1 Corinthians 3 Cross References - Goodspeed

¹ So, for my part, brothers, I could not treat you as spiritual persons; I had to treat you just as creatures of flesh and blood, as babies in Christian living. ² I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. Why, you are not ready for it now, ³ for you are still worldly. For when there are still jealousy and quarrels among you, are you not worldly and living on a merely human level? ⁴ For when one man says, "I am a follower of Paul," and another, "I am a follower of Apollos," are you not simply human? ⁵ What is Apollos? Or what is Paul? Just servants through whom you came to have faith, as the Lord gave each of us opportunity. ⁶ I did the planting, Apollos the watering, but it was God who made the plants grow. ⁷ So neither the planter nor the waterer counts for anything, but only God who makes the plants grow. ⁸ The planter and the waterer are all one, though each of us will be paid for his own work. ⁹ For we are fellow-laborers for God, and you are God's farm, God's building. ¹⁰ Like an expert builder, I laid a foundation, as God commissioned me to do, and now someone else is building upon it. But let everyone be careful how he does so. ¹¹ For no one can lay any other foundation than the one that is laid, that is, Jesus Christ himself. ¹² And whether one uses gold or silver or costly stone in building on the foundation, or wood or hay or straw, ¹³ the quality of everyone's work will appear, for the Day will show it. For the Day will break in fire, and the fire will test the quality of everyone's work. ¹⁴ If what a man has built on the foundation stands the test, he will have his pay. ¹⁵ If a man's work is burned up, he must stand the loss, though he himself will be saved, but as one who has passed through the fire. ¹⁶ Do you know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit makes its home in you? ¹⁷ If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is sacred, and that is what you are. ¹⁸ Let no one of you deceive himself. If any one of you imagines that he is wiser than the rest of you, in what this world calls wisdom, he had better become a fool, so as to become really wise. ¹⁹ For this world's wisdom is foolishness to God. For the Scripture says, "He who catches the wise with their own cunning," ²⁰ and "The Lord knows that the deliberations of the wise are fruitless." ²¹ So no one should boast about men. For it all belongs to you— ²² Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life, death, the present, the future—all of it belongs to you. ²³ But you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

¹¹ "Blessed are you when people abuse you, and persecute you, and falsely say everything bad of you, on my account. ¹² Be glad and exult over it, for you will be richly rewarded in heaven, for that is the way they persecuted the prophets who went before you!

²⁴ "Everyone, therefore, who listens to this teaching of mine and acts upon it, will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock.

³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is abundant enough, but the reapers are few.

⁴¹ Whoever welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will have the same reward as a prophet, and whoever welcomes an upright man because he is upright will have the same reward as an upright man. ⁴² And no one who will give the humblest of my disciples even a cup of cold water because he is my disciple, I tell you, can ever fail of his reward."

³ And he told them many things in figures, and said to them, "A sower went out to sow, ⁴ and as he was sowing, some of the seed fell by the path and the birds came and ate it up, ⁵ and some fell on rocky ground where there was not much soil and it sprang up at once, because the soil was not deep, ⁶ but when the sun came up it was scorched and withered up, because it had no root. ⁷ And some of it fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it out. ⁸ And some fell on good soil, and yielded some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty-fold. ⁹ Let him who has ears listen!"

¹⁸ "You must listen closely then to the figure of the sower. ¹⁹ When anyone hears the teaching of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and robs him of the seed that has been sown in his mind. That is what was sown along the path. ²⁰ And what was sown upon the rocky soil means the man who hears the message and at once accepts it joyfully, ²¹ but it takes no real root in him, and lasts only a little while, and when trouble or persecution comes because of the message, he gives it up at once. ²² And what was sown among the thorns means the man who listens to the message, and then the worries of the time and the pleasure of being rich choke the message out, and it yields nothing. ²³ And what was sown in good ground means the man who listens to the message and understands it, and yields one a hundred, and another sixty, and another thirty-fold." ²⁴ Another figure which he used in speaking to them was this: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, ²⁵ but while people were asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. ²⁶ And when the wheat came up and ripened, the weeds appeared too. ²⁷ And the owner's slaves came to him and said, 'Was not the seed good that you sowed in your field, sir? So where did these weeds come from?' ²⁸ He said to them, 'This is some enemy's doing.' And they said to him, 'Do you want us to go and gather them up?' ²⁹ But he said, 'No, for in gathering up the weeds you may uproot the wheat. ³⁰ Let them both grow together until harvest time, and when we harvest I will direct the reapers to gather up the weeds first and tie them up in bundles to burn, but get the wheat into my barn.' "

³⁶ Then he left the crowds and went into his house. And his disciples came up to him and said, "Explain to us the figure of the weeds in the field." ³⁷ He answered, "The sower who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. ³⁸ The field is the world. The good seed is the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the wicked. ³⁹ The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰ So just as the weeds are gathered up and burned, this is what will happen at the close of the age; ⁴¹ the Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather up out of his kingdom all the causes of sin and the wrongdoers ⁴² and throw them into the blazing furnace; there they will wail and grind their teeth.

⁶ does not have to provide for his father.' So you have nullified what God has said, for the sake of what has been handed down to you. ⁷ You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied finely about you when he said, ⁸ " 'This people honor me with their lips, Yet their hearts are far away from me. ⁹ But their worship of me is all in vain, For the lessons they teach are but human precepts.' "

¹⁸ But I tell you, your name is Peter, a rock, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not subdue it.

²³ But he turned and said to Peter, "Get out of my sight, you Satan! You hinder me, for you do not side with God, but with men!"

²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in his Father's glory, and then he will repay everyone for what he has done.

⁵ As he spoke a bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, my Beloved. He is my Chosen. Listen to him!"

