What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will live in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

For behold what this very thing, godly sorrow, has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what readiness to see justice done! At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.

Therefore we are comforted. And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.

For if I have boasted to him about you, I was not put to shame; but just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting before Titus has proved true.

Now, brethren, we want you to know about the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia,

For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a man has, not according to what he does not have.

and not only that, but he has been appointed by the churches to travel with us in this gracious work which we are carrying on, for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our good will.

for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the Macedonians, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year; and your zeal has stirred up most of them.

Each one must give just as he has purposed in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

As it is written, "He has scattered abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures forever."

But we will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the field God has apportioned to us, a field that reaches even to you.

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?

To give a human example, brethren: even though it is only a man's covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it.

But the Scripture has bound everyone under sin, so that that what was promised by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"

What has become of the satisfaction you felt? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me.

For it is written, "Rejoice, O barren woman who does not bear; break forth and shout, you who are not in labor; for the children of the desolate are more numerous than the children of her who has a husband."

It was for freedom that Christ has set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

But if I, brethren, still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? In that case the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished.

But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,

which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;

and to make plain to everyone the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things;

He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but rather must labor, doing useful work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with those in need.

Now I want you to know, brethren, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel,

so that my imprisonment for Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else,

For to you it has been granted for the sake of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake,

But you know that he has proved his worth, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.

though I myself have reasons for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more:

which has come to you, just as in all the world it is bearing fruit and growing, even as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth;

giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son,

yet he has now reconciled you in his fleshly body through death, in order to present you before him holy and blameless and beyond reproach

if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a minister.

the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints.

Let no one disqualify you for the prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, puffed up without cause by his fleshly mind,

bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord forgave you, so you also must forgive.

For he who does wrong will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.

and with him Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, who is one of yourselves. They will tell you everything that has taken place here.

I testify for him that he has worked hard for you and for those who are in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

When this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you read the letter from Laodicea.

For we know, brethren beloved by God, that he has chosen you;

For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we have no need to say anything.

hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved; with the result that they always fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last.

But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, just as we long to see you

For God has not called us to impurity, but to holiness.

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

not to be quickly shaken in mind or excited, either by spirit or by word, or by letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, because he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service.

But if a widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to practice their religion in regard to their own family and to make some return to their parents; for this is acceptable in the sight of God.

Now she who is a real widow, and who has been left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day.

If any one does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his own family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

and she must be well known for her good deeds, as one who has brought up children, shown hospitality, washed the feet of the saints, relieved those in distress, and devoted herself to doing good in every way.

If any woman who is a believer has dependent widows, she must assist them, and let not the church be burdened, so that it may assist those who are real widows.

he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, which produce envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions,

who alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. Avoid godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge,

who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and the grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,

but has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure that has been entrusted to you.

who have gone astray from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and upset the faith of some.

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.

for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia.

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,

If he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account.

but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the world.

having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions."

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

But there is a place where someone has testified, "What is man that you are mindful of him, or the son of man that you care for him?

And again, "I will put my trust in him." And again, "Here am I, and the children God has given me."

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same nature, that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil,

For because he himself has suffered, being tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.

Yet Jesus has been counted worthy of as much more glory than Moses as the builder of a house has more honor than the house.

For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, "As I swore in my wrath, 'They shall never enter my rest,'" although his works were finished from the foundation of the world.

For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all his works."

God again set a certain day, "Today," saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts."

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Because of this he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people.

where Jesus has entered as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar.

who has become a priest not on the basis of a law of carnal requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life.

Those who formerly became priests took their office without an oath, but he became a priest with an oath through the One who said to him, "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, 'You are a priest forever.'"

Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.

For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

But as it is, he has obtained a ministry which is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.

When he said, "A new covenant," he has made the first obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

For a will is in force only when somebody has died, since it never takes effect while the one who made it is living.

saying, "This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you."

For then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But now, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

For since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices which are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near.

For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.

Anyone who has rejected the law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

How much severer punishment do you think a man will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as an unclean thing the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?

Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.