But these, [when they] saw that I had been entrusted [with] the gospel to the uncircumcision, just as Peter to the circumcision

and [when] James and Cephas and John--those thought to be pillars--acknowledged the grace given to me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right [hand] of fellowship, in order that we [should go] to the Gentiles and they to the circumcision.

[They asked] only that we should remember the poor, the very thing I was also eager to do.

For before certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles, but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, [because he] was afraid of those [who were] of the circumcision,

But when I saw that they were not being straightforward with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of [them] all, "If you, [although you] are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you try to compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?"

They zealously seek you, not commendably, but they want to exclude you, in order that you may seek them [zealously].

As many as are wanting to make a good showing in the flesh, these are attempting to compel you to be circumcised, only so that they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.

For not even those who are circumcised observe the law themselves, but they want you to be circumcised in order that they may boast in your flesh.

For they all seek {their own interests}, not those of Jesus Christ.

which [things] {although they have}, to be sure, an appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and humility and unsparing treatment of the body, {do not have any value} against the indulgence of the flesh.

Fathers, do not provoke your children, so that they will not become discouraged.

together with Onesimus, my faithful and dear brother, who is [one] of you. They will make known to you all {the circumstances} here.

For [they] themselves report about us, what sort of welcome we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve [the] living and true God,

For you became imitators, brothers, of the churches of God [which] are in Judea in Christ Jesus, because you also suffered the same [things] at the hands of your own people, just as [they] themselves [did] also at the hands of the Jews,

hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles in order that they may be saved, so that [they] always fill up their sins. But wrath has come upon them to the end.

Whenever they say "Peace and security," then sudden destruction will overtake them like the birth pains of {a pregnant woman}, and they will not possibly escape.

and with every unrighteous deception against those who are perishing, in place of which they did not accept the love of the truth, so that they would be saved.

And because of this, God sends them {a powerful delusion} so that they will believe the lie,

But we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, [that] you keep away from every brother who lives irresponsibly and not according to the tradition that they received from us.

Now we command and we exhort such people in the Lord Jesus Christ that, working with quietness, they eat their own bread.

wanting to be teachers of the law, [although they] do not understand either [the things] which they are saying or [the things] concerning which they are speaking confidently.

having faith and a good conscience, which some, [because they] have rejected [these], have suffered shipwreck concerning their faith,

among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, in order that they may be taught not to blaspheme.

and these also must be tested first; then let them serve [if they] are above reproach.

But if any widow has children or grandchildren, they must learn to show profound respect for their own household first, and to pay back recompense to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.

And command these [things], in order that they may be irreproachable.

But refuse younger widows, for whenever their physical desires lead them away from Christ, they want to marry,

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

And at the same time also, going around from house to house, they learn [to be] idle, and not only idle, but also gossipy and busybodies, saying the things [that are] not necessary.

The sins of some people are evident, preceding [them] to judgment, but for some also they follow after [them].

And those who have believing masters must not look down on [them] because they are brothers, but rather they must serve, because those who benefit by their service are believers and dearly loved.

For the love of money is a root of all evil, by which some, [because they] desire [it], have gone astray from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.

storing up for themselves a good foundation for the future, in order that they may take hold of [what is] truly life.

Because of this, I endure all [things] for the sake of the chosen, in order that they also may obtain salvation [which is] in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

who have deviated concerning the truth [by] saying the resurrection has already taken place, and they are upsetting the faith of some.

But avoid foolish and uninformed controversies, [because you] know that they produce quarrels.

and they will come to their senses again [and escape] from the trap of the devil, being held captive by him to [do] his will.

But they will not progress to a greater extent, for their folly will be quite evident to everyone, as also the [folly] of those [two] was.

For there will be a time when they will not put up with sound teaching, but in accordance with their own desires, they will accumulate for themselves teachers, {because they have an insatiable curiosity},

and they will turn away from the hearing of the truth, but will turn to myths.

At my first defense, no one came to my [aid], but [they] all deserted me; may it not be counted against them.

This testimony is true, for which reason reprove them severely, in order that they may be sound in the faith,

They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny [him], [because they] are detestable and disobedient, and unfit for every good deed.

in order that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands [and to] love their children,

not stealing, but demonstrating all good faith, in order that they may do credit to the teaching of God our Savior in everything.

But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and contentions and quarrels about the law, for they are useless and fruitless.

Diligently send on their way Zenas the lawyer and Apollos, so that {they may lack nothing}.

But also our [people] must learn to engage in good deeds for necessary needs, so that they will not be unfruitful.

they will perish, but you continue, and they will all become old like a garment,

and like a robe you will roll them up, and like a garment they will be changed; but you are the same, and your years will not run out."

Are they not all spirits engaged in special service, sent on assignment for the sake of those who are going to inherit salvation?

