But let all [things] be [done] decently and according to proper procedure.

If according to a human perspective I fought wild beasts at Ephesus, what benefit [is it] to me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

Therefore do not let anyone disdain him, but send him [on his way] in peace in order that he may come to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.

If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed. O Lord, come!

among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that they would not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

For God who said, "Light will shine out of darkness," [is the one] who has shined in our hearts for the enlightenment of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

For our momentary light affliction is producing in us an eternal weight of glory {beyond all measure and proportion},

Do not become unevenly yoked with unbelievers, for what participation [is there between] righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship [does] light [have] with darkness?

Therefore [since we] have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of body and spirit, accomplishing holiness in the fear of God.

Let such a person consider this: that what we are in word by letters [when we] are absent, [we will] also [be] in {actions} [when we] are present.

But "the one who boasts, let him boast in the Lord."

But I am afraid lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds may be led astray from the sincerity and the purity of [devotion] to Christ.

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

Again I say, do not let anyone think I am foolish. But indeed, if [you do], accept me even as foolish, in order that I also may boast a little.

But let [it] be. I have not been a burden to you, but [because I] was crafty, I took you by cunning.

But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim a gospel to you contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let him be accursed!

As we said before, and now I say again, if anyone is proclaiming a gospel [to] you contrary to what you have received, let him be accursed!

Now I went up [there] because of a revelation and laid out to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles, but in private to the influential people, lest somehow I was running, or had run, in vain.

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not let your freedom [become] an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have a reason for boasting in himself alone, and not in someone else.

And let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap, [if we] do not give up.

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all [people], and especially to those who belong to the household of faith.

Finally, let no one cause me trouble, for I carry on my body the marks of Jesus.

Therefore it says, "Ascending on high he led captivity captive; he gave gifts to men."

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun set on your anger,

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these [things] the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.

for you were formerly darkness, but now [you are] light in the Lord. Live like children of light

(for the fruit of the light [is] in all goodness and righteousness and truth),

but all [things] exposed by the light are made visible,

for everything made visible is light. Therefore it says, Wake up, sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.

Only lead your lives in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent I hear {your circumstances}, that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one soul contending side by side for the faith of the gospel,

Not that I have already received [this], or [have] already been made perfect, but I press on if indeed I may lay hold of [that] for which also I was laid hold of by Christ.

Brothers, I do not consider myself to have laid hold of [it]. But [I do] one [thing], forgetting the things behind and straining toward the things ahead,

Therefore as many as [are] perfect, {let us hold this opinion}, and if you think anything differently, God will reveal this also to you.

Let your gentleness be made known to all people. The Lord [is] near.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you for a share of the inheritance of the saints in light,

Therefore do not let anyone judge you with reference to eating or drinking or participation in a feast or a new moon or a Sabbath,

Let no one condemn you, taking pleasure in humility and the worship of angels, going into detail [about] [the things] which he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind,

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another with all wisdom, with psalms, hymns, [and] spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God,

Let your speech always [be] with grace, seasoned with salt, so that [you] may know how it is necessary for you to answer each one.

for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.

Do not let anyone deceive you in any way, for [that day will not come] unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,

and these also must be tested first; then let them serve [if they] are above reproach.

Let no one look down on your youth, but be an example for the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

Let a widow be put on the list [if she] is not less than sixty years [old], the wife of one husband,

But refuse younger widows, for whenever their physical desires lead them away from Christ, they want to marry,

The elders who lead well must be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor by speaking and teaching.

the [one who] alone possesses immortality, who lives [in] unapproachable light, whom no human being has seen nor is able to see, to whom [be] honor and eternal power. Amen.

but has now been disclosed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought to light life and immortality through the gospel,

For from these are those who slip into houses and captivate foolish women loaded down with sins, led by various kinds of desires,

Speak these [things] and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

For we also were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, enslaved to various desires and pleasures, spending our lives in wickedness and envy, despicable, hating one another.

And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, "And let all [the] angels of God worship him."

And, "You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the works of your hands;

Therefore let us fear, [while there] remains a promise of entering into his rest, that none of you appear to fall short of [it].

Therefore, let us make every effort to enter into that rest, in order that no one may fall in the same pattern of disobedience.

And no creature is hidden in the sight of him, but all [things are] naked and laid bare to the eyes of him to whom {we must give our account}.

Therefore, [because we] have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.

Therefore let us approach with confidence to the throne of grace, in order that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

being able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and led astray, since he himself also is surrounded by weakness,

who in the days of his flesh offered up both prayers and supplications, with loud crying and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard as a result of his reverence.

Therefore, leaving behind the elementary message about Christ, let us move on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and faith in God,

not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I took hold of them by my hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I disregarded them, says the Lord.

let us approach with a true heart in the full assurance of faith, our hearts sprinkled [clean] from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Let us hold fast to the confession of [our] hope without wavering, for the one who promised [is] faithful.

And let us think about {how to stir one another up to love} and good works,

Therefore, [since] we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, putting aside every weight and {the sin that so easily ensnares us}, let us run with patient endurance the race that has been set before us,

And have you completely forgotten the exhortation which instructs you as sons? "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, or give up [when you] are corrected by him.

Therefore, [since we] are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us be thankful, through which let us serve God acceptably, with awe and reverence.

Therefore through him let us offer up a sacrifice of praise {continually} to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.

And let endurance have [its] perfect effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.

Now if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask for [it] from God, who gives to all without reservation and not reproaching, and it will be given to him.

But let him ask for [it] in faith, without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed about.

Now let the brother of humble circumstances boast in his high position,

Who [is] wise and understanding among you? Let him show by his good behavior his works, with the humility of wisdom.

Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to gloominess.

Therefore be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the soil, being patient concerning it until it receives the early and late rains.

Now above all, my brothers, do not swear either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your yes be yes and your no, no, in order that you may not fall under judgment.

But you [are] a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for [God's] possession, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light,

Let your adornment not be the external [kind], braiding hair and putting on gold jewelry or putting on [fine] clothing,

If anyone speaks, [let it be] as the oracles of God; if anyone serves, [let it be] as by the strength that God provides, so that in all [things] God will be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom is the glory and the power {forever and ever}. Amen.

By all means do not let anyone of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.

and rescued righteous Lot, worn down by the way of life of lawless persons in licentiousness

Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your [notice], that one day with the Lord [is] like a thousand years, and a thousand years [is] like one day.

Therefore, dear friends, [because you] know [this] beforehand, guard yourselves so that you do not lose your own safe position [because you] have been led away by the error of lawless persons.

And this is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light and there [is] no darkness in him at all.

But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Again, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light already is shining.

The one who says [he] is in the light and hates his brother is in the darkness until now.

The one who loves his brother resides in the light, and [there] is no cause for stumbling in him.

Little children, let no one deceive you: the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as that one is righteous.

We have come to know love by this: that {he} laid down his life on behalf of us, and we ought to lay down our lives on behalf of the brothers.

Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.

Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been fathered by God and knows God.

These are the ones feasting together without reverence, hidden reefs at your love feasts, caring for themselves, waterless clouds carried away by winds, late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, uprooted,

The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will grant to him to eat from the tree of life which is in the paradise of God.'

The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will never be harmed by the second death.'

The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give to him [some] of the hidden manna, and I will give to him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, that no one knows except the one who receives [it].'