But their minds were blinded. For until this day remaineth the same covering, untaken away, in the old testament when they read it - which in Christ is put away:

But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.

Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.

Having by the same spirit the same faith as David had when he said, "I believed, and therefore have I spoken:" I also believe, and therefore I speak;

since, when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.

It is the love of the Christ which compels us, when we reflect that, as one died for all, therefore all died;

So there is a new creation when any man is in Christ. The old life has passed away, behold, the new is come.

for God said [Isa. 49:8], "I listened to you at the right time [i.e., when you needed my favor], and I helped you on the day of your salvation." Look, now is the right time [to accept God's favor]; now is the day of salvation.

in honor or dishonor, in praise or blame; considered an imposter, when I am true,

obscure, when I am well known, at the point of death, yet here I am alive, punished, but not dead yet,

pained, when I am always glad, poor, when I make many others rich, penniless, when really I own everything.

What agreement can thee be between a temple of God and idols? And we are a temple of the Living God. That is what God meant when he said--'I will dwell among them, and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

For, even when we came into Macedonia, no relief at all, had our flesh; but, in every way, were we in tribulation, - without, fightings! within, fears!

And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more.

Even if I caused you pain by my letter, I do not regret; though I did regret it when I saw that my letter had caused you pain, even for a time.

For ye sorrowed godly: so that in nothing were ye hurt by us. For godly sorrow causeth repentance, unto salvation not to be repented of: when worldly sorrow causeth death.

And, his tender affections, are, much more abundantly towards you, when he calleth to mind the obedience, of you all, - how, with fear and trembling, ye gave him welcome.

I give you my opinion in this matter: this is to your advantage, who were the first to begin a year ago not only to take action [to help the believers in Jerusalem], but also [the first] to desire to do it.

for what a man gives with a ready mind, according to his abilities, is well received; but not when he goes beyond his circumstances.

So, I thought it necessary to urge the brothers [See verse 3] to visit you ahead of time and arrange beforehand for your previously promised generous gift. Then it will be ready [when I arrive] as a generously given gift and not as something given grudgingly.

For when, through this work of giving, they see what you are, they give glory to God for the way in which you have given yourselves to the good news of Christ, and for the wealth of your giving to them and to all;

And when they see the outstanding [evidence of] God's favor in you, they will pray for you with deep affection [or, "will long to see you"].

Now I Paul, myself, appeal to you by the humble-heartedness and selflessness of Christ??aul who "in your presence is humble, but bold enough when he is absent"??2 I beseech you, and I say, do not make me show my boldness, when I come in the boldness with which I think I shall show my courage against some who think that I am walking on the low level of the flesh.

I entreat, however, that, when present, I may not be bold with the assurance wherewith I think to be daring against some who account of us as though, according to flesh, we were walking, -

When we pull down, calculations, and every height that uplifteth itself against the knowledge of God, and when we bring into captivity every thought unto the obedience of the Christ,

and I am fully prepared to punish every act of disobedience, when once your submission has been put beyond question.

Let such a man assure himself that my actions, when I am present, will be just like my words in my letters when I am absent.

For we do not dare to classify or to compare ourselves with some who commend themselves, but [they] themselves, [when they] measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, do not understand.

We, however, will not give way to unlimited boasting, but will confine ourselves to the limits of the sphere to which God limited us, when he permitted us to come as far as Corinth.

For it is not as though we were overstepping our limits when we came to you. We were the first to reach you with the gospel of the Messiah.

Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men's labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly,

For a man is proved worthy, not by his self-commendation, but when he is commended by the Lord.

For when somebody comes along and preaches another Jesus than the one I preached, or you receive a different spirit from the one you received or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it well enough!

Did I commit a sin when I humbled myself by proclaiming to you the gospel of God free of charge, so that you could be exalted?

I spoiled other churches, taking wages of them, to serve you: and when I was present with you and wanted, I was chargeable to no man.

Even when I lacked the actual necessities of life while I was with you, I was a burden to no one; for whatever I lacked, the brothers from Macedonia supplied, when they came. So I kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so.

Christ knows that it is true when I say that I will not be stopped from boasting of this anywhere in Greece.

But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them who desire occasion; that when they glory, they may be found even as we.

But when I talk in this boastful confidence, I am not talking in accordance with the way the Lord talked, but just as a fool talks.

For ye bear with fools easily when you are wise yourselves.

You tolerate a man even when he enslaves you, when he plunders you, when he gets you into his power, when he puts on airs of superiority, when he strikes you in the face!

When I was at Damascus, the governor under King Aretas had the city gates watched in order to catch me,

Most gladly therefore will I boast rather of my weakness, that over me like a tent may be pitched the power of Christ. That is why I rejoice in weakness, in ill-treatment, in troubles, in persecutions and calamities for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong.

I have been making a fool of myself, but you forced me to do it, when you ought to have been expressing your approval of me. For I am not a bit inferior to your superfine apostles, even if I am nobody!

The signs that mark a true apostle were most patiently shown when I was among you, in signs, wonders, and marvels.

For what is there in which ye were at disadvantage when compared with other churches, except that I myself was not a charge to you? Forgive me this wrong.

Are you thinking all this time that I am defending myself to you? It is in the very presence of God and as one who is in union with Christ that I am speaking. And it is all for building you up, beloved, for I am apprehensive that, somehow or other, when I come I shall find you not as I want to find you, and that you may find me not as you want to find me.

For I dread that perhaps, when I come, I may not find you to be such as I wish, and that I may be found by you such as you do not wish; I dread lest there should be quarrels, jealousy, tempers, party spirit, slandering, gossip, arrogance, tumults;

and lest when I come again my God may humble me before you, and lest I shall mourn for many those who have sinned before, and have not repented of the impurity and immorality and wantonness which they have practised.

