1 Timothy Cross References - Goodspeed

¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by order of God our Savior and of Jesus Christ our hope, 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. ³ As I asked you to do when I was on my way to Macedonia, stay on in Ephesus in order to warn certain people there not to teach strange views ⁴ nor to devote themselves to fictions and interminable pedigrees; such things lead to controversy instead of the divine system which operates through faith. ⁵ The aim of your instruction must be love that springs from a pure heart and from a good conscience and from a sincere faith. ⁶ Some people have failed in these things and been diverted into fruitless talk. ⁷ They would like to be teachers of law although they do not understand the words they use or the matters they insist upon. ⁸ I agree that the Law is excellent—provided it is legitimately used, ⁹ with the understanding that law is not intended for upright men but for the lawless and disorderly, the godless and irreligious, the irreverent and profane, men who kill their fathers or mothers, murderers, ¹⁰ immoral people, men sexually perverted, kidnapers, liars, perjurers, or whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, 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 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, ¹⁶ but God had mercy on me in order that in my case as the foremost, Christ Jesus might display his perfect patience, as an example to those who would later believe in him and find eternal life. ¹⁷ To the eternal King, immortal and invisible, the one God, be honor and glory forever and ever! Amen. ¹⁸ These are the instructions that I intrust to you, my son Timothy, and they are in accordance with the predictions made long ago about you. Fight the good fight with their aid, ¹⁹ keeping hold of faith and a good conscience. For some people have let that go and have had their faith ruined, ²⁰ like Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I turned over to Satan, to be taught not to blaspheme.

²¹ She will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for it is he who is to save his people from their sins."

⁸ "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God!

³³ "Again, you have heard that the men of old were told, 'You shall not swear falsely, but you must fulfil your oaths to the Lord.' ³⁴ But I tell you not to swear at all, either by heaven, for it is God's throne, ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. ³⁶ You must not swear by your own head, for you cannot make one single hair white or black. ³⁷ But your way of speaking must be 'Yes' or 'No.' Anything that goes beyond that comes from the evil one.

¹³ And do not subject us to temptation, But save us from the evil one.'

²⁷ But which of you with all his worry can add a single hour to his life?

¹³ You must go and learn what the saying means, 'It is mercy, not sacrifice, that I care for.' I did not come to invite the pious but the irreligious."

²¹ One brother will give up another to death, and a father his child, and children will turn against their parents, and have them put to death.

³⁵ A good man, out of the good he has accumulated, brings out things that are good, and a bad man, out of what he has accumulated that is bad, brings out things that are bad.

¹⁴ Leave them alone. They are blind guides! But if one blind man leads another, they will both fall into the ditch!"

¹⁰ "Beware of feeling scornful of one single little child, for I tell you that in heaven their angels have continual access to my Father in heaven.

¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, tell the congregation. And if he refuses to listen to it, treat him as a heathen or a tax-collector.

²⁸ just as the Son of Man has come not to be waited on, but to wait on other people, and to give his life to ransom many others."

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.

¹⁶ Alas for you, you blind guides, who say, 'If anyone swears by the sanctuary, it does not matter, but if anyone swears by the gold of the sanctuary, it is binding.' ¹⁷ Blind fools! which is greater, the gold, or the sanctuary that makes the gold sacred? ¹⁸ You say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it does not matter, but if anyone swears by the offering that is on it, it is binding.' ¹⁹ You blind men! Which is greater, the offering, or the altar that makes the offering sacred? ²⁰ Anyone who swears by the altar is swearing by it and by everything that is on it, ²¹ and anyone who swears by the sanctuary is swearing by it and by him who dwells in it; ²² and anyone who swears by heaven is swearing by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it. ²³ "Alas for you, you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees, for you pay tithes on mint, dill, and cummin, and you have let the weightier matters of the Law go—justice, mercy, and integrity. But you should have observed these, without overlooking the others. ²⁴ You blind guides! straining out the gnat, and yet swallowing the camel!

³⁴ Then the king will say to those at his right, 'Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take possession of the kingdom which has been destined for you from the creation of the world.

²⁰ and teach them to observe all the commands that I have given you. I will always be with you, to the very close of the age."

¹⁷ Jesus heard it, and said to them, "It is not well people but the sick who have to have the doctor. I did not come to invite the pious but the irreligious."

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—

²⁸ One of the scribes came up and heard them arguing. He saw that Jesus had answered them well, and he asked him, "Which is the first of all the commands?" ²⁹ Jesus answered, "The first one is, 'Hear, Israel! The Lord our God is one lord, ³⁰ and you must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole soul, your whole mind, and your whole strength.' ³¹ And this is the second: 'You must love your neighbor as you do yourself.' No other command is greater than these." ³² The scribe said to him, "Really, Master, you have finely said that he stands alone, and there is none but he, ³³ and to love him with one's whole heart, one's whole understanding, and one's whole strength, and to love one's neighbor as one's self is far more than all these burnt-offerings and sacrifices." ³⁴ And Jesus saw that he answered thoughtfully, and he said to him, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God!" And no one ventured to ask him any more questions.

⁴⁷ My spirit exults in God my Savior.

¹⁰ The angel said to them, "Do not be frightened, for I bring you good news of a great joy that is to be felt by all the people, ¹¹ for today, in the town of David, a Savior for you has been born who is your Messiah and Lord.

¹¹ for today, in the town of David, a Savior for you has been born who is your Messiah and Lord.

¹⁴ "Glory to God in heaven and on earth! Peace to the men he favors!"

³² I have not come to invite the pious but the irreligious to repentance!"

⁴⁷ Therefore, I tell you, her sins, many as they are, are forgiven, for she has loved me so much. But the man with little to be forgiven loves me but little."

⁴⁷ Therefore, I tell you, her sins, many as they are, are forgiven, for she has loved me so much. But the man with little to be forgiven loves me but little." ⁴⁸ And he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven!" ⁴⁹ The men at table with him began to say to themselves, "Who is this man, who even forgives sins?" ⁵⁰ But he said to the woman, "It is your faith that has saved you. Go in peace."

⁴⁷ The slave who knows his master's wishes, but does not get ready or act upon them, will be severely punished.

