For he says, "I have listened to you at a welcome time, And helped you on a day of deliverance!" Now the welcome time has come! This is the day of deliverance!

We have spoken openly to you, Corinthians; our heart has been opened wide.

Are you not become associates with infidels? but what affinity is there between virtue and vice? and what communication has light with darkness?

what concord can Christ maintain with Belial? what concern has a believer with an infidel?

and what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God has said, "I will dwell with, and walk among them; I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Therefore: "'Come out of company with them, and separate from them,' the Lord has said, 'And stop touching what is unclean; then I will welcome you,

Receive me as one who has wronged no man, who has corrupted no man, who has defrauded no man.

But God, who encourages the downcast, has encouraged us by the arrival of Titus.

For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not regret, though I did regret: for I perceive that the same epistle has made you sorry, though it were but for a time.

For consider how much diligence this very thing—this grieving as God wills—has produced in you: what a desire to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what deep longing, what zeal, what justice! In every way you showed yourselves to be pure in this matter.

So, then, even though I did write to you, it was not for the sake of the wrong-doer, or of the man who was wronged, but to make you conscious, in the sight of God, of your own earnest care for us. And it is this that has encouraged us.

For this reason we have been encouraged. And we the rather rejoiced in our encouragement more abundantly by reason of the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.

For if I have made any boast to him about you, I have not been embarrassed; but as I have spoken everything to you in truth, so our boasting to Titus has also turned out to be the truth.

And he has great affection for you when he remembers how obedient all of you were [i.e., obedient to his or Paul's instructions to the church], and how you welcomed him with fear and trembling [i.e., with a respectful, submissive spirit].

Now, brothers, I wish to tell you about the grace of God which has been manifest in the churches of Macedonia.

that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty has abounded to the riches of their free-hearted liberality.

This has led me to urge Titus to complete the arrangements he had formerly begun among you for this gracious undertaking.

For if there be first willing mind, the gift is accepted according to what a man has, and not according to what he has not.

As it has been written:

The person who gathered much
did not have too much,
and the person who gathered little
did not have too little.

But thanks be to God who has inspired in the heart of Titus the same zeal on your behalf that I have.

because he has acceded to my request, or rather, because he is so enthusiastic for you, of his own accord he is off to visit you.

And we have sent at the same time with him the brother whose praise in the gospel [has become known] throughout all the churches.

More than that, he is the one chosen by the churches to accompany me on my journey, in administering this gift of yours for the Lord's glory. And this has my full consent,

And so that no man might be able to say anything against us in the business of this giving which has been put into our hands:

For the business has been so ordered by us as to have the approval, not only of the Lord, but of men.

And we have sent with them our brother whom we have often proved to be of diligent zeal in many things, and now more diligently zealous through the great confidence he has as to you.

for I know how ready you are, and am always boasting about you to the Macedonians, telling them that Greece has been ready for a year past; and your zeal has been a spur to the majority of them.

Therefore, I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go before to you, and make ready beforehand your bounty, which has been so much talked of before, that this might be ready as a bounty, and not as a gift extorted from you.

Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver.

But God is able to make all grace abound unto you; in order that, always having all sufficiency in every thing, you may abound unto every good work: as has been written,

As it is written:

He scattered;
He gave to the poor;
His righteousness endures forever.

and you will have the advantage of their earnest prayers, for the exceeding favour God has bestowed upon them by you:

Praise be to God for what he has given, which words have no power to say.

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

Do ye look at what concerns appearance? If any one has confidence in himself that he is of Christ, let him think this again in himself, that even as he is of Christ, so also are we.

For and if I should boast even somewhat more abundantly of our authority, which the Lord has given to us for building up and not for your overthrowing, I shall not be put to shame;

For his letters, they say, have weight and are strong; but in body he is feeble, and his way of talking has little force.

I, however, will not indulge in undue boasting, but will confine it within the limits of the sphere to which God has assigned me?? sphere which reaches even to you.

so that we may proclaim the good news to the regions beyond you, not boasting about what has already been done in someone else’s area of ministry.

But whoever has a desire for glory, let his glory be in the Lord.

if my language is inelegant, my knowledge is not contemptible; but has been fully display'd among you on all occasions.

Are they ministers of Christ? So am I. I am talking like a man that has gone crazy -- as such I am superior! -- serving Him with labors greater by far, with far more imprisonments, with floggings vastly worse, and often at the point of death.

I have to keep on boasting. There is no good to be gotten from it, but I will go on to visions and revelations which the Lord has given me.

was actually caught up into paradise, and heard things that must not be told, which no man has a right even to mention.

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 judging by the stupendous grandeur of the revelations--therefore lest I should be over-elated there has been sent to me, like the agony of impalement, Satan's angel dealing blow after blow, lest I should be over-elated.

but he has answered me. "My grace is sufficient for you; it is in weakness that my power is perfected."

