Or speaketh he chiefly for our sakes? surely for our sakes it was written: for he who ploweth, ought to plow in hope; and he that thresheth in hope, ought to be a partaker of his hope.

If others receive this right from you, are we not more deserving? But we have not made use of this right. Instead we endure everything so that we may not be a hindrance to the gospel of Christ.

And I do all things for the gospel's sake, that I may be a joint partaker thereof.

But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

For I want you to be [fully] aware, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud, and all of them passed [safely] through the [Red] Sea. [Note: This refers to God guiding the Israelites through the desert during the daytime by a cloud moving along above them . See Ex. 13:21-22].

But now I mean his conscience, not your own. "Why, on what ground," you may object, "is the question of my liberty of action to be decided by a conscience not my own?

For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks?

Do not be a cause of stumbling either to Jews of to Gentiles, or to the church of God.

For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.

But if any man appears to be a lover of strife, we have no such custom, nor the congregations of God.

If the foot should say, "Because I am a hand, I am not part a part the body," would it not indeed be a part of the body?

Now if all of it were one part, there wouldn't be a body, would there?

in order that there not be a division in the body, but the members would have the same concern for one another.

Can every one be an Apostle? can every one be a Preacher? can every one be a Teacher? can every one have supernatural powers?

For now we see by a mirror darkly, but then we shall see face to face; now I know in part, but then I shall know fully as I also am known.

But now, brothers, if I come to you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, unless I speak to you by a revelation, or by a knowledge, or by a prophecy, or by a doctrine?

Moreover when things without life give sound: whether it be a pipe, or a harp - except they make a distinction in the sounds - how shall it be known what is piped or harped?

So also you by a tongue if you utter a word not easily understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for you will speak to the air.

There are, it may be, a number of different voices in the world, and no voice is without sense.

If then I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be to him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh will be a barbarian unto me.

Brothers, do not become children in [your] understanding, but with respect to wickedness be as a child, and in [your] understanding be mature.

Foreign languages, then, are meant to be a sign, not for believers, but for unbelievers, while prophecy is meant, not for unbelievers, but for believers.

But if there be a revelation to another sitting there, let the first be silent.

If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.

For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.

And what you yourself sow is not the plant that will [eventually] come up, but simply a seed. It may be a grain of wheat or something else.

This is how it will be at the resurrection of the dead. What is planted is decaying, what is raised cannot decay.

On the first of the week let each of you put by at home, laying up in whatever degree he may have prospered, that there may be no collections when I come.

But I will be at Ephesus till Pentecost;

All the brothers salute you. Salute each other by a holy kiss.

And if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation, wrought by a patient endurance the same sufferings which we also suffer, and our hope for you is strong; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort and salvation,

you also cooperating in our behalf in prayer; in order that, the gift which is bestowed upon us from many persons, may through many be a source of thanks given in our behalf.

Indeed, our main ground for satisfaction is this--Our conscience tells us that our conduct in the world, and still more in our relations with you, was marked by a purity of motive and a sincerity that were inspired by God, and was based, not on worldly policy, but on the help of God.

So the very reason I wrote was that I might not come only to be pained by those who ought to give me joy; I relied on you all, I felt sure that my joy would be a joy for everyone of you.

so that now you ought rather to forgive, and comfort him, for fear he should be overwhelm'd by an excess of sorrow.

you are well known to be a letter of Christ, written by us as his ministers, not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

who also hath enabled me to be a minister of the new covenant, not of the literal sense, but of the spiritual meaning: it is the letter that denounces death, but the spirit gives life.

Instead, we have renounced shameful secret things, not walking in deceit or distorting God’s message, but commending ourselves to every person’s conscience in God’s sight by an open display of the truth.

For God, who said [Gen. 1:3], "Light will shine out of darkness," has [also] shone in our hearts to provide [us with] the light of the knowledge of God's splendor [as it shines] on the face of Christ. [Note: This allusion to "splendor shining on Christ's face" may be a continuation of the analogy used in 3:13].

for the light affliction, which I at present suffer, will be infinitely over-ballanced by an eternal weight of glory;

we are of good courage, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord.

Wherefore, whether we be at home, or from home, we endeavor our selves to please him.

therefore, if any man be a christian, he is in a new creation: the old state of things is chang'd to one entirely new.

It is all the doing of the God who has reconciled me to himself through Christ and has permitted me to be a minister of his reconciliation.

So we are the representatives of Christ, as if God was making a request to you through us: we make our request to you, in the name of Christ, be at peace with God.

He made Him who personally knew nothing of sin to be a sin-offering for us, so that through union with Him we might come into right standing with God.

by a true teaching and an energy divine; by the weapons of righteousness, for attack or for defense,

By glory and by shame, by an evil name and a good name; as untrue, and still true;

And what agreement to the temple of God with images? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God said, That I will dwell in them, and will go round about; and will be their God, and they shall be a people to me.

Therefore, "'Come out from among them and separate yourselves,' says the Lord, 'and touch nothing impure; and I will receive you, and will be a Father to you,

And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

For if I grieved you by a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that this letter made you sorry, though but for a season.