¹⁰ In just that way, I tell you, there is joy among the angels of God over one sinful person who repents!"

¹³ But the tax-collector stood at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven, but struck his breast, and said, 'O God, have mercy on a sinner like me!' ¹⁴ I tell you, it was he who went back to his house with God's approval, and not the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the man who humbles himself will be exalted."

⁷ And when they saw this, everyone complained, and said, "He has gone to stay with an irreligious man!" ⁸ But Zaccheus stopped and said to the Master, "See, Master! I will give half my property to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay him four times as much." ⁹ Jesus said to him, "Salvation has come to this house today, for he too is a descendant of Abraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of Man has come to search for what was lost and to save it."

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

⁴³ And he said to him, "I tell you, you will be in Paradise with me today!"

¹² But to all who did receive him and believe in him he gave the right to become children of God,

¹⁸ No one has ever seen God; it is the divine Only Son, who leans upon his Father's breast, that has made him known.

²⁹ The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and he said, "There is God's lamb, who is to remove the world's sin!

⁹ Nicodemus said to him, "How can that be?" ¹⁰ Jesus answered, "Are you the teacher of Israel and yet ignorant of this?

¹⁵ so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life." ¹⁶ For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that no one who believes in him should be lost, but that they should all have eternal life.

¹⁶ For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that no one who believes in him should be lost, but that they should all have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to pass judgment upon the world, but that through him the world might be saved.

³⁶ Whoever believes in the Son possesses eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not experience life, but will remain under the anger of God.

²³ so that all men may honor the Son just as much as they honor the Father. Whoever refuses to honor the Son refuses to honor the Father who sent him. ²⁴ I tell you, whoever listens to my message and believes him who has sent me, possesses eternal life, and will not come to judgment, but has already passed out of death into life.

³⁷ All that my Father gives to me will come to me, and I will never refuse anyone who comes to me,

⁴⁰ For it is the purpose of my Father that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and that I shall raise him to life on the Last Day."

⁵⁴ Whoever lives on my flesh and drinks my blood possesses eternal life, and I will raise him to life on the Last Day.

⁴⁴ The devil is the father you are sprung from, and you want to carry out your father's wishes. He was a murderer from the first, and he has nothing to do with the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks in his true character, for he is a liar and the father of them.

³⁹ And Jesus said, "I have come into this world to judge men, that those who cannot see may see, and that those who can see may become blind." ⁴⁰ Some Pharisees who were present heard this, and they said to him, "Then are we blind too?" ⁴¹ Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would be guilty of no sin, but as it is, you say 'We can see'; so your sin continues.

⁴⁷ If anyone hears my words and disregards them, it is not I that judge him, for I have not come to judge the world but to save the world.

³¹ But these have been recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and through believing you may have life as his followers.

¹⁷ Yet I know, brothers, that you did not know what you were doing, any more than your leaders did;

²⁶ It was to you that God first sent his servant after he had raised him from the dead, to bless you by making every one of you turn from his wickedness."

³ But Saul harassed the church. He went into one house after another, and dragging out men and women, put them in prison.

¹ Now Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the Lord's disciples, went to the high priest,

⁵ "Who are you, sir?" he asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," said the voice.

¹³ But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard many people tell of this man, and the harm he has done to your people in Jerusalem.

¹⁵ The Lord said to him, "Go! This man is the means I have chosen for carrying my name among the heathen and their kings, and among the descendants of Israel.

²² But Saul grew more and more powerful, and bewildered the Jews who lived in Damascus by his proofs that Jesus was the Christ.

¹ The apostles and brothers all over Judea heard that the heathen had also accepted God's message,

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!"

³⁹ and that through union with him everyone who believes is cleared of every charge of which the Law of Moses could not clear you.

⁴⁵ But when the Jews saw the crowd, they were very jealous, and they contradicted what Paul said and abused him.

¹ Some people came down from Judea and began to teach the brothers that unless they were circumcised as Moses prescribed, they could not be saved.

⁹ making no difference between us and them, but cleansing their hearts by faith.

¹¹ Why, we believe that it is by the mercy of the Lord Jesus that we are saved just as they are."

¹ He went to Derbe and Lystra also. At Lystra there was a disciple named Timothy whose mother was a Jewish Christian while his father was a Greek, ² and who was highly thought of by the brothers in Lystra and Iconium. ³ Paul wished to take this man on with him, and so on account of the Jews in that district he had him circumcised, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

¹⁵ When she and her household were baptized, she appealed to us, and said, "If you are really convinced that I am a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house." And she insisted upon our coming.

¹⁹ When they reached Ephesus he left them there. He went to the synagogue there and had a discussion with the Jews.

¹ It was while Apollos was in Corinth that Paul, after passing through the interior, reached Ephesus. Finding some disciples there, ² he said to them, "Did you receive the holy Spirit when you became believers?" "No," they said to him, "we never even heard that there was a holy Spirit." ³ "How then were you baptized?" he asked. "With John's baptism," they answered. ⁴ "John's baptism was a baptism in token of repentance," said Paul, "and he told the people to believe in him who was to follow him, that is, in Jesus." ⁵ When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, ⁶ and when Paul laid his hands on them, the holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in foreign tongues and with prophetic inspiration. ⁷ There were about twelve of them in all. ⁸ He went to the synagogue there, and for three months spoke confidently, holding discussions and trying to persuade them about the Kingdom of God. ⁹ But as some of them were obstinate and refused to believe, finding fault with the Way before the people, he left them, and withdrew the disciples, and held daily discussions in the lecture-room of Tyrannus. ¹⁰ This went on for two years, so that everyone who lived in Asia, Greeks as well as Jews, heard the Lord's message.

³³ Some of the crowd called upon Alexander, as the Jews had pushed him to the front, and he made a gesture with his hand and was going to speak in defense of them to the people.

¹ When the confusion was over, Paul sent for the disciples and encouraged them. Then he bade them goodbye and started for Macedonia. ² After traveling through those districts and giving the people a great deal of encouragement, he went on to Greece ³ where he stayed for three months. Just as he was going to sail for Syria, the Jews made a plot against him, and he made up his mind to return by way of Macedonia.

