I, Paul, write [this] with my [own] hand: I will pay it back, lest I mention to you that {you owe me even your very self besides}.

So, brother, I would like to have your help in [the fellowship of] the Lord; cheer me up in Christ [i.e., by welcoming Onesimus back on good terms].

At the same time also, prepare a place for me to stay, for I hope that through your prayers I will be given back to you.

along with [John] Mark [Note: This shows that Mark was now back in the good graces of Paul. See Acts 15:36-40], Aristarchus, Demas [Note: This man later deserted Paul. See II Tim. 4:10] and Luke, who are [also] my fellow-workers. [Note: These men, unlike Epaphras who was imprisoned with Paul, were free to minister for Christ there in Rome].

But of the time when he is to bring his firstborn Son back to the world he says, "And let all God's angels bow before him."

And He says in another place [Psa. 110:4], "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." [Note: This is the first mention of this mysterious Old Testament priest who, throughout this book, is represented as a type of Christ].

For though you should in fact be teachers by this time, you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of God's utterances. You have gone back to needing milk, not solid food.

and then have fallen away—it is impossible to bring them back again to repentance, since they again nail the Son of God on the cross [for as far as they are concerned, they are treating the death of Christ as if they were not saved by it], and are holding Him up again to public disgrace.

For this Melchisedek, king of Salem, priest of God Most High, who did meet Abraham turning back from the smiting of the kings, and did bless him,

Now pause and consider how great this man was to whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth of the spoils.

(For those were made priests without an oath, but this one was made a priest with an oath by him who says of him, The Lord gave his oath, which he will not take back, that you are a priest for ever);

For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,

so Christ also, who was once [for all] offered [as a sacrifice] to take away the sins of many people, will come back a second time, not to take away sin, [but] to provide salvation to those who are waiting for Him.

Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.

Farther back, saying, That sacrifice and bringing in and whole burnt offerings and for sin thou wouldest not, neither wert contented with; which are brought in according to law;

For we know who it is that has said, "Vengeance belongs to Me: I will pay back;" and again, "The Lord will be His people's judge."

Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

And truly if they had kept in mind the country from which they went out, they would have had chances of turning back.

and had been told that it is through Isaac that your offspring shall be reckoned ??19 for he considered that God was able even to raise men from the dead. Hence he did get him back, by what was a parable of the resurrection.

accounting that God is able to raise up, even from the dead; from whence he did also in a figure receive him back.

By [having] faith, when Joseph was about to die, he mentioned the Israelites' departure [from Egypt] and gave [them] instructions concerning his bones [i.e., that they were to take them back to Palestine. See Gen. 50:25].

Women received back their dead by resurrection. But others were tortured, not accepting release, in order that they might gain a better resurrection.

See to it that no one falls short of God’s grace; that no root of resentment springs up and causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;

and to the blast of a trumpet and a sound of words [such that] those who heard it begged that nothing more be said to them.

See that ye refuse not him speaking. For if they escaped not, having refused him giving an intimation of the divine will on earth, much more we, who having turned back from him from the heavens:

The disposition exempt from avarice; being contented with present circumstances: for he has said, I will not send thee back, nor forsake thee.

Remember your leaders, the men who spoke the word of God to you; look back upon the close of their career, and copy their faith.

And I urge all of you to pray earnestly, so that I may be restored to you soon.

Now may the God of peace, who made that great keeper of his flock, even our Lord Jesus, come back from the dead through the blood of the eternal agreement,

I beg you, Brothers, to bear with these words of advice. For I have written only very briefly to you.

So too, faith, if it does not have works [to back it up], is by itself dead [inoperative and ineffective].

Behold, the ships also, though they are so big and are driven by fierce winds, are yet guided by a very small rudder, wherever the pilot desires.

Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.

My brethren, if any one among you err from the truth, and one bring him back,

let him know that he that brings back a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall cover a multitude of sins.

receiving back the outcome of your faith, the salvation of souls.

Like children ruled by God, do not go back to the old desires of the time when you were without knowledge:

But according to the holy one calling you, also should ye yourselves be holy in all turning back;

You [should] know that you were bought back [from Satan], from your useless way of life, inherited from your forefathers, not with such perishable things as silver and gold,

Now that you have done with all malice, all deceitfulness, insincerity, jealous feelings, and all back-biting,

Beloved, I beg you as foreigners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

Having your turning back good in the nations: that, in what they speak against you as doing evil, from good works, they having beheld, might praise God in the day of inspection.

Who, when he was cursed, didn't curse back. When he suffered, didn't threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously;

for ye were as sheep going astray, but ye turned back now to the shepherd and overseer of your souls.

