the good strife I have striven, the course I have finished, the faith I have kept,

Stedfast is the word; and concerning these things I counsel thee to affirm fully, that they may be thoughtful, to be leading in good works -- who have believed God; these are the good and profitable things to men,

When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or Tychicus, be diligent to come unto me to Nicopolis, for there to winter I have determined.

for we have much joy and comfort in thy love, because the bowels of the saints have been refreshed through thee, brother.

for perhaps because of this he did depart for an hour, that age-duringly thou mayest have him,

Yes, brother, may I have profit of thee in the Lord; refresh my bowels in the Lord;

For to which of the messengers said He ever, 'My Son thou art -- I to-day have begotten thee?' and again, 'I will be to him for a father, and he shall be to Me for a son?'

Seeing, then, the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself also in like manner did take part of the same, that through death he might destroy him having the power of death -- that is, the devil --

wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, Always do they go astray in heart, and these have not known My ways;

for partakers we have become of the Christ, if the beginning of the confidence unto the end we may hold fast,

We may fear, then, lest a promise being left of entering into His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short,

for if Joshua had given them rest, He would not concerning another day have spoken after these things;

for we have not a chief priest unable to sympathise with our infirmities, but one tempted in all things in like manner -- apart from sin;

so also the Christ did not glorify himself to become chief priest, but He who spake unto him: 'My Son thou art, I to-day have begotten thee;'

concerning whom we have much discourse and of hard explanation to say, since ye have become dull of hearing,

for even owing to be teachers, because of the time, again ye have need that one teach you what are the elements of the beginning of the oracles of God, and ye have become having need of milk, and not of strong food,

that through two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, a strong comfort we may have who did flee for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us,

which we have, as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and entering into that within the vail,

and those, indeed, out of the sons of Levi receiving the priesthood, a command have to take tithes from the people according to the law, that is, their brethren, even though they came forth out of the loins of Abraham;

and those indeed are many who have become priests, because by death they are hindered from remaining;

And the sum concerning the things spoken of is: we have such a chief priest, who did sit down at the right hand of the throne of the greatness in the heavens,

for every chief priest to offer both gifts and sacrifices is appointed, whence it is necessary for this one to have also something that he may offer;

for if that first were faultless, a place would not have been sought for a second.

since, would they not have ceased to be offered, because of those serving having no more conscience of sins, having once been purified?

for we have known Him who is saying, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will recompense, saith the Lord;' and again, 'The Lord shall judge His people;' --

for also with my bonds ye sympathised, and the robbery of your goods with joy ye did receive, knowing that ye have in yourselves a better substance in the heavens, and an enduring one.

for of patience ye have need, that the will of God having done, ye may receive the promise,

by faith we understand the ages to have been prepared by a saying of God, in regard to the things seen not having come out of things appearing;

and if, indeed, they had been mindful of that from which they came forth, they might have had an opportunity to return,

having chosen rather to be afflicted with the people of God, than to have sin's pleasure for a season,

and ye have forgotten the exhortation that doth speak fully with you as with sons, 'My son, be not despising chastening of the Lord, nor be faint, being reproved by Him,

and if ye are apart from chastening, of which all have become partakers, then bastards are ye, and not sons.

Then, indeed, fathers of our flesh we have had, chastising us, and we were reverencing them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of the spirits, and live?

wherefore, a kingdom that cannot be shaken receiving, may we have grace, through which we may serve God well-pleasingly, with reverence and religious fear;

we have an altar, of which to eat they have no authority who the tabernacle are serving,

for we have not here an abiding city, but the coming one we seek;

Pray for us, for we trust that we have a good conscience, in all things willing to behave well,

And I entreat you, brethren, suffer the word of the exhortation, for also through few words I have written to you.

and let the endurance have a perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire -- in nothing lacking;

What is the profit, my brethren, if faith, any one may speak of having, and works he may not have? is that faith able to save him?

so also the faith, if it may not have works, is dead by itself.

But say may some one, Thou hast faith, and I have works, shew me thy faith out of thy works, and I will shew thee out of my works my faith:

and if bitter zeal ye have, and rivalry in your heart, glory not, nor lie against the truth;

ye desire, and ye have not; ye murder, and are zealous, and are not able to attain; ye fight and war, and ye have not, because of your not asking;

Adulterers and adulteresses! have ye not known that friendship of the world is enmity with God? whoever, then, may counsel to be a friend of the world, an enemy of God he is set.

your riches have rotted, and your garments have become moth-eaten;

your gold and silver have rotted, and the rust of them for a testimony shall be to you, and shall eat your flesh as fire. Ye made treasure in the last days!

lo, the reward of the workmen, of those who in-gathered your fields, which hath been fraudulently kept back by you -- doth cry out, and the exclamations of those who did reap into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth have entered;

lo, we call happy those who are enduring; the endurance of Job ye heard of, and the end of the Lord ye have seen, that very compassionate is the Lord, and pitying.

and the prayer of the faith shall save the distressed one, and the Lord shall raise him up, and if sins he may have committed, they shall be forgiven to him.

who were once not a people, and are now the people of God; who had not found kindness, and now have found kindness.

for sufficient to us is the past time of life the will of the nations to have wrought, having walked in lasciviousnesses, desires, excesses of wines, revellings, drinking-bouts, and unlawful idolatries,

but, according as ye have fellowship with the sufferings of the Christ, rejoice ye, that also in the revelation of his glory ye may rejoice -- exulting;

Through Silvanus, to you the faithful brother, as I reckon, through few words I did write, exhorting and testifying this to be the true grace of God in which ye have stood.

through which to us the most great and precious promises have been given, that through these ye may become partakers of a divine nature, having escaped from the corruption in the world in desires.

and I will be diligent that also at every time ye have, after my outgoing, power to make to yourselves the remembrance of these things.