⁴ I persecuted this Way even to the death, and bound both men and women and put them in prison,

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."

¹⁶ Therefore I strive always to have a clear conscience before God and men.

⁹ I once thought it my duty vigorously to oppose the cause of Jesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰ That was what I did at Jerusalem when on the authority of the high priests I put many of God's people in prison. When they were put to death, I cast my vote against them, ¹¹ and many a time in all the synagogues I had them punished, and tried to force them to say impious things. In my extreme rage against them I even pursued them to distant towns.

¹⁶ But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for the express purpose of appointing you to serve me and to testify to what you have seen and to the visions you will have of me. ¹⁷ I will save you from your people and from the heathen, to whom I will send you ¹⁸ to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from Satan's control to God, so that they may have their sins forgiven and have a place among those who are consecrated through faith in me.'

¹ Paul, a slave of Jesus Christ, called as an apostle, set apart to declare God's good news,

⁷ to all those in Rome whom God loves, who are called to be his people; God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ bless you and give you peace.

²⁰ Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible nature—his eternal power and divine character—have been clearly perceptible through what he has made. So they have no excuse,

²² They called themselves wise, but they have turned into fools, ²³ and for the splendor of the immortal God they have substituted images in the form of mortal man, birds, animals, and reptiles.

²⁶ That is why God has abandoned them to degrading passions. Their women have exchanged their natural function for one that is unnatural,

³⁰ They are gossips, slanderers, abhorrent to God, insolent, overbearing, boastful, ingenious in evil, undutiful,

⁴ Do you think so lightly of his wealth of kindness, forbearance, and patience, and fail to see that God's kindness ought to induce you to repent? 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.

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

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

¹⁹ and you are sure that you can guide the blind, enlighten people who are in the dark, ²⁰ train the foolish, teach the young, since you have knowledge and truth formulated in the Law— ²¹ why, then, will you teach others and refuse to teach yourself? Will you preach against stealing, and yet steal yourself?

²⁴ but by his mercy they are made upright for nothing, by the deliverance secured through Christ Jesus. ²⁵ For God showed him publicly dying as a sacrifice of reconciliation to be taken advantage of through faith. This was to vindicate his own justice (for in his forbearance, God passed over men's former sins)— ²⁶ to vindicate his justice at the present time, and show that he is upright himself, and that he makes those who have faith in Jesus upright also.

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.

⁶ For when we were still helpless, at the decisive moment Christ died for us godless men.

⁸ But God proves his love for us by the fact that Christ died for us when we were still sinners. ⁹ So if we have already been made upright by his death, it is far more certain that through him we shall be saved from God's anger! ¹⁰ If, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, it is far more certain that now that we are reconciled we shall be saved through sharing in his life!

¹⁵ But there is no comparison between God's gift and that offense. For if one man's offense made the mass of mankind die, God's mercy and his gift given through the favor of the one man Jesus Christ have far more powerfully affected mankind. ¹⁶ Nor is there any comparison between the gift and the effects of that one man's sin. That sentence arose from the act of one man, and was for condemnation; but God's gift arose out of many offenses and results in acquittal. ¹⁷ For if that one man's offense made death reign through that one man, all the more will those who receive God's overflowing mercy and his gift of uprightness live and reign through the one individual Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ So as one offense meant condemnation for all men, just so one righteous act means acquittal and life for all men. ¹⁹ For just as that one man's disobedience made the mass of mankind sinners, so this one's obedience will make the mass of them upright. ²⁰ Then law slipped in, and multiplied the offense. But greatly as sin multiplied, God's mercy has far surpassed it,

²⁰ Then law slipped in, and multiplied the offense. But greatly as sin multiplied, God's mercy has far surpassed it,

²⁰ Then law slipped in, and multiplied the offense. But greatly as sin multiplied, God's mercy has far surpassed it, ²¹ so that just as sin had reigned through death, mercy might reign through uprightness and bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

¹⁴ For sin must no longer control you, for you live not under law but under mercy.

²³ For the wages sin pays is death, but the gift God gives is eternal life through union with Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹² So the Law itself is holy, and each command is holy, just, and good. ¹³ Did what was good, then, prove the death of me? Certainly not! It was sin that did so, so that it might be recognized as sin, because even through something that was good it effected my death, so that through the command it might appear how immeasurably sinful sin was.

¹⁶ But if I do what I do not want to do, I acknowledge that the Law is right.

¹⁸ For I know that nothing good resides in me, that is, in my physical self; I can will, but I cannot do what is right.

²² My inner nature agrees with the divine law,

¹ I am telling the truth as a Christian, it is no falsehood, for my conscience under the holy Spirit's influence bears me witness in it,

⁴ For Christ marks the termination of law, so that now anyone who has faith may attain uprightness.

³⁰ For just as you once disobeyed God, but now have had mercy shown you because they disobeyed, ³¹ so they are now disobedient in order that they in turn may experience the same mercy as you.

³⁶ For from him everything comes; through him everything exists; and in him everything ends! Glory to him forever! Amen.

² You must not adopt the customs of this world but by your new attitude of mind be transformed so that you can find out what God's will is—what is good, pleasing, and perfect.

⁸ Owe nobody anything—except the duty of mutual love, for whoever loves his fellow-men has fully satisfied the Law. ⁹ For the commandments, "You must not commit adultery, You must not murder, You must not steal, You must not covet," and any other commandments there are, are all summed up in one saying, "You must love your neighbor as you do yourself." ¹⁰ Love never wrongs a neighbor, and so love fully satisfies the Law.

¹⁵ For if your brother's feelings are hurt by what you eat, your life is not governed by love. You must not, by what you eat, ruin a man for whom Christ died.

⁴ For everything that was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that by being steadfast and through the encouragement the Scriptures give, we might hold our hope fast.

¹² Again Isaiah says, "The descendant of Jesse will come, The one who is to rise to rule the heathen; The heathen will set their hopes on him." ¹³ May God, the source of hope, fill you with perfect happiness and peace in your faith, so that you may have overflowing hope through the power of the holy Spirit.

²⁰ And God, who is the source of peace, will soon crush Satan under your feet. The blessing of our Lord Jesus be with you.