See how the very fact that you were made sorry from a godly motive has produced earnestness in you! [It produced] a desire to vindicate yourselves [i.e., by making amends for your wrongdoing]; an attitude of just anger [i.e., toward the wrongdoers]; a sense of fear [i.e., a fear of God for doing wrong]; an eager desire [i.e., to do the right thing]; a zeal [i.e., to correct problems]; and an attitude of avenging [i.e., that punished the wrongdoer]. You demonstrated in everything [you did] that you were pure [i.e., innocent] in this matter. [Note: This whole description of their conduct appears to be a reference to the incident mentioned in 2:1-11].

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.

For I do not want it to be a relief for others and a burden on you,

But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality:

and not so only, but is also chosen of the congregations to be a fellow with us in our journey, as concerning this benevolence that is ministered by us unto the praise of the Lord, and to stir up your prompt mind.

And we have sent with him our brother, whom we have often experienced in many things to be a man of diligence, but now much more diligent, through the great confidence which I have in you.

So let them have proof of how you can love, and of my reasons for being proud of you; it will be a proof read by the churches.

Now I have sent the brothers so that our boasting about you in this matter may not prove to be an idle boast, and so that you may stand ready, just as I said.

lest peradventure if they of Macedonia come with me and find you unprepared, the boast that I made in this matter should be a shame to us: I say not unto you.

So it seemed to me wise for the brothers to go before, and see that the amount which you had undertaken to give was ready, so that it might be a cause for praise, and not as if we were making profit out of you.

For though I might take pride in our authority (which the Lord gave for building you up, and not for your destruction), it will not be a cause of shame to me:

but this I do, and shall do, to make them drop their hire, who are so bent upon hire: and then indeed they will be as they pretend to be, like me.

Again I say, Let not any one think me to be a fool; but if otherwise, receive me then even as a fool, that I also may boast myself some little.

and I was let down in a rope-basket, by a window in the wall, and escaped from his hands.

For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me.

For what is there wherein ye were made inferior to the rest of the assemblies, - save that, I myself, would not allow myself to be a burden unto you? Forgive me this wrong!

Behold, this is the third time I am ready to come to you; and I will not be a burden to you: for I seek not yours, but you: for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.

You will admit that I was not a burden to you but you say that I was "crafty" and caught you "by a trick"!

Test and evaluate yourselves to see whether you are in the faith and living your lives as [committed] believers. Examine yourselves [not me]! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves [by an ongoing experience] that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test and are rejected as counterfeit?

Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates.

For the rest, brethren, rejoice; be perfected; be encouraged; be of one mind; be at peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.

Salute each other by a holy kiss.

From: Paul an apostle not sent from men or by a man, but by Jesus the Messiah, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead

But even if we, or an angel from heaven, were to be a preacher to you of good news other than that which we have given you, let there be a curse on him.

As we have said before, so say I now again, If any man is a preacher to you of any good news other than that which has been given to you, let there be a curse on him.

For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? or am I striving to please men? if I were still pleasing men, I should not be a servant of Christ.

For I did not receive it from a human source and I was not taught it, but it came by a revelation from Jesus Christ.

Afterwards at the expiration of three years I went up unto Jerusalem to pay a visit to Peter, and I abode with him fifteen days.

and I went up by a revelation, and proposed to them the gospel which I preach to the gentiles, but privately to persons of distinction, lest I should run or had run in vain.

On the contrary, when they saw that I had been intrusted with the good news for the heathen, just as Peter had been intrusted with it for the Jews??8 for he who actuated Peter to be an apostle to the Jews also actuated me to be one to the heathen??9 and when they recognized the favor God had shown me, James, Cephas, and John, who were regarded as pillars of the church, pledged Barnabas and me their co-operation, with the understanding that we should work among the heathen and they among the Jews.

For God assigned Peter to be an apostle to the circumcised ones [i.e., Jews], and me to be an apostle to the Gentiles.

Now if it be a sin to seek for justification by Christ, then is Christ the minister of sin, which cannot be.

For if I build up again these [things] which I destroyed, I show myself [to be] a transgressor.

For by a law I have died to the law, that I may live to God.

This only, am I wishing to learn from you: - by works of law, received ye, the Spirit? or by a believed report?

He then who was supplying unto you the Spirit, and energising mighty works among you, by works of law, or by a believed report did he it ?

Brethren, even a covenant made by a man--to borrow an illustration from daily life--when once formally sanctioned is not liable to be set aside or added to.

If our heritage is the result of Law, then it has ceased to be the result of a promise. Yet God conferred it on Abraham by a promise.

Why then was the Law given? It was imposed later on for the sake of defining sin, until the seed should come to whom God had made the promise; and its details were laid down by a mediator with the help of angels.

But there cannot be a mediator where only one individual is concerned.

But when the appropriate time had come, God sent his Son, born by a woman, born under the Law,

Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all.

But it is good to be an object of zeal in what is good always, and not only when I am present with you.

For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.

but as then, he that was born in the ordinary course of nature, persecuted him, who was born by an extraordinary power; even so it is now.

But what does the Scripture say?
“Cast out the bondwoman and her son,
For the son of the bondwoman shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman.”

In the freedom, then, with which Christ did make you free -- stand ye, and be not held fast again by a yoke of servitude;

But as for me, brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision [as I had done before I met Christ; and as some accuse me of doing now, as necessary for salvation], why am I still being persecuted [by Jews]? In that case the stumbling block of the cross [to unbelieving Jews] has been abolished.