If your right eye is a snare to you, take it out and throw it away. It would be best for you to lose one part of your body, and not to have the whole of it thrown into the Pit.

And, if your right hand is a snare to you, cut it off and throw it away. It would be best for you to lose one part of your body, and not to have the whole of it go down to the Pit.

But, if any one puts a snare in the way of one of these lowly ones who believe in me, it would be best for him to be sunk in the depths of the sea with a great millstone hung round his neck.

'Say to the daughter of Zion--"Behold, thy King is coming to thee, Gentle, and riding on an ass, And on the foal of a beast of burden."'

and like to have the place of honor at dinner, and the best seats in the Synagogues,

And to have the best seats in the Synagogues, and places of honor at dinner.

When, for instance, you are going with your opponent before a magistrate, on your way to the court do your best to be quit of him; for fear that he should drag you before the judge, when the judge will hand you over to the bailiff of the court, and the bailiff throw you into prison.

Observing that the guests were choosing the best places for themselves, Jesus told them this parable--

"When you are invited by any one to a wedding banquet, do not seat yourself in the best place, for fear that some one of higher rank should have been invited by your host;

But the father turned to his servants and said 'Be quick and fetch a robe--the very best--and put it on him; give him a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet;

"Be on your guard against the Teachers of the Law, who delight to walk about in long robes, and like to be greeted in the streets with respect, and to have the best seats in the Synagogues, and places of honor at dinner.

And he went and discussed with the Chief Priests and Officers in charge at the Temple the best way of betraying Jesus to them.

It was Caiaphas who had counseled the Jews, that it was best that one man should die for the people.

The others went on from Perga and arrived at Antioch in Pisidia. There they went into the Synagogue on the Sabbath and took their seats.

Paul and Barnabas then went through Pisidia, and came into Pamphylia,

For in every town, for generations past, there have been those who preach Moses, read as he is in the Synagogues every Sabbath."

And went to the prison, and did their best to conciliate them. Then they took them out, and begged them to leave the city.

For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so as to avoid spending much time in Roman Asia. He was making haste to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the Festival at the close of the Harvest.

We have found this man a public pest; he is one who stirs up disputes among the Jews all the world over, and is a ringleader of the Nazarene heretics.

But, perhaps, you bear the name of 'Jew,' and are relying upon Law, and boast of belonging to God, and understand his will,

If he was pronounced righteous as the result of obedience, then he has something to boast of. Yes, but not before God.

Though he was nearly a hundred years old, yet his faith did not fail him, even when he thought of his own body, then utterly worn out, and remembered that Sarah was past bearing children.

Now to him who is able to strengthen you, as promised in the Good News entrusted to me and in the proclamation of Jesus Christ, in accordance with the revelation of that hidden purpose, which in past ages was kept secret but now has been revealed

So that in his presence no human being should boast.

So that-in the words of Scripture-'Let him who boasts make his boast of the Lord!'

Therefore let no one boast about men; for all things are yours--

For who makes any one of you superior to others? And what have you that was not given you? But if you received it as a gift, why do you boast as if you had not?

Were you a slave when you were called? Do not let that trouble you. No, even if you are able to gain your freedom, still do your best.

I think, then, that, in view of the time of suffering that has now come upon us, what I have already said is best-that a man should remain as he is.

If, however, a father thinks that he is not acting fairly by his unmarried daughter, when she is past her youth, and if under these circumstances her marriage ought to take place, let him act as he thinks right. He is doing nothing wrong-let the marriage take place.

I, however, have not availed myself of any of these rights. I am not saying this to secure such an arrangement for myself; indeed, I would far rather die-Nobody shall make my boast a vain one!

If I tell the Good News, I have nothing to boast of, for I can but do so. Woe is me if I do not tell it!

Strive for the greater gifts. Yet I can still show you a way beyond all comparison the best.

Even though I dole my substance to the poor, even though I sacrifice my body, that I may boast, yet have not Love, it avails me nothing!

I am only making suggestions on this matter; for this is the best course for you, since you were a year before others, not only in taking action, but also in showing your readiness to do so.

I know, of course, your willingness to help, and I am always boasting of it to the Macedonians. I tell them that you in Greece have been ready for a year past; and it was really your zeal that stimulated most of them.