And we have more firm the prophetic word, to which we do well giving heed, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, till day may dawn, and a morning star may arise -- in your hearts;

for, if having escaped from the pollutions of the world, in the acknowledging of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and by these again being entangled, they have been overcome, become to them hath the last things worse than the first,

for it were better to them not to have acknowledged the way of the righteousness, than having acknowledged it, to turn back from the holy command delivered to them,

That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we did behold, and our hands did handle, concerning the Word of the Life --

and the Life was manifested, and we have seen, and do testify, and declare to you the Life, the age-during, which was with the Father, and was manifested to us --

that which we have seen and heard declare we to you, that ye also may have fellowship with us, and our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ;

And this is the message that we have heard from Him, and announce to you, that God is light, and darkness in Him is not at all;

if we may say -- 'we have fellowship with Him,' and in the darkness may walk -- we lie, and do not the truth;

and if in the light we may walk, as He is in the light -- we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son doth cleanse us from every sin;

if we may say -- 'we have not sin,' ourselves we lead astray, and the truth is not in us;

if we may say -- 'we have not sinned,' a liar we make Him, and His word is not in us.

My little children, these things I write to you, that ye may not sin: and if any one may sin, an advocate we have with the Father, Jesus Christ, a righteous one,

and in this we know that we have known him, if his commands we may keep;

he who is saying, 'I have known him,' and his command is not keeping, a liar he is, and in him the truth is not;

I write to you, little children, because the sins have been forgiven you through his name;

I write to you, fathers, because ye have known him who is from the beginning; I write to you, young men, because ye have overcome the evil. I write to you, little youths, because ye have known the Father:

I did write to you, fathers, because ye have known him who is from the beginning; I did write to you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God in you doth remain, and ye have overcome the evil.

Little youths, it is the last hour; and even as ye heard that the antichrist doth come, even now antichrists have become many -- whence we know that it is the last hour;

out of us they went forth, but they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but -- that they might be manifested that they are not all of us.

And ye have an anointing from the Holy One, and have known all things;

I did not write to you because ye have not known the truth, but because ye have known it, and because no lie is of the truth.

and you, the anointing that ye did receive from him, in you it doth remain, and ye have no need that any one may teach you, but as the same anointing doth teach you concerning all, and is true, and is not a lie, and even as was taught you, ye shall remain in him.

And now, little children, remain in him, that when he may be manifested, we may have boldness, and may not be ashamed before him, in his presence;

beloved, now, children of God are we, and it was not yet manifested what we shall be, and we have known that if he may be manifested, like him we shall be, because we shall see him as he is;

and ye have known that he was manifested that our sins he may take away, and sin is not in him;

we -- we have known that we have passed out of the death to the life, because we love the brethren; he who is not loving the brother doth remain in the death.

Every one who is hating his brother -- a man-killer he is, and ye have known that no man-killer hath life age-during in him remaining,

in this we have known the love, because he for us his life did lay down, and we ought for the brethren the lives to lay down;

and whoever may have the goods of the world, and may view his brother having need, and may shut up his bowels from him -- how doth the love of God remain in him?

Beloved, if our heart may not condemn us, we have boldness toward God,

Beloved, every spirit believe not, but prove the spirits, if of God they are, because many false prophets have gone forth to the world;

Ye -- of God ye are, little children, and ye have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you, than he who is in the world.

And we -- we have seen and do testify, that the Father hath sent the Son -- Saviour of the world;

and we -- we have known and believed the love, that God hath in us; God is love, and he who is remaining in the love, in God he doth remain, and God in him.

In this made perfect hath been the love with us, that boldness we may have in the day of the judgment, because even as He is, we -- we also are in this world;

and this is the command we have from Him, that he who is loving God, may also love his brother.

These things I did write to you who are believing in the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that life ye have age-during, and that ye may believe in the name of the Son of God.

And this is the boldness that we have toward Him, that if anything we may ask according to his will, He doth hear us,

and if we have known that He doth hear us, whatever we may ask, we have known that we have the requests that we have requested from Him.

We have known that every one who hath been begotten of God doth not sin, but he who was begotten of God doth keep himself, and the evil one doth not touch him;

we have known that of God we are, and the whole world in the evil doth lie;

and we have known that the Son of God is come, and hath given us a mind, that we may know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ; this one is the true God and the life age-during!

I rejoiced exceedingly that I have found of thy children walking in truth, even as a command we did receive from the Father;

greater than these things I have no joy, that I may hear of my children in truth walking.