrades.


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And, Thou, O Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundations of the earth, And the heavens are the work of thy hands.


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Like a mantle thou wilt fold them up, And like a garment they will be changed. But thou art the same, And thy years will never fail.


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To which of the angels has he ever said, Sit at my right hand, Till I make thy foes a footstool for thy feet?


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Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth for service in behalf of those who are about to inherit salvation?


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For this reason we must pay the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, for fear we should drift away.


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For if the word uttered through angels stood firm, so that every transgression and act of disobedience met with its just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?


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God himself corroborating their testimony by signs and wonders and a variety of miraculous powers, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit imparted in accordance with his own will.


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But some one, somewhere, testified, saying. What is Man, that thou art mindful of him? Or any man, that thou carest for him?


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Thou hast made him only a little lower that the angels; With glory and honor hast thou crowned him; And hast set him to govern the works of thy hands;


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Thou hast put all things under his feet. For this putting all things under man means leaving nothing not subject to him. But we do not yet see all things subject to him.


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What we do see is Jesus, who was made for a time a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor, because of the suffering of death, in order that through Gods grace he might taste death for every man.


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For it befitted him, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the Pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings.


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For both he who sanctifies and those whom he is sanctifying are all from One; for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying.


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Therefore, since the children are sharers in flesh and blood, he also similarly partook of the same, in order that through death he might render powerless him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;


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For assuredly it is not angels, nay, it is the offspring of Abraham, whom he is ever taking by the hand.


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And so it was necessary that he should in all points be made like his brothers, so that he might become a compassionate and faithful high priest, in all that relates to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.


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For inasmuch as he himself has suffered, being tempted, he is also able instantly to succor those who are tempted, he is also able instantly to succor those who are tempted.


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Therefore, holy brothers, comrades of a heavenly calling, fix your thoughts then upon Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.


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How faithful he was to the God who appointed him! For while Moses also was faithful in all Gods house,


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Jesus has been counted worthy of greater glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who has built a house has higher honor than the house itself.


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And Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, bearing testimony to a witness about to be spoken;


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but Christ as a Son in his own house; and we are that house, if we retain the cheerful courage and pride of our hope firm unto the end.


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Continue not to harden your hearts as in the Provocation, On the day of temptation in the wilderness,


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For this reason I was sore displeased with that generation, And said, "They are always wandering in their hearts; They have never learned my ways";


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See to it, brothers, that there shall never be in any one of you an evil and unbelieving heart, manifesting itself in apostasy from the living God.


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On the contrary, encourage each other daily, so long as there is a "Today," so that no one of you is hindered by the deceitfulness of sin.


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In the words of Scripture, Today, if you hear his voice, Do not continue to harden your hearts as at the Provocation.


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For who were they that heard and yet provoked him? Was it not all who came out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses?


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And with whom was he grieved for forty years? Was it not with those who had sinned, and whose dead bodies fell in the wilderness?


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And to whom did he swear that they should never enter into his rest, if not to those who had proved faithless? So you see that it was through unbelief that they were not able to enter in.


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Let us be on our guard, then, though there is a promise still standing of being admitted to his rest, lest any one of you should be found to have come short of it.


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For the Good News is come to us just as it did to them. But the message they heard was of no benefit to them, because they did not share the faith of those who gave heed to it.


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We are actually entering into that rest, we who have believed, as God has said, -In my wrath I swore - "They shall not enter into my Rest," although his works were finished since the foundation of the world.


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For he has said, somewhere, regarding the seventh day, And God rested on the seventh day from all his work.


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Since, then, it remains that some should enter into it, and since those who formerly had the Good News preached to them did not enter in because of unbelief,


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he again fixes a day, saying long afterward by Davids lips, in words already quoted, Today if you hear his voice, Continue not to harden your hearts.


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Let us, then, be earnest to enter into that rest, so that no one may fall into the same example of disobedience.


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For living is the Word of God, and active, and sharper than any two- edged sword, piercing even to the severance of soul form spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the very thoughts and conceptions of the heart.


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And there is not a creature hidden form him, but all things are naked and laid prostrate before the eyes of him with whom we have to do.


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Inasmuch, then, as we have a great High Priest, Jesus, the Son of God, who has passed through the heavens, let us hold fast our confession of faith.


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For we have not a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin.


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Let us, then, draw near with glad boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and find grace to help us in our times of need.


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For every high priest chosen from time to time from among men is appointed on behalf of men, in matters relating to God, to offer both gifts and sacrifices on behalf of sins.


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He is able to deal gently with the ignorant and erring, since he himself also is encompassed with moral weakness,


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and because of this weakness he is bound to offer sin-offerings not only for the people, but also for himself.


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So even the Christ was not raised to the high glory of the priesthood by himself, but on the contrary by Him who said to him. Thou art my Son; this day have I become thy Father;


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In the days of his flesh, with better cries and weeping Jesus offered up prayers and supplications to Him who was able to save him out of death; and he was heard because of his devout submission.


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Concerning him I have much to say, and much that is hard to make clear to you, because you have grown dull of hearing.


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And this too, although you ought by this time to be teaching others, you are still needing some one to teach you the very rudiments of divine revelation. You need milk, not solid food.


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For every one who feeds on milk is inexperienced in the word of righteousness. He is still an infant.


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But solid food is for adults, that is, for those who by constant practise have their faculties trained to discriminate between good and evil.


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So let us get beyond the teaching of the elementary doctrines of Christ, and let us be borne along toward what is mature. Let us not be continually laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works,


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of faith in God, of the teaching regarding ablutions and the laying on of hands, of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.


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For in the case of those who have been once for all enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift,


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and become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the Future Age,


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and then fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance. For they repeatedly crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and expose him to an open shame.


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For land that has drunk the showers that now and again fall upon it, and produced vegetation useful for those for whom it was tilled, receives a blessing from God;


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but if it produces thorns and thistles, it is considered worthless, and is in danger of being cursed, and its end will be to be burned.


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But though we thus speak, we are persuaded better things of you, beloved, and things that accompany salvation.


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For God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you showed for his cause, in sending help to your fellow Christians, as you are still doing.


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but I am longing that each of you continue to show the same diligence to realize the fulness of your hope, even to the end.


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Then do not become slack, but be imitators of those who through faith and patience are inheriting the promises.


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For when God make the promise to Abraham, since he could swear by none greater, he swore by himself, saying.


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I am referring to the oath because men swear by what is greater than themselves, and in every dispute of theirs the oath is final for confirmation.


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On which principle God, wishing to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the immutability of his purpose, mediated with an oath;


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that by means of two immutable things - his promise and his oath - in which it is impossible for God to break faith, we refugees may have strong encouragement to grasp the hope set before us.


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This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, secure and strong, and passing into the sanctuary which is beyond the veil;


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whither Jesus himself is entered as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a priest forever, after the order of Melchisedek.


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It was this Melchisedek, King of Salem and Priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him;


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and it was to him that Abraham apportioned a tithe of all the spoil. He was first, as his name signifies, King of righteousness, and then King of Salem, that is, King of Peace;


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without father or mother, without lineage, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest in perpetuity.


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But observe how great this man was, to whom even Abraham, the Patriarch, gave a tenth part of the spoils.


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Now those of the sons of Levi who are appointed to the priesthood, are authorized by the Law to take tithes of the people, that is, of their brothers, and that too, although these are descended from Abraham.


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But this man who had no Levitical genealogy actually took tithes of Abraham, and blessed him to whom the promises belong.


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Again it is mortal men who receive tithes in the one case; while in the other it is he of whom it is attested, "He lives."


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Now if there were perfection through the Levitical priesthood, (and it was under it that the people received the Law) why was it still necessary for another kind of priest to arise, after the order of Melchisedek, instead of being reckoned according to the order of Aaron?


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He who is thus described belonged to another tribe, not one member of which has ever served at the altar.


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For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, a tribe of which Moses said nothing concerning the priesthood.


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And this is yet more abundantly clear if, after the likeness of Melchisedek, there arises another Priest,


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who has become such, not according to the law of a transitory enactment, but according to the energy of an indissoluble life.


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For there is a setting aside of a foregoing commandment, because of its weakness and unprofitableness


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(for the Law brought nothing to perfection); and there is the bringing in of a better hope by which we draw near to God;


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For although those priests became such without an oath, He had an oath form God who said to him, The Lord hath sworn and will not change, Thou art a priest forever.


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And they indeed have been made priests, many in number, because they have been prevented by death from continuing;


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Hence also he is able to continue saving to the uttermost those who are ever drawing near to God through him, seeing that he is ever living to intercede for them.


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For we needed just such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens;


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one who has no need, like the high priests, to offer up daily sacrifices, first for his own sins, then for those of the people. For his sacrifice was made once for all, when he offered up himself.


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For the Law appoints human beings to be high priests, men with all their weakness; but the word of the oath, which was later than the Law, appoints a Son, perfected forevermore.


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The pith of all that we have been saying is this; we do have such a High Priest; and he has taken his seat on the right hand of the throne of Majesty in the heavens,


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For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; whence it follows that this High Priest also must have some offering to make.


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Now were he on earth, he would not even be a priest, since there are here those who present the gifts according to the Law -


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those priests who serve a mere outline and shadow of the heavenly reality, just as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to build the Tabernacle. "See", he says, "that you make everything on the pattern showed you on the mountain."


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But Jesus has obtained a better ministry, by so much as he is also Mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted upon better promises.


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But finding fault with them, He says. "There are days coming," says the Lord, "When I will establish with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant;


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Not according tot he covenant which I made with their forefathers, On the day when I took them by the hand to lead them forth out of the land of Egypt; For they did not continue in my covenant, And therefore I disregarded them," says the Lord.


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"For this is the covenant which I will covenant with the house of Israel, After these days," says the Lord; "I will put my laws into their minds, And upon their hearts will I write them; And I will be their God, And they shall be my people;


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And they shall not teach every man his fellow citizen, And every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; For all shall know me, From the least to the greatest of them.


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By calling the covenant "new," He has made the first one obsolete; and whatever is becoming obsolete and aged, is near to vanishing.


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Now even the first covenant had its ordinances of public worship, and its sanctuary, a material one.


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For a tent was built, the outer one called the Holy Place, in which were the lamp and the table and the loaves of the Presence;


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In it was the golden altar of incense, and also the Ark of the Covenant covered all over with gold, in which was a golden pot holding the manna, and Aarons rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;


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while above it, overshadowing the mercy-seat, were the cherubim of glory. But I must not speak about these in detail.


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Such then were the arrangements. Into the outer tent the priests enter continually in the performance of their duties;


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but into the inner tent the high priest only goes alone, once a year, and that not without blood, which he offers for himself and for the ignorances of the people.


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The Holy Spirit teaching by this that the way into the Holiest has not yet been disclosed while the first tent is still standing.


