Such a person should consider this: What we are in the words of our letters when absent, we will be in actions when present.

For I am not overstepping my authority as though I should not reach you, for I was the very first to reach as far as you with the good news of Christ.

"The person who boasts should boast in the Lord."

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

For if someone comes along and preaches another Jesus than the one we preached, or should you receive a different spirit from the one you received or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you are all too willing to listen.

And when I was present with you and had need, I was grievous to no man. For that which was lacking unto me, the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied: and in all things I kept myself that I should not be grievous to you: and so will I keep myself.

Therefore, it should not be surprising for Satan's ministers to disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness. Their [final] end will be what they deserve for such actions.

I repeat: No one should consider me a fool. But if you do, at least accept me as a fool, so I too may boast a little.

The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who should be praised forever, knows that I am not lying.

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.

And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should depart from me.

I have become a fool. You forced me to be one. Really, I should have been commended by you, for I am not in any way inferior to your "super-apostles," even if I am nothing.

Now I'm ready to visit you for a third time, and I will not bother you for help. I do not want your things, but rather you yourselves. Children should not have to support their parents, but parents their children.

Now I shall most gladly spend and be utterly spent for your souls, if even in abundantly loving you I should be less loved.

For I fear, lest by any means, when I come, I should find you not such as I would, and should myself be found of you such as ye would not; lest by any means there should be'strife, jealousy, wraths, factions, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults;

lest again when I come my God should humble me before you, and I should mourn for many of them that have sinned heretofore, and repented not of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they committed.

This will be my third visit to you. [Deut. 19:15 says], "Every matter should be settled by the testimony of two or three witnesses."

I have said before, and say beforehand, as being present the second; and being away now I write to them having sinned before, and to all the rest, that, if I should come again, I will not spare:

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.

Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification, and not to destruction.

who gave himself for our sins, so that he should deliver us out of the present evil world, according to the will of our God and Father;

But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema.

I repeat what I have already said: If any person preaches to you a "gospel" other than what you have already received [from us apostles], he should be cut off from God's [salvation].

For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

for to declare his son by me, that I should preach him among the heathen: Immediately I commended not of the matter with flesh and blood,

And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.

But they did not insist that even my companion Titus, although he was a Greek, should be circumcised,

But we refused to yield for a single instant to their claims; we were determined that the truth of the gospel should hold good for you.

but on the contrary seeing that I was intrusted with the gospel of the uncircumcision, as Peter was of the circumcision,??8 for he that operated in Peter for the apostleship of the circumcision, operated also in me for the gentiles,??9 and knowing the grace given me, James and Cephas and John, who were manifest pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship that we should go to the gentiles and they to the circumcision;

And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.

Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.

But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the good news, I said to Cephas, right before them all, "If you live like a heathen, and not like a Jew, though you are a Jew yourself, why should you try to make the heathen live like Jews?"

For if seeking to be justified by Christ, we also ourselves should be found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? God forbid.

For if I [or anyone else should] rebuild [through word or by practice] what I once tore down [the belief that observing the Law is essential for salvation], I prove myself to be a transgressor.

For I through the law am dead to the law, that I should live unto God.

O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

You should know, then, that people who have faith are [truly] God's children.

And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.

Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.

but the scripture has shut up all things under sin, that the promise, on the principle of faith of Jesus Christ, should be given to those that believe.

But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.

so that the law became our child-conductor -- to Christ, that by faith we may be declared righteous,

and the faith having come, no more under a child-conductor are we,

Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;

But, when the full time came, God sent his Son--born a woman's child, born subject to Law--

So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if you are a child, then you are also an heir because of what God did.

I am afraid of you - lest by any means, in vain, I should have toiled for you!

They are jealous over you amiss. Yea they intend to exclude you, that ye should be fervent to them ward.

but it is just you should cultivate my affection for you upon all proper occasions, and not only when I am present with you.

My children, for whom I again travail until Christ should be formed in you,

and I should wish to be present with you now, and change my voice, for I am perplexed as to you.

Scripture says that Abraham had two sons, one the child of the slave-woman and the other the child of the free woman.