⁴ Anyone, therefore, who is as unassuming as this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven,

¹ For the Kingdom of Heaven is like an employer who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. ² He agreed with the laborers to pay them a dollar a day, and sent them to his vineyard. ³ He went out about nine o'clock and saw others standing in the bazaar with nothing to do. ⁴ And he said to them, 'You go to my vineyard, too, and I will pay you whatever is right.' So they went. ⁵ He went out again about twelve and about three, and did the same. ⁶ About five he went out and found others standing about and he said to them, 'Why have you been standing about here all day doing nothing?' ⁷ They said to him, 'Because nobody has hired us.' He said to them, 'You go to my vineyard, too.' ⁸ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last and ending with the first.' ⁹ When those who were hired about five o'clock came they received a dollar apiece. ¹⁰ And when those who were hired first came they expected to get more, but they too got a dollar apiece. ¹¹ And when they received it they grumbled at their employer, ¹² and said, 'These men who were hired last worked only one hour, and you have put them on the same footing with us who have done the heavy work of the day and have stood the midday heat.' ¹³ But he answered one of them, 'My friend, I am doing you no injustice. Did you not agree with me on a dollar? ¹⁴ Take what belongs to you and go. I wish to give the last man hired as much as I give you.

²³ When he had entered the Temple, and was teaching, the high priests and the elders of the people came up to him, and said, "What authority have you for doing as you do, and who gave you this authority?" ²⁴ Jesus answered, "Let me ask you one question, and if you answer it, I will tell you what authority I have for doing as I do. ²⁵ Where did John's baptism come from? Was it from heaven, or from men?" And they argued with one another, "If we say, 'It was from heaven,' he will say to us, 'Then why did you not believe him?' ²⁶ But if we say, 'From men,' we have the people to fear, for they all consider John a prophet." ²⁷ And they answered Jesus, "We do not know." He said to them, "Nor will I tell you what authority I have for doing as I do. ²⁸ But what do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'My son, go and work in the vineyard today.' ²⁹ And he answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go. ³⁰ Then the man went to the second son, and told him the same thing. And he answered, 'I will not!' But afterward he changed his mind and went. ³¹ Which of the two did what his father wanted?" They said, "The second one." Jesus said to them, "I tell you, the tax-collectors and prostitutes are going into the Kingdom of God ahead of you. ³² For John came to you with a way of uprightness, and you would not believe him. The tax-collectors and prostitutes believed him, but even after seeing that, you would not change your minds and believe him! ³³ "Listen to another figure. There was a land owner who planted a vineyard and fenced it in, and hewed out a wine-vat in it, and built a watch-tower, and leased it to tenants, and left the neighborhood. ³⁴ When the time for the vintage approached he sent his slaves to the tenants to receive his share. ³⁵ But the tenants took his slaves and beat one and killed another and stoned a third. ³⁶ Again he sent other slaves and more of them than he had sent at first, and they treated them in the same way. ³⁷ Finally he sent his son to them, thinking, 'They will respect my son.' ³⁸ But when the tenants saw his son, they said to one another. 'This is his heir! Come on, let us kill him, and get his inheritance!' ³⁹ So they took him and drove him out of the vineyard and killed him. ⁴⁰ When the owner of the vineyard comes back, therefore, what will he do to these tenants?" ⁴¹ They said to him, "He will put the wretches to a miserable death, and let the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the vintage when it is due." ⁴² Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures, " 'That stone which the builders rejected Has become the cornerstone; This came from the Lord, And seems marvelous to us'? ⁴³ "That, I tell you, is why the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and given to a people that will produce its proper fruit. ⁴⁴ Whoever falls on that stone will be shattered, but whoever it falls upon will be pulverized."

⁴⁵ "Who then will be the faithful, thoughtful slave whom his master put in charge of his household, to give the members of it their supplies at the proper time?

⁴⁵ "Who then will be the faithful, thoughtful slave whom his master put in charge of his household, to give the members of it their supplies at the proper time? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that slave if his master when he returns finds him doing it. ⁴⁷ I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his property.

¹⁵ He gave one five thousand dollars, and another two thousand, and another one thousand; to each according to his ability. Then he went away.

²¹ His master said to him, 'Well done, my excellent, faithful slave! you have been faithful about a small amount; I will put a large one into your hands. Come, share your master's enjoyment!' ²² And the man who had received the two thousand came up and said, 'Sir, you put two thousand dollars into my hands; here I have made two thousand more.' ²³ His master said to him, 'Well done, my excellent, faithful slave! you have been faithful about a small amount; I will put a large one into your hands. Come! share your master's enjoyment.'

²⁶ "The reign of God," he said, "is like a man scattering seed on the ground, ²⁷ and then sleeping at night and getting up by day, while the seed sprouts and comes up, without his knowing it. ²⁸ The ground of itself is productive, putting forth first a blade, then a head, then fully developed wheat in the head. ²⁹ But as soon as the crop will let him, the man goes in with his sickle, for the harvest time has come.

²¹ For it is from inside, from men's hearts, that designs of evil come; immorality, stealing, murder, adultery, ²² greed, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, abusiveness, arrogance, folly—

¹⁵ I tell you, whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it at all."

²⁰ And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed their message by the signs that attended it.

² just as the original eye-witnesses who became teachers of the message have handed it down to us.

³⁵ you yourself will be pierced to the heart—and so the thoughts of many minds will be revealed."

³⁵ So take care! Your very light may be darkness!

¹⁷ I tell you, whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all."

⁸ And he said, "Take care not to be misled. For many will come under my name, and say, 'I am he,' and 'The time is at hand.' Do not follow them.

²⁷ John answered, "A man cannot get anything unless it is given to him from heaven.

³⁵ Are you not saying, 'Four months more and the harvest will come'? Look, I tell you! Raise your eyes and see the fields, for they are white for harvesting. ³⁶ The reaper is already being paid and gathering the harvest for eternal life, so that the sower may be glad with the reaper. ³⁷ For here the saying holds good, 'One sows, another reaps.' ³⁸ I have sent you to reap a harvest on which you have not worked. Other men have worked and you have profited by their work."

¹⁷ It is the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot obtain that Spirit, because it does not see it or recognize it; you recognize it because it stays with you and is within you.

¹ "I am the true vine, and my Father is the cultivator. ² Any branch of mine that does not bear fruit he trims away, and he prunes every branch that bears fruit, to make it bear more. ³ You are pruned already because of the teaching that I have given you. ⁴ You must remain united to me and I will remain united to you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains united to the vine, you cannot unless you remain united to me. ⁵ I am the vine, you are the branches. Anyone who remains united to me, with me united to him, will be very fruitful, for you cannot do anything apart from me.