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This is a parable, for the present time, according to which gifts and sacrifices are offered that are not able, as far as conscience is concerned, to perfect the worshiper;


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since they consist only in meats and drinks and various ablutions, carnal ordinances, imposed until the time of reformation.


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But when Christ came, a High Priest of good things to come, he passed through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands, that is to say, not of this material creation,


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not taking the blood of goats and oxen, but his own blood, and entered once for all into the Holy Place, obtaining for us an eternal redemption.


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For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who have been defiled, sanctify to the cleansing of the flesh,


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how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through his eternal spirit offered himself free from blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works unto the service of an ever-living God!


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And because of this he is the Mediator of a new testament, in order that, since a death has taken place to atone for offenses committed under the first testament, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.


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For where there is a testament, there must also be brought forward in evidence the death of the testator.


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For a testament is only of force in case of the dead, being never valid so long as the testator lives.


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For after every commandment according to the law had been spoken by Moses to the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people.


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Moreover the tabernacle and all the vessels of service he sprinkled likewise, and indeed, according to the Law,


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almost everything is purified by blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.


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While, then, it was necessary that the copies of the heavenly things should be cleansed by such sacrifices, the heavenly things themselves required nobler sacrifices than these.


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For it was not into a Sanctuary made by hands, a mere type of the reality, that Christ entered, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the very presence of God on our behalf.


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Nor did he enter to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest entered into the sanctuary, year after year, with blood that was not his own; (for in that case he would have needed to suffer repeatedly, ever since the foundation of the world;)but now, once for all, at the end of the ages, he has appeared to abolish sin, but the offering of himself.


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so also the Christ, after being once for all offered to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, without sin, to those who wait for him for salvation.


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For the Law, being only a shadow of the good things to come, and not their very substance, its priests cannot with the same sacrifice which year after year they offer continually, make perfect those who draw near.


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Otherwise would they not have ceased to be offered? Because the worshippers having been once cleansed, would have had no more consciousness of sin.


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It is for this reason that the Christ, on coming into the world, declared. Sacrifice and offerings thou dost not desire, But a body didst thou prepare for me;


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First when it is said, Thou hast no longing for, thou takest no delight in Sacrifices and offerings, or whole burnt offerings and sin offerings,


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(offerings regularly made under the law), and then it is added, Lo, I come to do thy will, he does away with the first, in order that he may establish the second.


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And it is by this will that we have been sanctified by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.


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For while every priest stands, day after day, at his ministrations, and many times repeats the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins,


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"This is the covenant I will make with them After those days," says the Lord. "I will set my laws upon their hearts, And I will inscribe them on their minds."


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Since, then, we have a cheerful confidence, brothers, to enter into the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,


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by the way which he dedicated for us, that new and living way, through the veil (that is, his flesh);


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let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, our hearts sprinkled from and evil conscience, and our bodies bathed in pure water.


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not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the custom of some, but exhorting one another; all the more as you behold the Day drawing near.


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For if we sin wilfully, after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains any other sacrifice for sins,


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but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fiery indignation which is about to devour the adversaries.


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Any one who set at naught the law of Moses was put to death without pity, on the testimony of two or three witnesses.


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How much surer, think you, will be the punishment of one who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has profaned that covenant blood with which he was sanctified, and has done despite to the spirit of grace?


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For we know Him who said, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, and again, The Lord will judge his people.


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But ever call to mind the former days, in which, after having been enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings;


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partly by being made a public spectacle in reproaches and afflictions, and partly by sharing the fortunes of those that were so used.


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For you did sympathize with the prisoners, and you did take joyfully the confiscation of your goods; conscious that you had for yourselves greater, even lasting possessions.


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But it is by faith that my Righteous One will live, And if he draws back, my soul takes no pleasure in him.


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By faith we understand that the world was fashioned by the Word of God, so that what we see was not made out of what is visible.


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By faith Abel offered to God a sacrifice more acceptable than that of Cain, through which he had witness borne to him that he was righteous, God giving the testimony by accepting his gifts; and through it he, although he is dead, still speaks.


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By faith Enoch was translated so that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God had translated him. Before his translation he had witness borne to him that he pleased God.


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now without faith it is impossible to please him; for he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he ever rewards those who are seeking.


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By faith Noah, warned of God of things not yet seen, reverently gave heed, and built an ark for the saving of his house; by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is of faith.


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By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out unto a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.


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It was by faith that he sojourned in the promised land as an alien, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, his fellow heirs of the same promise.


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By faith even Sarah herself received power to conceive seed, although she was past the age for child-bearing, because she counted Him faithful who had promised;


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and thus there sprang from one man, and him practically dead, a nation like the stars in the heavens in multitude, or grains of sand upon the seashore, innumerable.


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These all died in faith, not having yet received the promises; nay, but they saw them from afar, and hailed them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.


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And if they had cherished the memory of that land from which they went out, they would have found an opportunity to return;


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but now they are longing for a better homeland, that is, a heavenly. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; and he has prepared a city for them.


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By faith Abraham, when he was put to the test, was on the point of offering up Isaac; yes, he who had received the promise was about to offer up his only son,


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For he accounted God able even to raise from the dead, from whence, figuratively speaking, he did indeed receive him back again.


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By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Josephs sons, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.


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By faith Joseph, when his end was nigh, made mention of the exodus of the children of Israel, and gave instructions in regard to his bones.


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By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months by his parents, because they saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid of the kings decree.


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choosing rather to share ill-treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.


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He accounted the obloquy of Christ to be greater than the treasures of Egypt; for he fixed his eyes on the reward.


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By faith he left Egypt, not because he feared the wrath of the king, but he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.


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By faith he established the Passover, and the sprinkling with blood, in order that the Destroying Angel might not touch the firstborn.


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By faith the people crossed over the Red Sea as on dry land; and when the Egyptians tried to do this they were swallowed up.


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By faith Rahab, the harlot, perished not with the disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace.


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And what more shall I say? for time would fail me to tell of Gideon, of Barak, of Samson, and of Jeptha; of David and Samuel and the prophets,


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who through faith conquered kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,


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quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, proved valiant in warfare, and routed armies of aliens.


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Woman received their dear ones alive from the dead; and others were broken on the wheel, not accepting the offered deliverance, in order that they might obtain a better resurrection.


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They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted, they were slain with the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, persecuted, tormented -


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of whom the world was not worthy - wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.


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since it was for us that God had in store some better thing, so that apart from us they should not be perfected.


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Seeing then that we are encircled with this great cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and the sin that clings about us. Let us run with patience the race that is set before us,


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looking unto Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured a cross, despising shame, and has now taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.


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Compare yourselves with him who endured such hostility against himself at the hands of sinners, lest you grow weary, fainting in your souls.


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and have you forgotten the exhortation which reasons with you as sons? My son, do not despise the training of the Lord, Nor faint when he corrects you;


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It is for discipline that you are enduring these sufferings. God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?


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If you are left without discipline, in which all children share, then are you bastards and not sons.


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Furthermore, our earthly fathers used to discipline us, and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live?


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For they only disciplined us for a few days, as seemed good to them; but he does it for our profit, that we may share his holiness.


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Now no discipline seems for the present to be joyous, but grievous; but afterward it yields the peaceable fruits of righteousness to those who have been trained under it.


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make straight path for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.


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Look carefully that there be no one who falls back from the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up to trouble you, and by its means many become defiled.


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Take care lest there be any fornicator or scorner like Esau among you, who for one meal sold his birthright.


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For you know that even when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected; he found no room for repentance, though he sought it earnestly, with tears.


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nor to gloom and darkness and tempest and the blare of a trumpet and an audible voice. Those who heard that voice entreated that no word more should be spoken to them.


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For they could not endure that which was enjoined, Even if a wild beast touches the mountain it shall be stoned to death;


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On the contrary you are come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to innumerable hosts of angels,


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to the festal assemblage and church of the firstborn, registered in heaven, to a Judge who is God of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect,


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to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant, and to his sprinkled Blood whose message cries louder than that of Abel.


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See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape punishment when they refused to listen to their instructor on earth, much less shall we escape if we turn away from him who is teaching us from heaven;


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whose voice then shook the earth, but now he has promised, saying, Once again, once for all, I make not only earth, but heaven also to tremble.


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That phrase, "Once again," signifies the removal of the things which can be shaken, created things, in order that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.


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Wherefore since we are receiving a kingdom which is unshakable, let us give thanks, and so offer acceptable worship to God, with holy awe and fear,


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Remember those who are in prison, as if you were fellow prisoners; remember too, those who are being ill-treated, since you too, are in the body.


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Let marriage be held in honor by all, and the marriage bed be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers will God judge.


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Let your life be untainted by love of money; be content with such things as you have; for God himself has said, I will never leave thee; I will never forsake thee.


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So that we can say with confidence, The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?


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Remember your leaders, the men who spoke the message of God to you; consider the issue of their lives, and imitate their faith.


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Do not allow yourselves to be swept away by various and strange teachings. For it is a beautiful thing to be established in heart by grace, and not by regulations regarding food, from which those that occupied themselves with them have derived no benefit.


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For the bodies of the animals whose blood is carried by the High Priest into the Holy Place are burned outside the camp,


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In his name, then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is the fruit of lips that confess his name.


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Obey your leaders and submit to them; for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who must give account; that they may do thus with joy and not with lamentation, for this would be unprofitable to you.


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Keep on praying for me. I am persuaded that I have a clear conscience, and I desire in every way to live nobly.


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Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of an eternal covenant,


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equip you in every good deed for the doing of his will, doing in you what is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory unto the ages of the ages! Amen!


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James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, sends greeting to the twelve tribes that are scattered abroad.


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But let endurance have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and entire, not lacking in anything.


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If any one of you is lacking in wisdom, let him ask it from the God who gives to all men freely and without upbraiding; and it will be given to him.


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But let him ask in faith, without wavering; for he who wavers is like a surge of the sea, wind-driven and tossed.


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but a rich brother, in his humiliation; because like the flower of the grass the rich man will pass away.


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For as the sun comes up with a burning heat, it withers the grass, and its flowers fall, and the grace of the fashion of it perishes; so also shall the rich man fade away amid his pursuits.


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Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him.


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When he is being tempted, let no one say, "It is God who tempts me," for God cannot be tempted with evil, nor does he tempt any man.


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Every good gift and every perfect boon is from above, and is ever coming down to us from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom is no variation nor shadow of eclipse.


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Because he willed, he gave us birth through the word of truth, so that we should be a kind of first-fruits among his creatures.


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Mark this well, my dear brothers. Let every man be swift in hearing, slow in speaking, slow in growing angry;


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So strip off all filthiness and superfluity of wickedness, and in meekness receive the implanted Word, which is able to save your souls.