[for] forty years. Therefore I was angry with this generation, and I said, 'They always go astray in their heart, and they do not know my ways.'

As I swore in my anger, '{They will never enter} into my rest.'"

For who, [when they] heard [it], were disobedient? Surely [it was] not all who went out from Egypt through Moses?

And to whom did he swear [they would] not enter into his rest, except those who were disobedient?

And [so] we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.

{For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us}, just as those also [did], but the message {they heard} did not benefit them, [because they] were not united with those who heard [it] in faith.

For we who have believed enter into rest, just as he has said, "As I swore in my anger, '{They will never enter} into my rest.'" And yet these works have been accomplished from the foundation of the world.

and in this [passage] again, '{They will never enter} into my rest.'"

and having fallen away, to renew [them] again to repentance, [because they] have crucified again for themselves the Son of God and held him up to contempt.

And indeed those of the sons of Levi who receive the priesthood have a commandment to collect a tenth from the people according to the law, that is, from their brothers, although {they are descended from Abraham}.

And indeed many {have become} priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing [in office],

not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I took hold of them by my hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I disregarded them, says the Lord.

For this [is] the covenant that I will decree with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I am putting my laws in their minds and I will write them on their hearts, and I will be {their} God and they will be {my} people.

And they will not teach each one his fellow citizen and each one his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.

Now these things having been prepared in this way, the priests enter into the first tent {continually} [as they] accomplish their service,

For the law, possessing a shadow of the good [things] that are about to come, not the form of things itself, [is] never able {year by year} by means of the same sacrifices which they offer without interruption to make perfect those who draw near.

For otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the ones who worship, having been purified once and for all, would no longer have any consciousness of sins?

These all died in faith without receiving the promises, but seeing them from a distance and welcoming [them], and admitting that they were strangers and temporary residents on the earth.

For those who say such [things] make clear that they are seeking a homeland.

And if they remember that [land] from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.

But now they aspire to a better [land], that is, a heavenly [one]. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

By faith Moses, [when he] was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw the child [was] handsome, and they were not afraid of the edict of the king.

By faith they crossed the Red Sea as if on dry land; the Egyptians, {when they made the attempt}, were drowned.

By faith the walls of Jericho fell down [after they] had been marched around for seven days.

Women received back their dead by resurrection. But others were tortured, not accepting release, in order that they might gain a better resurrection.

They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they died by murder with a sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, impoverished, afflicted, mistreated,

And [although they] all were approved through their faith, they did not receive what was promised,

[because] God had provided something better for us, so that they would not be made perfect without us.

For they disciplined [us] for a few days according to what seemed [appropriate] to them, but he [does so] for our benefit, in order that [we] can have a share in his holiness.

For they could not endure what was commanded: "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned."

Watch out that you do not refuse the one who is speaking! For if those did not escape [when they] refused the one who warned [them] on earth, much less [will] we [escape], [if we] reject the [one who warns] from heaven,

Obey your leaders and submit [to them], for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account, so that they can do this with joy and not [with] groaning, for this [would be] unprofitable for you.

But you have dishonored the poor! Are not the rich exploiting you and they themselves dragging you into the courts?

Do they themselves not blaspheme the good name {of the one to whom you belong}?

And if we put bits in the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we also guide their whole bodies.

Behold also ships: [although they] are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot wishes.

Is anyone among you sick? He should summon the elders of the church and they should pray over him, anointing him with olive oil in the name of the Lord.

to whom it was revealed that they were serving not themselves but you with reference to the same [things] which now have been announced to you through those who proclaimed the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, {things into which} angels desire to look.

and "A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense," who stumble [because they] disobey the word to which also they were consigned.

maintaining your good conduct among the Gentiles, so that in [the things] in which they slander you as evildoers, by seeing your good deeds they may glorify God on the day of visitation.

In the same way, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some are disobedient to the word, they may be won over without a word by the conduct of their wives,

[when they] see your respectful, pure conduct.

with respect to which they are surprised [when] you do not run with [them] into the same flood of dissipation, [and so they] revile [you].

They will give an account to the one who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

Because for this reason also the gospel was preached to those who are dead, so that they were judged {by human standards} in the flesh, but they may live in the spirit {by God's standards}.

And in greediness they will exploit you with false words, whose condemnation [from] long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

and especially those who go after the flesh in defiling lust and who despise authority. Bold [and] arrogant, they do not tremble in awe [as they] blaspheme majestic beings,

But these persons, like irrational animals born [only with] natural [instincts] for capture and killing, blaspheming {about things} they do not understand, in their destruction will also be destroyed,

being harmed [as the] wages of unrighteousness. Considering reveling in the daytime a pleasure, [they are] stains and blemishes, carousing in their deceitful pleasures [when they] feast together with you,