God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ bless you and give you peace.

Heartfelt thanks be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ--the Father who is full of compassion and the God who gives all comfort.

Who gives us comfort in all our troubles, so that we may be able to give comfort to others who are in trouble, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Yes, we ourselves have had the answer of death in ourselves, so that our hope might not be in ourselves, but in God who is able to give life to the dead:

Who gave us salvation from so great a death: on whom we have put our hope that he will still go on to give us salvation;

by the help of your prayer for us: That by the means of many occasions, thanks may be given of many on our behalf, for the grace given unto us.

For this is our confidence: The testimony of our conscience is that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you, with God-given sincerity and purity, not by fleshly wisdom but by God’s grace.

For in our letters we say no other things to you, but those which you are reading, and to which you give agreement, and, it is my hope, will go on doing so to the end:

It was because I was sure of this that I wanted to come to see you before going anywhere else, to give you a double pleasure;

and to go on to Macedonia with your help, then come to you again from Macedonia and be given a start by you on my journey to Judea.

for to all the promises of God he supplies the "Yes" that confirms them. That is why we utter the "Amen" through him, when we give glory to God.

Now he who makes our faith strong together with you, in Christ, and has given us of his grace, is God;

which hath also sealed us, and hath given the earnest of the spirit into our hearts.

For if I give you sorrow, who then will make me glad, but he who is made sad by me?

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.

For out of much trouble and pain of heart and much weeping I sent my letter to you; not to give you sorrow, but so that you might see how great is the love which I have to you.

Now if any person hath given cause for grief, he hath not grieved me [merely], but partly all of you; that I may add no farther burden.

Wherefore, I exhort you to give him an assurance of your love.

But if you give forgiveness to anyone, I do the same: for if I have given forgiveness for anything, I have done it because of you, in the person of Christ;

When an opportunity was given me by the Lord to preach the gospel of Christ, upon my arrival at Troas,

and he has qualified me to serve him in the interests of a new agreement, not in writing but of spirit. For what is written kills, but the Spirit gives life.

And all of us, with faces from which the veil is lifted, seeing, as if reflected in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into his likeness, from glory to glory, as it is given by the Lord, the Spirit.

So, because I hold a place in this ministry and that because I have had God's mercy shown me, I never give up.

And we have given up the secret things of shame, not walking in false ways, and not making use of the word of God with deceit; but by the revelation of what is true, as before God, we have the approval of every man's sense of right and wrong.

For it is God that commanded the light to shine out of darkness, which hath shined in our hearts, for to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

For every day I live I am being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be visible in my mortal nature.

Because we are certain that he who made the Lord Jesus come back from the dead, will do the same for us, and will give us a place in his glory with you.

for all things I do for your sakes, that the plenteous grace by thanks given of many, may redound to the praise of God.

So I never give up; instead, although my outer nature is wasting away, my inner nature is constantly renewed from day to day.

For truly, we who are in this tent do give out cries of weariness, for the weight of care which is on us; not because we are desiring to be free from the body, but so that we may have our new body, and death may be overcome by life.

He that hath ordained us for this thing, is God: which very same hath given unto us the earnest of the spirit.

For we [believers will be called to account and] must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be repaid for what has been done in the body, whether good or bad [that is, each will be held responsible for his actions, purposes, goals, motives—the use or misuse of his time, opportunities and abilities].

We praise not ourselves again unto you, but give you an occasion to rejoice of us, that ye may have somewhat against them, which rejoice in the face, and not in the heart.

Nevertheless, all things are of God, which hath reconciled us unto himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given unto us the office to preach the atonement.

to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing to them their offenses, and has given to us the word of reconciliation.

(For he says, I have given ear to you at a good time, and I have been your helper in a day of salvation: see, now is the good time; now is the day of salvation):

Let us give no man occasion of evil, that in our office be found no fault:

as unknown, though well known; as dying, and lo! we live; as chastened, yet not given over to death;

Now to give me back payment of the same sort (I am talking as to my children), let your hearts be wide open to me.

Wherefore come ye forth out of their midst, and be separated, - saith the Lord, - and, one impure, do not touch; and, I, will give you welcome,

Because God, then, will give us such rewards, dear brothers, let us make ourselves clean from all evil of flesh and spirit, and become completely holy in the fear of God.

Give us a favourable reception: we have injured no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man.

But God who gives comfort to the poor in spirit gave us comfort by the coming of Titus;

and not only by his coming, but by the comfort you had given him, for he told me how you longed to see me, how sorry you were, and how you took my part, which made me happier still.

For the sorrow which God gives is the cause of salvation through a change of heart, in which there is no reason for grief: but the sorrow of the world is a cause of death.

See how earnest this God-given pain has made you! how eager to clear yourselves, how indignant, how alarmed, how eager to see me, how zealous, how avenging! At every point you have proved that you are clear of this matter.

so that I am not ashamed of the commendations I have formerly given you to him; but as I have always preached the truth to you, so in my commendation to Titus, I have said nothing but truth of you.

