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For they refreshed my spirit and yours as well. Show your appreciation, therefore, to such men.

For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.

And our hope for you is sure, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you will share in our comfort.

…as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the favor shown us in answer to their prayers.

…as you have already understood us in part, that you may boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of our Lord Jesus.

…as you have already understood us in part, that you may boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of our Lord Jesus.

When I planned this, did I do it carelessly? Or do I make my plans by human standards, so as to say “Yes, yes” and also “No, no”?

But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.”

But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.”

…placed His seal on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a pledge of what is to come.

I call God as my witness that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth.

I wrote as I did so that on my arrival I would not be grieved by those who ought to make me rejoice. I had confidence in all of you, that you would share my joy.

But thanks be to God, who always leads us triumphantly as captives in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.

For we are not like so many others, who peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as men sent from God.

And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.

For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.

And it is God who has prepared us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a pledge of what is to come.

Therefore, since we know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is clear to God, and I hope it is clear to your conscience as well.

Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God.

As God’s fellow workers, then, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.

Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships, and calamities;

…through glory and dishonor, slander and praise; viewed as imposters, yet genuine;

As a fair exchange—I speak as to my children—open wide your hearts also.

As a fair exchange—I speak as to my children—open wide your hearts also.

What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.”

Indeed, I was not embarrassed by anything I had boasted to him about you. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting to Titus has proved to be true as well.

Indeed, I was not embarrassed by anything I had boasted to him about you. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting to Titus has proved to be true as well.

And his affection for you is even greater when he remembers that you were all obedient as you welcomed him with fear and trembling.

And not only did they do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us, through the will of God.

So we urged Titus to help complete your act of grace, just as he had started it.

But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness, and in the love we inspired in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

As it is written: “He who gathered much had no excess, and he who gathered little had no shortfall.”

As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you. As for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ.

As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you. As for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ.

But I am sending the brothers in order that our boasting about you in this matter should not prove empty, but that you will be prepared, just as I said.

As it is written: “He has scattered abroad His gifts to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.”

I beg you that when I come I may not need to be as bold as I expect toward those who presume that we live according to the flesh.

I beg you that when I come I may not need to be as bold as I expect toward those who presume that we live according to the flesh.

And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, as soon as your obedience is complete.

And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, as soon as your obedience is complete.

You are looking at outward appearances. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should remind himself that we belong to Christ just as much as he does.

You are looking at outward appearances. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should remind himself that we belong to Christ just as much as he does.

We are not overstepping our bounds, as if we had not come to you. Indeed, we were the first to reach you with the gospel of Christ.

Neither do we boast beyond our limits in the labors of others. But we hope that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you will greatly increase as well,

Neither do we boast beyond our limits in the labors of others. But we hope that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you will greatly increase as well,

I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. For I promised you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ.

As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia.

As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia.

But I will keep on doing what I am doing, in order to undercut those who want an opportunity to be regarded as our equals in the things of which they boast.

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.

And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their actions.

I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then receive me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little.

In this confident boasting of mine, I am not speaking as the Lord would, but as a fool.

In this confident boasting of mine, I am not speaking as the Lord would, but as a fool.

To my shame I concede that we were too weak for that! Speaking as a fool, however, I can match what anyone else dares to boast about.

Are they servants of Christ? (I am speaking as if I were out of my mind.) I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death.

Be that as it may, I was not a burden to you; but crafty as I am, I caught you by trickery.

Be that as it may, I was not a burden to you; but crafty as I am, I caught you by trickery.

For I am afraid that when I come, I may not find you as I wish, and you may not find me as you wish. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, rage, rivalry, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder.

For I am afraid that when I come, I may not find you as I wish, and you may not find me as you wish. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, rage, rivalry, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder.

As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be under a curse!

I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I spoke privately to those recognized as leaders, for fear that I was running or had already run in vain.

But as for the highly esteemed—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—those leaders added nothing to me.

On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted to preach the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised.

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.

So also, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

What I mean is this: The law that came 430 years later does not revoke the covenant previously established by God, so as to nullify the promise.

What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he is the owner of everything.

What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he is the owner of everything.

…to redeem those under the law, that we might receive our adoption as sons.

And although my illness was a trial to you, you did not despise or reject me. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus Himself.

And although my illness was a trial to you, you did not despise or reject me. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus Himself.

These things serve as illustrations, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children into slavery: This is Hagar.

As for those who are agitating you, I wish they would proceed to emasculate themselves!

For you, brothers, were called to freedom; but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another in love.

The entire law is fulfilled in a single decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

…and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to the family of faith.

But as for me, may I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will,

…as a plan for the fullness of time, to bring all things in heaven and on earth together in Christ.

In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will,

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.

…built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.

…that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly.

…which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.

As a prisoner in the Lord, then, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received:

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;

…until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, as we mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ.

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.

Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.

Be imitators of God, therefore, as beloved children,

…and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.

…and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.

But among you, as is proper among the saints, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed.

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,

Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,