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Because if any one is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;


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But the man who looks closely into the perfect law - the law of liberty - and continues looking, this man will be blessed in his deed because he is not a hearer who forgets, but a doer who does.


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If a man thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own religion,


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and undefiled before our God and Father, to look after orphans and widows in their affliction, and ever to keep himself unspotted from the world.


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Suppose a man comes into your synagogue with a gold ring and dazzling clothes, and suppose a poor man comes in, also, in shabby clothes,


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and you look up to him who wears the fine clothing, and say to him, "Sit here in this fine place!" and to the poor man you say, "Stand there!" or "Sit on the floor at my feet!"


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are you not drawing distinctions among yourselves, and have you not become judges with evil thoughts?


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Listen, my dear brothers, has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith, and to inherit the kingdom which he has promised to those who love him?


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If you are keeping the royal law, which says, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thou dost thyself, you are doing well.


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If you have the spirit of caste you are committing sin, and are convicted by the Law as transgressors.


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For he who said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not Kill. Now if you do not commit adultery, but if you do kill, you have transgressed the Law.


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For judgment is without mercy to the man who has showed no mercy. but mercy glories in the face of judgment.


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My brothers, what good is it if any one says that he has faith, if he has no deeds? Can such faith save him?


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and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, find warmth and food for yourselves," but at the same time you do not give the necessaries of the body, what good would that do them?


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Some one indeed may say, "You have faith, and I have deeds." "Then show me your faith," I answer, "apart from any deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds."


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Was not Abraham our ancestor justified by deeds, in that he offered up Isaac, his son, upon the altar?


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And the Scripture was fulfilled which said, And Abraham believed God, and this was imputed to him as righteousness, and he was called Gods friend.


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In like manner was not Rahab, the harlot, justified by her deeds, in the fact that she received the messengers and sent them forth by another way?


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Do not become many teachers, my brothers, because you know well that we teachers shall be judged by a severer standard than others.


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For in many respects we often stumble. If any man never stumbles in speech, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.


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Look at the ships too, though they are so large, even when driven by fierce winds they are turned by a very small rudder, wherever the impulse of the helmsman wills.


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So also the tongue is a small member and makes great boasts. Behold, how great a forest is set on fire by a little spark!


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And the tongue is a fire; it is a very world of iniquity among our members, defiling the whole body, and setting on fire the wheel of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell.


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For while every kind of beast and bird, and of reptiles and sea- creatures are tamable, and actually have been tamed by mankind,


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With it we continually bless our Lord and Father, and with it we are accustomed to curse men made in the image of God.


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Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives; or a grape-vine, figs? No more can salt water yield fresh water.


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Who among you is wise and intelligent? Let him show his deeds by his good life, in the meekness of wisdom.


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But if you have bitter jealousy and faction in your heart, do not be boasting of that, and be false to the truth.


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But the wisdom which comes from on high is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, conciliatory, overflowing with mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without insincerity.


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Where do the conflicts and quarrels that go on among you come from? Do they not come from your passions which are always making war among your bodily members?


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You continually crave and do not obtain; you are killing and coveting and cannot acquire; you are fighting and at war. You do not have, because you do not ask.


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You continue to ask and do not receive, because you are asking with a wrong purpose, in order to spend it upon your pleasures.


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You adulteresses, do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity to God? Whoever, then, desires to be a friend of the world, makes himself and enemy of God.


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Or do you suppose that it is in vain that the Scripture says, "The spirit which has its home in us yearns over us unto jealousy?"


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But he gives more and more grace. therefore it is said, God ever resists the proud; but to the humble he gives grace continually.


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Draw near to God And he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, And purify your hearts, you double-minded.


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Lament and mourn, and weep aloud! Let your laughter be turned into mourning, And your joy into gloom!


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Do not be talking against each other, brothers. He who is talking against a brother and condemning his brothers is talking against the Law and condemning the Law. But if you are condemning the Law, you are not a doer of the Law, but a judge.


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But One is your Lawgiver and Judge - he who is able to save and to destroy. But you, who are you, to be condemning your neighbor?


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Go to now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we shall journey to such a city and spend a year there, and trade and make money,"


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when all the time you do not know what will happen on the morrow. For what is your life? You are but a mist, appearing for a brief time, and then vanishing.


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Your gold and silver are rusted. and their rust will be for a testimony against you, and it will eat your flesh. For you have been storing up fire in these last days!


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Look! the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you have been keeping back by fraud, are crying aloud! And the cries of the reapers have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth!


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You have lived luxuriously on earth, you have taken your pleasure, you have fattened your hearts for a day of slaughter.


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Be patient, then, brothers, till the coming of the Lord. Behold the farmer who waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it gets the early and the latter rains.


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Do not make complaints against each other, brothers, lest you yourselves be condemned. Behold the Judge is standing before the very door!


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Take, my brothers, for an example the suffering and the patience of the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.


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Remember we count those that were stedfast happy. You have heard of the stedfastness of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord with him, seen how the Lord is full of tenderness.


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Again, above all things, my brothers, swear not at all, neither by the heavens, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath. Let your "yes" be "yes," and your "no," "no," so you will not fall under condemnation.


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Is any in good spirits? Let him sing unto his harp. Is any one of you ill? Let him send for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, after anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;


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and the prayer of faith will restore the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, it will be forgiven him.


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So confess your sins one to another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. For the fervent prayer of a righteous man is mighty in its working.


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Elijah was a man of like passions with us, and he prayed again, and the sky gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.


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let him know that he who brings a sinner back from the error of his ways, saves his soul from death, and hides a multitude of sins.


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Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the elect who are sojourners of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Roman Asia, and Bithynia,


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according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ; Grace and peace be multiplied to you.


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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whose great mercy we have been born anew into a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead;


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and into an inheritance imperishable and undefiled and fadeless, which has been kept in heaven for you


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who, through faith, are continuously guarded by the power of God for a salvation, ready to be revealed in the last days.


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These are in order that the test of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable and yet is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor, at the revelation of Jesus Christ.


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Him you love, though you have never seen him; in him you ever believe, though even now you see him not, and you are rejoicing with joy unspeakable and full of glory,


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Concerning this salvation the Prophets who prophesied regarding the grace intended for you, diligently sought and searched.


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They were searching to know to what time, or to what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them kept pointing, when he ever testified beforehand concerning the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.


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It was revealed to them that it was not for themselves, but for you, that they were ministering the truths which have now been announced to you, by those who preached the gospel to you, through the help of the Holy Spirit sent forth from heaven - truths into which angels long to look.


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So then brace up your minds, be steady in spirit, and fix your hope firmly in the grace that is coming to you, at the revelation of Jesus Christ.


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Like obedient children, do not fashion yourselves according to the former passions of your days of ignorance,


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And since you call upon him as Father, who impartially judges each one according to his deeds, pass the time of your sojourning here in reverence.


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For you well know that not with perishable things, with silver or gold, were you redeemed from the emptiness of your manner of life, received by tradition from your ancestors;


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He was indeed foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was manifested at the end of the times for your sake.


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Through him you believe in God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory; so that your faith and hope are now in God.


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Now that by obedience to the truth you have purified your lives for a brotherly love without hypocrisy, you must love one another from your hearts, fervently.


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For you have been born anew, not of perishable, but of imperishable seed, by the living, lasting word of God.


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For, All flesh is grass And all its glory like the flower of the grass. The grass fades, The flower falls,


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But the word of the Lord abides forever. And this is the word of the gospel which has been told to you.


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And yourselves like living stones be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God, through Christ Jesus.


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For, as Scripture says. Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner-stone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him shall never be put to shame.


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For you, then, that believe, is the preciousness; but for those who do not believe, A stone which the builders rejected, The same has become the head stone of the corner,


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and, A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense. They stumble over it because they are disobeying Gods word, and to this they were also appointed.


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But you are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people, that you may show forth the virtues of Him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light -


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you who once were not a people, but now are the people of God; who were once without mercy, but now you have found mercy.


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I beseech you, beloved, as pilgrims and exiles, to abstain from passions of the flesh that war upon your souls.


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Let your manner of life before the Gentiles be honest; so that, although they are now slandering you as evil-doers, they may, by beholding your noble conduct, come to glorify God, in the day of visitation.


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Submit yourselves, for the Lords sake, to every human authority; whether it be to the Emperor as supreme ruler,


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or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evil-doers and for the encouragement of well-doers.


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Live like free men; and yet do not make your freedom a cloak for misconduct, but be the slaves of God.


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Household slaves, submit yourselves to your masters in all reverence; not only to the kind and gentle, but also to the unreasonable.


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For it is an acceptable thing to God, if from a sense of duty to him, a man endures a wrong, even suffering unjustly.


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For what credit is it if, when you are struck for a fault, you take it patiently? But if when you are doing well and suffer for it, you always take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.


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For this is your calling; because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his footsteps;


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He was reviled, and reviled not back. When he suffered he never threatened but always committed his cause to the One who judges rightly.


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He bore our sins in his own body upon the tree, in order that we might become dead to sins, and be alive unto righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.


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For you were straying like lost sheep, but you are now returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.


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In the same way you wives must be submissive to your own husbands; so that if some of them will not believe the message, they may apart from the message be won over by the behavior of their wives,


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Your adornment ought not to be the outward adornment of plaited hair and golden jewels and the wearing of beautiful dresses;


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but rather that hidden personality of the heart, the imperishable ornament of a quiet and gentle spirit, which in the sight of God is indeed precious.


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For in this way in the olden time the holy women also, who put their trust in God, used to adorn themselves. They were ever in submission to their own husbands;


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thus, for example, Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are daughters of Sarah, if you do what is right, and permit nothing to make you afraid.


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In the same way you husbands live with your wives, according to knowledge, honoring your wife as of the weaker sex, yet as an heir with yourself of the grace of life; so that your prayers may not be hindered.


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Finally, you should all be harmonious, sympathetic, loving as brothers, tender-hearted, humble-minded;


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not paying back evil for evil or abuse for abuse, but on the contrary giving a blessing. Because for this you have been called - to inherit a blessing.


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He who would love life and enjoy happy days, Let him keep his tongue from evil, And his lips from speaking guile;


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For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, And his ears are open to their cry; But the face of the Lord is set against evil-doers.


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But even if you should suffer in behalf of righteousness, you are happy. Do not be afraid of their terror, neither be troubled.


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But consecrate Christ in your hearts, as Lord. Be always in readiness to make and answer to any one who asks you a reason for the hope that is within you, yet with gentleness and reverence.


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See that you have a clear conscience, so that, although they speak of you as evil-doers, these libelers of your good Christian lives may be ashamed.


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because Christ also once for all suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but make alive in spirit.


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who in old times had been disobedient, when Gods longsuffering was waiting in the days of Noah, while an ark was building, in which a few persons - eight in number - were saved by water.)


