For there is no undue stretch of authority on our part, as though it did not extend to you. We pressed on even to Corinth, and were the first to proclaim to you the Good News of the Christ.

I use the language of self-disparagement, as though I were admitting our own feebleness. Yet for whatever reason any one is 'courageous' --I speak in mere folly--I also am courageous.

Are they servants of Christ? (I speak as if I were out of my mind.)

I begged Titus to visit you, and sent our other brother with him. Did Titus gain any selfish advantage over you? Were not he and I guided by one and the same Spirit, and did we not walk in the same steps?

For is it man's favour or God's that I aspire to? Or am I seeking to please men? If I were still a man-pleaser, I should not be Christ's bondservant.

nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were my seniors in the Apostleship, but I went away into Arabia, and afterwards came back to Damascus.

From those leaders I gained nothing new. Whether they were men of importance or not, matters nothing to me--God recognizes no external distinctions. To me, at any rate, the leaders imparted nothing new.

and when they perceived the mission which was graciously entrusted to me, they (that is to say, James, Peter, and John, who were considered to be the pillars of the Church)

As soon as I saw that they were not walking uprightly in the spirit of the Good News, I said to Peter, before them all, "If you, though you are a Jew, live as a Gentile does, and not as a Jew, how can you make the Gentiles follow Jewish customs?

(Now the promises were given to Abraham and to his seed. God did not say 'and to seeds,' as if speaking of many, but 'and to your seed,' since He spoke of only one--and this is Christ.)

Why then was the Law given? It was imposed later on for the sake of defining sin, until the seed should come to whom God had made the promise; and its details were laid down by a mediator with the help of angels.

Before this faith came, we Jews were perpetual prisoners under the Law, living under restraints and limitations in preparation for the faith which was soon to be revealed.

So we also, when spiritually we were children, were subject to the world's rudimentary notions, and were enslaved.

in order to purchase the freedom of all who were subject to Law, so that we might receive recognition as sons.

But at one time, you Gentiles, having no knowledge of God, were slaves to gods which in reality do not exist.

you for whom I am again, as it were, undergoing the pains of childbirth, until Christ is fully formed within you.

Would that I were with you and could change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

You were running the race nobly! Who has interfered and caused you to swerve from the truth?

You however, brethren, were called to freedom. Only do not turn your freedom into an excuse for giving way to your lower natures; but become bondservants to one another in a spirit of love.

so that we should be devoted to the extolling of His glorious attributes--we who were the first to fix our hopes on Christ.

And in Him you Gentiles also, after listening to the Message of the truth, the Good News of your salvation--having believed in Him--were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit;

To you Gentiles also, who were dead through your offences and sins,

which were once habitual to you while you walked in the ways of this world and obeyed the Prince of the powers of the air, the spirits that are now at work in the hearts of the sons of disobedience--to you God has given Life.

Among them all of us also formerly passed our lives, governed by the inclinations of our lower natures, indulging the cravings of those natures and of our own thoughts, and were in our original state deserving of anger like all others.

caused us, dead though we were through our offences, to live with Christ--it is by grace that you have been saved--

Therefore, do not forget that formerly you were Gentiles as to your bodily condition. You were called the Uncircumcision by those who style themselves the Circumcised--their circumcision being one which the knife has effected.

At that time you were living apart from Christ, estranged from the Commonwealth of Israel, with no share by birth in the Covenants which are based on the Promises, and you had no hope and no God, in all the world.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were so far away have been brought near through the death of Christ.

by setting aside the Law with its commandments, expressed, as they were, in definite decrees. His design was to unite the two sections of humanity in Himself so as to form one new man,

So He came and proclaimed good news of peace to you who were so far away, and peace to those who were near;

There is but one body and but one Spirit, as also when you were called you had one and the same hope held out to you.

For this reason, laying aside falsehood, every one of you should speak the truth to his fellow man; for we are, as it were, parts of one another.

There was a time when you were nothing but darkness. Now, as Christians, you are Light itself.

because we are, as it were, parts of His Body.

