and from there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had first been committed to God's favor for the work which they had finished.

Then why do you now try to test God by putting on these disciples' necks a yoke which neither our forefathers nor we could bear?

By this he quieted the whole congregation, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul tell of the signs and wonders which God had done through them among the heathen.

and to advocate practices which it is against the law for us Romans to accept or observe."

After flogging them severely, they put them into jail, and gave the jailer orders to keep close watch on them.

since He has set a day on which He will justly judge the world through a man whom He has appointed. He has made this credible to all by raising Him from the dead."

Take care of yourselves and of the whole flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, so as to continue to be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood.

And now I commit you to the Lord, and to the message of His favor, which is able to build you up and to give you your proper possession among all God's consecrated people.

And now, why are you waiting? Get up and be baptized and wash your sins away by calling on His name.'

When he arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem surrounded him, and continued to bring a number of serious charges against him, none of which they could prove.

If I am guilty and have done anything that deserves death, I am not begging to keep from dying, but if there is nothing in the charges which these men make against me, no one can give me up as a favor to them. I appeal to the emperor."

But when his accusers appeared before me, they did not charge him with the crimes of which I had been suspecting him.

But I found that he had not done anything for which he deserved to die; however, as he has himself appealed to his Majesty, I have decided to send him up.

"I count myself fortunate, King Agrippa," said he, "that it is before you that I can defend myself today against all the charges which the Jews have preferred against me,

which promise our twelve tribes, by devotedly worshiping day and night, hope to see fulfilled for them. It is for this hope, your Majesty, that I am accused by some Jews.

But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for the very purpose of appointing you my servant and a witness to me of the things which you have seen and those which I shall yet enable you to see.

But it was not long before a violent wind, which is called a Northeaster, swept down from it.

Three months later, we set sail in an Alexandrian ship named The Twin Brothers, which had wintered at the island.

which long ago He promised through His prophets in the holy Scriptures,

But now God's way of giving men right standing with Himself has come to light; a way without connection with the law, and yet a way to which the law and the prophets testify.

Afterward he received the mark of circumcision as God's seal of his right standing with Him on condition of faith which he had before he was circumcised, that he might be the forefather of all who have faith while still uncircumcised, that they might have their faith credited to them as right standing with God;

by whom we have an introduction through faith into this state of God's favor, in which we safely stand; and let us continue exulting in the hope of enjoying the glorious presence of God.

so that just as sin had reigned by death, so His favor too might reign in right standing with God which issues in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

But, thank God, that though you once were slaves of sin, you became obedient from your hearts to that form of teaching in which you have been instructed,

I am speaking in familiar human terms because of the frailty of your nature. For just as you formerly offered the parts of your bodies in slavery to impurity and to ever increasing lawlessness, so now you must once for all offer them in slavery to right-doing, which leads to consecration.

What benefit did you then derive from doing the things of which you are now ashamed? None, for they end in death.

But now we have been freed from our relation to the law; we have ended our relation to that by which we once were held in bonds, so that we may serve in a new spiritual way and not in the old literalistic way.

and so, in my case, the command which should have meant life turned out to mean death.

Did that which is good, then, result in death to me? Of course not! It was sin that did it, so that it might show itself as sin, for by means of that good thing it brought about my death, so that through the command sin might appear surpassingly sinful.

Now really it is not I that am doing these things, but it is sin which has its home within me.

But if I do the things that I do not want to do, it is really not I that am doing these things, but it is sin which has its home within me.

but I see another power operating in my lower nature in conflict with the power operated by my reason, which makes me a prisoner to the power of sin which is operating in my lower nature.

For you do not have a sense of servitude to fill you with dread again, but the consciousness of adopted sons by which we cry, "Abba," that is, "Father."

For I consider all that we suffer in this present life is nothing to be compared with the glory which by-and-by is to be uncovered for us.

for I could wish myself accursed, even cut off from Christ, for the sake of my brothers, my natural kinsmen.

But what does it say? "God's message is close to you, on your very lips and in your heart"; that is, the message about faith which we preach.

For in their hearts people exercise the faith that leads to right standing, and with their lips they make the acknowledgment which means salvation.

I beg you, therefore, brothers, through these mercies God has shown you, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies as a living sacrifice, devoted and well-pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service.

Now through the unmerited favor God has shown me I would say to every one of you not to estimate himself above his real value, but to make a sober rating of himself, in accordance with the degree of faith which God has apportioned to him.

May God, who gives men patient endurance and encouragement, grant you such harmony with one another, in accordance with the standard which Christ Jesus sets,

that I may be delivered from those in Judea who are disobedient, and that the help which I am taking to Jerusalem may be well received by God's people there,

Greet one another with a consecrated kiss. All the churches of Christ wish to be remembered to you.

I, Tertius, who write this letter, wish to be remembered to you as a fellow-Christian.

To Him who can make you strong in accordance with the good news I bring and in accordance with the message preached about Jesus Christ, in accordance with the uncovering of the secret which for ages past had not been told,

so that there is no spiritual gift in which you consciously come short, while you are waiting for the unveiling of our Lord Jesus Christ,

rather, we are setting forth a wisdom that came from God, once a covered secret but now uncovered, which God marked off as His plan for bringing us to glory.

But, as the Scripture says, they are: "Things which eye has never seen and ear has never heard, and never have occurred to human hearts, which God prepared for those who love Him."

If the structure which one builds upon it stands the test, he will get his pay.

