1 Corinthians 4 Cross References - Goodspeed

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. ³ I for my part care very little about being examined by you or by any human court. I do not even offer myself for investigation. ⁴ For while my conscience does not trouble me at all, that does not prove that I am innocent. It is the Lord who must examine me. 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. ⁷ For who sees anything special in you? And what have you got that you have not been given? But if it has been given you, why do you boast as though it had not been? ⁸ Are you satisfied already? Have you become rich already? Have you entered your kingdom without waiting for us? I wish you had entered it, so that we might share it with you! ⁹ For it seems to me, God has exhibited us apostles at the very end of the procession, like the men condemned to die in the arena. For we have become a spectacle to the whole universe, angels as well as men. 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. ¹¹ To this day we have gone hungry, thirsty, and ill-clad; we have had rough usage, we have had no home, ¹² we have worked with our hands for a living. When people abuse us, we bless them, when they persecute us, we put up with it, ¹³ when they slander us, we try to conciliate them. We have come to be like the scum of the earth, the dregs of the world, and we are so now. 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. ¹⁶ So I urge you, follow my example. ¹⁷ This is why I have sent Timothy to you. He is a dear child of mine, in the service of the Lord, and one on whom you can depend, and he will help you to keep in mind my methods in the service of Christ Jesus, which I follow everywhere in every church. ¹⁸ Some of you seem to think that I am not coming to visit you, and are putting on airs about it. ¹⁹ But I am coming very soon to see you, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out, not what these conceited people have to say, but what they can actually do. ²⁰ For the reign of God is not a matter of words but of power. ²¹ Which will you have? Shall I come to you with a stick, or in a loving and gentle spirit?

¹¹ "Blessed are you when people abuse you, and persecute you, and falsely say everything bad of you, on my account.

⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for your persecutors,

¹ "Pass no more judgments upon other people, so that you may not have judgment passed upon you. ² For you will be judged by the standard you judge by, and men will pay you back with the same measure you have used with them.

²⁰ And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and wild birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no where to lay his head!"

²² You will be hated by everybody on my account, but the man who holds out to the very end will be saved. ²³ But when they persecute you in one town, make your escape to another, for I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man arrives. ²⁴ A pupil is not better than his teacher, nor a slave better than his master. ²⁵ A pupil should be satisfied to come to be like his teacher, or a slave, to come to be like his master. If men have called the head of the house Beelzebub, how much worse names will they give to the members of his household!

¹¹ He answered, "You are permitted to know the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but they are not.

⁸ But you must not let people call you 'Rabbi,' for you have only one teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And you must not call anyone on earth your father, for you have only one father, your heavenly Father. ¹⁰ And you must not let men call you master, for you have only one master, the Christ.

⁹ Then they will hand you over to persecution and they will put you to death, and you will be hated by all the heathen because you bear my name.

³⁰ Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will lament when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, in all his power and splendor.

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.

¹⁴ "For it is just like a man who was going on a journey, and called in his slaves, and put his property in their hands. 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!'

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.'

¹¹ And he said to them, "To you has been intrusted the secret of the reign of God, but to those outsiders, everything is offered in figures,

⁵¹ "He has done mighty deeds with his arm, He has routed the proud-minded, ⁵² He has dethroned monarchs and exalted the poor, ⁵³ He has satisfied the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty-handed.

²² "Blessed are you when people hate you and exclude you and denounce you and spurn the name you bear as evil, on account of the Son of Man.

²⁵ "Alas for you who have plenty to eat now, for you will be hungry! "Alas for you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep!

²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

³⁷ Do not judge others, and they will not judge you. Do not condemn them, and they will not condemn you. Excuse others and they will excuse you.

¹⁰ And he said, "You are permitted to know the secrets of the Kingdom of God, but they are given to others in the form of figures, so that they may look and yet not see, and hear and yet not understand.

¹⁶ Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever disregards you disregards me, and whoever disregards me disregards him who sent me."

¹ Meanwhile as the people gathered in thousands, until they actually trod on one another, he proceeded to say to his disciples first of all, "Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, hypocrisy. ² There is nothing covered up that is not going to be uncovered, nor secret that is not going to be known. ³ For what you say in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you whisper in someone's ear, behind closed doors, will be proclaimed from the housetops.

⁴² And the Master said, "Who then will be the faithful, thoughtful manager, whom his master will put in charge of his household, to give the members of it their supplies at the proper time?