It gives me great joy to see you answering to my good opinion of you in every way.

I do you to wit, brethren, of the grace of God, which is given in the congregations of Macedonia:

how that the abundance of their rejoicing is, that they are tried with much tribulation. And thereto, though they were exceeding poor, yet have they given exceeding richly, and that in singleness.

For they have given to the utmost of their ability, as I can bear them witness, and beyond it,

begging of us with much entreaty to give effect to the grace and fellowship of the service which was to be rendered to the saints.

and not according as we expected, but themselves they did give first to the Lord, and to us, through the will of God,

I am not saying this as a command [to dictate to you], but to prove, by [pointing out] the enthusiasm of others, the sincerity of your love as well.

And I give counsel hereto: For this is expedient for you, which began - not to do only, but also to will - a year ago.

Then make the doing of it complete; so that as you had a ready mind, you may give effect to it as you are able.

If a man is willing to give, the value of his gift is in its proportion to what he has, not to what he has not.

For our object is not to give relief to others and bring distress on you, but, by equalizing matters, to secure that,

it is a matter of give and take; at the present moment your surplus goes to make up what they lack, in order that their surplus may go to make up what you lack.

Thus it is to give and take ??as it is written, He who got much had nothing over, and he who got little had not too little.

But thanks be to God, who gives the same diligent zeal for you in the heart of Titus.

So you must give proof to them before all the churches of your love, and justify my pride in you.

because I know your eagerness to help. I keep boasting to the Macedonians about this eagerness of yours, that Achaia has been ready to give since last year, and your zeal to participate has stirred up most of them.

For if any of the Macedonians should come with me and find that you are not ready to give, we would be humiliated (not to mention you) by this confidence we had in you.

So I have thought it necessary to urge these brothers to visit you ahead of me and get your promised love-offering ready beforehand, so as to have it ready as a real love-offering, not as one grasped and grudgingly given.

And let every man do according as he hath purposed in his heart, not grudgingly, or of necessity. For God loveth a cheerful giver.

And God is able to give you all grace in full measure; so that ever having enough of all things, you may be full of every good work:

as it is written, "He that dispersed abroad and hath given to the poor, his righteousness remaineth for ever."

And he who gives seed for putting into the field and bread for food, will take care of the growth of your seed, at the same time increasing the fruits of your righteousness;

In every way you will grow richer and richer so as to give with perfect liberality, which will through me result in thanksgiving to God for it.

For the office of this ministration, not only supplieth the need of the saints: but also is abundant herein, that for this laudable ministering, thanks might be given to God of many,

For when, through this work of giving, they see what you are, they give glory to God for the way in which you have given yourselves to the good news of Christ, and for the wealth of your giving to them and to all;

And in their prayers to God for you, long after you, for the abundant grace of God given unto you.

Praise be to God for what he has given, which words have no power to say.

Being ready to give punishment to whatever is against his authority, after you have made it clear that you are completely under his control.

Give attention to the things which are before you. If any man seems to himself to be Christ's, let him keep in mind that we are as much Christ's as he is.

And though I should boast myself somewhat more of our authority which the Lord hath given us to edify and not to destroy you, it should not be to my shame.

But we will not boast of things not measured, but according to the measure of the rule which God has given us, to come even to you.

For I have a very great care for you: because you have been married by me to one husband, and it is my desire to give you completely holy to Christ.

But what I do, that I will go on doing, so that I may give no chance to those who are looking for one; so that, in the cause of their pride, they may be seen to be the same as we are.

Again, I say - let no one deem me to be, foolish; but, otherwise, at least, as foolish, give me welcome, that, I also, some little, may boast myself.

For you put up with it if a man makes you his slaves, or lives on you, or takes you in, or puts on airs, or gives you a slap in the face.

Five times I have been given one less than forty lashes, by the Jews.

I have to boast. There is nothing to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations given me by the Lord.

And lest I should be exalted out of measure through the abundance of revelations, there was given unto me of God unquietness of the flesh: the messenger of Satan to buffet me, because I should not be exalted out of measure.

And I will gladly give all I have for your souls. If I have the more love for you, am I to be loved the less?

And that when I come again, my God may put me to shame among you, and I may have grief for those who have done wrong before and have had no regret for their unclean ways, and for the evil desires of the flesh to which they have given way.

I gave a warning when I was present the second time, and now I give a warning while I am absent to those who sinned before and to all the rest: If I come again, I will not be lenient,

Therefore write I these things being absent, lest when I am present I should use sharpness according to the power which the Lord hath given me, to edify, and not to destroy.

Finally, brethren, be joyful, secure perfection of character, take courage, be of one mind, live in peace. And then God who gives love and peace will be with you.

Give one another a holy kiss.