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Baptism, the counterpart of that, now saves you (not the washing off of the filth of the flesh, but the prayer for a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.


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He is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; to Him angels and authorities and powers have been made subject.


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Since, then, Christ suffered in the flesh, do you also ever arm yourselves with the same mind (because he who has suffered in the flesh has done with sin),


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so that in future you may not spend your life in the flesh according to mens desires, but in the will of God.


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For the time past of life may suffice us to have worked the will of the Gentiles, when we spent our life in lasciviousness, lusts, hard drinking, revelry, banqueting, and abominable idol worship.


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They are astonished at this, that you do not run into the same excesses of profligacy as they do; and they speak evil of you.


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The gospel was preached for this cause to those who were dead also, that they might be judged according to men in flesh, but live according to God in spirit.


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Whatever the gifts which each has received, use them for one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.


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If any one preaches, let him always preach as one who utters Gods truth; if any one serves another, let it be with the strength which God supplies; so that in every way God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion for ever and ever, Amen.


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Do not think it strange, beloved, that a fiery ordeal has come to test you, as though some surprising thing had befallen you.


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But be glad in the degree in which you share in the sufferings of Christ; so that when his glory shall be revealed, you too may be glad with triumphant gladness.


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If you are being reproached for the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the spirit of glory and of God is resting upon you.


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But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evil-doer, or as a spy upon other peoples business.


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But if any man is suffering as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him ever glorify God in this Name.


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It is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it first begin with us, what shall be the end of those who are disobedient to the gospel?


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So let those who are suffering according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator.


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Now to you who are presbyters I make this appeal; for I am myself a presbyter, and was a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory about to be revealed.


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Be shepherds to your flock of God; take charge of them willingly, and not through compulsion; not for filthy lucre, but with a willing mind;


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You younger men must submit to the presbyters; and all of you must put on the garment of humility and serve one another, for God resists the haughty, But gives grace to the humble.


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Be temperate, be vigilant; because your enemy, the devil, is prowling about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.


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Resist him, standing firm in the faith, knowing well that the same afflictions are being accomplished in your brothers that are in the world.


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But the God of all grace, who has called us by Christ Jesus to share his eternal glory, will, after you have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.


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By Sylvanus, a faithful brother of yours, as I suppose, I have written you briefly, to comfort you, and to testify that this is the true grace of God. In this stand fast.


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Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained an equally precious faith with us in the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.


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For his power divine has granted to us everything needful for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue.


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By these he has granted his promises to us, precious and splendid; so that through them you may become partners of the divine nature, now that you have escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.


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For if these virtues are yours in abounding measure, they render you not idle nor unfruitful, until you come into the full knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.


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For the man who lacks these virtues is blind, short-sighted, forgetful of his cleansing from his old sins.


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So, brothers, take diligent care to make your calling and election sure; for if you do this, you will never stumble.


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For so the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will be richly supplied to you.


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I shall therefore be always ready to remind you of all this, even though you know it, and are firmly founded in the truth which is with you.


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since I know that the time for me to strike tent comes swiftly on, even as our Lord Jesus Christ pointed out to me.


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So I will do my best to enable you, even after my departure, continually to call these things to mind.


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For we were not following cunningly devised fables, when we told you of the power and presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eye-witnesses of his Majesty.


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For he did receive honor and glory from God the Father, when there was borne such a voice to him from the Majestic Glory, This is my Son, my Beloved, in whom I delight;


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and this voice we ourselves heard, borne to us out of heaven, when we were with him on the holy hill.


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And so we possess the word of prophecy made yet more sure. Unto this you do well to give heed as to a lamp shining in a dark place, till the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.


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For no prophecy was ever brought by the will of man; but moved by the Holy Spirit, men spoke for God.


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But there were false prophets, too, among the people, just as among you also there will be false teachers. These will secretly bring in destructive sects, denying even the Master who bought them, and bringing swift ruin upon themselves.


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Then there will be many who will follow their immorality, because of whom the Way of the Truth will be maligned.


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In their covetousness, with cunning words, they will make merchandise of you; those whose doom has not been idle from of old, and whose destruction has not been slumbering.


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For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus, and committed them to chains of darkness, and reserved them for judgment;


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if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon an ungodly world;


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if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and reduced them to ashes, thus holding them up as a warning to all who would live ungodly;


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(for that righteous man, living among them, tormented his righteous soul in seeing and hearing, day after day, their lawless deeds),


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then be sure that the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to keep the wicked (who are even now enduring punishment) for the "Day of Judgment";


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especially those who spend their lives following the flesh in the lust of defilement, and in despising all authority. Audacious and wilful, they feel no awe in railing against dignities;


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even where angels, though surpassing them in strength and might, do not bring a railing judgment against them before the Lord.


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But these men, like irrational creatures, mere animals, born to be taken and destroyed, continually rail about matters of which they know nothing. In their corruption they will surely be destroyed,


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suffering wrong as the wage of wrong which they have done. These are men who count it pleasure to carouse in open daylight; they are spots and blemishes reveling in their deceit, even while they are feasting with you.


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They have eyes full of harlots, eyes that cannot stop sinning. They entice unsteady souls. Their heart is trained in greed. They are an accursed generation.


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They have forsaken the right way; they have lost their way, and followed the road of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of wrong-doing.


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He was, however, rebuked for his own transgression; a dumb ass spoke with a mans voice, and stopped the madness of the prophet.


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Such men are like waterless springs, or mists storm-driven; for them the blackness of darkness has been reserved.


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For speaking great swelling words of vanity, they entangle, by their lasciviousness, in the lusts of the flesh, those who are just about to escape from the men that live in misconduct.


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They promise them liberty, while they themselves are slaves of rottenness! (For indeed a man is the slave of anything which masters him.)


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For if, after having escaped the pollutions of the world, through the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, men are again entangled in them and overpowered, their last state is become worse than their first.


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Indeed it would have been better for them not to have known the Way of Righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy command delivered to them.


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In their case it has happened according to the true proverb, The dog returns again to his own vomit, and The sow, after washing, to her wallowing in the mire.


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This is now my second letter to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your pure minds by putting you in remembrance.


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I want you to recollect the words that were foretold by the holy prophets, and the command of your Lord and Saviour, given you through your apostles.


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Know this first, that mockers will come in the last days, in their mockery, men who walk the way of their own lusts


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and say, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the day that our fathers fell asleep everything continues as it was from the beginning of the creation."


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For they willingly ignore the fact that there were heaven, from of old, and an earth formed out of water and through water, by the word of God;


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But the heavens and earth that now are, by the same word of God, have been reserved for fire, and are being kept for the Day of Judgment, and for the destruction of ungodly men.


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Do not forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.


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The Lord does not loiter over his promise, as some men esteem loitering; but he is longsuffering toward you, not purposing that any should perish, but that all should pass on to repentance.


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But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief; and on that Day the heavens will vanish with a crash, the heavenly bodies will melt with fervent heat, and the earth and all its works will be burned up.


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Now since all things are in the process of dissolution, what kind of men ought you to be, in all holy living and piety;


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while you look for and hasten the coming of the Day of God. At its coming the heavens, being on fire, will be dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt with fervent heat.


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But according to his promise, we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness makes her dwelling.


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And so, beloved, since you are looking for these things, continually give diligence that you may be found in peace, unspotted and blameless in his sight.


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Regard our Lords longsuffering as salvation; even as our dear brother Paul also wrote to you, according to the wisdom given to him.


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It is the same in all his letters when he speaks of these things. There are indeed some things in his letters hard to understand, which the ignorant and the shifty wrest, as also they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.


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Do you therefore, beloved, because you know these things beforehand, be on your guard lest you be led astray by the error of the wicked, and so fall from your own stedfastness.


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But grow continually in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and unto the Day of Eternity, Amen.


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It is of what has existed from the beginning, of what we have listened to, of what we have seen with our own eyes, of what we have witnessed and touched with our own heads, it is concerning the Logos of Life that we are now writing.


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And the Life was made visible, and we have seen it and are bearing witness, and are bringing you word of that Eternal Life which was face to face with the Father and was made visible to us.


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It is what we have seen and heard that we are announcing to you, in order that you also may have partnership with us; and our partnership is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.


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This, then, is the message that we have heard from him, and are announcing to you, that God is light, and no darkness what ever is in him.


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If we say, "We have partnership with Him," when we are passing our life in the darkness, we are lying and are not doing the truth.


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But is we are passing our life in the light, as he is in the light, we ever have partnership with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ is cleansing us from every sin.


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But if we confess our sins, faithful is he and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all wrong-doing.


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My children, I am writing this to you that you may not continue to sin; but if any one sin, we ever have a Comforter before the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.


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And he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.


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and the truth is not in him; bit if any man obey his word, in him truly is the love of God made perfect. By this we come to know that we are in him.


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Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, nay, and old commandment, which you have had from the beginning. That old commandment is the message to which you have listened.


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Yet again it is a new commandment which I am writing to you, which is true in him and is you; because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.


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But he who hates his brother is in the darkness, and is spending his life in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.


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I am writing to you, fathers, because you have come to know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have fully overcome the Evil One. I have written to you, little children, because you have learned to know the father.


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I have written to you, fathers, because you have learned to know him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God is abiding in you, and you have fully overcome the Evil One.


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Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.


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For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the proud glory of life, is not from the Father, but from the world;


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My children, this is the last hour, and as you have heard that an antichrist was coming, and now many antichrists are already risen, whence we may know that it is the last hour.


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They came forth from us, but they did not belong to us. If they had belonged to us they would certainly have remained with us, but they went out that they might be manifest that they all are not of us.


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I am not writing to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and know that no lie is of the truth.


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Who is the liar if not the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, even he who disowns the Father and the Son.


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Whoever denies the Son, the same has not the Father; but he who confesses the Son has the Father also. As for you, let what you have heard from the beginning abide in you.


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If what you have heard from the beginning is abiding in you, you also will ever abide in the Son and in the Father.


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As to you, the unction you received from him remains ever in you, and you need no teaching from any one. But since his unction teaches you concerning all things and is true, and is no lie, abide continually in him, as it has taught you to do.


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And now continue to abide in him, my children, so that when he shall appear we may have cheerful confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming.


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If you know that he is righteous you know also that every one who habitually practises righteousness has been born of him.


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Behold what manner of love the Father has given us in allowing us to be called "Children of God!" And that is what we are. For this reason the world does not recognize us, because it did not know him.


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We are Gods children now, beloved; what we shall be has never yet been made manifest. But we know that when he is manifested we shall be like him; for we shall see him even as he is.


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Whoever continually abides in him does not habitually sin; whoever lives in sin has not seen him, nor come to know him.


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My children, let no one deceive you; he who is working righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous.