¹ And he said to his disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and it was reported to him that this man was squandering his property. ² So he called him in and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Make an accounting for your conduct of my affairs, for you cannot be manager any longer!' ³ Then the manager said to himself, 'What am I going to do, because my master is going to take my position away from me? I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg.

¹⁰ The man who can be trusted in a very small matter can be trusted in a large one, and the man who cannot be trusted in a very small matter cannot be trusted in a large one. ¹¹ So if you have proved untrustworthy in using your ill-gotten wealth, who will trust you with true riches? ¹² And if you have been untrustworthy about what belonged to someone else, who will give you what belongs to you?

⁹ To some who were confident of their own uprightness, and thought nothing of others, he used this illustration:

¹³ And he called in ten of his slaves and gave them each twenty dollars and told them to trade with it while he was gone.

³⁴ And they divided up his clothes among them by drawing lots for them,

¹⁶ For from his abundance we have all had a share, and received blessing after blessing.

²⁶ And they went to John and said to him, "Master, the man who was with you across the Jordan, and to whom you yourself gave testimony, is baptizing, and everybody is going to him." ²⁷ John answered, "A man cannot get anything unless it is given to him from heaven.

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

⁴⁴ Yet how can you believe in me, when you accept honor from one another, instead of seeking the honor that comes from the one God?

²⁴ You must not judge so externally; you must judge justly!"

⁴ When he gets his own flock all out, he goes in front of them, and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice. ⁵ But they will never follow a stranger but will run away from him, because they do not know the voices of strangers."

²⁰ Remember what I said to you: No slave is greater than his master. If they have persecuted me they will persecute you too. If they have observed my teaching, they will observe yours too.

¹⁷ Jesus said to him a third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because the third time Jesus asked him if he loved him, and he answered, "Master, you know everything, you can see that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Then feed my sheep!

²² Jesus said to him, "If I wish him to wait till I come, what does it matter to you? You must follow me."

⁶⁰ Then falling on his knees, he cried out, "Lord, do not lay this sin up against them!" With these words he fell asleep.

¹⁶ For I am going to show him what he will have to endure for my sake."

²² and the people shouted in applause, "It is a god's voice, not a man's!" ²³ But the angel of the Lord struck him down immediately, because he did not give the honor to God; and he was eaten by worms and died.

¹⁹ But some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and won the people over, and they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the town, thinking that he was dead.

²³ After beating them severely, they put them in jail, and gave the jailer orders to keep close watch of them.

¹⁸ Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers debated with him. Some of them said, "What is this rag-picker trying to make out?" Others said, "He seems to be preaching some foreign deities." This was because he was telling the good news of Jesus and the resurrection.

³² When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We should like to hear you again on this subject."

³ and as they practiced the same trade, he stayed with them, and they worked together, for they were tent-makers. 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.

²¹ He bade them goodbye, saying, "I will come back to you again if it is God's will." Then he sailed from Ephesus.

²¹ After these events, Paul, under the Spirit's guidance, resolved to go to Jerusalem, and to revisit Macedonia and Greece on the way. "After I have gone there," he said, "I must see Rome also."

²¹ After these events, Paul, under the Spirit's guidance, resolved to go to Jerusalem, and to revisit Macedonia and Greece on the way. "After I have gone there," he said, "I must see Rome also." ²² He sent two of his assistants, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed on for a while in Asia.

²⁹ So the commotion spread all over the city, and by a common impulse the people rushed to the theater, dragging with them two Macedonians, Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's traveling companions.

³¹ Some of the religious authorities also, who were friends of his, sent to him and begged him not to venture into the theater.

² After traveling through those districts and giving the people a great deal of encouragement, he went on to Greece

²⁹ I know that after I am gone savage wolves will get in among you and will not spare the flock, ³⁰ and from your own number men will appear and teach perversions of the truth in order to draw the disciples away after them. ³¹ So you must be on your guard and remember that for three years, night and day, I never stopped warning any of you, even with tears.

³⁴ You know well enough that these hands of mine provided for my needs and my companions.

²² They had listened to him until he said that, but then they shouted, "Kill him and get him out of the world! A creature like that ought not to be allowed to live!"

¹ Paul looked steadily at the council and said, "Brothers, I have done my duty to God with a perfectly clear conscience up to this very day." ² At this the high priest Ananias ordered the people who were standing nearest to him to strike him on the mouth.

²⁴ As he said this in his defense, Festus called out, "You are raving, Paul! Your great learning is driving you mad!"