⁵ I am the vine, you are the branches. Anyone who remains united to me, with me united to him, will be very fruitful, for you cannot do anything apart from me. ⁶ Anyone who does not remain united to me is thrown away like a branch and withers up, and they gather them and throw them into the fire and burn them. ⁷ If you remain united to me and my words remain in your hearts, ask for whatever you please and you shall have it. ⁸ When you are very fruitful and show yourselves to be disciples of mine, my Father is honored.

¹² I have much more to tell you, but you cannot take it in now,

⁹ I have a request to make for them. I make no request for the world, but only for those whom you have given me, for they are yours— ¹⁰ all that is mine is yours and what is yours is mine—and they have done me honor.

¹⁸ Just as you sent me to the world, I have sent them to the world.

²¹ Let them all be one. Just as you, Father, are in union with me and I am with you, let them be in union with us, so that the world may believe that you sent me.

¹¹ He is the stone that you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.

¹¹ He is the stone that you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone. ¹² There is no salvation through anyone else, for there is no one else in the world who has been named to men as their only means of being saved."

¹⁸ When they heard this, they made no further objection, but they gave honor to God, and said, "Then God has given even the heathen repentance and the hope of life!"

²⁷ When they arrived there, they called the church together, and reported how God had worked with them, and how he had opened the way to faith for the heathen.

¹⁴ One of our hearers was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple goods, from the town of Thyatira. She was a believer in God, and the Lord touched her heart, and led her to accept Paul's teaching.

⁴ Every Sabbath he would preach in the synagogue, and try to convince both Jews and Greeks. ⁵ By the time Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was absorbed in preaching the message, emphatically assuring the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. ⁶ But as they contradicted and abused him, he shook his clothes in protest, and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am not to blame for it! After this I will go to the heathen." ⁷ So he moved to the house of a devout proselyte named Titius Justus, which was next door to the synagogue. ⁸ But Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, and so did all his household, and many of the people of Corinth heard Paul and believed and were baptized. ⁹ One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, "Do not be afraid! Go on speaking and do not give up, ¹⁰ for I am with you, and no one shall attack you or injure you, for I have many people in this city." ¹¹ So he settled there for a year and a half, and taught them God's message.

²⁴ A Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, skilful in the use of the Scriptures.

²⁶ He spoke very confidently in the synagogue at first, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him home and explained the Way of God to him more correctly. ²⁷ As he wanted to cross to Greece, the brothers wrote to the disciples there, urging them to welcome him. On his arrival there he was of great service to those who through God's favor had become believers,

²⁷ As he wanted to cross to Greece, the brothers wrote to the disciples there, urging them to welcome him. On his arrival there he was of great service to those who through God's favor had become believers,

¹ It was while Apollos was in Corinth that Paul, after passing through the interior, reached Ephesus. Finding some disciples there,

³⁰ and from your own number men will appear and teach perversions of the truth in order to draw the disciples away after them.

¹⁹ Paul greeted them warmly and gave a detailed account of what God had done among the heathen through his efforts.

²¹ Then, when they had gone a long time without food, Paul got up among them, and said, "Gentlemen, you ought to have listened to me and not to have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss.

⁴⁴ and the rest to follow on planks or other pieces of wreckage. So they all got safely to land.

⁵ through whom we have received God's favor and been commissioned in his name to urge obedience and faith upon all the heathen,

²¹ for, though they knew God, they have not honored him as God or given thanks to him, but they have indulged in futile speculations, until their stupid minds have become dark.

²¹ for, though they knew God, they have not honored him as God or given thanks to him, but they have indulged in futile speculations, until their stupid minds have become dark. ²² They called themselves wise, but they have turned into fools,

⁵ But in your obstinacy and impenitence you are storing up wrath for yourself on the Day of Wrath, when the justice of God will burst forth. ⁶ For he will pay every man for what he has done.

¹⁶ on that Day when, as the good news I preach teaches, God through Christ Jesus judges what men have kept secret,

¹³ For the promise made to Abraham and his descendants that the world should belong to him did not come to him or his descendants through the Law, but through the uprightness that resulted from his faith.

³ Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into union with Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death?

¹⁴ We know that the Law is spiritual, but I am physical, sold into slavery to sin.

⁹ But you are not physical but spiritual, if God's Spirit has really taken possession of you; for unless a man has Christ's spirit, he does not belong to Christ.

¹¹ If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead has taken possession of you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give your mortal bodies life through his Spirit that has taken possession of you.

²⁸ We know that in everything God works with those who love him, whom he has called in accordance with his purpose, to bring about what is good.

³² Will not he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, with that gift give us everything?

³⁷ But in all these things we are more than victorious through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor their hierarchies nor the present nor the future ³⁹ nor any supernatural forces either of height or depth will be able to separate us from the love God has shown in Christ Jesus our Lord!

¹⁴ But how are they to call upon him if they have not believed in him? And how are they to believe him if they have never heard him? And how are they to hear unless someone preaches to them? ¹⁵ And how are men to preach unless they are sent to do it? As the Scripture says, "How welcome is the coming of those who bring good news!"

²⁵ For to keep you from thinking too well of yourselves, brothers, I do not want you to miss this secret, that only partial insensibility has come upon Israel, to last until all the heathen have come in,

³ By the favor that God has shown me, I would tell every one of you not to think too highly of himself, but to think reasonably, judging himself by the degree of faith God has allowed him.

³ By the favor that God has shown me, I would tell every one of you not to think too highly of himself, but to think reasonably, judging himself by the degree of faith God has allowed him. ⁴ For just as there are many parts united in our human bodies, and the parts do not all have the same function, ⁵ so, many as we are, we form one body through union with Christ, and we are individually parts of one another. ⁶ We have gifts that differ with the favor that God has shown us, whether it is that of preaching, differing with the measure of our faith,

¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. Do not be too ambitious, but accept humble tasks. Do not be conceited.

¹³ Let us live honorably, as in the light of day, not in carousing and drunkenness, or in immorality and indecency, or in quarreling and jealousy.

⁸ if we live, we are responsible to the Lord, and if we die, we are responsible to him; so whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

¹⁵ But, just to refresh your memories, I have written you pretty boldly on some points, because of the favor God has shown me

¹⁸ For I will venture to speak only of what Christ has accomplished through me in winning the heathen to obedience, by word and action,

²⁰ In all this it has been my ambition to preach the good news only where Christ's name was unknown, so as not to build on foundations other men had laid.

