Although we could have been a burden as Christ’s apostles, instead we were gentle among you, as a nursing mother nurtures her own children.

Now we ask you, brothers, to give recognition to those who labor among you and lead you in the Lord and admonish you,

and to regard them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.

Therefore, we ourselves boast about you among God’s churches—about your endurance and faith in all the persecutions and afflictions you endure.

in that day when He comes to be glorified by His saints and to be admired by all those who have believed, because our testimony among you was believed.

and with every unrighteous deception among those who are perishing. They perish because they did not accept the love of the truth in order to be saved.

For you yourselves know how you must imitate us: We were not irresponsible among you;

For we hear that there are some among you who walk irresponsibly, not working at all, but interfering with the work of others.

Hymenaeus and Alexander are among them, and I have delivered them to Satan, so that they may be taught not to blaspheme.

Furthermore, he must have a good reputation among outsiders, so that he does not fall into disgrace and the Devil’s trap.

And most certainly, the mystery of godliness is great:

He was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated in the Spirit,
seen by angels,
preached among the nations,
believed on in the world,
taken up in glory.

and constant disagreement among people whose minds are depraved and deprived of the truth, who imagine that godliness is a way to material gain.

And their word will spread like gangrene; Hymenaeus and Philetus are among them.

For among them are those who worm their way into households and capture idle women burdened down with sins, led along by a variety of passions,

haven’t you discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

And the tongue is a fire. The tongue, a world of unrighteousness, is placed among the parts of our bodies. It pollutes the whole body, sets the course of life on fire, and is set on fire by hell.

Who is wise and has understanding among you? He should show his works by good conduct with wisdom’s gentleness.

What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don’t they come from the cravings that are at war within you?

Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.

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

My brothers, if any among you strays from the truth, and someone turns him back,

Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that in a case where they speak against you as those who do what is evil, they will, by observing your good works, glorify God on the day of visitation.

Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you as if something unusual were happening to you.

Therefore, as a fellow elder and witness to the sufferings of the Messiah and also a participant in the glory about to be revealed, I exhort the elders among you:

Shepherd God’s flock among you, not overseeing out of compulsion but freely, according to God’s will; not for the money but eagerly;

But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, and will bring swift destruction on themselves.

(for as he lived among them, that righteous man tormented himself day by day with the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—

God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His One and Only Son into the world so that we might live through Him.

I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have first place among them, does not receive us.

and among the lampstands was One like the Son of Man, dressed in a long robe and with a gold sash wrapped around His chest.

“Write to the angel of the church in Ephesus:

“The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand and who walks among the seven gold lampstands says:

I know where you live—where Satan’s throne is! And you are holding on to My name and did not deny your faith in Me, even in the days of Antipas, My faithful witness who was killed among you, where Satan lives.

Then I saw One like a slaughtered lamb standing between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent into all the earth.

Then I heard something like a voice among the four living creatures say, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius—but do not harm the olive oil and the wine.”

Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the military commanders, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.