²⁹ "In a hurry or not," said Paul, "I would to God that not only you, but all who hear me today, might be what I am—except for these chains!"

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

¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the good news, for it is God's power for the salvation of everyone who has faith, of the Jew first and then of the Greek.

¹ Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, if you pose as a judge, for when you pass judgment on someone else, you are condemning yourself, for you, who sit in judgment, do the very same things yourself.

⁷ Those who by persistently doing right strive for glory, honor, and immortality will have eternal life,

¹³ For merely hearing the Law read does not make a man upright in the sight of God; men must obey the Law to be made upright.

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

²⁹ The real Jew is the man who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart, a spiritual, not a literal, thing. Such a man receives his praise not from men, but from God.

¹⁹ Now we know that everything the Law says is addressed to those under its authority, so that every mouth may be shut, and the whole world be made accountable to God. ²⁰ For no human being can be made upright in the sight of God by observing the Law. All that the Law can do is to make man conscious of sin.

² For if he was made upright by what he did, it is something to be proud of. But not to be proud of before God,

³⁵ Who can separate us from Christ's love? Can trouble or misfortune or persecution or hunger or destitution or danger or the sword? ³⁶ As the Scripture says, "For your sake we are being put to death all day long, We are treated like sheep to be slaughtered."

¹⁶ So it depends not on human will or exertion, but on the mercy of God. ¹⁷ The Scripture says to Pharaoh, "I have raised you to your position for the very purpose of displaying my power in dealing with you, and making my name known all over the world." ¹⁸ So he has mercy on anyone he pleases, and hardens the heart of anyone he pleases.

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.

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,

¹⁴ Bless your persecutors; bless them; do not curse them. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. Do not be too ambitious, but accept humble tasks. Do not be conceited.

²⁰ No! If your enemy is hungry, feed him! If he is thirsty, give him something to drink! For if you do, you will heap burning coals upon his head!

⁴ Who are you to criticize someone else's servant? It is for his own master to say whether he succeeds or fails; and he will succeed, for the Master can make him do so.

¹⁰ What business have you to criticize your brother? What business have you to look down upon your brother? We shall all have to stand before God for judgment. ¹¹ For the Scripture says, "As surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bend before me, And every tongue will make its confession to God." ¹² So each one of us must give an account of himself to God. ¹³ Therefore let us not criticize one another any more. You must resolve instead never to put any hindrance or obstacle in your brother's way.

¹⁷ The Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of uprightness, peace, and happiness through the possession of the holy Spirit.

¹⁹ by the force of signs and marvels, and by the power of the holy Spirit, with the result that I have completed the preaching of the good news of Christ all the way from Jerusalem around to Illyricum. 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.

³² so that, if it is God's will, I may come with a glad heart to see you and enjoy a visit with you.

²⁵ To him who can make you strong by the good news I bring and the preaching about Jesus Christ, through the disclosure of the secret kept back for long ages but now revealed,

¹ Paul, by the will of God called as an apostle of Jesus Christ, and our brother Sosthenes, ² to the church of God at Corinth, to those who are consecrated by union with Christ Jesus, and called as God's people, like all those anywhere who call on the name of Jesus Christ, their Lord as well as ours; ³ God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ bless you and give you peace.

⁵ For you have grown rich in everything through union with him—in power of expression and in capacity for knowledge.

⁷ and there is no gift that you lack even while you are waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to reappear,

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!"

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?

²⁴ but to those whom God has called, whether they are Jews or Greeks, a Christ who is God's power and God's wisdom.

²⁶ For consider, brothers, what happened when God called you. Not many of you were what men call wise, not many of you were influential, not many were of high birth. ²⁷ But it was what the world calls foolish that God chose to put the wise to shame with, and it was what the world calls weak that God chose to shame its strength with, ²⁸ and it was what the world calls low and insignificant and unreal that God chose to nullify its realities,

³¹ so that, as the Scripture says, "Let him who would boast, boast of the Lord!"

³ For my part, I came among you in weakness and with a great deal of fear and trembling, ⁴ and my teaching and message were not put in plausible, philosophical language, but they were attended with convincing spiritual power,

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. ⁷ But it is a mysterious divine wisdom that we impart, hitherto kept secret, and destined by God before the world began for our glory.

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.

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,

² I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. Why, you are not ready for it now,

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. 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. ⁸ The planter and the waterer are all one, though each of us will be paid for his own work.

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.

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.