²⁷ to the one wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ. Amen.

¹ Paul, by the will of God called as an apostle of Jesus Christ, and our brother Sosthenes,

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.

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.

⁴ and meeting with you, in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, by the authority of our Lord Jesus 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.

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 ¹⁰ or thieves or greedy—drunkards, abusive people, robbers—will not have any share in God's kingdom.

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. ² If a man thinks he has acquired some knowledge, he does not yet know it as well as he ought to know it. ³ But if a man loves God, God is known by him.

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.

¹⁹ Doubtless there must be parties among you, if those who are right are to be recognized among you.

³² But since we do incur it, we are disciplined by the Lord, so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

¹ I will show you a far better way. If I can speak the languages of men and even of angels, but have no love, I am only a noisy gong or a clashing cymbal.

¹ You must pursue love, while you are cultivating the spiritual endowments, and especially inspired preaching.

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.

¹ Paul, by God's will an apostle of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God that is at Corinth, and all God's people all over Greece;

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.

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.

⁸ why should not the religion of the Spirit be attended with much greater splendor? ⁹ If there was splendor in the religion of condemnation, the religion of uprightness must far surpass it in splendor. ¹⁰ For in comparison with its surpassing splendor, what was splendid has come to have no splendor at all. ¹¹ For if what faded away came with splendor, how much more splendid what is permanent must be!

¹ So since by the mercy of God I am engaged in this service, I never lose heart.

⁴ In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep the light of the good news of the glorious Christ, the likeness of God, from dawning upon them.

⁶ For God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in my heart, to give me the light of the knowledge of God's glory, that is on the face of Christ.

¹⁸ All this comes from God, who through Christ has reconciled me to himself, and has commissioned me to proclaim this reconciliation— ¹⁹ how God through Christ reconciled the world to himself, refusing to count men's offenses against them, and intrusted me with the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ It is for Christ, therefore, that I am an envoy, seeing that God makes his appeal through me. On Christ's behalf I beg you to be reconciled to God.

⁹ I am glad of it now; not because you had your feelings hurt, but because having them hurt led you to repent, for you took it as God meant you to do, so that you should not lose anything at all through me. ¹⁰ For the pain that God approves results in a repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regrets; but the world's pain results in death.

⁹ You know how gracious the Lord Jesus Christ was. Though he was rich, he became poor for your sake, in order that by his poverty you might become rich.

³ For though I do live an earthly life, I am not carrying on an earthly war, ⁴ for the weapons I use are not earthly ones, but divinely strong for destroying fortresses.

⁶ and am prepared to punish any trace of disobedience when you have made your obedience perfectly clear.

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.

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.

¹⁴ The blessing of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the participation in the holy Spirit be with you all.

¹ Paul, an apostle not from men nor sent by any man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead—

³ blessing and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,

⁶ I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from him who called you by the mercy of Christ, to some different good news—

⁶ I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from him who called you by the mercy of Christ, to some different good news— 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.

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!

¹¹ For I tell you plainly, brothers, that the good news that I preached is not a human affair.

¹³ You have heard of my former conduct when I was attached to the Jewish religion—how furiously I used to persecute the church of God and ravage it,

⁷ On the contrary, when they saw that I had been intrusted with the good news for the heathen, just as Peter had been intrusted with it for the Jews—

² This is all I want to ask you: Did you receive the Spirit through doing what the Law commands, or through believing the message you heard?

⁵ When he supplies you with the Spirit and works wonders among you, is it because you do what the Law commands, or because you believe the message you heard?

¹⁰ For there is a curse upon all who rely on obedience to the Law, for the Scripture says, "Cursed be anyone who does not stand by everything that is written in the Book of the Law and obey it." ¹¹ That no one is accepted as upright by God for obeying the Law is evident because the upright will have life because of his faith, ¹² and the Law has nothing to do with faith; it teaches that it is the man who does these things that will find life by doing them. ¹³ Christ ransomed us from the Law's curse by taking our curse upon himself (for the Scripture says, "Cursed be anyone who is hung on a tree") ¹⁴ in order that the blessing given to Abraham might through Jesus Christ reach the heathen, so that through faith we might receive the promised Spirit.

¹⁹ Then what about the Law? It was a later addition, designed to produce transgressions, until the descendant to which the promise was made should come, and it was enacted by means of angels, through an intermediary;

²¹ Is the Law then contrary to God's promises? By no means. For if a law had been given that could have brought life, uprightness would really have come through law.

²¹ Tell me this, you who want to be subject to law: Will you not listen to the Law?

³ I insist again to any man who lets himself be circumcised, that he is under obligation to obey the whole Law. ⁴ You people who propose to be made upright by law have finished with Christ; you have lost your hold upon God's favor.

⁴ You people who propose to be made upright by law have finished with Christ; you have lost your hold upon God's favor.

⁶ For in union with Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor the want of it counts for anything, but only faith acting through love.

¹³ For you, brothers, have been called to freedom; only do not make your freedom an excuse for the physical, but in love be slaves to one another. ¹⁴ For the whole Law is summed up in one saying: "You must love your neighbor as you do yourself."

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.

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. ²² But what the Spirit produces is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. There is no law against such things!

⁶ so that we might praise the splendid blessing which he has given us through his beloved Son. ⁷ It is through union with him and through his blood that we have been delivered and our offenses forgiven, ⁸ in the abundance of his mercy which he has lavished upon us.

¹² to win praise for his glory, by having been the first to believe in Christ.

⁷ to show the incomparable wealth of his mercy throughout the ages to come by his goodness to us through Christ Jesus.

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,

¹⁰ so that the many-sided wisdom of God may now through the church be made known to the rulers and authorities in heaven,

²⁰ To him who by the exertion of his power within us can do unutterably more than all we ask or imagine, ²¹ be glory through the church and through Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever. Amen.

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.

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. ¹⁵ We must lovingly hold to the truth and grow up into perfect union with him who is the head—Christ himself. ¹⁶ For it is under his control that the whole system, adjusted and united by each ligament of its equipment, develops in proportion to the functioning of each particular part, and so builds itself up through love.