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He who is committing sin is of the devil, because from the beginning of the devil is sinning. It was for this cause that the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.


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Whoever is a child of God cannot go on sinning, because his seed is abiding in him; and he cannot go on sinning because he is a child of God.


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In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil; for every one who does not work righteousness is not a child of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.


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We are not to be like Cain, who belonged to the Evil One, and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? It was because his own deeds were evil, and his brothers, righteous.


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We know that we have migrated, out of death into life, because we love our brothers. He who has no love is abiding in death.


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Every one who is hating his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.


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By this we learn to know love, because he laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.


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But whoever has this worlds goods, and beholds his brother in need, and shuts up his heart against him, how can the love of God continue to abide in him?


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and shall persuade our heart in his presence whenever our heart condemns us, because God is greater than our heart and knows all things.


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and whatever we ask we are receiving from him, because we are keeping his commandments and doing those things that are pleasing in his sight.


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His commandment is this, that we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as he has commanded us to do.


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He who keeps his commandments is abiding in Him, and Christ in him. By this we know that Christ is abiding in us, by the Spirit which he has given us.


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Do not believe every spirit, beloved, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets are gone out into the world.


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By this you know the Spirit of God; every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is from God;


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and every spirit which confesses him not, is not from God. And this is that spirit of Antichrist of which you have heard that it is coming, and that now it is already in the world.


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My little children, you are of God and have conquered them; because he that is within you is greater than he that is in the world.


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They are of the world, and for this reason they speak as of the world, and the world listens to them.


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But you are of God. He who is beginning to know God listens to us; he who is not of God does not listen to us. By this we may distinguish the spirit of truth from the spirit of error.


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In this was the love of God clearly shown toward us, by his sending his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.


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In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins.


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No man has ever gazed on God; but if we love one another, God ever abides in us, and his love is perfected in us.


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By this we come to know that we are abiding in him, and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit;


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And we do know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love; and he who is abiding in love is abiding in God, and God is abiding in him.


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In this is love made perfect with us, so that we may have cheerful confidence in the Day of Judgment, because we are living in this world as He lives.


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Fear does not exist in love; but love, when it is perfect, drives out fear. For fear has always torment, and he who has fear is not yet perfected in love.


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If any one says, "I love God," and yet hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot possibly love God, whom he has not seen.


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Every one who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God; and every one who loves the Father, loves him also who is the Fathers Child.


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For whoever is a child of God is overcoming the world; and our faith is the victory that has overcome the world.


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And who it the one that is overcoming the world if not the man who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?


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Jesus Christ is he who came by water and blood, not by the water only, but by the water and by the blood. The spirit is he who bears testimony, because the Spirit is the truth.


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If we accept mens testimony, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God, that he has borne testimony concerning his Son.


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He who believes on the Son of God has the testimony in himself. He who does not believe God, has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son.


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I have written these words to you so that you may know that you have eternal life, you who believe in the name of the Son of God.


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Now the confidence which we have in him is this, that he listens to us whenever we ask anything that is in accordance with his will.


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And if we know that he is listening to us in what ever we are asking, we know that we obtain the petitions which we have made to him.


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If any one sees his brother committing a sin that is not deadly, he shall ask, and God will give him life, for any one who is not committing a deadly sin. There is a deadly sin; concerning that I do not say that he should pray.


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We know that whoever is a child of God is not habitually committing sin; but he who is Gods child guards himself, and the Evil One never touches him.


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And we know that the Son of God is come, and has granted us and understanding, so that we may come to know him who is true. And we are in him who is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and life eternal.


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The Elder to the Elect Lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all those who have come to know the truth.


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Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father, and from Jesus Christ the Fathers Son, in truth and love.


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I am greatly rejoiced to find some of your children leading their lives in truth, even as we received commandment from the Father.


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And now I am entreating you, Lady, not as though I were writing some new commandment to you, but one which we have had from the beginning, let us love one another.


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And this is love, that we should lead our lives according to his commandments. This is the commandment, even as you heard from the beginning, that you should pass your life in love.


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I say this because many deceivers are gone forth into the world, those who deny the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the Antichrist.


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Whoever is going ahead, and is not abiding in the teachings of Christ, does not possess God; but he who is abiding in the teaching possesses both the Father and the Son.


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If any one come to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, nor give him any greeting.


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I have many things to write to you, but I would not write them with paper and ink. I hope to come to you and to talk with you face to face, so that your joy may be full.


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I pray that you may prosper, beloved, in every way, and be in good health, even as your soul is prospering.


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For I was glad when brothers came and bore testimony to your truth, as indeed you are passing your life in truth.


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They have borne testimony to your love before the church. You will do well to speed them on their way worthily of God;


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I have written somewhat to the church; but Diotrephes, who love to take the lead among them, does not receive me.


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Do them when I come I will recall to mind the deeds which he is doing, prating against me with wicked words. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to receive the brothers, forbids those that would receive them, and excommunicates them from the church.


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Do not imitate what is evil, beloved, but that which is good. He who does good is of God; he who does evil has never gazed on God.


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All men bear testimony to Demetrius, and so does the truth itself. I also bear testimony to him; and you know that my testimony is true.


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I am hoping soon to see you, and then we shall talk face to face. Peace be to you! The friends send their salutation. Salute the friends by name.


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Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ, and a brother of James. To those who are in God, the Father beloved, kept for Jesus Christ, and called.


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Beloved, although I was making all haste to write to you in regard to our common salvation, I am compelled to write you an appeal to defend the faith once for all committed to the saints.


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For certain men have crept in stealthily - men predestined in ancient prophecies for this condemnation - impious ones! They pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness, and deny Jesus Christ, our sole Master and Lord.


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I wish to remind you of what you already know right well, that although the Lord once saved a people out of the land of Egypt, he afterward destroyed those who did not believe;


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while the angels who did not keep their first domain but left their proper abode, are held by him in blank darkness, in everlasting chains, in preparation for the judgment of the Great Day.


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So also Sodom and Gomorrah and the near-by cities which in like manner glutted themselves in sensuality and unnatural vice, are exhibited as a warning of the eternal fire, in the punishment they undergo.


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Yet in just the same way these dreamers also defile the flesh, while they set at naught dominion and scoff at dignities.


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But Michael, the Archangel, when in contending with the devil, he was disputing about the body of Moses, did not dare to pronounce sentence for blasphemy, but said, "The Lord rebuke you."


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Yet these men blaspheme about matters of which they know nothing, while they use such things as they do understand by instinct (like the animals who have no reason) for their own destruction.


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Alas for them! They have walked in the path of Cain; for the sake of gain they have rushed headlong into Balaams error, and have perished in Korahs rebellion.


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These are they who are stains upon your love-feasts; when they feast sumptuously without scruple, looking after none but themselves. They are clouds without water, driven along by the winds; trees of autumn, fruitless, doubly dead, torn up by the roots,


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wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.


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It was to these, too, that Enoch, the "seventh in descent from Adam," prophesied, saying, "Lo! the Lord is come with myriads of his saints,


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to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly deeds which in their ungodliness they have committed; and of all the hard things which they have spoken against Him, ungodly sinners that they are!"


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For these are murmurers, always complaining. They always go where their passions lead, and their mouth speaks great swelling words, while they pay court to men for the sake of the advantage they can get.


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But as for you, dearly beloved, remember the words spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ,


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how they used to say to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will be led only by their godless passions."


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But you, beloved, continually building yourselves up on your most holy faith, and ever praying in the Holy Spirit,


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must keep yourselves in the love of God, while waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, which ends in life eternal.


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Now unto Him who has power to guard you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, faultless and exultant,


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to the only God, our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be ascribed glory, majesty, might, and authority, as it was before time began, is now, and ever shall be to all the ages. Amen.


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\ul1 THE UNVEILING APOCALYPSE OF JESUS CHRIST\ul0 which God gave him to show to his slaves the things which must soon come to pass; and he sent and made it known by his angel to his slave John.


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He bore witness of the Word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, even of all the things that he saw.


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Blessed is he who reads, and they who hear the words of the prophecy, and keep what is written in it. \ul1 FOR THE CRISIS IS AT HAND\ul0.


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From John to the seven churches that are in Asia the Roman Province. Grace to you, and peace from Him that is and was and is to be, and from the Seven Spirits that are before his throne,


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and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has loosed us from our sins in his own blood;


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and has made us to be a kingdom of priests unto his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever, Amen.


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Behold, he is about to come among the clouds; and every eye will see him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. So shall it be, Amen.


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"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.


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I, John, who am your brother and who share with you in the woes and kingdom and stedfastness of Jesus, found myself in the island called Patmos, for the sake of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.


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saying, "Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches; to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and Sardis and Philadelphia and Laodicea."


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And I turned to see the Voice which was speaking to me, and as I turned I saw seven golden candlesticks;


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and in the midst of the candlesticks One like to a son of man, clothed with a robe down to the feet, and with a golden girdle round his breast.


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and his feet like burnished brass, as if molten in a furnace; and his voice like the voice of many waters.


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In his right hand he held seven stars; and out of mouth went a sharp, two-edged sword, and his face was as the sun shining in his strength.


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When I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying. "Fear not; I am the first and the last, and the Living One.


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So write the things which you saw, and the things which are, and the things that will come to pass hereafter.


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The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks, is this. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks are the seven churches."


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To the angel of the Church in Ephesus, write. These are the words of Him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, and who walks among the seven golden candlesticks.


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I know your works and your toil and stedfastness, and that you cannot endure evil men, and that you tested those who called themselves apostles, though they are not, and how you found them false.


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Remember whence you have fallen, and turn again, and do your first works. Otherwise I am coming to you and will remove your candlestick out of its place, unless you repent.


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He who has an ear, let him listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To him that overcomes, to him will I give to eat from the tree of life which is in the garden of God.


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And unto the angel of the Church in Smyrna, write. These are the words of the First and the Last, he who died and has returned to life.


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I know your persecution and your poverty - but you are rich! I know the reviling of those who say that they themselves are Jews, when they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.


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Fear not what you are about to suffer! Behold, the devil is indeed going to put some of you in prison, that you may be tested, and you will have persecution for ten days. Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.


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Let him who has ears, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. He that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death.


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And to the angel of the Church in Pergamum, write These are the words of Him who holds the sharp two-edged sword.


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I know where you dwell, where the throne of Satan is; and yet you are holding fast my name, and you have not denied my faith, even in the days of Antipas, my witness, my faithful one, who was slain among you, where Satan has his dwelling.


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But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling- block before the sons of Israel, to eat food offered to idols, and to practise immorality.


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Repent; if you do not I will very soon come to you, and will make war upon them with the sword of my mouth.


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He who has ears, let him listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To him that overcomes I will give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written, which no man knows, but he that receives it.


