We have received grace and apostleship through Him to bring about the obedience of faith among all the nations, on behalf of His name,

For God, whom I serve with my spirit in telling the good news about His Son, is my witness that I constantly mention you,

since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them.

If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to brag about—but not before God.

He considered his own body to be already dead (since he was about 100 years old) and also considered the deadness of Sarah’s womb, without weakening in the faith.

For those who live according to the flesh think about the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, about the things of the Spirit.

What then are we to say about these things?
If God is for us, who is against us?

I can testify about them that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

For Moses writes about the righteousness that is from the law: The one who does these things will live by them.

But how can they call on Him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher?

So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.

Accept anyone who is weak in faith, but don’t argue about doubtful issues.

My brothers, I myself am convinced about you that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another.

by the power of miraculous signs and wonders, and by the power of God’s Spirit. As a result, I have fully proclaimed the good news about the Messiah from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum.

The report of your obedience has reached everyone. Therefore I rejoice over you. But I want you to be wise about what is good, yet innocent about what is evil.

In this way, the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you,

For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers, by members of Chloe’s household, that there is rivalry among you.

This is why I have sent Timothy to you. He is my dearly loved and faithful son in the Lord. He will remind you about my ways in Christ Jesus, just as I teach everywhere in every church.

For though I am absent in body but present in spirit, I have already decided about the one who has done this thing as though I were present.

Now in response to the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have relations with a woman.”

About virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I do give an opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.

I want you to be without concerns. An unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord.

But a married man is concerned about the things of the world—how he may please his wife—

and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or a virgin is concerned about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the things of the world—how she may please her husband.

About food offered to idols: We know that “we all have knowledge.” Knowledge inflates with pride, but love builds up.

About eating food offered to idols, then, we know that “an idol is nothing in the world,” and that “there is no God but one.”

But if anyone wants to argue about this, we have no other custom, nor do the churches of God.

If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you gather together you will not come under judgment. And I will give instructions about the other matters whenever I come.

Now concerning what comes from the Spirit: brothers, I do not want you to be unaware.

In addition, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified about God that He raised up Christ—whom He did not raise up if in fact the dead are not raised.

Come to your senses and stop sinning, for some people are ignorant about God. I say this to your shame.

Now about the collection for the saints: You should do the same as I instructed the Galatian churches.

About our brother Apollos: I strongly urged him to come to you with the brothers, but he was not at all willing to come now. However, he will come when he has an opportunity.

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silvanus and Timothy—did not become “Yes and no”; on the contrary, a final “Yes” has come in Him.

In fact, I made up my mind about this: I would not come to you on another painful visit.

I wrote this very thing so that when I came I wouldn’t have pain from those who ought to give me joy, because I am confident about all of you that my joy will also be yours.

For if I have made any boast to him about you, I have not been embarrassed; but as I have spoken everything to you in truth, so our boasting to Titus has also turned out to be the truth.

We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God granted to the churches of Macedonia:

Therefore, show them proof before the churches of your love and of our boasting about you.

For I know your eagerness, and I brag about you to the Macedonians: “Achaia has been prepared since last year,” and your zeal has stirred up most of them.

But I sent the brothers so our boasting about you in the matter would not prove empty, and so you would be prepared just as I said.

For if I boast some more about our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I am not ashamed.

We are not bragging beyond measure about other people’s labors. But we have the hope that as your faith increases, our area of ministry will be greatly enlarged,

so that we may proclaim the good news to the regions beyond you, not boasting about what has already been done in someone else’s area of ministry.

But I will continue to do what I am doing, in order to deny the opportunity of those who want an opportunity to be regarded just as our equals in what they boast about.

If boasting is necessary, I will boast about my weaknesses.

I will boast about this person, but not about myself, except of my weaknesses.

But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.

For you have heard about my former way of life in Judaism: I persecuted God’s church to an extreme degree and tried to destroy it.

They are enthusiastic about you, but not for any good. Instead, they want to isolate you so you will be enthusiastic about them.

Now it is always good to be enthusiastic about good—and not just when I am with you.

I would like to be with you right now and change my tone of voice, because I don’t know what to do about you.

envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I tell you about these things in advance—as I told you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

For even the circumcised don’t keep the law themselves; however, they want you to be circumcised in order to boast about your flesh.

But as for me, I will never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The world has been crucified to me through the cross, and I to the world.

This is why, since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,

you have heard, haven’t you, about the administration of God’s grace that He gave to me for you?

By reading this you are able to understand my insight about the mystery of the Messiah.

and to shed light for all about the administration of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.

But that is not how you learned about the Messiah,

This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church.

It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I have you in my heart, and you are all partners with me in grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and establishment of the gospel.

My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all boldness, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death.

Just one thing: Live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or am absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, working side by side for the faith that comes from the gospel,

having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I have.

Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon so that I also may be encouraged when I hear news about you.

For I have no one else like-minded who will genuinely care about your interests;

Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write to you again about this is no trouble for me and is a protection for you.

Therefore, all who are mature should think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this also to you.

Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that once again you renewed your care for me. You were, in fact, concerned about me but lacked the opportunity to show it.

because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. You have already heard about this hope in the message of truth, the gospel

and he has told us about your love in the Spirit.

Let the message about the Messiah dwell richly among you, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God.

Tychicus, our dearly loved brother, faithful servant, and fellow slave in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me.

He is with Onesimus, a faithful and dearly loved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you about everything here.

For I testify about him that he works hard for you, for those in Laodicea, and for those in Hierapolis.

for they themselves report what kind of reception we had from you: how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God

This is why we constantly thank God, because when you received the message about God that you heard from us, you welcomed it not as a human message, but as it truly is, the message of God, which also works effectively in you believers.

For this reason, when I could no longer stand it, I also sent him to find out about your faith, fearing that the tempter had tempted you and that our labor might be for nothing.

But now Timothy has come to us from you and brought us good news about your faith and love and reported that you always have good memories of us, wanting to see us, as we also want to see you.

Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution, we were encouraged about you through your faith.

About brotherly love: You don’t need me to write you because you yourselves are taught by God to love one another.

About the times and the seasons: Brothers, you do not need anything to be written to you.

Therefore, we ourselves boast about you among God’s churches—about your endurance and faith in all the persecutions and afflictions you endure.

Don’t you remember that when I was still with you I told you about this?

We have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do what we command.

Timothy, my son, I am giving you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies previously made about you, so that by them you may strongly engage in battle,

Pay close attention to your life and your teaching; persevere in these things, for by doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.

God will bring this about in His own time. He is

the blessed and only Sovereign,
the King of kings,
and the Lord of lords,

So don’t be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, or of me His prisoner. Instead, share in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God.

Remind them of these things, charging them before God not to fight about words; this is in no way profitable and leads to the ruin of the hearers.

But as for you, be serious about everything, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

in everything. Make yourself an example of good works with integrity and dignity in your teaching.

Your message is to be sound beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be ashamed, having nothing bad to say about us.

But avoid foolish debates, genealogies, quarrels, and disputes about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.

And about the angels He says:

He makes His angels winds,
and His servants a fiery flame,

but to the Son:

Your throne, God,
is forever and ever,
and the scepter of Your kingdom
is a scepter of justice.

For He has not subjected to angels the world to come that we are talking about.

for somewhere He has spoken about the seventh day in this way:

And on the seventh day
God rested from all His works.