So continue encouraging one another with this truth.

Make it a habit to give thanks for everything, for this is God's will for you through Christ Jesus.

He who calls you is trustworthy and He will do this.

I solemnly charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.

This is a proof of God's righteous judgment, His aim being to let you show yourselves worthy of His kingdom, for which you are suffering; since,

With this in view we are always praying for you too, that our God may make you worthy of His call, and by His power fully satisfy your every desire for goodness, and complete every activity of your faith,

Do not let anybody at all deceive you about this, because that cannot take place until the great revolt occurs and the representative of lawlessness is uncovered, the one who is doomed to destruction,

Do you not remember that while I was with you I used to tell you this?

This is why God sends them a misleading influence till they actually believe what is false,

and to this end He called you by our preaching of the good news, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For when I was with you, I gave you this direction, "If a person refuses to work, he must not be allowed to eat."

If anyone refuses to obey what we have said in this letter, mark that person and stop having anything to do with him, so that he will feel ashamed of it.

This greeting is in my own hand, Paul's; it is the mark in every letter of mine. This is my handwriting.

This is the instruction which I entrust to you, my son Timothy, which is in accordance with the prophetic utterances formerly made about you, that you may, aided by them, continue to fight the good fight,

This is the right thing to do and it pleases God our Saviour,

but with good deeds; for this is appropriate for women who profess to be pious.

This is a saying to be trusted: "Whoever aspires to the office of pastor desires an excellent work."

Though I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you this,

for in this way it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.

This is a saying to be trusted and deserves to be accepted by all.

To this end we are toiling and struggling, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Saviour of all mankind, especially of believers.

But if a widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to practice piety in the treatment of their own families, and to pay the debt they owe their parents or grandparents, for this is acceptable to God.

No widow under sixty years of age should be put on this roll. A widow must have had but one husband,

Keep the young widows off this roll, for when they get to indulging their lower nature in opposition to Christ, they want to marry,

Continue charging the rich of this world to stop being haughty and not to fix their hope on a thing so uncertain as riches, but on God who richly and ceaselessly provides us with everything for our enjoyment;

in this way amassing for themselves the riches that forever endure in the life to come, so that at last they may grasp the life that is life indeed.

For this reason I now remind you to rekindle and keep burning the fire of the divine gift which came upon you when I laid my hands upon you.

Of this good news I have been appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher.

This is why I am suffering so, but I am not ashamed of it, for I know whom I have trusted and I am absolutely sure that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.

Guard this fine deposit of truth by the aid of the Holy Spirit who has His home in our hearts.

For this reason I am bearing anything for the sake of His chosen people, so that they too may obtain the salvation that comes through Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.

This message is to be trusted: "If we indeed have died with Him, we will live with Him too.

I left you in Crete for this express purpose, to set in order the things that are lacking, and to appoint elders in each town, as I directed you --

Now this tendency is true. So continue correcting them severely, that they may be healthy in faith,

training us to give up godless ways and worldly cravings and live serious, upright, and godly lives in this world,

You must continue teaching this, and continue exhorting and reproving people, with full authority. Let no one belittle you.

but I would not do a single thing about it without your consent, so that this kindness of yours to me might not seem to come by compulsion but voluntarily.

For perhaps it was for this reason that he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever,

This is why we must pay much closer attention to the message once heard, to keep from drifting to one side.

how can we escape, if we pay no attention at all to a salvation that is so great? This is so because it was first proclaimed by the Lord Himself, and then it was proved to us to be valid by the very men who heard Him themselves,

while in this passage again He says: "They shall not be admitted to my rest."

And no one takes this honor upon himself but is called to it by God, as Aaron was.

This hope we have as an anchor for our souls, secure and safe, which reaches up behind the heavenly veil,

For this man Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was coming back from the defeat of the kings, and put his blessing on him,

Now see how great this man must have been that even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of his spoils.

But in this case, the man whose ancestry is not traced from them collected a tenth from Abraham, and put his blessing on the man who had the promises from God.

For He of whom this is said became a member of a different tribe no member of which ever officiated at the altar.

who does not need, as did the Levitical priests, to offer sacrifices, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; this latter is just what He did once for all when He offered up Himself.

Now the main point in what I am saying is this: We have such a High Priest as this, one who has taken His seat at the right hand of God's majestic throne in heaven

For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; so this High Priest too must have some sacrifice to offer,

'For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel in those days,' says the Lord; 'I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. And nevermore will each one need to teach his fellow-citizen,

With these arrangements completed in this way, the priests in conducting their official services regularly go into the outer part of the tent of worship;

By this the Holy Spirit was showing that there was as yet no access to the real sanctuary while the outer tent was still in existence,

But when Christ came as the High Priest of good things that have already taken place, He went by way of that greater and more perfect tent of worship, not made by human hands, that is, not belonging to this material creation,

And this is why He is the Mediator of a new covenant, in order that, after He had suffered death for securing redemption from the offenses committed under the first covenant, those who had been invited to share it might obtain the eternal inheritance promised them.

saying, "This is the blood that ratifies the covenant which God commanded me to make with you."