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,"

²¹ So no one should boast about men. For it all belongs to you—

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. 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. ⁷ For who sees anything special in you? And what have you got that you have not been given? But if it has been given you, why do you boast as though it had not been? ⁸ Are you satisfied already? Have you become rich already? Have you entered your kingdom without waiting for us? I wish you had entered it, so that we might share it with you!

⁸ Are you satisfied already? Have you become rich already? Have you entered your kingdom without waiting for us? I wish you had entered it, so that we might share it with you!

¹³ when they slander us, we try to conciliate them. We have come to be like the scum of the earth, the dregs of the world, and we are so now.

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.

¹⁷ This is why I have sent Timothy to you. He is a dear child of mine, in the service of the Lord, and one on whom you can depend, and he will help you to keep in mind my methods in the service of Christ Jesus, which I follow everywhere in every church. ¹⁸ Some of you seem to think that I am not coming to visit you, and are putting on airs about it.

¹⁸ Some of you seem to think that I am not coming to visit you, and are putting on airs about it. ¹⁹ But I am coming very soon to see you, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out, not what these conceited people have to say, but what they can actually do.

²¹ Which will you have? Shall I come to you with a stick, or in a loving and gentle spirit?

² And can you put on airs, instead of being overwhelmed with grief at having to expel from your number the man who has done this?

⁵ I have handed the man over to Satan, for his physical destruction, in order that his spirit may be saved on the Day of the Lord. ⁶ Certainly this is nothing for you to boast of. Do you not know that a little yeast will affect all the dough?

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,

⁷ I should like to have everyone be just as I am myself; but each one has his own special gift from God, one of one kind, and one of another.

¹⁷ Only, everyone must continue in the station which the Lord has appointed for him, and in which he was when God's call came to him. This is the rule I make in all the churches.

²⁵ About unmarried women I have no command of the Lord to give you, but I will give you my opinion as that of one on whom through the Lord's mercy you can depend.

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.

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.

⁴ Have we not a right to our food and drink?

⁶ Or is it only Barnabas and I that have no right to give up working for a living?

¹² If others enjoy such rights over you, have we not a still better claim? But, you say, we have never availed ourselves of this right. No, we will stand anything rather than put any hindrance in the way of the good news of the Christ.

¹⁴ In just that way the Lord directed that those who preach the good news should get their living from it. ¹⁵ But I have not availed myself of any of these rights. And I am not writing this now so that I may become an illustration of this; I had rather die than do that. No one shall deprive me of this boast of mine. ¹⁶ As far as preaching the good news is concerned, that is nothing for me to boast of, for I cannot help doing it. For I am ruined if I do not preach. 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.

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.

²³ And I do it all for the sake of the good news, so that I may share in its blessings along with the rest.

¹² So the man who thinks he can stand must be on his guard against a fall.

¹⁴ Therefore, my dear brothers, have nothing to do with the worship of idols. ¹⁵ I appeal to your good sense. Make up your minds about what I say.

¹ You must follow my example in this, as I am following Christ's. ² I appreciate your always remembering me, and your standing by the things I passed on to you, just as you received them.

¹⁶ But if anyone is disposed to be contentious about it, I for my part recognize no other practice in worship than this, and neither do the churches of God.

²⁶ For until the Lord comes back, every time you eat this bread and drink from the cup, you proclaim his death.

³⁴ If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that your meetings may not bring down a judgment upon you. The details I will settle when I come.

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.

⁴ Love is patient and kind. Love is not envious or boastful. It does not put on airs.

⁵ I want you all to speak ecstatically, but I especially want you to be inspired to preach. The man who is inspired to preach is more useful than the one who speaks ecstatically—unless he can explain what he says so that it may do the church some good.

³³ for God is not a God of disorder but of peace. This is the rule in all Christian churches.

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.

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

³⁰ Why do we ourselves run such risks every hour? ³¹ By the very pride I take in you, brothers, through our union with Christ Jesus our Lord, I face death every day. ³² From the human point of view, what good is it to me that I have fought wild animals here in Ephesus? If the dead do not rise at all, "Let us eat and drink, for we will be dead tomorrow!"

³⁴ Return to your sober sense as you ought, and stop sinning, for some of you are utterly ignorant about God. To your shame I say so.

¹ About the collection for God's people, I want you to do as I told the churches of Galatia to do.

⁵ I will come to you after passing through Macedonia, for I am going through Macedonia,

¹⁰ If Timothy reaches you, put him at his ease among you, for he is devoted to the Lord's work, just as I am.

