We are not holding back [our affections] from you, but you are holding back your affections [from us].

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

Having therefore, these, promises, beloved, let us purify ourselves from all pollution of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in fear of God.

for when I came to Macedonia, I had no respit from the trouble that beset me on every side: oppositions from without, and apprehensions within.

and not only by his arrival, but also by the comfort he received from you. He told us about your deep longing, your sorrow, and your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more.

For tho' I was sorry my letter gave you some uneasiness, I do not repent of it, perceiving, that the uneasiness you had from that letter, did not dwell upon your minds.

Now, am I rejoicing, - not that ye were grieved, but that ye were grieved unto repentance; for ye were grieved according to God, in order that, in nothing, should ye receive damage from us.

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 world's pain works death.

'tis observable, even this religious sorrow which you had, what solicitude has it not wrought in you, what apologies, what indignation, what fear, what desire, what zeal, yea, what revenge! so that by your whole conduct, ye have shown your selves to be clear from guilt in this matter.

wherefore, my writing to you so severely did not proceed from any prejudice to him, that had done the wrong, or from favour to him that suffered wrong, but to show my conscientious regard to your welfare.

For this cause, have we received encouragement. In addition to our encouragement, however, much more abundantly, have we rejoiced over the joy of Titus, - that his spirit hath received refreshment from you all,

that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy, even from the depth of their poverty, abounded for the wealth of their generosity,

For I give them witness, that as they were able, and even more than they were able, they gave from the impulse of their hearts,

With earnest entreaty they begged from us the favour of being allowed to share in the service now being rendered to God's people.

But, just as, in everything, ye superabound, - in faith, and discourse, and knowledge, and all earnestness, and in the love among you which proceedeth from us, in order that, in this favour also, ye would superabound.

I speak not from commandment, but because of the zeal of others, also examining the genuineness of your love.

And in this I give judgment, for this is expedient for you who earlier began, from a year ago, not only the doing but also the intending.

But now finish the task as well, that just as there was eagerness to desire it, so there may also be a completion from what you have.

But so that things may be equal; that from those things of which you have more than enough at the present time their need may be helped, and that if you are in any need they may be a help to you in the same way, making things equal.

For while he gladly gave ear to our request, he was interested enough to go to you from the impulse of his heart.

this I did, to prevent any suspicion that might be rais'd from my having the management of so great a sum:

I aim at being above reproach not only from God but also from men.

And we have sent [i.e., are sending] with them our brother [Note: This is a different person from the one mentioned in verse 18], who has often proven his diligence to us in many ways, and is now proving to be even more diligent because of the great confidence he has in you [i.e., confidence in the Corinthians completing their collection for the poor].

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.

For I know your willingness, which I boast about you to the Macedonians, that Achaia was prepared from a year ago. And your zeal provoked the majority.

So my reason for sending our Brothers is to prevent what we said about you from proving, in this particular matter, an empty boast, and to enable you to be as well prepared as I have been saying that you are.

to keep me -- not to mention you -- from being humiliated for having such confidence in you, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready.

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.

But in the Writings it says, He who puts in only a small number of seeds, will get in the same; and he who puts them in from a full hand, will have produce in full measure from them.

Each one [should give] as he has decided in his heart, not {reluctantly} or from compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

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.

For the rendering of this service not only [fully] meets the needs of the saints [i.e., God's holy people], but also produces overflowing expressions of thanksgiving to God from many people.

(While from the experience of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection to the gospel of Christ, and the liberality of your communication to them, and to all men.)

Now I, Paul, myself make request to you by the quiet and gentle behaviour of Christ, I who am poor in spirit when with you, but who say what is in my mind to you without fear when I am away from you:

I beg you not to make me too courageous in that confidence in which I think to take a daring stand against some people who try to think that I am acting from the lowest human motives.

The things in presence do ye see? if any one hath trusted in himself to be Christ's, this let him reckon again from himself, that according as he is Christ's, so also we are Christ's;

Would that you could put up with a little "folly" from me! Nay, do bear with me.

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.

if he that is come to you, preaches another Jesus whom I have not preached, or if ye receive other gifts of the spirit, than what ye have received from me, or another gospel, than what you have accepted, you might well bear with his pretensions:

I robbed other churches by taking pay from them to minister to you.

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.

If the truth of Christ be in me, this rejoicing shall not be taken from me in the regions of Achaia.

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.

What I speak I speak not as from the Lord, but as in weakness, in this confidence of boasting.

Since many boast in an unspiritual way, I will also boast.

For ye suffer, if a man bringeth you into bondage, if a man devoureth you, if a man taketh from you, if a man exalteth himself, if a man smiteth you on the face.

