As it is said in the Writings, He has sent out far and wide, he has given to the poor; his righteousness is for ever.

because it is said, "His letters [are] severe and powerful, but his bodily presence [is] weak and his speech is of no account."

Such people should consider this: When I arrive for action I shall do exactly what I said I would in my letters when far away.

that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable things said which it is not allowed to man to utter.

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

So, let it be [said] that I did not become a burden to you. But being a clever person, [some are saying] that I took you in by trickery. [Note: Paul is saying that even though he took no financial support from the church, they are accusing him of taking financial advantage of them through other people].

I have said beforehand, and I do say beforehand, as when I was present the second time, so now, being absent, to them that have sinned heretofore, and to all the rest, that, if I come again, I will not spare;

As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

they only kept hearing, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the [good news of the] faith which he once was trying to destroy.”

But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?

But if, while we seek to be justified in Christ, we also were found to be sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Let it not be said!

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."

For all who are of the works of the law are under a curse: because it is said in the Writings, A curse is on everyone who does not keep on doing all the things which are ordered in the book of the law.

Christ has made us free from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us: because it is said in the Writings, A curse on everyone who is put to death by hanging on a tree:

The promises were spoken to Abraham and his offspring. He said not, And to offsprings, as of many, but as of one, And to your offspring, which is Christ.

Is the Law then against the promises of God? Let it not be said! For if a law had been given which could have given life, indeed righteousness would have been out of Law.

This is being said as an allegory, for these women represent two covenants. The one woman, Hagar, is from Mount Sinai, and her children are born into slavery.

envyings, murders, drunkennesses, revels, and things like these; as to which I tell you beforehand, even as I also have said before, that they who do such things shall not inherit God's kingdom.

How by revelation the secret was made clear to me, as I said before in a short letter,

Therefore it says,

“When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
And He bestowed gifts on men.”

And let there be no low behaviour, or foolish talk, or words said in sport, which are not right, but in place of them the giving of praise.

for what makes everything clear is light. Therefore it is said:

Get up, sleeper, and rise up from the dead,
and the Messiah will shine on you.

Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. it is not uneasy to me to write what I have already said, and it is an advantage to you.

For many walk, of whom I often said to you, and now say even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of the Christ,

for even when we were with you, we said to you beforehand, that we are about to suffer tribulation, as also it did come to pass, and ye have known it;

But, when Timothy recently returned to us from you with good news of your faith and love, and told us how kindly you think of us--always longing, he said, to see us, just as we are longing to see you--

And that no man may make attempts to get the better of his brother in business: for the Lord is the judge in all these things, as we said to you before and gave witness.

For we say this to you by [the authority of] the word of the Lord [Note: Paul was either quoting what Jesus had previously said, or was giving a revelation he had received from the Lord. See I Cor. 14:37], that we [Christians] who are [still] alive, who are left [on earth] when the Lord returns, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. [Note: The point Paul is making is that the living will not be "changed" (I Cor. 15:51-52) and taken to heaven before the dead are raised].

not to be so quickly upset or alarmed when someone claims that we said, either by some spirit, conversation, or letter that the Day of the Lord has already come.

Do ye not remember that, being yet with you, I said these things to you?

And if any man does not give attention to what we have said in this letter, take note of that man, and keep away from him, so that he may be shamed.

Though I had said violent words against God, and done cruel acts, causing great trouble: but I was given mercy, because I did it without knowledge, not having faith;

I transmit these instructions to you, Timotheus my son, in accordance with what the prophets said who first directed me to you; fight the good fight on these lines,

And he is to have a good name among those outside the church, so that nothing may be said against him and he may not be taken by the designs of the Evil One.

for then it is consecrated by the prayer said over it.

Give orders to this effect, so that no evil may be said of anyone.

Let all who are servants under the yoke give all honour to their masters, so that no evil may be said against the name of God and his teaching.

And the things which I have said to you before a number of witnesses, give to those of the faith, so that they may be teachers of others.

for he has been bitterly hostile to anything I have said.

I did not take you with me when I went away from Crete, so that you might do what was necessary to put things in order there, placing men in authority over the churches in every town, as I said to you;

Men having a good record, husbands of one wife, whose children are of the faith, children of whom it may not be said that they are given to loose living or are uncontrolled.