⁸ For I do not want you, brothers, to misunderstand the distress that I experienced in Asia, for I was so utterly and unendurably crushed, that I actually despaired of life itself. ⁹ Why, I felt in my heart that the end must be death. That was to keep me from relying on myself instead of on God, who can even raise the dead. ¹⁰ So deadly was the peril from which he saved me, as he will save me again! It is on him that I have set my hope that he will save me again.

¹² For my boast is what my conscience tells me, that my relations to the world and still more to you have been marked by pure motives and godly sincerity, not by worldly shrewdness but by the favor of God.

¹⁵ It was because I was sure of this that I wanted to come to see you before going anywhere else, to give you a double pleasure; ¹⁶ I was going to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and then to come back to you from Macedonia and have you see me off for Judea. ¹⁷ Was it vacillating of me to want to do that? Do I make my plans like a worldly man, ready to say "Yes" and "No" in the same breath?

²³ But upon my soul I call God to witness that it is simply to spare you that I have stayed away from Corinth.

¹ For I made up my mind not to make you another painful visit.

¹ For I made up my mind not to make you another painful visit. ² For if I hurt your feelings, who is there to cheer me up but the man whose feelings I hurt? ³ This is what I said in my letter, so that I might avoid coming and having my feelings hurt by the very people who might have been expected to make me happy, for I felt sure about you all, that what made me happy would make you all happy.

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.

¹ Am I falling into self-recommendation again? Do I, like some people, need letters of recommendation to you or from you? 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.

¹⁰ For in comparison with its surpassing splendor, what was splendid has come to have no splendor at all.

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.

⁸ I am hard pressed on every side, but never cut off: perplexed, but not driven to despair;

⁸ I am hard pressed on every side, but never cut off: perplexed, but not driven to despair; ⁹ routed, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; ¹⁰ never free from the danger of being put to death like Jesus, so that in my body the life of Jesus also may be seen. ¹¹ For every day I live I am being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be visible in my mortal nature. ¹² So it is death that operates in my case, but life that operates in yours.

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.

¹⁰ For we must all appear in our true characters before the tribunal of the Christ, each to be repaid with good or evil for the life he has lived in the body.

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,

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, ⁵ beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, and hunger,

⁹ obscure, when I am well known, at the point of death, yet here I am alive, punished, but not dead yet,

¹¹ I have kept nothing back from you, men of Corinth; I have opened my heart to you. ¹² It is not that I am cramping you, it is your own affections. ¹³ To pay me back, I tell you, my children, you must open your hearts too.

³ I do not mean this as a reflection upon you, for as I said before, you will always have a place in my heart whether I live or die.

¹ I appeal to you personally, by the gentleness and forbearance of Christ—the Paul who is so humble when face to face with you, but so bold in dealing with you when he is far away! ² I beg you not to make me take as bold an attitude when I come, as I count on taking toward some people who suspect me of acting from worldly motives.

⁴ for the weapons I use are not earthly ones, but divinely strong for destroying fortresses. ⁵ I destroy arguments and every obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God, and I take captive every thought and make it obey Christ, ⁶ and am prepared to punish any trace of disobedience when you have made your obedience perfectly clear. 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. ⁸ For suppose I do boast a little too much of my authority—which the Lord gave me to build you up, not to pull you down—I will not have to blush for it.

¹⁰ For they say, "His letters are impressive and telling, but his personal appearance is insignificant and as a speaker he amounts to nothing."

¹² I do not indeed venture to class or compare myself with certain individuals who approve of themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they do not show good sense.

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,

¹⁸ For it is not the man who approves of himself who is really approved; it is the man of whom the Lord approves.

¹ I wish you would put up with a little folly from me. Do put up with it!

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!

¹¹ And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do. ¹² And I shall go on doing as I do, so as to cut the ground from under those who want to make out that in their boasted apostleship they work on the same terms that I do. 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.

¹⁹ For you like to put up with fools, you are so wise yourselves!

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.

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. ²⁴ Five times I have been given one less than forty lashes, by the Jews. ²⁵ I have been beaten three times by the Romans, I have been stoned once, I have been shipwrecked three times, a night and a day I have been adrift at sea; ²⁶ with my frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from the heathen, danger in the city, danger in the desert, danger at sea, danger from false brothers, ²⁷ through toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, through hunger and thirst, often without food, and exposed to cold.

²⁹ Who is weak without my being weak? Whose conscience is hurt without my being fired with indignation?