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And to the angel of the Church in Thyatira, write. These are the words of the Son of God, who has his eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet like burnished brass.


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I know your works and your love and faith and service and endurance; I know that your last works are more than the first.


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But I have this against you, that you are tolerating that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she is teaching and leading my slaves astray, leading them to practise immorality, and to eat food which has been sacrificed to idols.


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Behold, I will lay her on a sick bed, and bring great distress upon those who have committed adultery with her, unless they turn away from her works.


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And moreover, her children will I kill with pestilence. And all the churches shall know that I am he who searches the hearts and souls of men. I will give to each of you according to his works.


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But to the rest of you in Thyatira, those who do not hold his teaching, and who do not know the "deep things" of Satan (as they call them),


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To him that overcomes and perseveres in my works to the end, will I give authority over the nations.


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And he shall shepherd them with a rod of iron, shattering them like earthen vessels (as I myself have received from my Father),


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To the angel of the Church at Sardis, write. These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your works, that you have the name of being alive, but are really dead.


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Be continually on the watch, and establish the things that remain, which were ready to die. For I have not found your works perfected before my God.


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Call to mind, then, what you have received and heard, and hold to it, and repent. Unless you are on the watch, I will come as a thief, and you will never know at what hour I am coming upon you.


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Yet you have a few names in Sardis that have not defiled their garment; and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy.


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He who overcomes shall thus be clad in white raiment; and I will in no wise blot out his name from the book of life, and I will own his name before my Father, and before his angels.


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Write also to the angel of the Church in Philadelphia. These things says He who is holy, he who is true, he who has the key of David, he who opens, and no one shall shut; and who shuts, and no one opens.


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I know your works. Lo, I have set before you an open door, which none can shut; for though you have only a little strength, you have kept my word, and have not denied my name.


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Behold, I am making those of the synagogue of Satan, those who say they are Jews, but are not, but are lying; behold, I will make them to come and bow in reverence before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.


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Because you have kept the word of my patience, I also will keep you from that hour of trial which is about to come upon the whole inhabited earth, to test those who dwell on the earth.


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He that overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God; and he shall go out from it nevermore. And I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.


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To the angel of the Church in Laodicea, write. These things says the Amen, the witness, faithful and true, the beginning of the creation of God.


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Would that you were either cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am about to spew you out of my mouth.


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For you keep saying, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and do not know that you are the wretched one, and pitiable and beggared and blind and naked.


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I advise you to buy of me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich; and white raiment to clothe yourself, so that the shame of your nakedness may not be made manifest; and eye-salve to anoint your eyes, in order that you may see.


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Behold, I am standing at the door and knocking! If any one listens to my voice, and opens the door, I will come to him, and sup with him, and he with me.


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To him who overcomes, I will grant to sit down with me on my throne, as I myself have overcome and have taken my seat with my Father on his throne.


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After this, in my vision, I saw a door opened in heaven! And the first voice that I heard speaking with me was like a trumpet, saying, "Come up hither, and I will show you the things that must come to pass hereafter."


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Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, there stood a throne in heaven, and upon the throne One sat;


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and he who sat was in appearance like a jasper stone and a sardius; and there was a rainbow round about the throne, like an emerald to look upon.


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And round about the throne were four and twenty Elders seated, who were clothed in white raiment, with golden crowns upon their heads.


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From the throne issued lightning and voices and thunders. Seven blazing lamps were burning before the throne; these are the seven Spirits of God.


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And in front of the throne as it seemed, a glassy sea like crystal; and in the midst of the throne and encircling it are four Living Creatures, full of eyes before and behind.


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The first creature was like a lion, and the second like a calf, and the third creature had a face like a mans, and the fourth creature was like an eagle flying.


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And the four Living Creatures, each one with six wings, are full of eyes round about and within; day and night they are chanting ceaselessly. "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty. Who was, and who is, and who is to come."


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And whenever the Living Creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever,


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the four and twenty Elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying.


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"Worthy art thou, our Lord and our God, To receive the glory and the honor and the power; For thou didst create all things, And because of thy will they came into being And were created."


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Then I saw lying upon the right hand of Him who sat upon the throne, a book written within and on the back, close sealed with seven seals.


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And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose its seals."


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And no one in the heavens or on the earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book, or to look into it.


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But one of the Elders said to me. "Do not weep! Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, and so can open the book with its seven seals."


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Then I beheld a Lamb standing as if slain in the midst of the throne and of the four Living Creatures, and in the midst of the Elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes (which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth).


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And he went, and now he has taken the book out of the right hand of Him who was seated on the throne.


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When he took the book, the four Living Creatures and the four and twenty Elders fell down before the Lamb. And each had a harp and a golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.


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And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy art thou to take the book And to open its seals; For thou wast slain and didst ransom for God Men out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation;


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Then I looked and heard a voice of many angels encircling the throne and a voice of the Living Creatures and of the Elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands,


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singing aloud, "Worthy is the Lamb who has been slain, To receive power and riches and wisdom And might and honor and glory and blessing."


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And I heard every created thing that is in heaven, or on earth, or beneath the earth, or on the sea, and all things that are in them, saying, "To him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, Be the blessing and the honor, And the glory and the power, Forever and ever!"


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And I saw, when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four Living Creatures say, with a voice like thunder, "Come!"


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And I saw, and lo, a white horse, and he who sat on him had a bow; and there was given him a crown; and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.


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And another horse come forth, a red horse. To him who sat on it, it was allowed to take peace from the earth, and to cause men to kill one another; and a great sword was given to him.


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And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third Living Creature say, "Come!" And I saw, and lo, a black horse! He who sat on him had a balance in his hand.


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And I heard the semblance of a voice in the midst of the four Living Creatures, saying. "A quart of wheat for a shilling, and three quarts of barley for a shilling; but do not harm the oil and the wine."


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And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth Living Creature calling, "Come!"


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So I liked, and lo, a pale horse; and he who sat on him was named Death; and Hades was following after him. To them was given authority over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with the sword, and with famine, and with death, and with the wild beasts of the earth.


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And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they bore.


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And with a loud voice they cried, saying, "O Master, holy and true, How long dost thou not judge And avenge our blood On those who dwell on the earth?"


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And there was given to each one of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for yet a little time, until the number should be completed by their fellow slaves and their brethren who were about to be put to death as they had been.


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And I looked when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black, like sackcloth, and the full moon became like blood;


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And the sky parted asunder like a rolled-up scroll; and every mountain and island was moved out of its place;


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and the kings of the earth, and the princes, and the generals, the rich and the mighty, both slaves and freemen, every one of them hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.


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And they began to say to the mountains and to the rocks. "Fall upon us and hide us From the face of him who is seated upon the throne, And from the wrath of the Lamb;


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After this I saw four angels, standing at the four corners of the earth, restraining the four winds from blowing on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree.


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And I saw another angel ascend from the sunrising, having a seal of the living God; and he cried with a great voice to the four angels to whom it was given to injure the earth and the sea,


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saying, "Do no harm to the earth, or the sea, or the trees, Until we have sealed the slaves of our God on their foreheads."


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And I heard the number of those who were sealed, a hundred and forty and four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel.


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Of the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed; Of the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Gad, twelve thousand;


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Of the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Manasseh, twelve thousand;


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Of the tribe of Symeon, twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Issachar, twelve thousand;


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Of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand; Of the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand;


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After this I looked, and behold a great multitude, whom no man could number, out of every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands;


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and they cried with a loud voice, saying "Salvation to our God, who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb!"


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And all the angels stood encircling the throne, and the Elders and the Living Creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne, worshiping God,


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and crying, "Even so! The blessing and the glory and the wisdom And the thanksgiving and the honor and the power and the might Be to our God forever and ever. Amen."


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And I said to him, "You know, my Lord." And he said to me, "These are those who have come out of the great persecution, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.


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For this they are now before the throne of God, and are serving him day and night in his temple. "And He who sits on the throne Will spread his tabernacle over them.


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They hunger no more, Neither thirst any more; Neither will the sun strike upon them, Nor any scorching heat;


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For the Lamb in the midst of the throne Will shepherd them, And will lead them to fountains of living water; And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."


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And when he opened the seventh seal, there followed a silence in heaven, about the space of half an hour.


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And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer, and a great quantity of incense was given him to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar, which was before the throne.


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And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose up from the hand of the angel into the presence of God.


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Then the angel took the censer, and he filled it with fire from the altar, and poured it upon the earth; and there followed thunders and voices and lightnings and an earthquake.


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And the first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and it fell upon the earth; and the third part of the earth was burned up, and the third part of the trees, and all the green grass.


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And the second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was hurled into the sea; and a third part of the sea became blood;


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and a third part of the living creatures in the sea died, and the third part of the ships were destroyed.


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And the third angel blew his trumpet, and there fell from heaven a great star, blazing like a torch. It fell upon a third of the rivers and upon the springs. (The name of the star is called Wormwood.)


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A third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.


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And the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and the third part of the sun was blasted, and a third part of the moon, and a third part of the stars; so that the third part of them should be darkened, and for a third part of the day there was no light, and at night it was the same.


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And I looked and I heard a solitary eagle flying in mid-heaven, and crying with a loud voice, "Woe, woe, woe for all who live on the earth, Because of the rest of the trumpet-blasts That the three angels are about to blow!"


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Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven upon the earth; and to him was given the key to the bottomless pit.


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And he opened the bottomless pit, and out of the pit there went up a smoke like the smoke of a great furnace. And the sun and the air grew dark, because of the smoke out of the pit.


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And out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth; they were given power like that of scorpions on the earth..


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They were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any plant, nor any tree, but only those who have not the seal of God on their foreheads.


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Yet they were not permitted to kill them, but only to torture them for five months. Their torture was like the torture of a scorpion, when it stings a man.


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In those days men will seek death, and will not find it; they will long to die, but death ever flees from them.


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The appearance of the locusts was like horses equipped for battle. On their heads there was something like crowns of gold, and their faces were like mens faces,


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and they had breastplates something like breastplates of iron; and the noise of their wings was like the noise of chariots, of many horses rushing into battle.


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And they have tails like scorpions, and stings, and their power to torture men five months was in their tails.


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They have a king over them, the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon; in Greek he is called Apollyon.


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Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet; and I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar which is before God,


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one saying to the sixth angel that had the trumpet, "Loose the four angels which are bound at the great river Euphrates."


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Then the four angels that were held in readiness for that hour and day and month and year, were let loose, to destroy a third of mankind.


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The number of the hosts of the horsemen was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number;


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and thus I saw the horses in the vision and their riders. They had breastplates of fire, "red as fire, dark blue as jacinth, and yellow as sulphur." The heads of the horses were like lions heads, and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.


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By these three plagues a third of mankind were killed; by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which issued from their mouths.


