Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only while being watched in order to please them, but with a sincere heart, fearing the Lord.

for the gospel we brought did not come to you in words only, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with deep conviction. Indeed, you know what kind of people we proved to be while we were with you, acting on your behalf.

From you the word of the Lord has spread out not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place where your faith in God has become known. As a result, we do not need to say anything about it.

Rather, because we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, we speak as we do, not trying to please people but God, who tests our motives.

We cared so deeply for you that we were determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but our very lives. That is how dear you were to us.

Here is another reason why we constantly give thanks to God: When you received God's word, which you heard from us, you did not accept it as the word of humans but for what it really is the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.

Brothers, although we have been separated from you for a little while in person but not in heart we eagerly desire to see you again face to face.

That is why we wanted to come to you. Certainly I, Paul, wanted to come time and again, but Satan blocked our way.

But when I could stand it no longer, I sent Timothy to find out about your faith. I was afraid that the tempter had tempted you in some way, and that our work had been a waste of time.

But Timothy has just now returned from visiting you and has told us the good news about your faith and love. He also told us that you always have fond memories of us and want to see us, just as we want to see you.

For God did not call us to be impure, but to be holy.

Therefore, whoever rejects this instruction is not rejecting human authority but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.

In fact, you are showing love to all the brothers throughout Macedonia, but we urge you, brothers, to keep on doing this even more.

But we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve like other people who have no hope.

Therefore, let's not fall asleep like others do, but let's stay awake and be sober.

But since we belong to the day, let's be sober. We must put on the breastplate of faith and love, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.

For God has not destined us to receive wrath but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus, the Messiah,

For the secret of this lawlessness is already at work, but only until the person now holding it back gets out of the way.

Then all who have not believed the truth but have taken pleasure in unrighteousness will be condemned.

But the Lord is faithful and will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.

It is not as though we did not have that right, but we wanted to give you an example to follow.

Yet, don't treat him like an enemy, but warn him like a brother.

that is, if he understands that the Law is not intended for righteous people but for lawbreakers and rebels, for ungodly people and sinners, for those who are unholy and irreverent, for those who kill their fathers, their mothers, or other people,

In the past I was a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent man. But I received mercy because I acted ignorantly in my unbelief,

I am the worst of them. But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the worst sinner, the Messiah Jesus might demonstrate all of his patience as an example for those who would believe in him for eternal life.

but through good actions. This is proper for women who claim to revere God.

He must not drink excessively or be a violent person, but instead be gentle. He must not be argumentative or love money.

But they must first be tested. Then, if they prove to be blameless, they may become ministers.

Their wives must also be serious. They must not be gossips, but instead be stable and trustworthy in everything.

Physical exercise is of limited value, but Godliness is very dear, a pledge of life, both there and here.

Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but be an example for other believers in your speech, behavior, love, faithfulness, and purity.

Never speak harshly to an older man, but appeal to him as if he were your father. Treat younger men like brothers,

But if a widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to respect their own family by repaying their parents, for this is pleasing in God's sight.

But the self-indulgent widow is just as good as dead.

But do not include younger widows on your list. For whenever their natural desires cause them to lose their devotion to the Messiah, they want to remarry.

At the same time, they also learn how to be lazy while going from house to house. Not only this, but they even become gossips and keep busy by interfering in other people's lives, saying things they should not say.

Stop drinking only water, but use a little wine for your stomach because of your frequent illnesses.

But people who want to get rich keep toppling into temptation and are trapped by many stupid and harmful desires that plunge them into destruction and ruin.

But you, man of God, must flee from all these things. Instead, you must pursue righteousness, godliness, faithfulness, love, endurance, and gentleness.

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity but one of power, love, and self-discipline.

He saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our own accomplishments, but according to his own purpose and the grace that was given to us in the Messiah Jesus before time began.

Remind others about these things, and warn them before God not to argue over words. Arguing does not do any good but only destroys those who are listening.

In a large house there are not only utensils made of gold and silver, but also those made of wood and clay. Some are for special use, while others are for ordinary use.

They will hold to an outward form of godliness but deny its power. Stay away from such people.

These women are always studying but are never able to arrive at a full knowledge of the truth.

But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those two men, their stupidity will be plain to everyone.

But you have observed my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, my faith, my patience, my love, my endurance,

But evil people and impostors will go from bad to worse as they deceive others and are themselves deceived.

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and found to be true, because you know from whom you learned it.