⁶ Though if I do choose to boast, I will not be such a fool, for I will only be telling the truth. But I will refrain from it, for I do not want anyone to be influenced by the wonderful character of these revelations to think more of me than is justified by my words or conduct.

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. ¹⁰ That is why I am pleased with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties, when they are endured for Christ's sake, for it is when I am weak that I am strong.

¹⁴ Here it is the third time that I have been ready to come to see you, and I do not intend to be a burden to you now; for it is not your money but yourselves that I want; for children are not expected to lay up money for their parents, but parents for their children. ¹⁵ And I will be glad to spend all I have and all I am for your sake. Are you going to love me the less for loving you so intensely?

¹⁹ Have you been supposing all along that it is before you I have been defending myself? It is in the sight of God and as a follower of Christ that I have been speaking. But it is all to do you good, dear friends, 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, ²¹ and that when I come back my God may humiliate me before you, and I may have to mourn over many who have kept on in their old sins and have never repented of the impurity, immorality, and sensuality in which they have indulged.

¹ This will be my third visit to you. Any charge must be sustained by the evidence of two or three witnesses. ² Those who have kept on in their old sins and all the rest I have warned, and I warn them now while I am still away, as I did on my second visit, that if I come back I will spare nobody—

² Those who have kept on in their old sins and all the rest I have warned, and I warn them now while I am still away, as I did on my second visit, that if I come back I will spare nobody— ³ since you demand proof that Christ really speaks through me. He is not weak in dealing with you. On the contrary, right among you he exhibits his power. ⁴ Even if he was crucified through weakness, by the power of God he is alive. For we are weak as he was, but you will find that by the power of God we will be alive as he is.

⁹ I am glad to be weak, if you are strong! That is what I pray for—the perfecting of your characters. ¹⁰ That is why I write this while I am away from you, so that when I come, I may not have to be harsh in my use of the authority the Lord has given me, for it was to build you up, not to pull you down.

¹⁹ my children—you for whom I am enduring a mother's pains again, until Christ is formed in you.

³ For if anyone thinks he is somebody when he is really nobody, he is deceiving himself.

⁹ He has given us perfect insight into his secret purpose and understanding of it, in following out the design he planned to carry out in Christ,

³ and how the secret was made known to me by revelation, as I have just briefly written.

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

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)

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. 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, ⁹ and making clear how the secret purpose is to be worked out which has been hidden away for ages in God the creator of all things,

¹⁹ and for me, that when I open my lips I may be given a message, so that I may boldly make known the secret of the good news,

²¹ In order that you also may know how I am, our dear brother Tychicus, a faithful helper in the Lord's service, will tell you all about it.

²⁷ Whatever happens, show yourselves citizens worthy of the good news of the Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am kept away and only hear news of you, I may know that you are standing firm with one spirit, one purpose, fighting side by side for faith in the good news.

²⁹ For you have been granted the privilege not only of trusting in Christ but of suffering for him. ³⁰ Take your part in the same struggle that you have seen me engage in and that you hear I am still keeping up.

¹² So, my dear friends, as you have always been obedient, with reverence and awe make every effort to insure your salvation, not simply as though I were with you, but all the more because I am away.

¹⁹ I hope, with the help of the Lord Jesus, to send Timothy to you soon, so that I, too, may be cheered by having news about you.

¹⁷ Follow my example, brothers, all of you, and notice those who follow the pattern we have set you.

⁹ Do the things that you learned, received, and heard from me, and that you saw me do. Then God who gives peace will be with you.

¹² I know how to live humbly and I know how to enjoy plenty. I have learned the secret, in any and all conditions, of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of going without.

⁷ and really came to know it, in the form in which Epaphras, my dear fellow-slave, taught it to you. He is my faithful representative as a servant of Christ,

²⁵ In it, by divine appointment, I became a worker, that I might preach among you the message of God in its fulness— ²⁶ that secret, hidden from the ages and generations, but now disclosed to those who are consecrated to him, ²⁷ to whom God has chosen to make known among the heathen how glorious this mystery of Christ in you, the promise of glorification, really is. ²⁸ And in spreading the news of him, we warn everyone and teach everyone all our wisdom, in order to bring everyone to Christian perfection.

² that your hearts may be cheered. I want you to be united by love, and to have all the benefit of assured knowledge in coming to know 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.

³ Pray for me too, that God may give me an opening for the message, and let me tell the secret of Christ on account of which I am kept in prison

⁷ Our dear brother Tychicus, my faithful helper and fellow-servant in the Lord's work, will tell you all about me.

