but you knew I preached the gospel to you on my former [visit] in weakness of the flesh,

O my little children, of whom I travail again in birth until Christ be formed within you!

till Christ be formed in you, I should be glad to be present with you even now, and to change my voice; for I am in doubt about you.

which was not disclosed to the sons of men in former generations, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets,

in pursuance of that dispensation which he made to former ages by Christ Jesus our Lord:

Through whom all the body, being rightly formed and united together, by the full working of every part, is increased to the building up of itself in love.

That ye were to strip off - as regardeth the former behaviour - the old man, who corrupteth himself according to his deceitful covetings,

and to be renewed in your mind, by living like men formed anew,

but the former preach Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely, because they think they are adding bitterness to my bonds.

but the former preach Christ [insincerely] out of selfish ambition [just self-promotion], thinking that they are causing me distress in my imprisonment.

But whatever former things were gains to me [as I thought then], these things [once regarded as advancements in merit] I have come to consider as loss [absolutely worthless] for the sake of Christ [and the purpose which He has given my life].

the open secret, covered up from the people of former ages and generations, but now uncovered to God's people,

let there be no fraud among you, since you have discarded your former habits and practices, and are become new men,

For Adam was formed first, and then Eve;

[thus] incurring condemnation because they have broken their former pledge.

But in a great house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also wood and stone, the former truly indeed unto honor, but the latter unto dishonor.

God, having spoken in former times in fragmentary and varied fashion to our forefathers by the prophets,

On the one hand a former command is set aside because it is weak and useless,

The [former successive line of] priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were each prevented by death from continuing [perpetually in office];

who does not {need every day} like the former high priests to offer up sacrifices for his own sins [and] then for the [sins] of the people, because he did this once for all [when he] offered up himself.

But, as it is, the priestly service to which Christ has been appointed is as much better than the old as the agreement established by him and the promises on which it is based are superior to the former ones.

In calling [it] new, he has declared the former [to be old]. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old [is] near to disappearing.

By this the Holy Spirit signifies that the way into the Holy Place [the true Holy of Holies and the presence of God] has not yet been disclosed as long as the first or outer tabernacle is still standing [that is, as long as the Levitical system of worship remains a recognized institution],

And for this reason, he is the mediator of the new covenant: that, since his death has taken place for the redemption of transgressions that were under the former covenant, those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will.” [And so] He does away with the first [covenant as a means of atoning for sin based on animal sacrifices] so that He may inaugurate and establish the second [covenant by means of obedience].

But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were enlightened, ye endured a great conflict of sufferings;

By [having] faith, we understand that the universe was formed by God's word [See Gen. 1:1-27], so that what is seen has not been made out of what is visible.

By faith Moses, after being born, was hid three months by his parents, because they saw the child well-formed, and they were not afraid of the king's edict.

Now this word yet once more manifests the removal of the things shaken, as of things formed, that the things not shaken may endure.

You must not forget your former leaders, for it was they who brought you the message of God. Consider how they closed their lives; imitate their faith.

Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin. And sin, when it is fully formed, brings forth death.

Wait patiently therefore, my brethren, till the coming of the Lord: behold the husbandman expecteth the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it, till he receive the former and the latter rain.

as children of obedience, not fashioning yourselves according to your former lusts in the time of your ignorance:

the holy religious women of former times were thus adorned, and were submissive to their husbands.

For he in whom these things are not present is blind, being near-sighted, having deliberately forgotten the purification of his former sins.

For if, after men have escaped the corrupting ways of the world through a full knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they again become entangled in them and are conquered by them, then their last condition is worse than their former one.

For they willingly ignore the fact that there were heaven, from of old, and an earth formed out of water and through water, by the word of God;

whence the former world was destroyed by an inundation.

and formed us into a kingdom [as His subjects], priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the power and the majesty and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

After these [things] I looked, and behold, an open door in heaven, and the former voice that I had heard like a trumpet speaking with me was saying, "Come up here and I will show you [the things] which must take place after these [things]."

And hast formed them into a Kingdom to be priests to our God, And they reign over the earth."

He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence [when the two are together]. And he makes the earth and those who inhabit it worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

Then I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mixed with fire; and, standing by this sea of glass, holding the harps of God, I saw those who had come victorious out of the conflict with the Beast and its image and the number that formed its name.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away (vanished), and there is no longer any sea.

And he will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And there will not be any more death, nor grief, nor crying, nor will there be any more anguish, because the former things are gone.