Is the law, then, against the promises of God? It could not be! For, if a law had been given, which was able to make alive, truly righteousness would have been by law;

Brethren, I beseech you, become as I am; because I also was as ye are. Ye wronged me in nothing;

And I was wishing to be present with you now, and to change my voice; because I am perplexed about you.

if, at least, ye heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you,

that by revelation was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief;

which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it was now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit;

of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God which was given to me according to the working of His power.

To me, who am less than the least of all saints, was this grace given, to proclaim, to the gentiles, the glad tidings of the unsearchable riches of Christ;

But to each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

and put on the new man, who after God was created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

but to you it was granted as a favor in behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but in His behalf to suffer also;

Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus;

since he was longing after you all, and was in great distress, because ye heard that he was sick.

For, in fact, he was sick, near to death; but God had mercy on him, and not on him only, but on me also, that I might not have sorrow upon sorrow.

Not that I already obtained, or have already been made perfect; but I am pressing on, if I may lay hold of that for which I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.

because it was pleasing that in Him all the fulness should dwell;

if, at least, ye continue in the faith, founded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the Gospel, which ye heard, which was preached in all creation under the heaven, of which I, Paul, was made a minister.

of which I was made a minister, according to the dispensation of God, which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God,

the mystery which has been hidden from the ages and from the generations, but was now made manifest to His saints;

having blotted out the hand-writing in decrees against us, which was contrary to us, and He has taken it out of the midst, nailing it to the cross;

Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as it was fitting in the Lord.

when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be marveled at in all who believed (because our testimony to you was believed), in that day.

Do ye not remember that, when I was yet with you, I was wont to tell you these things?

As I exhorted you to continue in Ephesus, when I was journeying into Macedonia, that you might charge certain ones not to teach a different doctrine,

according to the Gospel of the glory of the Blessed God, with which I was entrusted.

though formerly I was a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious; but I obtained mercy, because I, being ignorant, did it in unbelief;

whereunto I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I speak truth, I lie not), a teacher of gentiles in faith and truth.

For Adam first was formed, then Eve.

And Adam was not deceived; but the woman, being deceived, has fallen into transgression.

And, confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness; God was manifested in flesh, was justified in the Spirit, was seen by angels, preached among the gentiles, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

Neglect not the gift that is in you, which was given you through prophecy, with laying on of the hands of the eldership.

Who saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose, and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before eternal ages,

for which I was appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher.

The Lord give mercy to the house of Onesiphorus; because he ofttimes refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain;

The Lord stood by me, and strengthened me, that through me the proclamation might be fully announced, and that all the gentiles might hear; and I was delivered out of the mouth of a lion.

but in His own seasons manifested His word in a proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior;

who at one time was unprofitable to you, but now profitable to you and to me;

whom I was disposed to keep with me, that in your stead he might minister to me in the bonds of the Gospel;

but, without your consent, I was willing to do nothing; that your beneficence might not be by necessity, but by choice.

how shall we escape, having neglected so great salvation; which, indeed, having at first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard;

But we behold Him Who was made a little lower than angels, Jesus, on account of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that, by the grace of God, He might taste death for every one.

For it was becoming Him, on Whose account are all things, and through Whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to perfect, through suffering, the Captain of their salvation.

Who was faithful to Him Who appointed Him, as also was Moses in all His house.

And Moses, indeed, was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of the things to be afterward spoken;

Wherefore, I was displeased with that generation, and said, 'They do always err in their heart, and they did not know My ways;

And with whom was He displeased forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness?

Since, therefore, it remains for some to enter into it, and those to whom the Gospel was formerly proclaimed entered not in because of unbelief,

And no one takes the honor to himself, but, when called by God, as was also Aaron.

Who, in the days of His flesh, having offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears to Him Who was able to save Him from death, and having been heard by reason of His godly fear,

though He was a Son, learned obedience from the things which He suffered;

Now consider how great this man was, to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the chief spoils.

for he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchizedek met him.

If, therefore, there was perfection through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people have received the law), what further need was there, that another Priest should arise according to the rank of Melchizedek, and not be reckoned according to the rank of Aaron?