⁹ And with him I send my dear, faithful brother Onesimus, who is one of your own number. They will tell you all about matters here.

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. ⁶ And you followed the example set by us and by the Lord, for though our message brought you great trouble, you welcomed it with joy inspired by the holy Spirit,

⁷ We were children when we were with you; we were like a mother nursing her children.

⁹ You remember, brothers, how we toiled and labored. We worked night and day, when we preached the good news to you, in order not to be a burden to any of you.

¹¹ You know how, like a father with his children, we used to urge, encourage, and implore you

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? ²⁰ You are our pride and our joy.

² and I sent my brother Timothy, a servant of God in preaching the good news of the Christ, to strengthen you in your faith ³ and encourage you not to be led astray, any of you, in all these troubles. You know yourselves that this is what we must expect,

³ and encourage you not to be led astray, any of you, in all these troubles. You know yourselves that this is what we must expect,

⁶ But now that Timothy has just come back to me from you, and brought me good news of your faith and love, and told me how kindly you think of me and that you long to see me just as much as I long to see you, ⁷ I feel encouraged, brothers, about you, in spite of all my distress and trouble, at your faith, ⁸ for now I can really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. ⁹ For how can I thank God enough for you, for all the happiness you make me feel in the presence of our God,

⁸ So whoever disregards this is not disregarding man, but God, who gives you his holy Spirit.

² for you yourselves know perfectly well that the Day of the Lord is to come like a thief in the night.

⁹ For God has not destined us for his wrath, but to gain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁰ who died for us so that whether we are still alive or fall asleep we may live with him.

¹⁴ We beg you, brothers, warn the idlers, cheer up the despondent, keep hold of the weak, be patient with everybody.

¹² so that all who have refused to believe the truth but have preferred disobedience may be condemned. ¹³ We always have to thank God for you, brothers whom the Lord so loves, because God chose you from the beginning to be saved through consecration by the Spirit and through faith in the truth, ¹⁴ and called you to it through our preaching of the good news, so that you may share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁸ I did not eat anybody's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor I worked night and day, in order not to be a burden to any of you. ⁹ Not that I had not a right to my support, but to give you in my own conduct an example to imitate.

² to Timothy, my true child in faith; God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord bless you and be merciful to you, and give you peace.

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 It is a trustworthy saying, entitled to the fullest acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And I am the foremost of them,

⁶ He must not be a new convert, or he may grow conceited and incur criticism from slanderous people.

⁹ but holding the divine truth of the faith with a clear conscience.

¹⁶ No one can deny the profundity of the divine truth of our religion! "He was revealed in flesh, He was vindicated by the Spirit, He was seen by the angels, He was proclaimed among the heathen, He was believed in throughout the world, He was taken up into glory."

¹⁰ It is for this that we toil and struggle, for we have fixed our hopes on the living God, the Savior of all men, especially those who believe.

² to my dear child Timothy; God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord bless you and be merciful to you and give you peace.

² The things you learned from me before many witnesses you must commit to trustworthy men who will be capable of teaching others.

¹⁰ For that reason I am ready to submit to anything for the sake of those whom God has chosen, so that they too may gain the salvation that comes through Christ Jesus and brings eternal glory. ¹¹ How true those words are! "If we have died with him, we will live with him! ¹² If we endure, we will reign with him! If we disown him, he will also disown us!

¹⁰ But you have closely followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, ¹¹ my persecutions, my sufferings—the things that happened to me at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, the persecutions I endured; yet the Lord brought me safely out of them all.

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,

⁴ to Titus, my true child in our common faith; God our Father and Christ Jesus our Savior bless you and give you peace.

⁷ For as God's overseer a superintendent must be irreproachable, not arrogant or quick-tempered or given to drink or pugnacious or addicted to 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. ⁴ But when the goodness and kindness of God our Savior were revealed, ⁵ he saved us, not for any upright actions we had performed, but from his own mercy, through the bath of regeneration and renewal by the holy Spirit, ⁶ which he has poured out upon us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷ so that we might be made upright through his mercy and become possessors of eternal life in fulfilment of our hope.

¹⁰ I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whose father I have become here in prison. ¹¹ Once you found him useless, but now he has become useful to you and to me, ¹² and now that I send him back to you, it is like sending my very heart.

¹⁹ I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—not to mention the fact that you owe me your very self besides.

¹⁴ Are not the angels all spirits in service, whom he sends on his errands for the good of those who are destined to possess salvation?