But the child of the slave woman was born according to the flesh and had an ordinary birth, while the son of the free woman was born in fulfillment of the promise.

For it is written, "Rejoice, thou barren woman that bearest not, break forth into a joyful cry, thou that dost not travail with child. For the desolate woman has many children--more indeed than she who has the husband."

But as at that time the child [of ordinary birth] born according to the flesh persecuted the son who was born according to [the promise and working of] the Spirit, so it is now also.

Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?

For you, my brothers, were called to freedom; only do not let your freedom become an opportunity for the sinful nature (worldliness, selfishness), but through love serve and seek the best for one another.

For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these things are opposed one to the other, that ye should not do those things which ye desire;

If we live by the [guidance of the] Holy Spirit, we should also walk in [the ways of] the Holy Spirit.

We should avoid foolish pride as well as provoking or envying one another.

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any sin, you who are spiritual [that is, you who are responsive to the guidance of the Spirit] are to restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness [not with a sense of superiority or self-righteousness], keeping a watchful eye on yourself, so that you are not tempted as well.

But each person should examine his own work, and then he will have a reason for boasting in himself alone, and not in respect to someone else.

For each person should shoulder the responsibility of his own work load.

The person who is taught the word should share all his goods with his teacher.

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever a man should sow, that also shall he reap.

And we should not become tired of doing good things, for eventually we will receive [never ending life] if we do not give up.

So then, we should do the right thing toward every person whenever we have the opportunity, and especially toward people who are part of God's family [i.e., those making up "the faith"].

As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.

But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

From now on no one should harass me [about such matters] for I carry around on my body the scars [left there in my service] for Christ.

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

God predetermined that we should be [considered] His adopted children through [fellowship with] Christ. This is what pleased God and is what He wanted,

the same in himself to have it declared when the time were full come: that all things, both the things which are in heaven, and also the things which are in earth, should be gathered together, even in Christ. That is to say, in him

That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

being enlightened in the eyes of your heart, so that ye should know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

Not of works, lest any man should boast.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

So, you Gentiles by birth should remember what you once were. You are called "Uncircumcision" by those who are called "Circumcision" [i.e., the Jews], (which refers to a physical procedure performed by people).

which in other generations was not made known to men, as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles should be co-heirs,

That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;

and should make all men see the new dispensation of that secret purpose, hidden from eternity in the God who founded the universe,

The purpose of this enlightenment is that through the church the multifaceted wisdom of God should now be disclosed to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms.

[and He did this] to fully equip and perfect the saints (God’s people) for works of service, to build up the body of Christ [the church];

till we should all attain the unity of the faith and knowledge of God's Son, reaching maturity, reaching the full measure of development which belongs to the fulness of Christ ??14 instead of remaining immature, blown from our course and swayed by every passing wind of doctrine, by the adroitness of men who are dexterous in devising error;

that we should be no longer children, fluctuating, and carried about with every empty doctrine, by men vers'd in sleight and the crafty arts of deceit:

But [instead], we should speak [and practice] truth in a loving way, so that we can, in all respects, grow up [spiritually] into [union with] Christ, who is the head [i.e., of His body, the church].

This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye should no longer walk as the rest of the nations walk in the vanity of their mind,

that you should lay aside your former mode of life the old man destroyed by deceitful desires,

And you should put on the new person who has been [re-] created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

For this reason, laying aside falsehood, every one of you should speak the truth to his fellow man; for we are, as it were, parts of one another.

He who has been a thief must steal no more, but, instead of that, should work with his own hands in honest industry, so that he may have something of which he can give the needy a share.

No foul language is to come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear.

So, as dearly loved children, you people should [try to] be like God.

And live a life of love, following the example of the Christ, who loved you and gave himself for you as 'an offering and a sacrifice to God, that should be fragrant and acceptable.'

But sexual immorality and any impurity or greed should not even be heard of among you, as is proper for saints.

Neither should there be vulgar speech, foolish talk, or coarse jesting -- all of which are out of character -- but rather thanksgiving.