We will not give glory to ourselves in over-great measure, but after the measure of the rule which God has given us, a measure which comes even to you.

And when I was present with you, and was in need, I let no man be responsible for me; for the brothers, when they came from Macedonia, gave me whatever was needed; and in everything I kept myself from being a trouble to you, and I will go on doing so.

As the true word of Christ is in me, I will let no man take from me this my cause of pride in the country of Achaia.

But what I do, that I will go on doing, so that I may give no chance to those who are looking for one; so that, in the cause of their pride, they may be seen to be the same as we are.

So it is no great thing if his servants make themselves seem to be servants of righteousness; whose end will be the reward of their works.

Seeing that there are those who take credit to themselves after the flesh, I will do the same.

I say this by way of shaming ourselves, as if we had been feeble. But if anyone puts himself forward (I am talking like a foolish person), I will do the same.

If I have to take credit to myself, I will do so in the things in which I am feeble.

As it is necessary for me to take glory to myself, though it is not a good thing, I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.

On account of such a one I will have glory: for myself I will take no glory, but only in my feeble body.

For if I had a desire to take credit to myself, it would not be foolish, for I would be saying what is true: but I will not, for fear that I might seem to any man more than he sees me to be, or has word from me that I am.

And he said to me, My grace is enough for you, for my power is made complete in what is feeble. Most gladly, then, will I take pride in my feeble body, so that the power of Christ may be on me.

This is now the third time that I am ready to come to you; and I will not be a trouble to you: my desire is for you, not for your property: for it is not the children's business to make store for their fathers, but the fathers for the children.

And I will gladly give all I have for your souls. If I have the more love for you, am I to be loved the less?

This is the third time that I am coming to you. From the mouth of two or three witnesses will every word be made certain.

I said before, and still say it before I come, as being present for the second time, though I am still away from you, to those who have done wrong before, and to all the others, that if I come again I will not have pity;

For he was feeble in that he was put to death on the cross, but he is living by the power of God. And we are feeble in him, but we will be living with him through the power of God in relation to you.

But it is my hope that you will have no doubt that we are truly Christ's.

Let this be my last word, brothers; be glad; be complete; be comforted; be of the same mind; be at peace with one another: and the God of love and peace will be with you.

But when I saw that they were not living uprightly in agreement with the true words of the good news, I said to Cephas before them all, If you, being a Jew, are living like the Gentiles, and not like the Jews, how will you make the Gentiles do the same as the Jews?

Being conscious that a man does not get righteousness by the works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ, we had faith in Christ Jesus, so that we might get righteousness by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law: because by the works of the law will no flesh get righteousness.

Are you so foolish? having made a start in the Spirit, will you now be made complete in the flesh?

And the holy Writings, seeing before the event that God would give the Gentiles righteousness by faith, gave the good news before to Abraham, saying, In you will all the nations have a blessing.

Now that no man gets righteousness by the law in the eyes of God, is clear; because, The upright will be living by faith.

And the law is not of faith; but, He who does them will have life by them.

What then do the Writings say? Send away the servant-woman and her son; for the son of the servant-woman will not have a part in the heritage with the son of the free woman.

See, I Paul say to you, that if you undergo circumcision, Christ will be of no use to you.

Yes, I give witness again to every man who undergoes circumcision, that he will have to keep all the law.

I am certain about you in the Lord, that you will be of no other mind; but he who is troubling you will have his punishment, whoever he is.

But I say, Go on in the Spirit, and you will not come under the rule of the evil desires of the flesh.

Envy, uncontrolled drinking and feasting, and such things: of which I give you word clearly, even as I did in the past, that they who do such things will have no part in the kingdom of God.

Brothers, if a man is taken in any wrongdoing, you who are of the Spirit will put such a one right in a spirit of love; keeping watch on yourself, for fear that you yourself may be tested.

But let every man make test of his work, and then will his cause for glory be in himself only, and not in his neighbour.

Be not tricked; God is not made sport of: for whatever seed a man puts in, that will he get back as grain.

Because he who puts in the seed of the flesh will of the flesh get the reward of death; but he who puts in the seed of the Spirit will of the Spirit get the reward of eternal life.

And let us not get tired of well-doing; for at the right time we will get in the grain, if we do not give way to weariness.

By the reading of which you will be clear about my knowledge of the secret of Christ;

I then, the prisoner in the Lord, make this request from my heart, that you will see that your behaviour is a credit to the position which God's purpose has given you,

For this reason he says, Be awake, you who are sleeping, and come up from among the dead, and Christ will be your light.

For this cause will a man go away from his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.

In the knowledge that for every good thing anyone does, he will have his reward from the Lord, If he is a servant or if he is free.

But so that you may have knowledge of my business, and how I am, Tychicus, the well-loved brother and tested servant in the Lord, will give you news of all things:

For I am certain of this very thing, that he by whom the good work was started in you will make it complete till the day of Jesus Christ:

What then? only that in every way, falsely or truly, the preaching of Christ goes on; and in this I am glad, and will be glad.