³ But immorality or any form of vice or greed must not be so much as mentioned among you; that would not be becoming in God's people. ⁴ There must be no indecency or foolish or scurrilous talk—all that is unbecoming. There should be thanksgiving instead. ⁵ For you may be sure that no one who is immoral, or greedy for gain (for that is idolatry) can have any share in the Kingdom of Christ and God. 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.

¹² For we have to struggle, not with enemies of flesh and blood, but with the hierarchies, the authorities, the master-spirits of this dark world, the spirit-forces of evil on high. ¹³ So you must take God's armor, so that when the evil day comes you will be able to make a stand, and when it is all over to hold your ground. ¹⁴ Stand your ground, then, with the belt of truth around your waist, and put on uprightness as your coat of mail, ¹⁵ and on your feet put the readiness the good news of peace brings. ¹⁶ Besides all these, take faith for your shield, for with it you will be able to put out all the flaming missiles of the evil one, ¹⁷ and take salvation for your helmet, and for your sword the Spirit, which is the voice of God. ¹⁸ Use every kind of prayer and entreaty, and at every opportunity pray in the Spirit. Be on the alert about it; devote yourselves constantly to prayer for all God's people

¹¹ and everyone should acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord, and thus glorify God the Father.

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. ²⁰ For I have no one like him who would take such a real interest in you. ²¹ For they are all looking out for their own interests, not for those of Jesus Christ. ²² But you know his character, and how like a son helping his father he has worked like a slave with me in preaching the good news.

²² But you know his character, and how like a son helping his father he has worked like a slave with me in preaching the good news.

²⁴ I trust the Lord to enable me to come to you myself before long.

⁶ as to my zeal, I was a persecutor of the church; and by the Law's standard of uprightness, no fault could be found with me.

¹⁸ For there are many who live, as I have often told you, and tell you now with tears, like enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹ They are doomed to destruction: their appetites are their god; they glory in their shame; they are absorbed in earthly matters.

¹³ I can do anything through him who gives me strength.

¹⁵ He is a likeness of the unseen God, born before any creature,

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

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.

⁶ So just as you once accepted the Christ, Jesus, as your Lord, you must live in vital union with him. 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. ⁹ For it is in him that all the fulness of God's nature lives embodied, ¹⁰ and in union with him you too are filled with it. He is the head of all your principalities and dominions. ¹¹ Through your relation to him you have received not a physical circumcision, but a circumcision effected by Christ, in stripping you of your material nature,

³ for we can never forget before our God and Father your energetic faith, your loving service, and your unwavering expectation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴ God has thought us fit to be intrusted with the good news, and so we tell it, making no effort to please men, but to please God, who tests our hearts.

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

⁸ but we who belong to the day must be composed, wearing faith and love for a coat of mail, and helmeted with the hope of salvation.

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.

⁸ Then the embodiment of disobedience will make his appearance, and the Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath of his mouth and annihilate him by his appearance and arrival.

¹⁶ May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and kindly given us unfailing encouragement and a well-founded hope,

¹⁵ Do not look upon him as an enemy but warn him as a brother.

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.

⁵ The aim of your instruction must be love that springs from a pure heart and from a good conscience and from a sincere faith.

¹¹ as set forth in the glorious good news of the blessed God with which I have been intrusted.

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,

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,

¹⁶ but God had mercy on me in order that in my case as the foremost, Christ Jesus might display his perfect patience, as an example to those who would later believe in him and find eternal life.

¹⁸ These are the instructions that I intrust to you, my son Timothy, and they are in accordance with the predictions made long ago about you. Fight the good fight with their aid, ¹⁹ keeping hold of faith and a good conscience. For some people have let that go and have had their faith ruined,

³ It is right to do this, and it pleases God our Savior,

⁷ and I was appointed a herald and apostle of it—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—to teach the heathen faith and truth.

¹ This is a trustworthy saying. Whoever aspires to the office of superintendent sets his heart on a fine work.

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."

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

⁴ For everything God has created is good, and nothing need be refused, provided it is accepted with thanksgiving,

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.

⁹ This is a trustworthy saying, entitled to the fullest acceptance. 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. ¹¹ This is what you must urge and teach.

¹⁴ Do not neglect the gift you have, that was given you with predictions of your work, when the elders laid their hands upon you.

⁷ Insist upon these points, so that people may be irreproachable.

¹⁵ For some widows have already turned aside to follow Satan.

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

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 ⁴ is a conceited, ignorant person, with a morbid craving for speculations and arguments which result only in envy, quarreling, abuse, base suspicions,

⁴ is a conceited, ignorant person, with a morbid craving for speculations and arguments which result only in envy, quarreling, abuse, base suspicions, ⁵ and mutual irritation between people of depraved minds, who are lost to the truth and think of religion only as a means of gain.

⁹ But men who want to get rich fall into temptations and snares and many foolish, harmful cravings, that plunge people into destruction and ruin. ¹⁰ For love of money is the root of all the evils, and in their eagerness to get rich, some men wander away from the faith and pierce themselves to the heart with many a pang. ¹¹ But you, man of God, must fly from these things. Strive for uprightness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. ¹² Enter the great contest of faith! Take hold of eternal life, to which God called you, when before many witnesses you made the great profession of faith. ¹³ Before God who maintains all life, and before Christ Jesus who in testifying before Pontius Pilate made his great profession, I charge you ¹⁴ to keep his command stainless and irreproachable until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ which will be brought about in his own time by the blessed, only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,

¹⁵ which will be brought about in his own time by the blessed, only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶ who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. ¹⁷ Charge the rich of this world not to be arrogant, nor to set their hopes on such an uncertain thing as riches, but on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

²⁰ Timothy, guard what has been intrusted to you. Keep away from the worldly, empty phrases and contradictions of what they falsely call knowledge,

²⁰ Timothy, guard what has been intrusted to you. Keep away from the worldly, empty phrases and contradictions of what they falsely call knowledge, ²¹ through professing which some people have made a failure of the faith. God bless you all.

²¹ through professing which some people have made a failure of the faith. God bless you all.

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. ³ I thank God, whom I, like my forefathers, worship with a clear conscience, when I remember you, as I constantly do, in my prayers.