If the structure which one builds is burned up, he will get no pay; and yet he himself will be saved, but just as one who goes through a fire.

Are you satisfied already? Have you grown rich already? Have you ascended your thrones without us to join you? Yes, I could wish that you had ascended your thrones, that we too might join you on them!

For though you have ten thousand teachers in the Christian life, you certainly could not have many fathers. For it was I myself who became your father through your union with Christ Jesus, which resulted from my telling you the good news.

Which do you prefer? My coming to you with a club, or in a gentle, loving spirit?

Now I take up the matters about which you wrote me. It may be good thing for a man to remain unmarried;

Only, everybody must continue to live in the station which the Lord assigned to him, in that in which God called him. These are my orders in all the churches.

Everybody must remain in the station in which he was called.

Brothers, each one must continue close to God in the very station in which he was called.

For if somebody sees you, who have an intelligent view of this matter, partaking of a meal in an idol's temple, will he not be emboldened, with his overscrupulous conscience, to eat the food which has been sacrificed to an idol?

and all drank the same spiritual drink -- for they continued to drink the water from the spiritual Rock which accompanied them, and that Rock was the Christ --

Is not the consecrated cup which we consecrate a sign of our sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the loaf which we break a sign of our sharing in the body of Christ?

If some unbelieving heathen invites you to his house, and you wish to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question for conscience' sake.

If I give thanks and thus partake of food, why am I to be blamed for that for which I give thanks?

and gave thanks for it and broke it and said, "This is my body which is given for you. Do this in memory of me."

Now let me remind you, brothers, of the essence of the good news which I proclaimed to you, which you accepted, on which you now are standing,

and through which you are to be saved, unless your faith at first was spurious.

and if Christ was not raised, the message which we preach has nothing in it; there is nothing in our faith either,

I protest, by the boasting which I do about you, my brothers, through our union with Christ Jesus our Lord, I myself run the risk of dying every single day!

The churches of Asia wish to be remembered to you. Aquila and Prisca, with the church that meets at their house, send you their cordial Christian greetings.

All the brothers wish to be remembered to you. Greet one another with a sacred kiss.

who comforts me in every sorrow I have, so that I can comfort people who are in sorrow with the comfort with which I am comforted by God.

For my boast is this, to which my conscience testifies, that before the world, but especially before you, I have acted from pure motives and in sincerity before God, not depending on worldly wisdom but on God's unmerited favor.

He has qualified even me as a minister of the new covenant, which is not a written but a spiritual covenant. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Now if the old religious service which resulted in death, although its law was carved in letters of stone, was introduced with a splendor so great that the Israelites could not keep their eyes fixed on Moses' face because of the splendor that was fading from it,

For I know that if this earthly tent in which I live is taken down, I have a building in heaven which comes from God, a house not built by human hands but eternal.

Now I am going to tell you, brothers, of God's spiritual blessing which was given in the churches of Macedonia,

Not only that, but he has been selected by the churches to travel with me for this gracious contribution which is being raised by me, so that it may turn out for the glory of the Lord and a proof of my readiness to serve.

It is really superfluous for me to write to you about this service which is being rendered to God's people,

He who always supplies the sower with seed and the eater with bread will supply you with seed and multiply it and enlarge the harvest which your deeds of charity yield.

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.

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.

For if I do boast a little too much about my authority, which the Lord gave me for building you up and not for tearing you down, I shall never have to blush for doing so.

But I shall never go too far in my boasting; no, I shall stay within the limits of the sphere which God apportioned me, so as to reach even you.

I wish you would now listen to a little folly of mine. Please do listen to me!

And I shall keep on doing as I am, in order to cut the ground from under the feet of those who want an opportunity to show themselves on a level with me in the matters of which they boast.

I have to keep on boasting. There is no good to be gotten from it, but I will go on to visions and revelations which the Lord has given me.

was actually caught up into paradise, and heard things that must not be told, which no man has a right even to mention.

So I most happily boast about my weaknesses, so that the strength of Christ may overshadow me. That is why I take such pleasure in weaknesses, insults, distresses, persecution, and difficulties, which I endure for Christ's sake, for it is when I am consciously weak that I am really strong.

and that when I come back my God may humiliate me before you, and I may have to mourn over some of those who formerly have committed shocking sins, and have not repented for them -- their impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality, which once they practiced.

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.

All God's people wish to be remembered to you.

which is not really another one; only there are certain people who are trying to unsettle you and want to turn the good news of Christ upside down.

But even if I or an angel from heaven preach a good news that is contrary to the one which I have already preached to you, a curse upon him!

As I have said it before, so now I say it again, if anybody is preaching to you a good news that is contrary to the one which you have already received, a curse upon him!

For I tell you, brothers, the good news which was preached by me is not a human message,

only they kept hearing people say, "Our former persecutor is now preaching as good news the faith which once he tried to destroy,"

I mean this: The law which was given four hundred and thirty years later could not annul the contract which had already been ratified by God, so as to cancel the promise.

But before this faith came, we were kept locked up under the law, in preparation for the faith which was to be unveiled.

but now, since you have come to know God, or rather have come to be known by Him, how can you turn back to your own crude notions, so weak and worthless, and wish to become slaves to them again?

I wish I could be with you right now and change the tone of my speech, for I do not know which way to turn in your case.

This is the freedom with which Christ has made us free. So keep on standing in it, and stop letting your necks be fastened in the yoke of slavery again.

For we, by the Spirit, are awaiting the hoped-for blessing which our right standing with God will bring us.