¹⁷ I beg you, brothers, to be on the watch for those who introduce divisions and difficulties, in opposition to the instruction that you were given, and to avoid them.

⁸ and at the Day of our Lord Jesus Christ he will insure your complete vindication.

¹¹ For I have been informed, my brothers, by Chloe's people, that quarrels are going on among you. ¹² What I mean is this, that one of you says, "I am a follower of Paul," another, "And I, of Apollos," another, "And I, of Cephas," and another, "And I, of Christ!"

¹² What I mean is this, that one of you says, "I am a follower of Paul," another, "And I, of Apollos," another, "And I, of Cephas," and another, "And I, of Christ!" ¹³ Christ has been divided up! But was it Paul who was crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? ¹⁴ I am thankful that I never baptized any of you except Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵ so that no one could say that you were baptized in my name. ¹⁶ And I did baptize the members of the household of Stephanas too; I do not know whether I baptized anyone else besides. ¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the good news—but not with fine language, or the cross of Christ might seem an empty thing. ¹⁸ For to those who are on the way to destruction, the story of the cross is nonsense, but to us who are to be saved, it means all the power of God. ¹⁹ For the Scripture says, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And I will thwart the shrewdness of the shrewd!"

¹⁹ For the Scripture says, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And I will thwart the shrewdness of the shrewd!" ²⁰ Where now is your philosopher? Your scribe? Your reasoner of today? Has not God made a fool of the world's wisdom?

²⁰ Where now is your philosopher? Your scribe? Your reasoner of today? Has not God made a fool of the world's wisdom? ²¹ For since in God's providence the world with all its wisdom did not come to know God, God chose, through the folly of the gospel message, to save those who had faith in him.

³⁰ But you are his children, through your union with Christ Jesus, whom God has made our wisdom—our uprightness and consecration and redemption,

⁶ Yet there is a wisdom that we impart when we are with people who have a mature faith, but it is not what this world calls wisdom, nor what the authorities of this world, doomed as they are to pass away, would call so.

¹⁴ A material man will not accept what the Spirit of God offers. It seems mere folly to him, and he cannot understand it, because it takes spiritual insight to see its true value. ¹⁵ But the spiritual man is alive to all true values, but his own true value no unspiritual man can see.

³ for you are still worldly. For when there are still jealousy and quarrels among you, are you not worldly and living on a merely human level?

³ for you are still worldly. For when there are still jealousy and quarrels among you, are you not worldly and living on a merely human level? ⁴ For when one man says, "I am a follower of Paul," and another, "I am a follower of Apollos," are you not simply human?

⁴ For when one man says, "I am a follower of Paul," and another, "I am a follower of Apollos," are you not simply human? ⁵ What is Apollos? Or what is Paul? Just servants through whom you came to have faith, as the Lord gave each of us opportunity.

⁵ What is Apollos? Or what is Paul? Just servants through whom you came to have faith, as the Lord gave each of us opportunity.

⁵ What is Apollos? Or what is Paul? Just servants through whom you came to have faith, as the Lord gave each of us opportunity. ⁶ I did the planting, Apollos the watering, but it was God who made the plants grow.

⁶ I did the planting, Apollos the watering, but it was God who made the plants grow.

⁶ I did the planting, Apollos the watering, but it was God who made the plants grow.

⁶ I did the planting, Apollos the watering, but it was God who made the plants grow. ⁷ So neither the planter nor the waterer counts for anything, but only God who makes the plants grow.

⁷ So neither the planter nor the waterer counts for anything, but only God who makes the plants grow.

⁷ So neither the planter nor the waterer counts for anything, but only God who makes the plants grow. ⁸ The planter and the waterer are all one, though each of us will be paid for his own work.

⁸ The planter and the waterer are all one, though each of us will be paid for his own work. ⁹ For we are fellow-laborers for God, and you are God's farm, God's building.

⁹ For we are fellow-laborers for God, and you are God's farm, God's building. ¹⁰ Like an expert builder, I laid a foundation, as God commissioned me to do, and now someone else is building upon it. But let everyone be careful how he does so.

¹⁰ Like an expert builder, I laid a foundation, as God commissioned me to do, and now someone else is building upon it. But let everyone be careful how he does so. ¹¹ For no one can lay any other foundation than the one that is laid, that is, Jesus Christ himself. ¹² And whether one uses gold or silver or costly stone in building on the foundation, or wood or hay or straw, ¹³ the quality of everyone's work will appear, for the Day will show it. For the Day will break in fire, and the fire will test the quality of everyone's work. ¹⁴ If what a man has built on the foundation stands the test, he will have his pay.

¹⁴ If what a man has built on the foundation stands the test, he will have his pay. ¹⁵ If a man's work is burned up, he must stand the loss, though he himself will be saved, but as one who has passed through the fire. ¹⁶ Do you know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit makes its home in you?

¹ The right way for a man to think of us is as Christ's servants, and managers authorized to distribute the secret truths of God. ² Now further, what is always demanded of managers is that they can be depended on.

⁵ Do not form any premature judgments, therefore, but wait until the Lord comes back. For he will light up the darkness that now hides things and show what the motives in people's minds are, and then everyone will get from God the praise he deserves.

⁵ Do not form any premature judgments, therefore, but wait until the Lord comes back. For he will light up the darkness that now hides things and show what the motives in people's minds are, and then everyone will get from God the praise he deserves. ⁶ Now, brothers, for your benefit I have applied all this only to Apollos and myself, by using us as illustrations to teach you the old lesson, "Never go beyond the letter," and to keep any of you from boasting of one teacher at the expense of another.

⁶ Now, brothers, for your benefit I have applied all this only to Apollos and myself, by using us as illustrations to teach you the old lesson, "Never go beyond the letter," and to keep any of you from boasting of one teacher at the expense of another.

¹⁰ We are made fools of, for the sake of Christ, while you are men of sense, through being united with him. We are weak, you are strong. You are distinguished, we are despised.

¹⁴ I do not write this to you to make you ashamed, but for your instruction as my dear children. ¹⁵ For no matter how many guides you may have in the Christian life, you will not have many fathers; for in this matter of union with Christ, I became your father, through preaching the good news to you.

⁶ Certainly this is nothing for you to boast of. Do you not know that a little yeast will affect all the dough?