And inasmuch as it was not without the taking of an oath

For such a High Priest was befitting us, holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;

for the law constitutes men high priests who have infirmity, but the word of the oath, which was after the law, constitutes the Son perfected forever.

who, indeed, serve in the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses has been divinely warned, when about to make the tabernacle; for "See," saith He, "that you make all things according to the pattern which was showed you in the mount";

For a tabernacle was prepared; the first, in which were both the lamp-stand and the table, and the show-bread, which, indeed, is called "Holy;"

having a golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid on every side with gold, in which was a golden pot containing the manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;

There was, therefore, a necessity that the copies of the things in Heaven should be cleansed with these; but the heavenly things themselves, with better sacrifices than these.

of how much worse punishment, think ye, shall he be accounted worthy, who trampled under foot the Son of God, and accounted the blood of the covenant with which He was sanctified an unholy thing, and treated with contempt the Spirit of grace?

By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he received witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he, being dead, is still speaking.

By faith Enoch was translated, so as not to see death; and he was not found, because God translated him; for, it has been witnessed to him that, before his translation, he had been well-pleasing to God.

By faith Abraham, when called, obeyed to go forth into the place which he was about to receive for an inheritance; and he went forth, not knowing whither he was going.

for he was waiting for the city which has the foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

By faith Abraham, when tried, has offered up Isaac; yea, he who gladly received the promises was offering up his only begotten son,

to whom it was said, "In Isaac shall your seed be called;"

By faith Moses, when born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw that he was a comely child; and they were not afraid of the king's command.

regarding the reproach of the Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking away to the recompense.

(of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves, and the holes of the earth.

For ye know that even after that, when wishing to inherit the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no place for repentance, although he earnestly sought it with tears.

for they could not bear that which was being commanded: "And, if a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned";

and so terrible was the appearance, Moses said, "I am exceedingly frightened and in fear!"

for he observed himself, and went away, and straightway he forgot what manner of man he was.

Was not Abraham, our father, justified by works, when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?

You see that faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith perfected;

and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness"; and he was called "God's Friend."

And, in like manner, was not also Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she received the messengers, and sent them out by another way?

Elijah was a man of like nature with us; and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it rained not on the earth for three years and six months;

searching as to what time or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ Who was in them was pointing to, when testifying beforehand the sufferings destined for Christ, and the subsequent glories;

to whom it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to you they were ministering them; which things now were reported to you through those who proclaimed the Gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent forth from Heaven; into which things angels desire to look carefully.

And this is the word of the good news which was proclaimed to you.

To you, therefore, who believe is the preciousness; but to those who disbelieve, a stone which the builders rejected, this was made into a head of a corner,"

Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth;

Who, when reviled, reviled not again; when suffering, was not threatening, but committed Himself to Him Who judgeth righteously;

who were once disobedient, when the long-suffering of God was waiting in the days of Noah, while an ark was being prepared, entering into which, a few, that is, eight, souls were saved through water;

For to this end was the Gospel proclaimed even to the dead, that they might, indeed, be judged according to men in flesh, but live according to God in spirit.

For He received from God the Father honor and glory, when such a voice was borne to Him from the Excellent Glory, "This is My Son, the Beloved, in Whom I took delight";

for prophecy was never brought by the will of man, but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit.

(for this righteous man, dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, was torturing his righteous soul from day to day with their lawless deeds):

It has happened to them according to the true proverb, "A dog having returned to his own vomit"; and "A sow that was washed, to her wallowing in mire."

through which means the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished;

That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we gazed upon, and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life

(and the Life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you The Eternal Life; Who, indeed, was with the Father, and was manifested to us);

Beloved, now are we children of God, and never yet was it manifested what we shall be. We know that, if He shall be manifested, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.

And ye know that He was manifested, that He might take away sins; and in Him is no sin.

He that commits sin is of the Devil; because the Devil sins from the beginning. To this end was the Son of God manifested, that He might destroy the works of the Devil.

not as Cain who was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And wherefore did he slay him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.

In this was manifested the love of God in us, that God hath sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we may live through Him.

We know that every one who has been begotten of God sins not; but he who was begotten of God keeps himself, and the evil one touches him not.