For I am conscious that this will be for my salvation, through your prayer and the giving out of the stored wealth of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

In the measure of my strong hope and belief that in nothing will I be put to shame, but that without fear, as at all times, so now will Christ have glory in my body, by life or by death.

And being certain of this, I am conscious that I will go on, yes, and go on with you all, for your growth and joy in the faith;

For I have no man of like mind who will truly have care for you.

Him then I am hoping to send as quickly as possible, when I am able to see how things will go for me:

But I have faith in the Lord that I myself will come before long.

Then let us all, who have come to full growth, be of this mind: and if in anything you are of a different mind, even this will God make clear to you:

For our country is in heaven; from where the Saviour for whom we are waiting will come, even the Lord Jesus Christ:

By whom this poor body of ours will be changed into the image of the body of his glory, in the measure of the working by which he is able to put all things under himself.

And the peace of God, which is deeper than all knowledge, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

The things which came to you by my teaching and preaching, and which you saw in me, these things do, and the God of peace will be with you.

But I will not say anything about my needs, for I am able, wherever I am, to be dependent on myself.

And my God will give you all you have need of from the wealth of his glory in Christ Jesus.

At the coming of Christ who is our life, you will be seen with him in glory.

Being certain that the Lord will give you the reward of the heritage: for you are the servants of the Lord Christ.

For the wrongdoer will have punishment for the wrong he has done, without respect for any man's position.

Tychicus will give you news of all my business: he is a dear brother and true servant and helper in the word;

And with him I have sent Onesimus, the true and well-loved brother, who is one of you. They will give you word of everything which is taking place here.

And last of all, the prayer which we make to you from our heart and in the name of the Lord Jesus, is this: that as we made clear to you what sort of behaviour is pleasing to God, as in fact you are doing now, so you will go on in these ways, but more and more.

For if we have faith that Jesus underwent death and came back again, even so those who are sleeping will come again with him by God's power.

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are still living at the coming of the Lord, will not go before those who are sleeping.

Because the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a word of authority, with the voice of the chief angel, with the sound of a horn: and the dead in Christ will come to life first;

Then we who are still living will be taken up together with them into the clouds to see the Lord in the air: and so will we be for ever with the Lord.

For you yourselves have the knowledge that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

When they say, There is peace and no danger, then sudden destruction will come on them, as birth-pains on a woman with child; and they will not be able to get away from it.

And our desire is that you will keep control over those whose lives are not well ordered, giving comfort to the feeble-hearted, supporting those with little strength, and putting up with much from all.

God, by whom you have been marked out in his purpose, is unchanging and will make it complete.

Whose reward will be eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his strength,

At his coming, when he will have glory in his saints, and will be a cause of wonder in all those who had faith (because our witness among you had effect) in that day.

For this reason, you are ever in our prayers, that you may seem to our God such as may have a part in his purpose and that by his power he will make all his good purpose, and the work of faith, complete;

Give no belief to false words: because there will first be a falling away from the faith, and the revelation of the man of sin, the son of destruction,

And then will come the revelation of that evil one, whom the Lord Jesus will put to death with the breath of his mouth, and give to destruction by the revelation of his coming;

And for this cause, God will give them up to the power of deceit and they will put their faith in what is false:

But the Lord is true, who will give you strength and keep you safe from evil.

And we have faith in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things about which we give you orders.

My desire is, first of all, that you will make requests and prayers and give praise for all men;

But if they go on in faith and love and holy self-control, she will be kept safe at the time of childbirth.

(For if a man has not the art of ruling his house, how will he take care of the church of God?)

But if I am long in coming, this will make clear to you what behaviour is right for men in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of what is true.

But the Spirit says clearly that in later times some will be turned away from the faith, giving their minds to spirits of deceit, and the teachings of evil spirits,

If you keep these things before the minds of the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, trained in the words of the faith and of the right teaching which has been your guide:

Give attention to yourself and your teaching. Go on in these things; for in doing so you will get salvation for yourself and for those who give hearing to you.

Which at the right time he will make clear, who is the eternal and only Ruler, King of kings, and Lord of lords;

Give thought to what I say; for the Lord will give you wisdom in all things.

This is a true saying: If we undergo death with him, then will we be living with him:

If we go on to the end, then we will be ruling with him: if we say we have no knowledge of him, then he will say he has no knowledge of us:

If we are without faith, still he keeps faith, for he will never be untrue to himself.

But take no part in wrong and foolish talk, for those who do so will go farther into evil,

And their words will be like poisoned wounds in the flesh: such are Hymenaeus and Philetus;

If a man makes himself clean from these, he will be a vessel for honour, made holy, ready for the master's use, ready for every good work.

But be certain of this, that in the last days times of trouble will come.

For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, uplifted in pride, given to bitter words, going against the authority of their fathers, never giving praise, having no religion,

But they will go no farther: for their foolish behaviour will be clear to all men, as theirs was in the end.

Yes, and all whose purpose is to be living in the knowledge of God in Christ Jesus, will be cruelly attacked.

Evil and false men will become worse and worse, using deceit and themselves overcome by deceit.

I give you orders, before God and Christ Jesus, who will be the judge of the living and the dead, and by his revelation and his kingdom;