It is by this will of God that we are consecrated through the offering of Jesus' body once for all.

But this One offered up once for all and for all time one sacrifice for sins, and once for all took His seat at God's right hand,

"'This is the covenant that I will make with them: In those last days,' says the Lord, 'I will put my laws into their hearts, and write them on their minds,'"

partly by being exposed as a public spectacle to insults and violent sufferings, and partly by showing yourselves ready to share with those who were living in this condition.

For people who make such a profession as this show that they are in search of a country of their own.

But in reality they were aspiring for a better country, I mean, a heavenly one. This is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

Let us, therefore, be thankful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and in this way continue to serve God acceptably in reverence and fear;

Continue to obey and to be submissive to your leaders, for they are ever watching in defense of your souls, as men who will have to give account of their trust. Treat them in this way, so that they may work with joy and not with grief.

I beg you, brothers, to listen patiently to this message, for I have written you only a short letter.

You must understand this, my dearly loved brothers. Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to get angry;

Keep on obeying this message; do not merely listen to it, and so deceive yourselves.

A religious worship that is pure and stainless in the sight of God the Father is this: To look after orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep one's own self unstained by the world.

and you pay special attention to the man who wears the fine clothes, and say to him, "Sit here in this fine place," and say to the poor man, "Stand up, or sit there on the floor at my feet,"

Out of the same mouth flow blessing and cursing! It ought not to be like this, my brothers.

This is not the kind of wisdom that comes down from above; no, it is earthly, human, demoniacal.

Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord is willing, we shall live and do this or that."

Even the prophets, who prophesied about the spiritual blessing meant for you, made careful investigations and persistent research about this salvation,

and: "A stone for them to stumble over and a rock to trip them up." They keep on stumbling over the message, because they are disobedient to it, and this is their appointed doom.

Indeed, it was to this kind of living that you were called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you might follow His footsteps.

For this is the way the pious women of olden times, who set their hope on God, used to adorn themselves.

never returning evil for evil or abuse for abuse, but blessing instead, because it was for this that you were called, to obtain the blessing of heirs.

Baptism, which corresponds to this figure, now saves you, too -- I do not mean the mere removal of physical stains, but the craving for a clear conscience toward God -- through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

This is why the good news was preached to the dead too, that they may be judged in their physical nature as men are, but live in the Spirit as God does.

but if anyone suffers for being a Christian, he must not be ashamed of it, but should keep on praising God for bearing this name.

By Silvanus, our faithful brother, as I regard him, I have written you this short letter, to encourage you and to testify that this is the true, unmerited favor of God. Stand firm in it.

Now for this very reason you must do your level best to supplement your faith with moral character, moral character with knowledge,

for it is in this way that to you will be generously granted a triumphant admittance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Yet I think it right, as long as I live in this bodily tent, to arouse you by a reminder,

For when He received such honor and glory from God the Father, when from the majestic glory there was borne to Him a voice like this, "This is my Son, my Beloved, in whom I take delight,"

we heard this voice ourselves borne from heaven while we were with Him on that sacred mountain.

So we have the message of the prophets more certainly guaranteed. Please pay attention to this message as to a lamp that is shining in a dismal place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;

because you recognize this truth above all else, that no prophecy in Scripture is to be interpreted by one's own mind,

This is the second letter, dearly beloved, that I have already written to you, in both of which I am trying by reminders to stir up your unsullied minds

First of all, you must understand this, that in the last days mockers will come with their mockeries, living in accordance with their evil passions,

But you must avoid forgetting this one fact, dearly beloved, that with the Lord a single day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a single day.

If all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what men you ought to be! What holy and pious lives you ought to lead,

Therefore, dearly beloved, since you are expecting this, be in earnest to be found by Him without a blot, without reproach, and at peace.

I repeat, it is what we have seen and heard that we now announce to you, so that you too may share this fellowship with us, for this fellowship that we have is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ;

And this is the message that we have heard from Him and now announce to you: God is light, and there is no darkness at all in Him.

My dear children, I am writing you this so that you may not sin; yet if anyone ever sins, we have One who pleads our case with the Father, Jesus Christ, One who is righteous.

By this we can be sure that we know Him -- if we practice obedience to His commands.

but whoever practices obedience to His message really has a perfect love of God in his heart. By this we can be sure that we are in union with Him:

I write you this with reference to those who are trying to lead you astray,

See what wonderful love the Father has bestowed on us in letting us be called God's children, and that is what we are! This is why the world does not know what we are, because it has never come to know Him.