¹ When one of you has a disagreement with his neighbor, does he dare to bring the matter before a heathen court, instead of laying it before his Christian brothers? ² Do you not know that the Christians are to be the judges of the world? And if the world is to come before you for judgment, are you unfit to decide the most trivial cases?

² Do you not know that the Christians are to be the judges of the world? And if the world is to come before you for judgment, are you unfit to decide the most trivial cases? ³ Do you not know that we are to be the judges of angels, to say nothing of ordinary matters?

³ Do you not know that we are to be the judges of angels, to say nothing of ordinary matters? ⁴ If then you have ordinary matters to be settled, will you submit them for judgment to men who are nothing in the church? ⁵ I ask it to shame you. Has it come to this, that there is not a single wise man among you who could settle a disagreement between one brother and another, ⁶ but one Christian has to go to law with another, and before unbelievers too? ⁷ Having lawsuits with one another at all means your utter failure, to begin with. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be robbed? ⁸ But it is you who wrong and rob others, and your own brothers at that! ⁹ Do you not know that wrongdoers will not have any share in God's kingdom? Do not let anyone mislead you. People who are immoral or idolaters or adulterers or sensual or given to unnatural vice

¹⁶ Or do you not know that a man who has to do with a prostitute makes one body with her? For "The two," says the Scripture, "shall become physically one."

¹⁸ Fly from immorality! Any other sin a man commits is something outside his body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. ¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit that is within you, which you have received from God? Besides, you are not your own;

¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit that is within you, which you have received from God? Besides, you are not your own; ²⁰ you have been bought and paid for. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.

²² For a slave who has been called to union with the Lord is a freedman of the Lord, just as a free man who has been called is a slave of Christ.

¹ About food that has been offered to idols, it is true, as you say, that we all have some knowledge on that matter. Knowledge gives people airs; love is what builds up character. ² If a man thinks he has acquired some knowledge, he does not yet know it as well as he ought to know it.

⁶ yet for us there is just one God, the Father, who is the source of all things, and for whom we live, and just one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom everything was made and through whom we live.

¹ Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the product of my work in the Lord's service? ² If I am not an apostle to other people, I certainly am one to you, for you yourselves, in your relation to the Lord, are the certificate of my apostleship.

⁷ What soldier ever pays his expenses out of his own pay? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat any of the grapes? Who tends a flock and does not get any of the milk? ⁸ Am I saying only what men say? Does not the Law say so too? ⁹ For in the Law of Moses it reads, "You shall not muzzle an ox that is treading out the grain." Is it about the oxen that God is concerned? ¹⁰ Is he not clearly speaking in our interests? Of course this law was written in our interests, because the plowman ought to plow, and the thresher to thresh, in the expectation of sharing in the crop. ¹¹ If it was we who sowed the spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap material benefits from you?

¹³ Do you not know that those who do the work about the Temple get their living from the Temple, and those who attend to the altar divide the sacrifices with the altar?

¹⁷ For if I do it of my own accord, I have my pay, but if I do it because I must, it is still a responsibility that I am charged with.

¹⁷ For if I do it of my own accord, I have my pay, but if I do it because I must, it is still a responsibility that I am charged with. ¹⁸ What pay then do I get? Why, that in my preaching I can offer the good news without cost, and so not take full advantage of my rights as a preacher. ¹⁹ Though I am free from anyone's control, I have made myself everyone's slave, so as to win over all the more. ²⁰ To the Jews I have become like a Jew, to win Jews over; to men under the Law I have become like a man under the Law, though I am not myself under the Law, so as to win over those who are under the Law. ²¹ To those who have no law I have become like a man without any law—though I am not without the law of God, but under the law of Christ—so as to win over those who are without any law. ²² To the overscrupulous I have become overscrupulous, so as to win the overscrupulous; I have become everything to everybody, so as by all means to save some of them.

²⁴ Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one wins the prize? That is the way you must run, so as to win.

³ But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, while a woman's head is her husband, and Christ's head is God.

¹⁸ For, in the first place, when you meet as a congregation, I hear that you divide into sets, and in a measure I believe it.

⁴ Endowments vary, but the Spirit is the same, ⁵ and forms of service vary, but it is the same Lord who is served, ⁶ and activities vary, but God who produces them all in us all is the same. ⁷ Each one is given his spiritual illumination for the common good. ⁸ One man receives through the Spirit the power to speak wisely, another, by the same Spirit, receives the power to express knowledge, ⁹ another, from his union with the same Spirit receives faith, another, by one and the same Spirit, the ability to cure the sick, ¹⁰ another, the working of wonders, another, inspiration in preaching, another, the power of distinguishing the true Spirit from false ones, another, various ecstatic utterances, and another, the ability to explain them. ¹¹ These are all produced by one and the same Spirit, and apportioned to each of us just as the Spirit chooses.

²⁸ And God has placed people in the church, first as apostles, second as inspired preachers, third as teachers, then wonder-workers; then come ability to cure the sick, helpfulness, administration, ecstatic speaking.

² If I am inspired to preach and know all the secret truths and possess all knowledge, and if I have such perfect faith that I can move mountains, but have no love, I am nothing.

²⁰ Brothers, you must not be children mentally. In evil be babies, but mentally be mature.

¹ Now I want to remind you, brothers, of the form in which I presented to you the good news I brought, which you accepted and have stood by, ² and through which you are to be saved, if you hold on, unless your faith has been all for nothing. ³ For I passed on to you, as of first importance, the account I had received, that Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures foretold, ⁴ that he was buried, that on the third day he was raised from the dead, as the Scriptures foretold, ⁵ and that he was seen by Cephas, and then by the Twelve. ⁶ After that he was seen by more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, although some of them have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he was seen by James, then by all the apostles, ⁸ and finally he was seen by me also, as though I were born at the wrong time. ⁹ For I am the least important of the apostles, and am not fit to be called an apostle, because I once persecuted God's church. ¹⁰ But by God's favor I have become what I am, and the favor he showed me has not gone for nothing, but I have worked harder than any of them, although it was not really I but the favor God showed me.

¹⁰ But by God's favor I have become what I am, and the favor he showed me has not gone for nothing, but I have worked harder than any of them, although it was not really I but the favor God showed me. ¹¹ But whether it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

¹¹ But whether it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed. ¹² Now if what we preach about Christ is that he was raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no such thing as a resurrection of the dead?