For the time will come when people will not tolerate healthy doctrine, but with itching ears will surround themselves with teachers who cater to their people's own desires.

But you must be clear-headed about everything. Endure suffering. Do the work of an evangelist. Devote yourself completely to your ministry.

The victor's crown of righteousness is now waiting for me, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on the day that he comes, and not only to me but also to all who eagerly wait for his appearing.

Everything is clean to those who are clean, but nothing is clean to those who are corrupt and unbelieving. Indeed, their very way of thinking and their consciences have been corrupted.

They claim to know God, but they deny him by their actions. They are detestable, disobedient, and disqualified to do anything good.

But as for you, teach what is consistent with healthy doctrine.

Likewise, older women are to show their reverence for God by their behavior. They are not to be gossips or addicted to alcohol, but to be examples of goodness.

"Twas not for deeds that we had done, but by his steadfast love alone, he saved us through a second birth, renewed us by the Spirit's work,

But avoid foolish controversies, arguments about genealogies, quarrels, and fights about the Law. These things are useless and worthless.

Once he was useless to you, but now he is very useful both to you and to me.

I wanted to keep him with me so that he could serve me in your place during my imprisonment for the gospel. forced, but voluntary.

16no longer as a slave but better than a slave as a dear brother, especially to me, but even more so to you, both as a person and as a believer.

But about the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the scepter of your kingdom is a righteous scepter.

They will come to an end, but you will remain forever. They will all wear out like clothes.

You will roll them up like a robe, and they will be changed like clothes. But you remain the same, and your life will never end."

But to which of the angels did he ever say, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet"?

Now when God put everything under him, he left nothing outside his control. However, at the present time we do not yet see everything put under him. But we do see someone who was made a little lower than the angels. He is Jesus, who is crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might experience death for everyone.

After all, every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.

but the Messiah was faithful as the Son in charge of God's household, and we are his household if we hold on to our courage and the hope in which we rejoice.

because we have had the good news told to us as well as to them. But the message they heard did not help them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened to it.

No creature can hide from him, but everyone is exposed and helpless before the eyes of the one to whom we must give a word of explanation.

No one takes this honor upon himself but he is called to it by God, just as Aaron was.

We have much to say about this, but it is difficult to explain because you have become too lazy to understand.

But solid food is for mature people, whose minds are trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.

But we want each of you to continue to be diligent to the very end, in order to give full assurance to your hope.

But this man, whose descent is not traced from them, collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the man who had received the promises.

Mortal men collect tithes, but we are informed by Scripture that Melchizedek keeps on living.

who was appointed to be a priest, not on the basis of a genealogical registry, but rather on the power of an indestructible life.

but Jesus became a priest with an oath when God told him, "The Lord has taken an oath and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever."

But because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.

For the Law appoints as high priests men who are weak, but the promised oath, which came after the Law, results in a Son who is eternally perfect.

but God found something wrong with his people when he said, "Look! The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

But only the high priest went into the second part, and then only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins committed by the people in ignorance.

But when the Messiah came as a high priest of the good things that have come, he went through the greater and more perfect tent that was not made by human hands and that is not a part of this creation.

Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood he went into the Most Holy Place once for all and secured our eternal redemption.

Thus it was necessary for these earthly copies of the things in heaven to be cleansed by these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves are made clean with better sacrifices than these.

For the Messiah did not go into a sanctuary made by human hands that is merely a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, to appear now in God's presence on our behalf.

Then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the creation of the world. But now, at the end of the ages, he has appeared once for all to remove sin by his sacrifice.

so the Messiah was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people. And he will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly wait for him.

For this reason, the Scriptures say, when the Messiah was about to come into the world: "You did not want sacrifices and offerings, but you prepared a body for me.

But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, "he sat down at the right hand of God."

not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another even more as you see the day of the Lord coming nearer.

but only a terrifying prospect of judgment and a raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.

But you must continue to remember those earlier days, how after you were enlightened you endured a hard and painful struggle.

but my righteous one will live by faith, and if he turns back, my soul will take no pleasure in him."

Now, we do not belong to those who turn back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.

Women received their dead raised back to life. Other people were brutally tortured, but refused to be ransomed, so that they might gain a better resurrection.

All these people won approval for their faith but they did not receive what was promised,

For a short time they disciplined us as they thought best, but God does it for our good, so that we may share in his holiness.

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, for those who have been trained by it, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace.

and straighten the paths of your life, so that your lameness may not become worse, but instead may be healed.