I called for Titus, and sent with a brother. Has Titus taken advantage of you? walked we not in the same spirit? not in the same steps??

since you demand a proof of my mission from Christ, who with regard to you has shown no want of power among you.

for if indeed he has been crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God's power; for indeed we are weak in him, but we shall live with him by God's power towards you,)

Because of this, I am writing these [things] [although I] am absent, in order that [when I] am present I may not have to act severely according to the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down.

who gave himself for our sins, so that he might rescue us, according to the will of our God and Father, out of the evil age that has come,

As we have said before, so say I now again, If any man is a preacher to you of any good news other than that which has been given to you, let there be a curse on him.

I certify to you, brethren, that the gospel, which has been preached by me, is not the result of human artifice:

For news has come to you of my way of life in the past in the Jews' religion, how I was cruel without measure to the church of God, and did great damage to it:

But from those who seemed to be important (whatever they were has no weight with me: God does not take man's person into account): those who seemed to be important gave nothing new to me;

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 who has equipped Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised, equipped me also for the apostleship to the Gentiles),

I am crucified with Christ, and no longer live, I, but Christ lives in me; but in that I now live in flesh, I live by faith, the faith of the Son of God, who has loved me and given himself for me.

I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness is by law, then Christ has died for nothing.

O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? You, before whose very eyes Jesus Christ was placarded as crucified!

Have you endured such sufferings to no purpose--if indeed it has been to no purpose?

Therefore, as God has provided you with the Holy Spirit and has produced miracles among you, [do you think He has done all this] as a result of your obeying the requirements of the law of Moses or as a result of hearing [and responding to the message of] the faith?

For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it has been written, Cursed every one who remains not in all written in the book of the law to do them.

and the Law has nothing to do with faith, but declares, The man that has done these things shall live therein.

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us (for it is written, Cursed is every one who is hanged upon a tree),

Our freedom has been thus purchased in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing belonging to Abraham may come upon the nations, so that through faith we may receive the promised Spirit.

Brothers, as men would say, even a man's agreement, when it has been made certain, may not be put on one side, or have additions made to it.

I mean to say that the testament which God has already ratified could not be annulled by the Law which came four hundred and thirty years later, so as to make the Promise void.

For if the inheritance is from law, it is no longer from promise. But God has given it to Abraham through promise.

What then is the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the seed should come to whom the promise has been made. It was ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator.

Now the mediator or go-between [in a transaction] is not [needed] for just one party; whereas God is only one [and was the only One giving the promise to Abraham, but the Law was a contract between two, God and Israel; its validity depended on both].

but the Scripture has shut up the whole world in prison together under sin, in order that the promise due to faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who have faith.

So the Law has been our tutor-slave our pedagogue to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith;

But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,

But as long as the person who has an inheritance coming to him is a child, he is really no better off than a slave, even though he himself is [rightfully] entitled [to the inheritance].

but he is under the control of guardians and trustees until the time his father has appointed.

And because you are sons, God has sent out the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, saying, Abba, Father.

But now that you have come to have knowledge of God, or more truly, God has knowledge of you, how is it that you go back again to the poor and feeble first things, desiring to be servants to them again?

I am fearful for you, that perhaps my labor for you has been wasted.

What has become of that satisfaction of yours? For I can bear witness that you would have torn out your very eyes, if you could, and given them to me!

For it has been written, that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondmaid, and one by the free.

Now the son by the servant-woman has his birth after the flesh; but the son by the free woman has his birth through the undertaking of God.

All this is allegorical; for the women represent two Covenants. One has its origin on Mount Sinai, and bears children destined for slavery.

For it is written, Rejoice, O thou barren one who dost never bear, Break forth in joy, thou that dost not travail; For the children of the desolate woman are many. Yea, more than hers who has a husband.

so then, my brethren, we are not children of the bond-woman, but of the free-woman, by virtue of that freedom which Christ has procur'd for us.

Christ has truly made us free: then keep your free condition and let no man put a yoke on you again.

Christ has become nothing to any of you who are seeking acceptance with God through the Law: you have fallen away from grace.

because in Christ neither circumcision has any value, nor uncircumcision, but faith which works through love.

Ye ran well; who has stopped you that ye should not obey the truth?

But I, brothers, if I "still preach circumcision," why am I still persecuted? Then surely the stumbling-block of the Cross has ceased to be an obstacle!

For the whole Law has been fulfilled in this one precept, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

For the flesh has desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; because these are opposite the one to the other; so that you may not do the things which you have a mind to do.

Worship of images, use of strange powers, hates, fighting, desire for what another has, angry feelings, attempts to get the better of others, divisions, false teachings,

For if a man has an idea that he is something when he is nothing, he is tricked by himself.

Every man ought to test his own work, and then whatever satisfaction he has will be with reference to himself, and not in comparison with someone else.

But far be it from me to boast [in anything or anyone], except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

For neither circumcision nor the lack of it has any value, but only a new creation.

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

according as he has chosen us in him before the world's foundation, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love;