Likewise, wives being subject to their own husbands; that also, if any believe not the word, by the turning back of wives might be gained without the word;

Having beheld in fear your pure turning back.

not giving back evil for evil, or railing for railing, and on the contrary, blessing, having known that to this ye were called, that a blessing ye may inherit;

Because Christ once went through pain for sins, the upright one taking the place of sinners, so that through him we might come back to God; being put to death in the flesh, but given life in the Spirit;

Who, in the days of Noah, went against God's orders; but God in his mercy kept back the punishment, while Noah got ready the ark, in which a small number, that is to say eight persons, got salvation through water:

Men who will give back an accounting to him who fares readily to judge the living and the dead.

So, as a joint-elder with them, a witness of the suffering borne by Christ, and a sharer of the glory that is to be uncovered, I beg the elders among you,

And when the Supreme Shepherd [i.e., Jesus] comes back, you will receive [for your effort] a glorious crown [of reward] that will never fade away [Note: The idea of "fading away" is suggested by the laurel wreath bestowed on the winner of an athletic contest].

And just Lot, being harassed by the licentiousness of the lawless for the turning back, he delivered:

getting back a wage of unrighteousness. Men who consider soft living in the daytime to be pleasure, spots and blemishes reveling in their deceitfulness, feasting together with you,

but had reproof of his lawbreaking, a dumb ass speaking in a man's voice, held back the madness of the prophet.

[Although] their talk is big, what they say is worthless, and by [offering people] fleshly desires [i.e., sexual gratification], they lead people astray, who are barely escaping from the error of the world.

For it were better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

But that word of the true proverb has happened to them: The dog has turned back to his own vomit; and, The washed sow to her rolling in mud.

And now, little children, remain in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink away from him in shame when he comes back.

Now I ask you, lady, not as if I were writing to you a new commandment, but [simply reminding you of] the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love and unselfishly seek the best for one another.

Watch yourselves, so that you do not lose what we have accomplished together, but that you may receive a full and perfect reward [when He grants rewards to faithful believers].

But, when the ruling angel Michael disputed with the devil over [the final disposal of] the body of Moses, [even] he did not dare to bring derogatory charges against him [i.e., the devil], but said, "May the Lord rebuke you." [Note: Some suggest that this account appeared in an apocryphal book, possibly "The Assumption of Moses"].

These men are murmurers, ever bemoaning their lot. Their lives are guided by their evil passions, and their mouths are full of big, boastful words, while they treat individual men with admiring reverence for the sake of the advantage they can gain.

A blessing be on the reader, and on those who give ear to the prophet's words, and keep the things which he has put in the book: for the time is near.

[This book is from] John [and is being sent] to the seven churches that are in Asia [Note: This refers to the province of Asia Minor, a part of present-day Turkey]. May there be unearned favor and peace to you from God, the One who is [in the present], who was [in the past] and who will come [in the future], and from the seven spirits that are in front of God's throne [Note: Because the number "seven" was regarded as the number of perfection by the Jews, it is thought that this refers to the Holy Spirit].

and from Jesus Christ, the faithful and trustworthy Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who [always] loves us and who [has once for all] freed us [or washed us] from our sins by His own blood (His sacrificial death)—

I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and a great voice at my back, as of a horn, came to my ears,

Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

And I turned back to see the voice which spoke with me; and having turned, I saw seven golden lamps,

Yet have I a charge against thee, that thou art gone back from thy first love.

Therefore, remember how far you have fallen. Repent and go back to what you were doing at first. If you don't, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place unless you repent.

"And write [this] to the angel of the church at Smyrna: These things are the words of the First and the Last [i.e., Jesus], who was dead, but has come [back] to life:

He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

And before the throne [was something] like a sea of glass, like crystal, and in the midst of the throne and around the throne [were] four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back.

And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.

And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?

And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.

And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.

And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.

And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

of heaven fell down to the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth its untimely figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind: the heaven disappeared as a book when it is rolled up:

And the heaven was removed as a book rolled up, and every mountain and island were removed out of their places.

After this I saw four angels stationed at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree.

And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,

And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.

And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.

And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.

And there was war in heaven; Michael and his angels {fought against} the dragon, and the dragon and his angels {fought back}.

And the dragon (Satan) stood on the sandy shore of the sea.

Then I saw a [vicious] beast coming up out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten royal crowns (diadems), and on his heads were blasphemous names.

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

Pay back to her as she herself also paid out, and {pay back double} according to her deeds; in the cup that she mixed, mix double for her.

And he said to me, Put in the book, Happy are the guests at the bride-feast of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true words of God.

Then I saw thrones, and those who sat on them were given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or hands. They came back to life and ruled with the Messiah for a thousand years.

The rest of the dead did not come to life again till the thousand years were ended. This is the first coming back from the dead.

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.