So my reason for sending our Brothers is to prevent what we said about you from proving, in this particular matter, an empty boast, and to enable you to be as well prepared as I have been saying that you are.

Even if I boast extravagantly about our authority--which the Lord gave us for building up your faith and not for overthrowing it--still I have no reason to be ashamed.

'Let him who boasts make his boast of the Lord.'

As surely as I know anything of the Truth of Christ, this boast, as far as I am concerned, shall not be stopped in any part of Greece.

What I am doing now I shall continue to do, that I may cut away the ground from under those who are wishing for some ground for attacking me, so that as regards the thing of which they boast they may appear in their true characters, just as we do.

As so many are boasting of earthly things, I, too, will boast.

I admit, to my shame, that we have been weak. But whatever the subject on which others are not afraid to boast--though it is foolish to say so--I am not afraid either!

If I must boast, I will boast of things which show my weakness!

I must boast! It is unprofitable; but I will pass to visions and revelations given by the Lord.

About such a man I will boast, but about myself I will not boast except as regards my weaknesses.

Yet if I choose to boast, I shall not be a fool; for I shall be speaking no more than the truth. But I refrain, lest any one should credit me with more than he can see in me or hear from me, and because of the marvelous character of the revelations.

But his reply has been-- 'My help is enough for you; for my strength attains its perfection in the midst of weakness.' Most gladly, then, will I boast all the more of my weaknesses, so that the strength of the Christ may overshadow me.

Even these men who are circumcised do not themselves keep the Law; yet they want you to be circumcised, so that they may boast of your observance of the rite.

But, for my part, may I never boast of anything except the cross of Jesus Christ, our Master, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

It is not due to obedience to Law, lest any one should boast.

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always been obedient in the past, so now work out your own Salvation with anxious care, not only when I am with you, but all the more now that I am absent.

Offering to men the Message of Life; and then I shall be able at the Day of Christ to boast that I did not run my course for nothing, or toil for nothing.

Give this message to Archippus--'Take care to discharge to the best of your ability the office to which you were appointed in the Master's Cause.'

In our strong affection for you, that seemed to us the best way of sharing with you, not only God's Good news, but our very lives as well--so dear had you become to us.

For what hope or joy will be ours, or what crown shall we have to boast of, in the presence of our Lord Jesus, at his Coming, if it be not you?

Those who have filled that post with honour gain for themselves an honorable position, as well as great confidence through the faith that they place in Christ Jesus.

The Lord grant that he may find mercy at the hands of the Lord on 'That Day.' The many services that he rendered at Ephesus you have the best means of knowing.

Urge slaves to be submissive to their owners in all circumstances, and to try their best to please them.

Do your best to help Zenas, the Teacher of the Law, and Apollos, on their way, and see that they want for nothing.

Again, it was faith that enabled Sarah to conceive (though she was past the age for child-bearing), because she felt sure that he who had given her the promise would not fail her.

Our fathers disciplined us for only a short time and as seemed best to them; but God disciplines us for our true good, to enable us to share his holiness.

My Brothers, whatever may be the temptations that beset you from time to time, always regard them as a reason for rejoicing,

But, while you harbor envy and bitterness and a spirit of rivalry in your hearts, do not boast or lie to the detriment of the Truth.

Surely in the past you have spent time enough living as the Gentiles delight to live. For your path has lain among scenes of debauchery, licentiousness, drunkenness, revelry, hard-drinking, and profane idolatry.

Yes, and for this very reason do your best to supplement your faith by goodness, goodness by knowledge,

Surely the man who has not these virtues is shortsighted even to blindness, and has chosen to forget that he has been purified from his sins of the past!

Therefore, Brothers, do your best to put God's Call and Selection of you beyond all doubt; for, if you do this, you will never fall.

But I think it my duty, as long as I live in this 'tent,' to rouse you by awakening memories of the past;

So I will do my best to enable you, at any time after my departure, to call these truths to mind.

In their covetousness they will try to make you a source of profit by their fabrications; but for a long time past their Sentence has not been standing idle, nor their Ruin slumbering.

As soon as they have completed their testimony, 'the wild Beast that ascends from the bottomless pit will make war upon them and conquer' and kill them.

