If they all made up one member, what would become of the body?

I may distribute all I possess in charity, I may give up my body to be burnt, but if I have no love, I make nothing of it.

To sum up, my brothers. Set your heart on the prophetic gift, and do not put any check upon speaking in 'tongues';

and when this mortal body has been invested with immortality, then the saying of Scripture will be realized, Death is swallowed up in victory.

I am glad that Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus have arrived, for they have made up for your absence.

I can testify that up to their means, aye and beyond their means, they have given ??4 begging me of their own accord, most urgently, for the favour of contributing to the support of the saints.

Now, carry it through, so that your readiness to take it up may be equalled by the way you carry it through ??so far as your means allow.

it is a matter of give and take; at the present moment your surplus goes to make up what they lack, in order that their surplus may go to make up what you lack.

Everyone is to give what he has made up his mind to give; there is to be no grudging or compulsion about it, for God loves the giver who gives cheerfully.

I beg of you that when I do come I may not have to speak out and be peremptory; but my mind is made up to tackle certain people who have made up their minds that I move on the low level of the flesh.

the weapons of my warfare are not weapons of the flesh, but divinely strong to demolish fortresses ??5 I demolish theories and any rampart thrown up to resist the knowledge of God, I take every project prisoner to make it obey Christ,

Even supposing I were to boast somewhat freely of my authority (and the Lord gave it to me for building you up, not for demolishing you), I would feel quite justified.

I wish you would put up with a little 'folly' from me. Do put up with me,

You put up with it all right, when some interloper preaches a second Jesus (not the Jesus I preached), or when you are treated to a Spirit different from the Spirit you once received, and to a different gospel from what I gave you! Why not put up with me?

You put up with fools so readily, you who know so much!

You put up with a man who assumes control of your souls, with a man who spends your money, with a man who dupes you, with a man who gives himself airs, with a man who flies in your face.

I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. In the body or out of the body? That I do not know: God knows.

this man was caught up to paradise and heard sacred secrets which no human lips can repeat.

My wealth of visions might have puffed me up, so I was given a thorn in the flesh, an angel of Satan to rack me and keep me from being puffed up;

You think all this time I am defending myself to you? No, I am speaking in Christ before the presence of God, and speaking every word, beloved, in order to build you up.

I am writing thus to you in absence, so that when I do come I may not have to deal sharply with you; I have the Lord's authority for that, but he gave it to me for building you up, not for demolishing you.

instead of going up to Jerusalem to see those who had been apostles before me, I went off at once to Arabia, and on my return I came back to Damascus.

Then, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to make the acquaintance of Cephas. I stayed a fortnight with him.

Then, fourteen years later, I went up to Jerusalem again, accompanied by Barnabas; I took Titus with me also.

(It was in consequence of a revelation that I went up at all.) I submitted the gospel I am in the habit of preaching to the Gentiles, submitting it privately to the authorities, to make sure that my course of action would be and had been sound.

I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, Christ lives in me; the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me.

It is because you are sons that God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying 'Abba! Father!'

For the entire Law is summed up in one word, in You must love your neighbour as yourself

so to order it in the fulness of the ages that all things in heaven and earth alike should be gathered up in Christ ??11 in the Christ in whom we have had our heritage allotted us (as was decreed in the design of him who carries out everything according to the counsel of his will),

we are to hold by the truth, and by our love to grow up wholly into Him. For He, Christ, is the head, and under him,

as the entire Body is welded together and compacted by every joint with which it is supplied, the due activity of each part enables the Body to grow and build itself up in love.

Now in the Lord I insist and protest that you must give up living like pagans; for their purposes are futile,

and lead lives of love, just as Christ loved you and gave himself up for you to be a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Thus it is said, 'Wake up, O sleeper, and rise from the dead; so Christ will shine upon you.'

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right;

As for you fathers, do not exasperate your children, but bring them up in the discipline and on the admonitions of the Lord.

for he nearly died in the service of Christ by risking his life to make up for the services you were not here to render me.

due to the hope which is laid up for you in heaven. You heard of this hope originally in the message of the Truth, in that gospel

I am suffering now on your behalf, but I rejoice in that; I would make up the full sum of all that Christ has to suffer in my person on behalf of the church, his Body;

Children, obey your parents at every point, for this pleases the Lord right well.

Servants, obey your masters here below at every point; do not work simply when their eye is on you, like those who court human favour, but serve them with a single heart out of reverence for your Lord and Master.

by hindering us from speaking words of salvation to the Gentiles. So they would fill up the measure of their sins to the last drop! But the Wrath is on them to the bitter end!

So, unable to bear it any longer, I made up my mind to be left behind at Athens all alone;

then we the living, who survive, will be caught up along with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall be with the Lord for ever.

never give up prayer,

Only, if anyone will not obey our orders in this letter, mark that man, do not associate with him ??that will make him feel ashamed!

And who does not admit how profound is the divine truth of our religion? ??it is He who was "manifest in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by the angels, preached among the nations, believed on throughout the world, taken up to glory."

Lay this before the brotherhood, and you will be an excellent minister of Christ Jesus, brought up on the truths of the faith and on the lessons of the good doctrine you have already followed.