²³ But each in his own turn; Christ first, and then at Christ's coming those who belong to him.

³³ Do not be misled. Bad company ruins character.

⁵⁸ So my dear brothers, be firm and unmoved, and always devote yourselves to the Lord's work, for you know that through the Lord your labor is not thrown away.

¹⁷ For I am no peddler of God's message, like most men, but like a man of sincerity, commissioned by God and in his presence, in union with Christ I utter his message.

² You are my recommendations, written on my heart, for everybody to read and understand. ³ You show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by me, written not in ink, but in the Spirit of the living God, and not on tablets of stone, but on the human heart.

³ You show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by me, written not in ink, but in the Spirit of the living God, and not on tablets of stone, but on the human heart. ⁴ Such is the confidence that I have through Christ in my relations to God. ⁵ Not that I am of myself qualified to claim anything as originating with me. My qualification is from God, ⁶ and he has qualified me to serve him in the interests of a new agreement, not in writing but of spirit. For what is written kills, but the Spirit gives life.

² I disown disgraceful, underhanded ways. I refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's message. It is by the open statement of the truth that I would commend myself to every human conscience in the sight of God.

⁵ For it is not myself but Christ Jesus that I am proclaiming as Lord; I am only a slave of yours for Jesus' sake.

⁷ But I have this treasure in a mere ear then jar, to show that its amazing power belongs to God and not to me.

¹⁵ For it is all for your benefit, in order that as God's favor reaches greater and greater numbers, it may result in more and more thanksgiving in praise of God.

¹ As God's fellow-worker, I appeal to you, too, not to accept the favor of God and then waste it.

⁴ On the contrary, as a servant of God I try in every way to commend myself to them, through my great endurance in troubles, difficulties, hardships,

¹⁶ What bargain can a temple of God make with idols? For we are a temple of the living God, just as God said, "I will live in them and move among them, And I will be their God and they will be my people."

⁷ You look at things externally. If anyone is sure he belongs to Christ, let him think again and understand that I belong to Christ just as much as he.

¹⁴ It is no strain for me to do this, as it might be for people who had never got so far, for I was the first to come all the way to you with the good news of the Christ. ¹⁵ I do not indulge in extravagant boasts over work done by others, but I do hope that as your faith increases, my influence may be immensely enlarged through you,

¹⁵ I do not indulge in extravagant boasts over work done by others, but I do hope that as your faith increases, my influence may be immensely enlarged through you,

² I feel a divine jealousy about you, for I betrothed you to Christ, to present you as a pure bride to her one husband. ³ But I am afraid that just as the serpent by his cunning deceived Eve, your thoughts will be led astray from their single-hearted fidelity to Christ. ⁴ For when somebody comes along and preaches another Jesus than the one I preached, or you receive a different spirit from the one you received or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it well enough!

¹³ Such men are sham apostles, dishonest workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ And no wonder, for even Satan himself masquerades as a shining angel. ¹⁵ So it is nothing strange if his servants also masquerade as servants of uprightness. But their doom will fit their actions.

²³ If they are Christian workers—I am talking like a madman!—I am a better one! with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, vastly worse beatings, and in frequent danger of death.

⁹ and he said to me, "My favor is enough for you, for only where there is weakness is perfect strength developed." So I am perfectly willing to boast of all my weakness, so that the strength of Christ may shelter me.

²⁰ for I am afraid that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I want to find you, and that you may find me not as you want to find me. I am afraid that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, bad feeling, rivalry, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder,

⁷ not that there is any other, only that there are some people who are trying to unsettle you and want to turn the good news of the Christ around. ⁸ But even if we or an angel from heaven preach to you good news that contradicts the good news we have preached to you, a curse upon him! ⁹ We have said it before, and I repeat it now—if anyone is preaching to you good news that contradicts the good news you have already received, a curse upon him!

²⁹ And if you belong to Christ, then you are true descendants of Abraham and his heirs under the promise.

¹⁵ But if you bite one another and eat one another, take care, or you will be destroyed by one another.

¹⁹ The things our physical nature does are clear enough—immorality, impurity, licentiousness, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, enmity, quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party-spirit, ²¹ envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you as I did before that people who do such things will have no share in the Kingdom of God.

²⁴ Those who belong to Jesus the Christ have crucified the physical nature with its propensities and cravings.

¹ But if a man is caught doing something wrong, brothers, you are spiritual, and you must set him right, in a spirit of gentleness. Think of yourself, for you may be tempted too.

³ For if anyone thinks he is somebody when he is really nobody, he is deceiving himself. ⁴ Every man ought to test his own work, and then whatever satisfaction he has will be with reference to himself, and not in comparison with someone else.

⁷ Do not be deceived. God is not to be sneered at. A man will reap just what he sows.

⁷ Do not be deceived. God is not to be sneered at. A man will reap just what he sows. ⁸ The man who sows to gratify his physical cravings will reap destruction from them, and the man who sows to benefit the spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.

¹⁰ and in arranging, when the time should have fully come, that everything in heaven and on earth should be unified in Christ—

² in the midst of which you once lived under the control of the present age of the world, and the master-spirit of the air, who is still at work among the disobedient. ³ We all lived among them once, indulging our physical cravings and obeying the impulses of our lower nature and its thoughts, and by nature we were doomed to God's wrath like other men.

¹⁰ For he has made us, creating us through our union with Christ Jesus for the life of goodness which God had predestined us to live.

²⁰ You are built upon the apostles and prophets as your foundation, and Christ Jesus himself is the cornerstone.

²⁰ You are built upon the apostles and prophets as your foundation, and Christ Jesus himself is the cornerstone. ²¹ Through him every part of the building is closely united and grows into a temple sacred through its relation to the Lord, ²² and you are yourselves built up into a dwelling for God through the Spirit.

² if at least you have heard how I dealt with the mercy of God that was given me for you, ³ and how the secret was made known to me by revelation, as I have just briefly written. ⁴ As you read that, you will be able to understand the insight I have into the secret of the Christ ⁵ (which in past ages was not disclosed to mankind as fully as it has now been revealed through the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets) ⁶ that through union with Christ Jesus the heathen are fellow-heirs with the Jews, belong to the same body and share the promise with them, through the good news ⁷ for which I became a worker by virtue of the gift of God's mercy which by the exercise of his power he has given me.