One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.

To be wise in mind, clean in heart, kind; working in their houses, living under the authority of their husbands; so that no evil may be said of the word of God.

For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?

And again, when God sent the Firstborn One [i.e., Jesus. See Rom. 8:29; Col. 1:15, 18; Rev. 1:5] into the world, He said [Deut. 32:43 LXX], "And all of God's angels should worship Him."

But God said [this] about the angels [Psa. 104:4 LXX], "He [i.e., God] makes His angels to be [like] winds and His servants [like] flames of fire." [Note: The idea is probably that angels obediently serve God's purpose similar to the way wind and lightening do].

while of the Son he said-- 'God is thy throne for ever and ever; The scepter of his Kingdom is the scepter of Justice;

But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?

But one has [solemnly] testified somewhere [in Scripture], saying,

“What is man, that You are mindful of him,
Or the son of man, that You graciously care for him?

Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s household, as a testimony to what would be said in the future.

So, even as the Holy Spirit said [Psa. 95:7-11], "Today, if you hear His [i.e., God's] voice,

Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.

for we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold fast our first confidence firm unto the end; inasmuch as it is said,

While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.

For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

For he hath said somewhere of the seventh day on this wise, And God rested on the seventh day from all his works;

and again in this, “They shall not enter My rest.”

Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have said anything about another day.

So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.

also said in another passage, You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.

He said, "I will certainly bless you and give you many descendants."

And it could be said that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid a tithe through Abraham.

Thus if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood, for on the basis of it the people received the law, what further need [is there] for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek and not said to be according to the order of Aaron?

For he of whom these things are said belongeth to another tribe, from which no man hath given attendance at the altar.

For [it is] evident that our Lord is a descendant of Judah, a tribe [with reference] to which Moses said nothing concerning priests.

for it is said, "thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec."

(For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)

Now [this is] the main point in what has been said: we have a high priest such as this, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,

These serve as a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was warned when he was about to complete the tabernacle. For God said, Be careful that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain.

For finding fault with them, he said, "Behold, the days come," says the Lord, "that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;

When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.

and said, "This is the blood of the covenant that God has commanded you to keep."

Therefore, when Christ enters into the world, He says,

“Sacrifice and offering You have not desired,
But [instead] You have prepared a body for Me [to offer];

Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.

Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;

Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.

Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,

This is the agreement which I will make with them after those days, says the Lord; I will put my laws in their hearts, writing them in their minds; he said,

For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.

By faith Enoch was translated without seeing death, and was not found because God translated him. For before the translation he was said to have pleased God;

By faith Abraham did as God said when he was ordered to go out into a place which was to be given to him as a heritage, and went out without knowledge of where he was going.

Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:

concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the grave; from whence, in a figurative sense, be may be said to have been recover'd.

By faith Joseph, when his end was near, said that the children of Israel would go out of Egypt; and gave orders about his bones.

and to the blast of a trumpet and a sound of words [such that] those who heard it begged that nothing more be said to them.

For the order which said, If the mountain is touched even by a beast, the beast is to be stoned, seemed hard to them;

And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)

Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

But, brothers, take kindly the words which I have said for your profit; for I have not sent you a long letter.

There is a blessing on the man who undergoes testing; because, if he has God's approval, he will be given the crown of life, which the Lord has said he will give to those who have love for him.

Give ear, my dear brothers; are not those who are poor in the things of this world marked out by God to have faith as their wealth, and for their heritage the kingdom which he has said he will give to those who have love for him?

For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.

it will be said, "you have a speculative faith, but mine is practical. where is your faith, if no effects appear? as for me, my actions will vouch for my faith.

And the holy Writings were put into effect which said, And Abraham had faith in God and it was put to his account as righteousness; and he was named the friend of God.

No; the gift that God gives is for a nobler end; and that is why it is said--'God is opposed to the haughty, but gives help to the humble.'

Because it has been said in the Writings, You are to be holy, for I am holy.

For it is said, All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of the grass. The grass becomes dry and the flower dead:

Because it is said in the Writings, See, I am placing a keystone in Zion, of great and special value; and the man who has faith in him will not be put to shame.

And the value is for you who have faith; but it is said for those without faith, The very stone which the builders put on one side, was made the chief stone of the building;