⁵ of being reminded of your genuine faith, a faith that was seen first in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice; I am sure it is in you also.

¹⁰ which has now been revealed through the appearance of our Savior Christ Jesus. He has taken away the power of death and brought life and immortality to light through the good news, ¹¹ of which I have been appointed a herald, apostle and teacher.

¹¹ of which I have been appointed a herald, apostle and teacher.

¹³ As your example in wholesome instruction, keep before you what you learned from me, in the faith and love that come through union with Christ Jesus. ¹⁴ Guard that splendid trust through the holy Spirit that lives in our hearts.

¹ So you, my son, must find strength in the blessing that comes through Christ Jesus.

¹ So you, my son, must find strength in the blessing that comes through Christ Jesus. ² The things you learned from me before many witnesses you must commit to trustworthy men who will be capable of teaching others.

² The things you learned from me before many witnesses you must commit to trustworthy men who will be capable of teaching others. ³ Share my hardships like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴ Anyone who is in the army keeps from being involved in business affairs, so as to please the officer who enlisted him. ⁵ No one who competes in the games is awarded a crown unless he obeys the rules.

⁵ No one who competes in the games is awarded a crown unless he obeys the rules.

¹¹ How true those words are! "If we have died with him, we will live with him!

¹⁴ Remind men of these things. Charge them before God to avoid idle arguments which do no one any good and only bring destruction on those who listen to them.

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,

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.

¹⁸ who have missed the truth and say that the resurrection has taken place already, thus undermining people's faith.

²² Fly from the cravings of youth, and go in pursuit of uprightness, faith, love, and peace, in company with those who call upon the Lord with pure hearts. ²³ Avoid foolish, crude speculations; you know they only lead to quarrels, ²⁴ and a slave of the Lord must not quarrel, but treat everyone kindly; he must be persuasive and unresentful,

¹ Understand this, that in the last days there are going to be hard times. ² People will be selfish, avaricious, boastful, arrogant, abusive, undutiful, ungrateful, irreverent,

² People will be selfish, avaricious, boastful, arrogant, abusive, undutiful, ungrateful, irreverent, ³ unfeeling, irreconcilable, slanderous, with no self-control, brutal, with no love for what is good, ⁴ treacherous, reckless, conceited, caring more for pleasure than for God, ⁵ keeping up the forms of religion, but resisting its influence. Avoid such people. ⁶ They are the kind of men who make their way into people's houses and make captives of poor, weak women, loaded down with their sins and under the control of all sorts of impulses, ⁷ always ready to learn but never able to comprehend the truth.

¹ I charge you in the sight of God and Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom, ² preach the message; be at it in season and out of season; convince, reprove, exhort people, with perfect patience and willingness to teach. 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,

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 and they will turn from listening to the truth and wander off after fictions.

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

¹⁰ for Demas has deserted me for love of the present world, and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia.

¹⁴ Alexander, the metal-worker, did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he did. ¹⁵ You too must be on your guard against him, for he vehemently opposed my teaching.

¹⁷ But the Lord stood by me, and gave me strength, so that I might make a full presentation of the message and let all the heathen hear it. So I was saved from the jaws of the lion.

¹ Paul, a slave of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to arouse faith in those whom God has chosen, and the comprehension of religious truth,

³ and revealed at the proper time in his message, through the preaching with which I have been intrusted at the command of God our Savior, ⁴ to Titus, my true child in our common faith; God our Father and Christ Jesus our Savior bless you and give you peace.

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.

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.

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.

¹³ and that statement is true. Therefore correct them rigorously, to make them have a healthy faith, ¹⁴ and not study Jewish fictions or commands given by men who reject the truth. ¹⁵ To the pure everything is pure, but to the evil-minded and unbelieving nothing is pure, but their very minds and consciences are unclean. ¹⁶ They profess to know God, but they disown him by what they do; they are detestable, disobedient men, worthless for any good purpose.

¹ But you must teach people the things that properly belong to wholesome teaching. ² Teach the older men to be temperate, serious, and sensible—men of vigorous faith, love, and steadfastness.

¹⁰ or steal from them, but to show such perfect good faith as to do credit to the teaching about God our Savior, by everything they do.

¹³ while we wait for the fulfilment of our blessed hope in the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus.

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,

⁶ which he has poured out upon us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

⁸ This is a trustworthy teaching, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who believe in God may make it their business to do good. All this is right and beneficial to mankind. ⁹ But have nothing to do with foolish controversies, pedigrees, strife, and wrangles about the Law, for they are profitless and futile.

¹⁰ I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whose father I have become here in prison.

⁸ But of the Son he says, "God is your throne forever and ever! And a righteous scepter is the scepter of his kingdom! ⁹ You have loved right and hated wrong! That is why God, your God, has anointed you with exhilarating oil beyond all your comrades." ¹⁰ And "You, Lord, in the beginning founded the earth, And the sky is the work of your hands! ¹¹ They will perish, but you continue! And they will all wear out like a coat, ¹² And you will fold them up like a mantle, And change them as one changes his coat. But you are always the same, and your years will have no end!" ¹³ But to what angel did he ever say, 'Sit at my right hand, Until I make your enemies a footstool for you"?

¹⁴ For we are true partners with Christ if we really keep the conviction that we had at first unshaken to the very end.

¹⁶ So let us come with courage to God's throne of grace to receive his forgiveness and find him responsive when we need his help.

⁴ For it is impossible to arouse people to a fresh repentance when they have once for all come into the light and had a taste of the gift from heaven, and shared in the holy Spirit

⁴ For it is impossible to arouse people to a fresh repentance when they have once for all come into the light and had a taste of the gift from heaven, and shared in the holy Spirit ⁵ and felt the goodness of the word of God and the strong influences of the coming age,

⁵ and felt the goodness of the word of God and the strong influences of the coming age, ⁶ and yet have fallen back, for they crucify the Son of God on their own account, and hold him up to contempt.

⁶ and yet have fallen back, for they crucify the Son of God on their own account, and hold him up to contempt. ⁷ Ground that drinks in frequent showers and produces vegetation that is of use to those for whom it is cultivated receives God's blessing. ⁸ But if it yields thorns and thistles, it is thought worthless and almost cursed, and it will finally be burned.