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For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails. For their tails are like serpents with heads, and with them they work woe.


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And the rest of mankind who were not killed with these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands. They would not give up the worship of demons and of idols made of gold and silver, and brass, and stone, and wood, which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk.


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And they did not repent of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their immorality, nor of their thefts.


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And I saw another mighty angel coming down out of heaven, clad with a cloud; and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire.


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In his hand he had a little book, open; and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left upon the land.


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With a great voice he shouted as a lion roars; and when he shouted, the seven thunders uttered their voices.


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When the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from the sky, saying, "Seal up the words which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not."


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And the angel whom I had seen standing upon the sea and upon the land lifted up his right hand to heaven,


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and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created the heaven and all that is in it, and the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it,


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"Delay there shall be no more, but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to blow his trumpet, then shall there be finished the mystery of God, according to the Good News which he told unto his slaves, the prophets."


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And the voice which I had heard from heaven, I heard again, speaking to me, and saying, "Go, take the little book that is open in the hand of the angel who stands upon the sea and upon the land."


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And I went to the angel and told him to give me the little book. And he said to me. "Take it, and eat it up; it will make your belly bitter, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey."


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I took the little book out of the hand of the angel, and ate it up, and it was in my mouth sweet like honey; but when I had eaten it, my belly was made bitter.


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And there was given me a reed like to a rod, and a voice said to me. "Go and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and those who are worshiping therein.


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But the court which is outside the temple, omit, and do not measure that, for it has been given up to the Gentiles, and they shall tread under foot the Holy City for forty and two months.


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And I will give power to my two witnesses, and clothed in sackcloth they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days.


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When any one wishes to hurt them, fire comes from their mouth and devours their enemies; and if any man wishes to hurt them, in this manner he must be killed.


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These have power to shut heaven so that it does not rain in the days of their prophecy; and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.


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"And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that is coming up out of the bottomless pit will make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them.


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And their dead bodies lie in the streets of the great city whose mystical name is Sodom and Egypt - where also their Lord was crucified.


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For three days and a half men of all peoples, and tribes, and languages, and nations, look upon their dead bodies, and refuse to let their dead bodies be laid in a tomb.


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"And those who dwell on the earth are rejoicing over them, and making merry; and they will send gifts to one another; because these two prophets were a torment to those who dwell on the earth.


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And after three days and a half the breath of life from God entered into them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell upon them.


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And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, "Come up hither," and they went up to heaven on a cloud, while their enemies watched them.


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And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell; and there were killed in the earthquake seven thousand persons; and the rest were frightened and gave glory to the God of heaven.


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And the seventh angel blew his trumpet; and there followed great voices in heaven, and they said, "THE KINGDOMS OF THIS WORLD ARE BECOME THE KINGDOM OF OUR LORD AND OF HIS CHRIST, AND HE WILL REIGN FOREVER AND EVER."


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Then the four and twenty Elders who are seated before God on their thrones, fell upon their faces and worshiped God,


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saying. "We give thee thanks, O Lord God, The Almighty, who art and who wast; For thou hast taken thy great power, And begun to reign.


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The nations raged, and thy wrath came, And the time for the dead to be judged; The time for rewarding thy slaves, the prophets And the saints, and those who reverence thy name, Both small and great; And the time to destroy those who are destroying the earth."


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Then the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen inside his sanctuary; and there followed lightnings and voices and thunders, and an earthquake, and great hail.


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And a great sign was seen in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a diadem of twelve stars.


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And another sign was seen in heaven; and lo, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and upon his head seven diadems.


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His tail drew a third part of the stars of the sky, and dashed them down to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman about to be delivered, so that he might devour her child when she was delivered.


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And she gave birth to a son, a man child, who is to shepherd all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up unto God and unto his throne.


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And the woman fled into the desert, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for a thousand two hundred and threescore days.


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And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels went forth to war with the dragon; and the dragon also fought, and his angels;


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Now the great dragon was thrown down - that old Serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.


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And I heard a great voice in heaven, which said. "Now it is come! the salvation and the power, The kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ! For the accuser of our brethren is thrown down, Who accused them before our God, day and night.


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And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb, And by the word of their testimony; And they loved not their life, even unto death.


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Therefore rejoice, O heavens, And you who dwell therein! Woe to the earth and the sea! For the devil has gone down to you in great fury, Because he knows that he has but little time."


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When the dragon saw that he was hurled down to the earth, he pursued the woman who gave birth to the man child.


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But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle, so that she might fly into the desert to her place where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.


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And the serpent poured water from his mouth after the woman, water like a river, so that he might cause her to be carried off by the stream.


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But the earth came to the rescue of the woman and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the river that the dragon had poured forth from his mouth.


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And the dragon was enraged at the woman, and went away to make war upon the rest of her children who keep the commandments of God, and hold fast the testimony of Jesus. And he stood upon the sand of the sea.


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Then I saw rising up out of the sea a beast who had ten horns and seven heads. On his horns he had ten diadems, and on his heads blasphemous titles.


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The beast I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were bears feet, and his mouth a lions mouth. The dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.


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And I saw that one of his heads seemed to have been mortally wounded, but its deadly wound had been healed. The whole earth was following the beast, wondering.


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Men worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying. "Who is like the beast? Who can fight with him?"


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And he was permitted to utter loud boasts and blasphemies; and there was given to him authority to continue forty-two months.


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So he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle (those who live in his tabernacle in heaven).


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The beast was allowed to wage war upon the saints, and to conquer them; and there was given him authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation;


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and each one whose name has not been written in the Lambs book of life, the Lamb who has been slain from the foundation of the world. All who dwell on the earth shall worship him.


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Whoever is destined to go into captivity, goes into captivity. Whoever shall kill with the sword, shall surely be killed by the sword. (Here is the endurance and faith of the saints.)


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And I saw another beast ascending from the land; and he had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon;


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and he exerts the full authority of the first beast before him, and he makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast whose death-stroke was healed.


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And he performs great miracles, so that he even causes fire to come down to the earth from the sky, before mens eyes.


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And he deceives those who dwell on the earth, because of the miracles, which he is permitted to perform in the sight of the beast. He tells those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the sword-stroke, yet lived.


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And he was permitted to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast should speak; and so that any one who would not worship the image of the beast should be put to death.


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And he makes all men, low and high, rich and poor, freemen and slaves, to have a brand put upon their right hands or upon their brows,


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Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding count the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man; and his number is 666.


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And I looked, and lo, there was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with were a hundred and forty and four thousand who had his name and his Fathers name written on their foreheads.


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And I heard a voice from heaven like the voice of many waters, and the voice of a great thunder; and I heard the voice of harpers harping on their harps.


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They were singing a new song before the throne, and before the four Living Creatures and the Elders; and none can learn that song, except the one hundred and forty and four thousand, who had been redeemed from the earth.


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These are they who were not defiled with women; for they are celibates. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been redeemed from among men to be the first-fruits unto God and the Lamb.


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Then I saw another angel who was flying in mid-heaven. He had an eternal evangel, to evangelize all the dwellers on the earth, of every nation and tribe and tongue and people.


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And he cried with a loud voice. "Fear God and give him glory, Because the hour of his judgment is come. And worship Him who made the heavens and the earth And the sea and springs of waters."


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Then a second angel followed, crying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great, Who has made all the nations drink the wine Of the frenzy of her fornication."


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And another angel, a third, followed them, crying with a mighty voice. "Whoever worships the beast and his image, And receives a brand on his forehead or on his hand,


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He also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, Poured out unmixed in the cup of his anger; And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone In the presence of the holy angels, And in the presence of the Lamb,


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And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; And they have no rest day or night, Who worship the beast and his image, And all who receive the brand of his name."


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Here is the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.


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And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Write, Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth! Yea, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, For their deeds do follow them."


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And I looked, and lo, a white cloud; and on the cloud I saw One sitting like to a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand.


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And another angel came out of the temple, shouting with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud. "Thrust in your sickle, and reap; for the time to reap is come. The harvest of the earth is overripe."


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And another angel came from the altar, the angel who has power over fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, saying, "Thrust in your sharp sickle, And gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, For its grapes are fully ripe."


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So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the clusters of the vine of the earth, and threw them into the winepress, the great winepress of the wrath of God.


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And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood gushed out of the winepress, even to the bridles of the horses, as far as two hundred miles.


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And I beheld another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels with the seven last plagues; because with them the wrath of God is finished.


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And I saw the semblance of a glassy sea, mingled with fire; and standing by this glassy sea, with harps of God, were those who came off conquerors from the beast and from his image and from the cipher of his name.


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They were singing the song of Moses, the slave of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying. "Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty! Righteous and true are thy ways, Thou King of kings!


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Who shall not fear, O Lord, And glorify thy name? For thou only art holy. For all the nations shall come and worship before thee; For thy righteous acts have been made evident."


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and there came out of the sanctuary the seven angels with the seven plagues. They were clothed in white linen, pure and bright, and girt about the breasts with golden girdles.


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And one of the four Living Creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls, full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever.


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The sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory and majesty of God; and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.


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Then I heard a loud voice which came out of the temple, saying to the seven angels, "Go, empty the seven bowls of the wrath of God upon the earth."


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The first angel went and poured out his bowl upon the earth. And it was turned to loathsome and painful sores upon all who bore the brand of the beast, and who worshiped his image.


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And the second angel poured out his bowl upon the sea; and it became blood, like the blood of a corpse, and every living creature died - everything in the sea.


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And the third poured out his bowl into the rivers and springs of waters; and they were turned into blood.


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And I heard the angel of the waters saying. "Righteous art thou, thou who art and wast, The Holy One, Because thou didst inflict this judgment.


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For men poured out the blood of thy saints and prophets, And thou hast given them blood to drink. And this they deserved."


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And the fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun, and the sun was permitted to scorch men with fire.


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And men were scorched with the terrible heat; and they blasphemed the name of the God who had the power over these plagues; yet they repented not, to give him glory.


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And the fifth poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast; and his kingdom became darkened, and men gnawed their tongues for pain,


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and they blasphemed the God of heaven, because of their pains and their sores; yet of their deeds they did not repent.


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And the sixth poured his bowl upon the great river, the River Euphrates, and its water was dried up so as to make ready the way for the kings that come from the sunrising.


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And I saw three unclean spirits, like frogs, coming out of the dragons mouth, and the beasts mouth, and the false prophets mouth.


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For these are the spirits of demons performing miracles, who go forth to the kings of the habitable earth, to gather them together for the battle of the great Day of God, the Almighty.


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Lo, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the who is on the watch and guarding his clothing, so that he may not walk naked, and they gaze on his shame.


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And the seventh poured out his bowl upon the air, and a great voice came forth out of the temple from the throne, saying, "It is finished!"