¹³ No being created can escape God's sight, but everything is bare and helpless before the eyes of him with whom we have to reckon.

³ And we will advance if God permits it.

³³ sometimes being actually exposed as a public spectacle to insults and violence, and sometimes showing yourselves ready to share the lot of those in that condition.

³⁶ Still others had to endure taunts and blows, and even fetters and prison.

⁷ Do not forget your former leaders, the men who brought you God's message. Remember how they ended their lives and imitate their faith.

¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect present is from heaven, and comes down from the Father of the heavenly lights, about whom there is no variation of changing shadow. ¹⁸ Of his own accord he brought us into being through the message of truth, so that we might be a kind of first-fruits among his creatures.

¹⁷ The wisdom that is from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, considerate, willing to yield, full of compassion and good deeds, whole-hearted, straightforward.

¹¹ Do not talk against one another, brothers. Whoever talks against a brother or condemns his brother talks against the Law, and condemns the Law. But if you condemn the Law you are not an observer of the Law but its judge.

¹⁵ This, instead of saying, "If it is the Lord's will, we shall live to do this or that."

⁷ So be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer has to wait for the precious crop from the ground, and be patient with it, until it gets the early and the late rains.

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.

²³ for you have been born anew from a germ not perishable, but imperishable, through the message of the living, everlasting God.

²³ He was abused but he did not retort. He suffered but he did not threaten, but committed his case to him who judges justly.

⁹ not returning evil for evil, or abuse for abuse. You must bless people instead. It is for this that you were called—to obtain blessing.

¹⁴ Even if you should suffer for uprightness, you are blessed. But do not be afraid of them, nor be troubled,

¹⁰ Whatever the endowment God has given you, use it in service to one another, like good dispensers of God's varied mercy.

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, ¹³ but be glad that you are in a measure sharing the sufferings of the Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may be triumphantly happy. ¹⁴ If you are being abused for the sake of Christ, you are blessed, because the glorious Spirit of God is resting upon you.

¹⁴ If you are being abused for the sake of Christ, you are blessed, because the glorious Spirit of God is resting upon you.

¹⁹ Therefore, those who suffer by the will of God must intrust their souls to a Creator who is faithful, and continue to do what is right.

³ and not as tyrannizing over those in your charge but proving models for the flock; ⁴ and when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the glorious wreath that will never fade.

⁴ and saying, "Where is his promised coming? For ever since our forefathers fell asleep everything has remained as it was from the beginning of creation!"

¹² while you await and hasten the coming of the Day of God, which will cause the heavens to burn up and dissolve and the heavenly bodies to blaze and melt.

²⁰ if they condemn us for anything, for God is greater than our consciences, and he knows all. ²¹ Dear friends, if our consciences do not condemn us, we approach God with confidence,

⁴ I know of no greater blessing than hearing that my children are being guided by the truth.

⁹ The archangel Michael himself, when he had the dispute with the devil about Moses' body, did not venture to condemn him for blasphemy; he only said, "May the Lord rebuke you!"

¹⁴ Of them also Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, when he said, "See! The Lord comes with his holy myriads

⁷ See! He is coming on the clouds, and every eye will see him, even the men who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will lament over him. So it is to be, Amen.

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.

¹³ I know where you live; where Satan has his throne! Yet you cling to my name and did not renounce your faith in me even in the days when my faithful Antipas, my witness, was put to death among you—where Satan lives.

¹⁷ Because you say, "I am rich, I have become wealthy, I need nothing," and you do not know that it is you that are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked,

¹⁰ and have made them a kingdom of priests for our God, and they are to reign over the earth."

⁹ When he broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who have been slaughtered on account of God's message and for adhering to the testimony. ¹⁰ They cried out in a loud voice, "Holy and true Master, how long is it to be before you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" ¹¹ Then each of them was given a white robe and they were told to be quiet a little while longer, until the number of their fellow-slaves and their brothers, who were to be killed as they had been, should be complete.

¹¹ Then all the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four animals, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹² saying, "Amen! Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen!" ¹³ Then one of the elders addressed me and said, "Who are these people dressed in white robes, and where do they come from?" ¹⁴ I said to him, "You know, my lord." He said to me, "They are the people who come through the great persecution, who have washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb.

⁶ I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God's people, and the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her I was perfectly amazed, ⁷ but the angel said to me, "Why are you amazed? I will explain to you what the woman and the animal with seven heads and ten horns that carries her symbolize.

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.