²⁵ Therefore, he is able to save forever all who come to God through him, because he lives and intercedes for them forever.

¹⁴ how much more surely will the blood of the Christ, who with the eternal Spirit made himself an unblemished offering to God, purify our consciences from the old wrongdoing for the worship of the everliving God?

²² let us draw near to God in sincerity of heart and with perfect faith, with our hearts cleansed from the sense of sin, and our bodies washed with clean water.

²⁶ For if we choose to go on sinning after we have so fully learned the truth, there is no sacrifice left to be offered for our sins, ²⁷ but only the dreadful prospect of judgment and that blazing indignation which is to devour God's enemies. ²⁸ Anyone who breaks the Law of Moses is put to death without any show of pity, on the evidence of only two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much worse a punishment do you think will anyone deserve who tramples the Son of God underfoot, and treats as worthless the blood of the agreement by which he has been purified, and outrages God's spirit of mercy?

⁵ Faith caused Enoch to be taken up from the earth without experiencing death; he could not be found, because God had taken him up. For before he was taken up there is evidence that he pleased God, ⁶ but without faith it is impossible to please him; for whoever would approach God must have faith in his existence and in his willingness to reward those who try to find him.

²⁷ Faith made him leave Egypt, unafraid of the king's anger, for he persevered as though he saw him who is unseen.

³¹ Faith saved Rahab the prostitute from being destroyed with those who disobeyed God, because she had given a friendly welcome to the scouts.

¹⁶ some immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his very birthright for one single meal.

⁴ Marriage should be respected by everyone, and the marriage relation kept sacred, for vicious and immoral people God will punish.

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.

¹⁸ Pray for me, for I am sure I have a clear conscience, and I mean in every way to live an upright life.

⁸ Approach God, and he will approach you. Wash your hands, you sinners! Make your hearts pure, you doubters!

² whom God the Father has chosen and predestined by the consecration of the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ, and to be sprinkled with his blood; God bless you and give you perfect peace. ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has caused us to be born anew to a life of hope through Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead,

¹¹ trying to learn for what possible time the spirit of Christ within them in predicting the sufferings destined for Christ intended them and the glories that were to follow them. ¹² It was disclosed to them that they were serving not themselves but you in dealing with these things, which have now been told you by those who through the holy Spirit sent from heaven brought you the good news; things into which angels long to look!

²¹ for the sake of you who through him trust in God, who raised him from the dead and showed him honor; and so your faith and hope rest on God. ²² Now that by obeying the truth you have purified your souls for sincere love of the brotherhood, you must love one another intensely and heartily,

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,"

¹⁰ you who were once "no people" but are now "God's people"; once "unpitied" but now "pitied indeed."

¹⁵ but reverence Christ in your hearts as Lord, and always be ready to make your defense to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that you have. But do so gently and respectfully, ¹⁶ and keep your conscience clear, so that those who abuse your upright Christian conduct may be made ashamed of their slanders.

¹⁶ and keep your conscience clear, so that those who abuse your upright Christian conduct may be made ashamed of their slanders.

²⁰ who had once been disobedient, when in Noah's time God in his patience waited for the ark to be made ready, in which a few people, eight in all, were brought safely through the water. ²¹ Baptism, which corresponds to it, now saves you also (not as the mere removing of physical stain, but as the craving for a conscience right with God)—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

⁸ Above all keep your love for one another strong, because love covers up a host of sins.

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

¹¹ His be the dominion forever. Amen.

¹ Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the uprightness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have been given a faith as privileged as ours;

⁷ piety with a spirit of brotherhood, and the spirit of brotherhood with love.

¹⁶ For they were no fictitious stories that we followed when we informed you of the power of our Lord Jesus Christ and of his coming, but we had been eye-witnesses of his majesty.

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.

¹² These men, like unreasoning animals, mere creatures of instinct created to be caught and killed, abuse what they do not understand and will be destroyed like animals,

¹² These men, like unreasoning animals, mere creatures of instinct created to be caught and killed, abuse what they do not understand and will be destroyed like animals, ¹³ suffering wrong as the reward for their wrongdoing. They find pleasure in the indulgence of the moment; they are a stain and a disgrace, and they revel in their deceit while they join in your religious meals. ¹⁴ They have eyes for nobody but adulterous women—eyes insatiable in sin. They lure unsteadfast souls. Their hearts are trained in greed. They are accursed! ¹⁵ They have left the straight path and gone astray. They have followed the path of Balaam, the son of Beor, who set his heart on dishonest gain, ¹⁶ but he was rebuked for his offense; a dumb animal spoke with a human voice and checked the prophet's madness. ¹⁷ Such men are dried-up springs, clouds driven before the storm, and they are doomed to utter darkness. ¹⁸ They utter arrogant nonsense and use physical cravings to lure into immorality men who are just escaping from among those who live in error; ¹⁹ promising them freedom when they are themselves slaves of destruction; for a man is the slave of whatever overcomes him. ²⁰ For if after men have escaped the corrupting influences of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they again become entangled in them and are overcome by them, their final condition is worse than their former one. ²¹ For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of uprightness than after knowing it to have turned their backs upon the sacred command with which they had been intrusted. ²² What has happened to them shows the truth of the proverb, "A dog returns to what he has vomited up, and a sow that has washed goes back to wallow in the mire."

⁹ The Lord is not slow about his promise, in the sense that some men think; he is really showing his patience with you, because he does not want any to perish, but wishes all men to be brought to repentance.

¹⁵ Look upon our Lord's patience as salvation, just as our dear brother Paul, with the wisdom that God gave him, wrote you to do,

¹⁸ You must grow in the blessing and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Glory to him now and forever.

¹⁹ They have gone out from our number, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had, they would have stayed with us. It was to make it clear that none of them really belonged to us that they withdrew.

³ And everyone who possesses this hope in him tries to make himself as pure as he is.

⁵ You know that he appeared to take our sins away, and that there is no sin in him.

⁸ Whoever commits sin is a child of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. This is why the Son of God appeared—to undo the devil's work.