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And lightnings and voices and thunders and a great earthquake such as had not happened since man began to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake, so mighty;


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and the great city was shattered into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and great Babylon came to mind before the face of God, to give her the cup of the wine of the passion of his anger.


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And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for the plague of it is very great.


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And there came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, and spoke to me, saying, "Come hither and I will show you the sentence passed upon the great harlot who sits on many waters,


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with whom the kings of the earth have committed adultery, while all who live on the earth have been made drunken by the wine of her immorality."


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And he bore me away in the Spirit into the desert, and I saw a woman who sat upon a scarlet beast covered with blasphemous names. It had seven heads and ten horns.


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The woman was enwrapped in purple and scarlet and was encrusted with gold and precious stones and pearls. In her hand she held a golden cup filled with abominations, even the impurities of her immorality.


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Upon her forehead a name was written, a mystery, "BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS, AND ABOMINABLE THINGS OF THE EARTH."


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And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus, and I wondered with a great wonder.


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And the angel said to me. "Why did you wonder? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with the seven heads and ten horns, that carried her.


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The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the bottomless pit, and to go into perdition. And those who dwell on the earth shall wonder, those whose names have never, from the foundation of the world, been written in the Lambs Book of Life, when they gaze on the beast; how he was and is not, and is to come.


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and they are seven kings; the five have fallen, one is, the other is not yet come (and when he does come, he must remain a short time).


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And the beast who was, but is not, is himself also an eighth, although he is one of the seven kings, and is on his way to perdition.


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"The ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received their kingdoms; but they have received authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast.


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These will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is the Lord of lords, and King of kings. And they who are with him are called and faithful and chosen."


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And he also said to me. "The waters which you saw, on which the harlot takes her seat, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.


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And the ten horns which you saw, they and the beast will hate the harlot and make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and burn her up with fire.


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For God has put it into their hearts to execute his purpose, in executing their common purpose, and by giving over their kingdoms to the beast, until the words of God shall be accomplished.


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After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, who had great authority; and the earth was illumined by his glory.


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He shouted with a mighty cry, saying. "She is fallen! She is fallen, Babylon the great! Now she is a dwelling-place of demons, A stronghold of every foul spirit, A stronghold of every foul and hateful bird.


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For all nations, having drunk the wine of the frenzy of her fornication, are fallen; And the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, And the merchants of the earth have grown rich by the power of her wantonness."


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And behold I heard another voice from heaven saying. "Come out of her, that you have no fellowship with her sins, And that you receive not her plagues.


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Render to her what she rendered; Yes, pay double what her deeds deserve. In the cup she mixed, mix double for her.


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By so much as she glorified herself and waxed wanton, By so much give her of torture and tears, For she says in her heart, I sit here a queen, I am no widow. I shall in no wise see mourning.


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Therefore in one day shall these plagues come upon her, Death and mourning and famine, And she shall be burnt with fire; For mighty is the Lord God, her judge.


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And the kings of the earth who committed fornication And lived wantonly with her, Will weep and wail over her, When they behold the smoke of her burning,


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Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, the great city Babylon, the strong city! In one hour is your judgment come!


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"And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, For no one buys their merchandise any more -


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Merchandise of gold and silver and precious stones, Of pearls, and fine linen, and purple and silk and scarlet; All citron wood, and vessels of ivory, And vessels of rare wood and brass and iron and marble;


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Cinnamon and balsam and spices and myrrh and frankincense; Wine and oil and fine flour and wheat; Cattle and sheep, and horses and chariots, And slaves, and the souls of men.


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And the fruits which your soul lusted for are gone from you, And all things that were dainty and sumptuous are perished from you, And men shall find them nevermore.


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"The traders in those things, who were enriched by her, shall stand afar off for fear of her torment, weeping and mourning,


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saying. "Woe, woe, the great city! She who was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, And adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls!


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In one hour so great riches is made desolate!" And every shipmaster and every one who sails to any port, And sailors, and all seafaring folk,


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Stood at a distance, and as they saw the smoke from the burning city, cried, "What city can compare with the great city?


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And they threw dust on their heads, and cried out, Weeping and mourning, saying, "Woe, woe, the great city, In which all who have ships on the sea Grew rich through her luxury! For in one hour she is made desolate!"


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Then a mighty angel lifted a boulder like a great millstone, and hurled it into the sea, saying, "So shall Babylon, the great city, be overthrown with a mighty fall, And shall be found no more at all.


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No more shall the voice of harpers and minstrels, flute-players and trumpeters Be heard in you. No more shall any craftsman of any craft Be found at all in you. No more shall the sound of a millstone be heard at all in you.


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No light of a lamp shall ever shine in you again; And in you shall the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride be heard no more. For your merchants were the princes of the earth; And with your sorcery were all the nations deceived;


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And in you was found the blood of prophets and of saints, And of all who have been slain upon the earth."


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After this I heard the semblance of the mighty voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying. "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power Unto the Lord our God!


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For true and righteous are his judgments; For he has judged the great harlot Who was corrupting the earth with her fornication. On her he has avenged the blood of his slaves."


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Then the four and twenty Elders and the four beasts fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne, saying, "Amen, Hallelujah!"


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And a voice came forth from the throne, saying, "Praise our God, all you his slaves, All you who fear him, small and great!"


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And I heard a sound like the voice of a great multitude, and like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of mighty thunderings, saying. "Alleluia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigns!


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Let us rejoice and triumph and give him the glory; For the marriage of the Lamb is come, And his bride has made herself ready,


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And it has been granted to her to array herself in fine linen, bright and pure; For the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints."


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And he said to me, Write, "Blessed are those who have been bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are true words of God."


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And I fell down at his feet to worship him, and he said to me. "See that you do it not. I am a fellow slave of yours and of your brothers who hold the testimony of Jesus; for the testimony of Jesus is the vital breath of prophecy."


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And I saw heaven opened, and lo! a white horse; and he who sat upon him was named "Faithful and True"; and in righteousness does he judge and make war.


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His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his head are many diadems; and he has a name written, which none knows but himself.


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And there issues from his lips a sharp sword with which to smite the nations. He shall shepherd them with a rod of iron. And he treads the winepress of the passion of the anger of Almighty God.


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And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who shouted in a loud voice to all the birds that fly in mid-heaven, "Come, gather yourselves together to the great supper of God,


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to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of generals, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, bond and free, small and great."


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And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war on him who sat on the horse and on his army.


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And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed miracles in his presence to deceive those who had received the brand of the beast, and those who worshiped his image. The two were thrown alive into the lake of fire, blazing with brimstone.


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And the rest were slain with the sword of him who sat on the horse, that sword which issued from his lips. And all the birds gorged themselves with their flesh.


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And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, with the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.


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He gripped the dragon, that old serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,


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and flung him into the bottomless pit, and shut and sealed it over him, so that he should seduce the nations no more, until the thousand years were completed. After that it is necessary to loose him for a little while.


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And I saw thrones, and those who sat on them, and they were permitted to judge; and I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the Word of God, those who did not worship the beast nor his image, and who did not receive his brand upon their brow, or hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.


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The rest of the dead did not live until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.


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Blessed and holy is he who has a part in the first resurrection; on such the second death has no power, but they will be Gods priests, and Christs; and will reign with him for a thousand years.


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and will go forth to seduce the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to marshal them for war - their number is like the sands of the sea.


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And they went up over the broad earth, and surrounded the encampment of the saints, and the beloved city. Then fire fell from the sky and consumed them;


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and the devil who had been deceiving them was hurled into the lake of fire and brimstone, where lie also the beast and the false prophet. And they will be tortured day and night, forever and ever.


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And I saw a great white throne, and One who sat thereon; from his presence fled earth and sky, and no place was found for them.


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And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne; and books were opened, and another book - the Book of Life - was opened; and the dead were judged according to their deeds, by what was written in the books.


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And all were judged according to their deeds. And Death and Hades were hurled into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.


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And if any one was found who was not written in the Book of Life, he was hurled into the lake of fire.


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Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and the sea is no more.


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And I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband.


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And I heard a loud voice out of the throne, crying. "Behold, Gods tent is with men, And he will tent with them, And they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them,


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And he will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more, Nor will there be mourning, Nor crying, nor pain any more. Because the first things have passed away."


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And He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said to me, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and genuine."


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He also said. "It has now come to pass. I am the Alpha and the Omega, The Beginning and the End. To him who thirsts I will freely give Of the spring of the Water of life.


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But as for the cowards, the faithless, the abominable, And for the murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, Idolaters, and all liars, Their part will be in the lake that blazes with fire and brimstone. "This is the second death."


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And there came to me one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the last plagues, and he spoke to me, saying. "Come hither! I will show you the bride, the Lambs wife."


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And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain, huge and high; and he showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.


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with a wall great and high, and twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names written thereon, the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.


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On the east were three gates; and on the north, three gates; and on the south, three gates; and on the west, three gates.


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And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.


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And the city lies foursquare; the length of it is as great as the breadth. Then he measured the city with the reed, fifteen hundred miles; the length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.


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The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kings of precious stones. The first foundation-stone was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald,


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the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.


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And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each gate of one pearl. And the broad street of the city was of pure gold, transparent like glass.


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And the city has no need of the sun, Nor of the moon, to shine upon it; For the glory of God has lightened it, And its lamp is the Lamb.


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There will not enter it anything profane, Nor any who work abominations and a lie; But only those who are written In the Lambs Book of Life.


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And he showed me the river of the Water of Life, clear as crystal, Flowing out from the throne of God, and of the Lamb,


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In the middle of the broad street of the City. On each side of the river was a Tree of Life, Bearing twelve kinds of fruit, Each month yielding its own fruit. And the leaves of the tree Were for the healing of the nations.


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And his slaves will serve and worship him. They will see his face. His name will need no lamplight nor sunlight, Because the Lord God will give them light; And they will reign forever and ever.


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Then he said to me. "These words may be trusted, and are true. the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his slaves what must soon take place.


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And I, John, am he who heard and saw these things. And after I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me.


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But he said to me. "See thou do it not. I am only a fellow slave with you and your brothers, the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this Book. "WORSHIP GOD!"


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He who is wicked, let him be wicked still; He who is filthy, let him be filthy still; He who is righteous, lit him practise righteousness still; And he who is holy, let him be made holy still.


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"Blessed are they who wash their robes, so that they may have right to the Tree of Life, and may enter in by the gates into the City.


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Without are the dogs, the sorcerers, the immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and all who live and make a lie.


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"I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the root and offspring of David, the bright and morning Star.


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"And the Spirit and the Bride say Come! And let him who hears, say Come! And let him who thirsts, come; And whoever wills, let him take the Water of Life freely."


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I testify to every man who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If any man shall add to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book;


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and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the Tree of Life, and in the Holy City, about which this book is written.