Then I saw, 'rising out of the sea, a wild Beast with ten horns' and seven heads. On its horns were ten diadems, and on its heads were blasphemous names.

The Beast that I saw was like a leopard; but its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth like the mouth of a lion. The Dragon gave it his power and his throne, and wide dominion.

One of its heads seemed to me to have been mortally wounded, but its deadly wound had been healed. The whole earth followed the Beast, wondering;

and men worshiped the Dragon, because he had given his dominion to the Beast; while, as they worshiped the Beast, they said-- 'Who can compare with the Beast? and who can fight with it?'

The Beast was given 'a mouth that spoke proudly' and blasphemously, and it was empowered to work its will for forty-two months.

Then I saw, rising out of the earth, another wild Beast. It had two horns like those of a lamb, and its voice was like a dragon's.

It exercises all the authority of the first Beast under its very eyes; and it makes the earth and all who are living on it worship that first Beast, whose mortal wound was healed.

and in consequence of the marvels which it was allowed to perform under the eyes of the Beast, it is able to deceive all who are living on the earth. It bids those who live on the earth to make a statue in honour of the Beast, who, despite the wound from the sword, yet lived.

It was permitted to breathe life into the image of the Beast, so that the image of the Beast might speak; and it was also permitted to cause all who refused to worship the image of the Beast to be put to death.

so that no one is able to buy or sell, except those that bear this brand--either the name of the Beast or the number indicated by the letters of his name.

(Here there is need for discernment.) Let him who has the ability compute the number of the Beast; for the number indicates a man's name. Its number is six hundred and sixty-six.

Then a third angel followed them, crying in a loud voice-- 'Whoever worships the Beast and its image, and receives its brand on his forehead or on his hand,

The smoke from their torture rises for ever and ever, and they have no rest day nor night-- those who worship the Beast and its image, and all who are branded with its name.'

Then I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mixed with fire; and, standing by this sea of glass, holding the harps of God, I saw those who had come victorious out of the conflict with the Beast and its image and the number that formed its name.

The first angel went and emptied his bowl upon the earth; and it turned to loathsome and painful sores upon all who bore the brand of the Beast and who worshiped its image.

Then the fifth angel emptied his bowl upon the throne of the Beast; and darkness fell upon its Kingdom. Men gnawed their tongues for pain,

And I saw three foul spirits, like frogs, come from the mouth of the Dragon and from the mouth of the Beast and from the mouth of the false Prophet.

And he bore me away in a trance to a lonely place, and I saw a woman seated upon a scarlet Beast, which was covered with blasphemous names; it had seven heads and ten horns.

but the angel said to me-- 'Why were you amazed? I will tell you the mystic meaning of the vision of this woman, and of the Beast, with the seven heads and ten horns, that carries her.

The Beast that you saw was, but is not, and is about to rise out of the bottomless pit, and is on its way to destruction. Those who are living on earth will be amazed--those whose names have not been written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world--when they see that the Beast was, but is not, and yet will come.'

So must the Beast that was, but is not. He counts as an eighth king, although he is one of the seven, and is on his way to destruction.

The ten horns that you saw are ten kings. who have not yet received their kingdoms, but for an hour they receive the authority of kings, together with the Beast.

These kings are of one mind in surrendering their power and authority to the Beast.

The ten horns that you saw, and the Beast--they will hate the Harlot, and cause her to become deserted and strip her bare; they will eat her very flesh and utterly consume her with fire.

For God has put it into their minds to carry out his purpose, in carrying out their common purpose and surrendering their kingdoms to the Beast, until God's decrees shall be executed.

Then I saw the Beast and the kings of the earth and their armies, gathered together to fight with him who sat on the horse and with his army.

The Beast was captured, and with him was taken the false Prophet, who performed the marvels before the eyes of the Beast, with which he deceived those who had received the brand of the Beast and those who worshiped his image. Alive, they were thrown, both of them, into the fiery lake 'of burning sulphur.'

Then I saw thrones, and to those who took their seats upon them authority was given to act as judges. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony to Jesus and because of the Message of God, for they had refused to worship the Beast or its image, and had not received the brand on their foreheads and on their hands. They were restored to life, and they reigned with the Christ for a thousand years.