(When a widow has children or grandchildren, they must learn that the first duty of religion is to their own household, and that they should make some return to those who have brought them up. In God's sight this is an acceptable thing.)

she must have a reputation for good service, as a woman who has brought up children, shown hospitality, washed the feet of the saints, relieved distress, and interested herself in all good works.

[Give up being a total abstainer; take a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent attacks of illness.]

May the Lord show favour to the household of Onesiphorus, for many a time he braced me up; he was not ashamed of my imprisonment ??17 no, he made eager search for me when he reached Rome, and he found me

But the solid foundation laid by God remains, and this is its inscription: the Lord knows who are his, and 'let everyone who names the name of the Lord give up evil.'

they will be treacherous, reckless and conceited, preferring pleasure to God ??5 for though they keep up a form of religion, they will have nothing to do with it as a force. Avoid all such.

I adjure you to preach the word; keep at it in season and out of season, refuting, checking, and exhorting men; never lose patience with them, and never give up your teaching,

they will give up listening to the Truth and turn to myths.

Luke is the only one who is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him along with you, for he is of great use in helping me.

The first time I had to defend myself, I had no supporters; everyone deserted me. God grant it may not be brought up against them!

who gave himself up for us to redeem us from all iniquity and secure himself a clean people with a zest for good works.

Remind them to be submissive to their rulers and authorities; they must obey, they must be ready for any good work,

to our sister Apphia, to our fellow-soldier Archippus, and to the church that meets in your house:

thou wilt roll them up like a mantle and they win be changed, but thou art the same, and thy years will never fail.'

Thus, Son though he was, he learned by all he suffered how to obey,

and by being thus perfected he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,

who tasted the goodness of God's word and the powers of the world to come, and then fell away ??6 it is impossible to make them repent afresh, since they crucify the Son of God in their own persons and hold him up to obloquy.

one who has no need, like yonder high priests, day by day to offer sacrifices first for their own sins and then for those of the People ??he did that once for all in offering up himself.

and who officiates in the sanctuary or true tabernacle set up by the Lord and not by man.

A tent was set up, the outer tent, containing the lampstand, the table, and the loaves of the Presence; this is called the Holy place.

And it is by this will that we are consecrated, because Jesus Christ once for all has offered up his body.

and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good deeds ??25 not ceasing to meet together, as is the habit of some, but admonishing one another, all the more so, as you see the Day coming near.

partly by being held up yourselves to obloquy and anguish, partly by making common cause with those who fared in this way;

It was by faith that Moses refused, when he had grown up, to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;

So up with your listless hands! Strengthen your weak knees!

see to it that no one misses the grace of God, that no root of bitterness grows up to be a trouble by contaminating all the rest of you;

Obey your leaders, submit to them; for they are alive to the interests of your souls, as men who will have to account for their trust. Let their work be a joy to them and not a grief ??which would be a loss to yourselves.

May the God of peace who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, with the blood of the eternal covenant,

but let one who is rich exult in being lowered; for the rich will pass away like the flower of the grass ??11 up comes the sun with the scorching wind and withers the grass, its flower drops off, and the splendour of it is ruined: so shall the rich fade away amid their pursuits.

We put bridles into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, and so, you see, we can move the whole of their bodies.

Lament and mourn and weep, let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to depression;

humble yourselves before the Lord, and then he will raise you up.

Come now, you rich men, weep and shriek over your impending miseries!

your gold and silver lie rusted over, and their rust will be evidence against you, it will devour your flesh like fire. [Moved to the end of 5:1] You have been storing up treasure in the very last days;

the prayer of faith will restore the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; even the sins he has committed will be forgiven him.

whom God the Father has predestined and chosen, by the consecration of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood: may grace and peace be multiplied to you.

Brace up your minds, then, keep cool, and put your hope for good and all in the grace that is coming to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Like newly-born children, thirst for the pure, spiritual milk to make you grow up to salvation.

so long as I am in this tent, I deem it proper to stir you up by way of reminder,

since I know my tent must be folded up very soon ??as indeed our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me.

This is the second letter I have already written to you, beloved, stirring up your pure mind by way of reminder,

but the present heavens and earth are treasured up by the same word for fire, reserved for the day when the impious are doomed and destroyed.

He who says, 'I know him,' but does not obey his commands, is a liar and the truth is not in him;

and we get from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commands and do what is pleasing in his sight.

So when I come, I shall bring up what he is doing, babbling against me with wicked words ??and, not satisfied with words, he refuses to welcome the brothers, checks those who want to welcome them, and excommunicates them from the church.

These are the people who set up divisions and distinctions, sensuous creatures, destitute of the Spirit.

But do you, beloved, build up yourselves on your most holy faith and pray in the holy Spirit,

I know that you are enduring patiently and have borne up for my sake and have not wearied.

But I have this against you: you have given up loving one another as you did at first.

Wake up, rally what is still left to you, though it is on the very point of death; for I find nothing you have done is complete in the eyes of my God.

Now remember what you received and heard, hold to it and repent. If you will not wake up, I shall come like a thief; you will not know at what hour I come upon you.