²³ His command is this—that we are to believe in his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he has commanded us to do.

⁷ Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God, and everyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. ⁸ Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹ God's love for us has been revealed in this way—that God has sent his only Son into the world, to let us have life through him.

⁹ God's love for us has been revealed in this way—that God has sent his only Son into the world, to let us have life through him. ¹⁰ The love consists not in our having loved God, but in his loving us and sending his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

¹⁰ The love consists not in our having loved God, but in his loving us and sending his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

¹⁰ The love consists not in our having loved God, but in his loving us and sending his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ Dear friends, if God has loved us so, we ought to love one another. 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.

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. ¹³ This is the way we know that we keep in union with him and he does with us—because he has given us some of his Spirit. ¹⁴ We have seen and can testify that the Father has sent the Son to be Savior of the world.

¹⁴ We have seen and can testify that the Father has sent the Son to be Savior of the world.

¹¹ And that testimony is that God has given us eternal life, and that this life is found in his Son.

¹¹ And that testimony is that God has given us eternal life, and that this life is found in his Son. ¹² Whoever has the Son has life; whoever has not the Son has not life.

⁷ For many impostors have gone out into the world—men who do not acknowledge the coming of Jesus Christ in human form. That is the mark of the impostor and the Antichrist.

⁹ Anyone who goes too far and does not keep to the teaching of Christ has not God. It is the man who holds to the teaching who has both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰ If anyone comes to you without bringing this teaching, do not let him come into the house or bid him good morning.

⁷ just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns which like them indulged in immorality and unnatural vice stand as a warning, in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.

¹⁰ But these people deride anything they do not understand, and the things they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, they use for their own destruction. ¹¹ Alas for them, for they follow Cain's path, they plunge into Balaam's error for gain, and they perish in rebelliousness like Korah's. ¹² They are stains on your religious meals, where they carouse together, boldly attending to no one but themselves; rainless clouds driven before the wind; leafless trees without fruit, doubly dead, and uprooted; ¹³ wild sea waves foaming up their own shame; wandering stars doomed forever to utter darkness.

²⁵ to the one God our Savior be glory, majesty, power, and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord now and forever and ever. Amen.

¹ "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: " 'He who holds the seven stars in his right hand and goes about among the seven gold lampstands speaks thus: ² I know what you have done; your hard work and your endurance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, and that you have tested those who claimed to be apostles when they were not, and have found them to be impostors.

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.

²⁰ But I hold it against you that you tolerate that Jezebel of a woman who claims to be inspired and who is misleading my slaves and teaching them to practice immorality and to eat meat that has been sacrificed to idols.

³ So remember what you received and heard, and obey it, and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I am coming upon you.

⁸ I know what you are doing. See! I have put before you an open door that no one can close. I know that you have little strength, but you have obeyed my message and you have not disowned my name.

¹⁰ Because you have kept in mind the message of what I endured, I also will keep you safe in the time of testing that is going to come upon the whole world, to test the inhabitants of the earth.

¹⁹ I reprove and discipline all whom I love. So be earnest and repent.

⁸ The four animals have each of them six wings, and they are covered with eyes all over and underneath their wings. And day and night they never cease to say, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and is and is coming." ⁹ And whenever the animals offer glory, honor, and thanksgiving to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne, and worship him who lives forever and ever, and they throw down their crowns before the throne, and say, ¹¹ "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory, honor, and power, for you created all things; by your will they existed and were created."

⁹ Then they sang a new song: "You deserve to take the roll and open its seals, for you have been slaughtered, and with your blood have bought for God men from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation,

⁹ Then they sang a new song: "You deserve to take the roll and open its seals, for you have been slaughtered, and with your blood have bought for God men from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation, ¹⁰ and have made them a kingdom of priests for our God, and they are to reign over the earth." ¹¹ Then in my vision I heard the voices of many angels surrounding the throne, the animals, and the elders, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, ¹² saying in a loud voice, "The Lamb that was slaughtered deserves to receive power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing." ¹³ Then I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, underneath the earth, and on the sea, and all that they contain, say, "Blessing, honor, glory, and power to him who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever!" ¹⁴ The four animals said, "Amen!" And the elders fell down and worshiped.

¹⁰ and they cried in a loud voice, "Our deliverance is the work of our God who is seated on the throne, and of the Lamb!" 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!"

¹² saying, "Amen! Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen!"

¹ Then I stood on the sand of the seashore, and I saw an animal come up out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads, and with ten diadems on its horns, and blasphemous titles on its heads.

⁵ It was allowed to utter great boasts and blasphemies, and to exert authority for forty-two months. ⁶ It opened its mouth in blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling-place, that is, those who live in heaven.

³ and they were singing the song of Moses, the slave of God, and the song of the Lamb: "Great and marvelous are your doings, Lord God Almighty! Upright and true are your ways, King of the Ages!

¹⁴ They will make war upon the Lamb, and the Lamb with his elect, chosen, and faithful followers with him will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings.

¹³ and cinnamon, spices, incense, perfume, frankincense, wine, olive oil, flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, carriages, slaves—and human lives!

¹ After that I heard what sounded like the loud shout of a great multitude in heaven saying, "Praise the Lord! Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God,

⁶ Then I heard what sounded like the shout of a great multitude and the noise of many waters and the sound of mighty thunders, saying, "Praise the Lord; for the Lord our God, the Almighty now reigns!

¹⁶ On his clothing and his thigh he has this title written: King of kings and Lord of lords.

⁵ Then he who sat upon the throne said, "See! I am making everything new! Write this," he said, "for these words are trustworthy and true.

⁸ But the cowardly, unfaithful, and polluted—murderers, immoral people, those who practice magic or idolatry, and all liars will find themselves in the burning lake of fire and brimstone. This is the second death."

²⁷ Nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who indulges in abominable practices and falsehoods, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

⁶ "These words are trustworthy and true," he said to me; "For the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his slaves what must happen very soon.

¹⁵ The dogs, those who practice magic or immorality, murderers, idolaters, and anyone who loves falsehood or tells lies will be shut out of it.

²¹ The blessing of the Lord Jesus Christ be with his people.