I speak as from shame, that we were so weak. Yet in whatever any man may be bold in foolishness, I say I too am bold.

If they are Hebrews, so am I! If they are Israelites, so am I! If they are descended from Abraham, so am I!

From Jews, five times, forty-save-one, have I received,

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;

Apart from the things without, my daily care, - my anxiety for all the assemblies; -

Who is weak, and I do not feel their weakness? Who is led astray [from God], and I do not burn [i.e., with righteous anger over the one who caused it]?

but through a hole in the wall I was lowered in a basket, and so escaped from his clutches.

Have not I reason to glory? for now I shall mention my visions and revelations from the Lord.

And I know such a man (whether in the body or apart from the body I know not, God knows),

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.

So, to keep me from being over-elated, there was sent upon me a physical disease, sharp as a piercing stake, a messenger of Satan, to continue afflicting me, and so to keep me, I repeat, from being over-elated.

In this behalf, thrice, besought I, the Lord, that it might depart from me;

I have been forced by you to become foolish, though it was right for my praise to have come from you: for in no way was I less than the chief of the Apostles, though I am nothing.

In what respect, then, were you inferior to the rest of the churches, except for the fact that I, and I only, never received from you any financial support? Please forgive me this wrong.

But let it be granted, you say, that I never received from you financial support, yet, you say, by being a trickster I cheated you by my cunning.

lest having come again my God will make me low toward you, and I will bewail many of those who have sinned previously, and who did not repent from the trash and fornication and licentiousness that they committed.

This is the third time that I am coming to you. From the mouth of two or three witnesses will every word be made certain.

I said before, and still say it before I come, as being present for the second time, though I am still away from you, to those who have done wrong before, and to all the others, that if I come again I will not have pity;

since you demand a proof of my mission from Christ, who with regard to you has shown no want of power among you.

for even if he was crucified from infirmity, yet he doth live from the power of God; for we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him from the power of God toward you.

This is why I am writing this while far away from you, that when I do come, I may not have to deal harshly with you in accordance with the authority which the Lord has given me, for building you up, not for tearing you down.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the holy ghost, be with you all. Amen. {The end of the Second Epistle unto the Corinthians, Sent from Philippi, a city in Macedonia, by Titus and Luke}

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;

who are with me, unto the churches of Galatia: grace be to you, and peace from God the father,

Grace be to you, and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,

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,

to whom be glory from age to age. Amen.

I am surprised that you are being so quickly turned away from him whose word came to you in the grace of Christ, to good news of a different sort;

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.

As we have said before, even now, again, I say: If anyone is announcing unto you a glad-message aside from that which ye accepted, accursed, let him be!

For do I now use persuasions from men, or from God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

For I would like to clarify for you, brothers, the situation regarding the Gospel that I have preached: It did not originate from man.

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.

And I went farther in the Jews' religion than a number of my generation among my countrymen, having a more burning interest in the beliefs handed down from my fathers.

But when God who had set me apart from my very birth,

to reveal his Son in me so that I could preach him among the Gentiles, I did not go to ask advice from any human being,

I did not go up to Jerusalem to [discuss it with] those who had become apostles before me either; instead I went away into Arabia. [Note: This is probably when Paul received supernatural power from the Holy Spirit]. Then afterward, I returned to Damascus. [Note: This was in Syria where Paul was converted].

Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and get information from him, and I stayed with him fifteen days.

But from those who seemed to be important (whatever they were has no weight with me: God does not take man's person into account): those who seemed to be important gave nothing new to me;

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.

But when I saw that they were deviating from the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas in front of everyone, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel Gentiles to live like Jews?”

We, by nature Jews, and not sinners from among the nations,

knowing that a man is not made righteous from works of law, instead through faith of Jesus Christ. And we believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made righteous from faith of Christ, and not from works of law, because no fles

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!

I do not nullify the grace of God; for if acquittal from guilt is obtainable through the Law, then Christ has died in vain."

Answer me this one question. "When you received the Spirit, was it from doing what the Law commands or from believing the message heard?"

He therefore who supplies the Spirit to you and who works miracles among you, is it from works of law or from a listening ear of faith?

Ye know therefore that those from faith, these are sons of Abraham.

And the scripture having foreseen that God makes the Gentiles righteous from faith, proclaimed the good-news in advance to Abraham: In thee all the nations will be blessed.

So then those from faith are blessed with the faithful Abraham.

For as many as are from works of law are under a curse, for it is written, Cursed is every man who does not continue in all things written in the book of the law, to do them.

But that no man is made righteous by law before God, is evident, because, The righteous man will live from faith.

But the law is not from faith, but "the one who does these [things] will live by them."

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),