Slaves, be obedient to your earthly masters, with respect and eager anxiety to please and with simplicity of motive as if you were obeying Christ.

Therefore, my dearly-loved friends, as I have always found you obedient, labour earnestly with fear and trembling--not merely as though I were present with you, but much more now since I am absent from you--labour earnestly, I say, to make sure of your own salvation.

For in Him was created the universe of things in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, thrones, dominions, princedoms, powers--all were created, and exist through and for Him.

And you, estranged as you once were and even hostile in your minds, amidst your evil deeds,

having the roots of your being firmly planted in Him, and continually building yourselves up in Him, and always being increasingly confirmed in the faith as you were taught it, and abounding in it with thanksgiving.

In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision not performed by hand, when you threw off your sinful nature in true Christian circumcision;

having been buried with Him in your baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith produced within you by God who raised Him from among the dead.

And to you--dead as you once were in your transgressions and in the uncircumcision of your natural state--He has nevertheless given Life with Himself, having forgiven us all our transgressions.

These were a shadow of things that were soon to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

and you also were once addicted to them, while you were living under their power.

and let the peace which Christ gives settle all questionings in your hearts, to which peace indeed you were called as belonging to His one Body; and be thankful.

Seeing that we were thus drawn affectionately towards you, it would have been a joy to us to have imparted to you not only God's Good News, but to have given our very lives also, because you had become very dear to us.

You yourselves are witnesses--and God is witness--how holy and upright and blameless our dealings with you believers were.

For even when we were with you, we forewarned you, saying, "We are soon to suffer affliction;" and this actually happened, as you well know.

For even when we were with you, we laid down this rule for you: "If a man does not choose to work, neither shall he eat."

This is the charge which I entrust to you, my son Timothy, in accordance with the inspired instructions concerning you which were given me long ago, that being equipped with them as your armour you may be continually fighting the good fight,

Do not be careless about the gifts with which you are endowed, which were conferred on you through a divine revelation when the hands of the elders were placed upon you.

Never administer a sharp reprimand to a man older than yourself; but entreat him as if he were your father, and the younger men as brothers;

Exert all your strength in the honourable struggle for the faith; lay hold of the Life of the Ages, to which you were called, when you made your noble profession of faith before many witnesses.

For preaching the Good News I suffer, and am even put in chains, as if I were a criminal: yet the word of God is not imprisoned.

But you must cling to the things which you have learnt and have been taught to believe, knowing who your teachers were,

For there was a time when we also were deficient in understanding, obstinate, deluded, the slaves of various cravings and pleasures, spending our lives in malice and envy, hateful ourselves and hating one another.

If therefore you regard me as a comrade, receive him as if he were I myself.

and, as though they were a mantle Thou wilt roll them up; yes, like a garment, and they will undergo change. But Thou art the same, and Thy years will never come to an end."

For who were they that heard, and yet provoked God? Was it not the whole of the people who had come out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses?

And to whom did He swear that they should not be admitted to His rest, if it was not to those who were disobedient?

For Good News has been brought to us as truly as to them; but the message they heard failed to benefit them, because they were not one in faith with those who gave heed to it.

Since, then, it is still true that some will be admitted to that rest, and that because of disobedience those who formerly had Good News proclaimed to them were not admitted,

If then He were still on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since here there are already those who present the offerings in obedience to the Law,

For a sacred tent was constructed--the outer one, in which were the lamp and the table and the presented loaves; and this is called the Holy place.

This had a censer of gold, and the ark of the Covenant lined with gold and completely covered with gold, and in it were a gold vase which held the manna, and Aaron's rod which budded and the tables of the Covenant.

And above the ark were the Cherubim denoting God's glorious presence and overshadowing the Mercy-seat. But I cannot now speak about all these in detail.

This was partly through allowing yourselves to be made a public spectacle amid reproaches and persecutions, and partly through coming forward to share the sufferings of those who were thus treated.