I have said formerly, and I now forewarn you as when I was present the second time, so now when I am absent the second time, so now when I am absent, saying to those who had sinned before, and to all the rest, "If I come again, I will not spare,"

For He was weak when He was crucified [i.e., by assuming a human body capable of suffering and death], but [now] He lives by God's power. For we too are weak, [along] with Him [i.e., each of us experiences the frailties of a human body], but by [this same] power from God, we will live with Him to serve you. [Note: The various translations differ widely on how to properly translate this difficult verse].

In fact, we rejoice when we are weak and you are strong. We also pray that you become fully mature.

For this reason I am writing thus while absent, so that when I come, I may not have to deal sharply, according to the authority which the Lord gave me for building up, and not for pulling down.

You have heard of my former conduct when I was attached to the Jewish religion??ow furiously I used to persecute the church of God and ravage it,

But when God who had set me apart from my very birth,

[And when I was called], God revealed His Son to me so that I could preach [about] Him to the Gentiles. [When this happened] I immediately avoided discussing the matter with anyone.

I did not go up to Jerusalem to [discuss it with] those who had become apostles before me either; instead I went away into Arabia. [Note: This is probably when Paul received supernatural power from the Holy Spirit]. Then afterward, I returned to Damascus. [Note: This was in Syria where Paul was converted].

On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter has with the gospel for the circumcised

(for he that had wrought powerfully in Peter with respect to his apostleship among the Jews, had also wrought powerfully in me upon account of the Gentiles:) and when James,

and when they recognized the grace which had been given to me, James and Cephas and John, then thought to be pillars, gave to Barnabas and to me the right hand of fellowship. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the Jews.

But when Cephas came to Antioch I resisted him to his face, because he stood self-condemned.

For until certain men came from James he used to eat with the Gentile Christians, but when they came, he began to draw back and to separate himself, because he was afraid of the circumcision party.

But when I saw that they were not walking a straight path, in the presence of the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all. "If you, although you are a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, why do you try to compel the Gentiles to become Jews?

I really convict myself of wrongdoing when I start to rebuild what I tore down.

You senseless Galatians! Who has bewitched you, when you had Jesus Christ shown crucified right before your eyes?

Answer me this one question. "When you received the Spirit, was it from doing what the Law commands or from believing the message heard?"

Now when He supplies you with the Spirit and performs His wonder-works among you, does He do it because you do what the law commands, or because you believe the message that you heard --

Because the Scripture saw ahead of time that God would justify the gentiles by faith, it announced the gospel to Abraham beforehand when it said, "Through you all nations will be blessed."

Let me illustrate, brothers, from every-day life. When once a human testament is made, and formally ratified, no one sets it aside or adds to it.

Here is what I am saying: The Agreement originally made by God [with Abraham], with its attending promises, was not canceled when the law of Moses was given some four hundred and thirty years later.

But when faith was come, we were no longer under a paedagogue.

So we Jews also, when we were children, were held in bondage under the empty externalities of the world.

But when the fulness of time was come God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under law,

But once, when you Gentiles had no knowledge of God, you were slaves to gods which have no real being.

Now, however, when you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you are beginning to turn back to those weak and beggarly externalities, eager to be in bondage to them again?

Believers, I beg of you, become as I am [free from the bondage of Jewish ritualism and ordinances], for I have become as you are [a Gentile]. You did me no wrong [when I first came to you; do not do it now].

But you are aware [I am sure] that when I first came preaching the Gospel [message] to you, I had a physical handicap.

And when you could have been tempted to look down on me [because of the nature of my affliction], instead you welcomed me as [if I were] an angel, or even Christ Jesus Himself!

It is always an honorable thing to have your favor sought in an honorable cause, always, and not only when I am with you.

For the entire Law has been obeyed when you have kept the single precept, which says, "You are to love your fellow man equally with yourself."

If a man fancies himself to be somebody when he is really nobody he is deceiving himself.

Let us not be weary of well doing. For when the time is come we shall reap without weariness.

See what large letters I make, when I write to you with my own hand!

when he made known to us, I say, that good pleasure which he purposed in himself

The ordering of the times when they are complete, so that all things might come to a head in Christ, the things in heaven and the things on the earth; in him, I say,

In the Messiah we were also chosen when we were predestined according to the purpose of the one who does everything that he wills to do,

When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.

For this reason I also, from the time when I heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which prevails among you, and your love to all the saints,

never cease to thank God for you when I mention you in my prayers,

which he energised in the Christ, when he raised him from among the dead, and seated him at his right hand in the heavenlies,

And you [He made alive when you] were [spiritually] dead and separated from Him because of your transgressions and sins,

You practiced such things when you lived according to the evil ways of this world, and according to the ruler of the [spiritual] powers of the air. [Note: This refers to Satan, whose influence permeates life around us]. He is the [evil] spirit who is now at work in people who are disobedient [to God].

among whom all of us lived, we as well as you, when we obeyed the passions of our flesh, carrying out the dictates of the flesh and its impulses, when we were objects of God's anger by nature, like the rest of men.

but God who is rich in mercy, on account of his great love with which he loved us,??5 even when we were dead in sins he made us alive with Christ,??y grace are you saved,

even when we were [spiritually] dead and separated from Him because of our sins, He made us [spiritually] alive together with Christ (for by His grace—His undeserved favor and mercy—you have been saved from God’s judgment).

Therefore remember, that when you were Gentiles in the flesh, called Uncircumcision by that which is called Circumcision, made in the flesh with hands;

when he nullified in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man out of two, thus making peace,

And when, upon the cross, he had destroyed their mutual enmity, he sought by means of his cross to reconcile them both to God, united in one Body.

When the Messiah came, He proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.

By referring to this, when you read it you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,