⁷ for which I became a worker by virtue of the gift of God's mercy which by the exercise of his power he has given me. ⁸ To me, the very least of all his people, this favor has been given, of preaching to the heathen the inexhaustible wealth of the Christ,

¹¹ And he has given us some men as apostles, some as prophets, some as missionaries, some as pastors and teachers, ¹² in order to fit his people for the work of service, for building the body of Christ, ¹³ until we all attain unity in faith, and in the knowledge of the Son of God, and reach mature manhood, and that full measure of development found in Christ. ¹⁴ We must not be babies any longer, blown about and swung around by every wind of doctrine through the trickery of men with their ingenuity in inventing error.

²² You must lay aside with your former habits your old self which is going to ruin through its deceptive passions. ²³ You must adopt a new attitude of mind, ²⁴ and put on the new self which has been created in likeness to God, with all the uprightness and holiness that belong to the truth.

⁶ Whatever anyone may say in the way of worthless arguments to deceive you, these are the things that are bringing God's anger down upon the disobedient.

²¹ For, as I see it, living means Christ and dying something even better.

⁸ When he had assumed human form, he still further humbled himself and carried his obedience so far as to die, and to die upon the cross. ⁹ That is why God has so greatly exalted him, and given him the name above all others, ¹⁰ so that in the name of Jesus everyone should kneel, in heaven and on earth and in the underworld, ¹¹ and everyone should acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord, and thus glorify God the Father.

²⁵ In it, by divine appointment, I became a worker, that I might preach among you the message of God in its fulness—

²⁹ That is what I am working for, fighting with all the energy with which he so mightily endows me.

⁷ You must be rooted and built up in him and made strong in faith, just as you were taught to be, overflowing with it in your gratitude. ⁸ Take care that nobody exploits you through the pretensions of philosophy, guided by human tradition, following material ways of looking at things, instead of following Christ.

¹⁸ No one can put you in the wrong by persisting in studied humility and the worship of angels, being absorbed in the visions he has seen, and groundlessly conceited over his mere human mind. ¹⁹ Such people lose their connection with the head, from which the whole body through its ligaments and sinews must be governed and united if it is to grow in the divine way. ²⁰ If you have died with Christ to material ways of looking at things, why do you act as though you still belonged to the world, and submit to rules like ²¹ "You must not handle," "You must not taste," "You must not touch"— ²² referring to things that are all meant to be used up and destroyed? This is to follow mere human rules and regulations. ²³ Such practices pass for wisdom, with their self-imposed devotions, their self-humiliation, and their ascetic discipline, but they carry with them no real distinction, they are really only a catering to the flesh.

¹⁷ And tell Archippus, "See that you perform the Christian service you have been assigned."

⁵ for our preaching of the good news did not come to you as mere words but with power and the holy Spirit and full conviction—you know the kind of life we lived among you for your good.

¹⁹ For what hope or happiness shall we have or what prize to be proud of in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes, except you?

⁷ and to give rest to you who are suffering and to us, when our Lord Jesus appears from heaven, with his mighty angels ⁸ in a blaze of fire, and takes vengeance on the godless who will not listen to the good news of our Lord Jesus. ⁹ They will be punished with eternal ruin and exclusion from the presence of the Lord and his glorious might, ¹⁰ when on that Day he comes to be honored in his people, and wondered at in all who believe in him—because our testimony has been confirmed in you. ¹¹ as set forth in the glorious good news of the blessed God with which I have been intrusted. ¹² I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has given me the strength for it, for thinking me trustworthy and putting me into his service, ¹³ though I once used to abuse, persecute, and insult him. But he had mercy on me, because I had acted in ignorance and unbelief, ¹⁴ and the blessing of our Lord has been given me in the greatest abundance, together with faith and love that union with Christ Jesus brings.

¹⁵ so that if I am delayed, you may know how we are to conduct ourselves in the household of God, for it is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.

¹ The Spirit distinctly says that in later times some will turn away from the faith, and devote their attention to deceitful spirits and the things that demons teach ² through the pretensions of liars—men with seared consciences ³ who forbid people to marry and insist on abstinence from certain kinds of food that God created for men who believe and understand the truth to enjoy and give thanks for.

⁶ If you point this out to the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, living on the principles of the faith and the excellent teaching you have had. ⁷ But let worldly fictions and old wives' tales alone. Train yourself for the religious life.

¹⁶ Look out for yourself and for your teaching. Persevere in your work, for if you do you will save both yourself and those who listen to you.

³ Anyone who teaches different views and does not agree with the wholesome instruction which comes from our Lord Jesus Christ, and with religious teaching

¹⁴ Guard that splendid trust through the holy Spirit that lives in our hearts.

¹⁸ The Lord grant that he may be shown mercy by the Lord on that Day! And you know well enough how he helped me at Ephesus.

¹⁵ Do your best to win God's approval as a workman who has nothing to be ashamed of, but rightly shapes the message of truth. ¹⁶ Leave worldly, empty phrases alone, for they lead people deeper and deeper into godlessness, ¹⁷ and their teaching spreads like a cancer; men like Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸ who have missed the truth and say that the resurrection has taken place already, thus undermining people's faith. ¹⁹ Yet God's solid foundation stands unshaken, bearing this inscription, "The Lord knows those who belong to him," and "Everyone who uses the name of the Lord must give up evil." ²⁰ In any large house there are not only gold and silver dishes but also wooden and earthen ones, some for great occasions and some for ordinary use.

⁷ always ready to learn but never able to comprehend the truth.

⁹ But they will not make much progress, for everyone will perceive their folly, just as they did that of those others.

¹³ and bad men and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving others and deceived themselves.

³ For a time will come when they will not listen to wholesome instruction, but will overwhelm themselves with teachers to suit their whims and tickle their fancies,

⁷ I have had a part in the great contest, I have run my race, I have preserved my faith.

⁹ standing by the message that can be relied on, just as he was taught it, so that he may be qualified both to encourage others with wholesome teaching and to show the error of those who oppose him. ¹⁰ For there are many undisciplined people, who deceive themselves with their empty talk, especially those of the party of circumcision. ¹¹ They must be silenced, for such men upset whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach, for the sake of dishonest gain.