For you not only showed sympathy with those who were imprisoned, but you even submitted with joy when your property was taken from you, being well aware that you have in your own selves a more valuable possession and one which will remain.

Through faith they passed through the Red Sea as though they were passing over dry land, but the Egyptians, when they tried to do the same, were swallowed up.

deprived fire of its power, escaped being killed by the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put to flight foreign armies.

Women received back their dear ones alive from the dead; and others were put to death with torture, refusing the deliverance offered to them--that they might secure a better resurrection.

Others again were tested by cruel mockery and by scourging; yes, and by chains and imprisonment.

They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tried by temptation, they were killed with the sword. They went from place to place in sheepskins or goatskins, enduring want, oppression and cruelty.

for God had provided for them and us something better, so that apart from us they were not to attain to full blessedness.

Remember prisoners, as if you were in prison with them; and remember those suffering ill-treatment, for you yourselves also are still in the body.

There were Prophets who earnestly inquired about that salvation, and closely searched into it--even those who spoke beforehand of the grace which was to come to you.

They were eager to know the time which the Spirit of Christ within them kept indicating, or the characteristics of that time, when they solemnly made known beforehand the sufferings that were to come upon Christ and the glories which would follow.

To them it was revealed that they were serving not themselves but you, when they foretold the very things which have now been openly declared to you by those who, having been taught by the Holy Spirit which had been sent from Heaven, brought you the Good News. Angels long to stoop and look into these things.

knowing, as you do, that it was not with a ransom of perishable wealth, such as silver or gold, that you were set free from your frivolous habits of life which had been handed down to you from your forefathers,

and "a Stone for the foot to strike against, and a Rock to stumble over." Their foot strikes against it because they are disobedient to God's Message, and to this they were appointed.

Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. Once you had not found mercy, but now you have.

And it is to this you were called; because Christ also suffered on your behalf, leaving you an example so that you should follow in His steps.

For you were straying like lost sheep, but now you have come back to the Shepherd and Protector of your souls.

in which He also went and proclaimed His Message to the spirits that were in prison,

who in ancient times had been disobedient, while God's longsuffering was patiently waiting in the days of Noah during the building of the Ark, in which a few persons--eight in number--were brought safely through the water.

For it is with this end in view that the Good News was proclaimed even to some who were dead, that they may be judged, as all mankind will be judged, in the body, but may be living a godly life in the spirit.

Dear friends, do not be surprised at finding that that scorching flame of persecution is raging among you to put you to the test--as though some surprising thing were accidentally happening to you.

For when we made known to you the power and Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, we were not eagerly following cleverly devised legends, but we had been eye-witnesses of His majesty.

He received honour and glory from God the Father, and out of the wondrous glory words such as these were spoken to Him, "This is My dearly-loved Son, in whom I take delight."

And we ourselves heard these words come from Heaven, when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

for never did any prophecy come by human will, but men sent by God spoke as they were impelled by the Holy Spirit.

But there were also false prophets among the people, as there will be teachers of falsehood among you also, who will cunningly introduce fatal divisions, disowning even the Sovereign Lord who has redeemed them, and bringing on themselves swift destruction.

(For their lawless deeds were torture, day after day, to the pure soul of that righteous man--all that he saw and heard whilst living in their midst.)

For it would have been better for them not to have fully known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandments in which they were instructed.

For they are wilfully blind to the fact that there were heavens which existed of old, and an earth, the latter arising out of water and extending continuously through water, by the command of God;

We are not to resemble Cain, who was a child of the Evil one and killed his own brother. And why did he kill him? Because his own actions were wicked and his brother's actions righteous.

But as for you, my dearly-loved friends, remember the words that before now were spoken by the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ--

His head and His hair were white, like white wool--as white as snow; and His eyes resembled a flame of fire.

His feet were like silver-bronze, when it is white-hot in a furnace; and His voice resembled the sound of many waters.

When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as if I were dead. But He laid His right hand upon me and said, "Do not be afraid: I am the First and the Last, and the ever-living One.