³ For we ourselves were once without understanding, disobedient, deluded, enslaved to all kinds of passions and pleasures. Our minds were full of malice and envy. Men hated us and we hated one another.

⁹ But have nothing to do with foolish controversies, pedigrees, strife, and wrangles about the Law, for they are profitless and futile. ¹⁰ If a man is inclined to a sect, after warning him once or twice, have nothing more to do with him. ¹¹ You may be sure that a man of that kind is corrupt and sinful, for his own actions condemn him.

³ For Jesus is entitled to as much more honor than Moses as the builder of a house is than the house he builds. ⁴ For every house has a builder, and the builder of the universe is God.

⁶ but Christ's faithfulness was that of a son set over the house of God. And we are that house, if we keep up our courage and our triumphant hope to the very end.

¹¹ I have much to say to you about this, but it is difficult to make it clear to you, because you have become so slow of apprehension. ¹² For although from the length of your Christian experience you ought to be teaching others, you actually need someone to teach you over again the very elements of Christian truth, and you have come to need milk instead of solid food. ¹³ For anyone who is limited to milk is unacquainted with Christian teaching, for he is only an infant.

¹³ For anyone who is limited to milk is unacquainted with Christian teaching, for he is only an infant. ¹⁴ But full-grown men have a right to solid food, for their faculties are trained by practice to distinguish right and wrong.

¹⁰ For God is not so unjust as to forget the work you have done and the love you have showed for his cause, in giving help to your fellow-Christians as you still do.

⁹ You must not be carried away with strange varieties of teaching. The true way to steadfastness of heart is through God's mercy, not through scruples about food, which have never done their adherents any good.

²² Obey the message; do not merely listen to it, and deceive yourselves.

²⁶ If anyone thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives himself, his religious observances are of no account.

¹ Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

¹⁶ For wherever jealousy and rivalry exist, there will be confusion and every low action.

¹ What causes wars and fights among you? Is it not your cravings, which are at war within your bodies? ² You crave things, and cannot have them, and so you commit murder. You covet things, and cannot get them, and so you quarrel and fight. You do not have things because you do not ask for them.

⁴ You renegades! Do you not know that the friendship of the world means enmity with God? So whoever wishes to be the world's friend declares himself God's enemy.

⁷ they are to show that your faith when tested is found to be more precious than gold, which though it is perishable is tested with fire, and they will bring you praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

² and like new-born babes crave the pure spiritual milk that will make you grow up to salvation,

⁵ and build yourselves up as living stones into a spiritual house for a consecrated priesthood, so as to offer spiritual sacrifices that through Jesus Christ will be acceptable to God. ⁶ For it says in Scripture, "Here I lay a choice stone in Zion, a costly cornerstone; No one who believes in it will ever be disappointed!" ⁷ It is you, therefore, who believe who see its value, but for men who do not believe, "The stone which the builders refused has been made a cornerstone," ⁸ and "A stone to stumble over, and a rock to trip them up." They stumble over the message because they will not obey it; that is their destiny.

² and no longer lives by what men desire, but for the rest of his earthly life by what God wills.

¹⁰ Whatever the endowment God has given you, use it in service to one another, like good dispensers of God's varied mercy. ¹¹ If one preaches, let him do it like one who utters the words of God; if one does some service, let him do it as with strength which God supplies, so that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. ¹² Dear friends, do not be surprised that a test of fire is being applied to you, as though a strange thing were happening to you,

¹⁸ If it is hard for the upright man to be saved, what will become of the godless and sinful?

¹ I appeal therefore to those who are elders among you; I am their brother-elder and a witness to what the Christ suffered, and I am to share in the glory that is to be revealed—

⁴ and when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the glorious wreath that will never fade.

¹ There were false prophets too among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will introduce destructive sects and deny the Master who has bought them, thus bringing on themselves swift destruction. ² Many people will follow their immoral ways, and they will cause the true way to be maligned. ³ In their greed they will exploit you with pretended arguments. From of old their condemnation has not been idle, and their destruction has not slumbered.

¹⁰ The Day of the Lord will come like a thief; on it the heavens will pass away with a roar, the heavenly bodies will burn up and be destroyed, and the earth and all its works will melt away.

⁸ If we say, "We are without any sin," we are deceiving ourselves, and there is no truth in our hearts.

¹² I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven for his sake.

¹² No one has ever seen God; yet if we love one another, God keeps in union with us and love for him attains perfection in our hearts.

¹⁵ If anyone acknowledges that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, God keeps in union with him and he with God. ¹⁶ So we know and believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever continues to love keeps in union with God, and God with him.

⁸ Look out for yourselves, take care not to lose what we have worked for, but make sure that you are paid for it in full.

⁸ So we ought to support such men, to show that we are ready to co-operate with the truth.

²³ save, snatching them out of the fire, and look on others with pity mixed with fear, loathing even the clothes their animal nature has stained.

⁸ "To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: " 'The first and the last, who died and came to life again, speaks thus: ⁹ I know of your distress and poverty—though you are rich!—I know how you are slandered by those who claim to be Jews when they are not so, but only a synagogue of Satan! ¹⁰ Do not be afraid of what you are going to suffer. See! The devil is going to put some of you into prison to be tested there, and for ten days to endure persecution. Prove faithful even unto death and I will give you the crown of life. ¹¹ Let everyone who can hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. He who is victorious will not be hurt by the second death.'

¹⁴ Yet I hold it somewhat against you that you have among you some adherents of the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entrap the children of Israel into eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols, and into immoral practices.

²³ and I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches men's hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you for what you have done.

¹⁸ I advise you to buy of me gold that has been tested with fire, so that you may be rich, and white clothes to put on, to keep your shameful nakedness from being seen, and salve to put on your eyes, to make you see.

¹² I saw the dead, high and low, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened; it was the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books about what they had done.

⁷ He who is victorious will possess all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

¹⁴ The wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the Lamb's twelve apostles.

¹⁸ The material of the wall was jasper, but the city was pure gold, as transparent as glass. ¹⁹ The foundation stones of the wall of the city were ornamented with all kinds of precious stones. The first foundation stone was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald,

¹² "See! I am coming very soon, bringing with me my rewards, to repay everyone for what he has done.