2 Corinthians 2 Cross References - ISV

¹ Paul’s Painful VisitNow I decided not to pay you another painful visit. ² After all, if I were to grieve you, who should make me happy but the person I am making sad? ³ This is the very reason I wrote you, so that when I did come I might not be made sad by those who should have made me happy. For I had confidence that all of you would share the joy that I have. ⁴ I wrote to you out of great sorrow and anguish of heart—along with many tears—not to make you sad but to let you know how much love I have for you.
⁵ Forgive the Person who SinnedBut if anyone has caused grief, he didn’t cause me any grief. To some extent—I don’t want to emphasize this too much—it has affected all of you. ⁶ This punishment by the majority is severe enough for such a man. ⁷ So forgive and comfort him, or else he will drown in his excessive grief. ⁸ That’s why I’m urging you to assure him of your love. ⁹ I had also written to you to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in every way. ¹⁰ When you forgive someone, I do, too. Indeed, what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I did in the presence of the Messiah for your benefit, ¹¹ so that we may not be outsmarted by Satan. After all, we are not unaware of his intentions.
¹² Paul’s Anxiety and ReliefWhen I went to Troas on behalf of the gospel of the Messiah, the Lord opened a door for me, ¹³ but my spirit could not find any relief, because I couldn’t find Titus, my brother. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.
¹⁴ But thanks be to God! He always leads us triumphantly by the Messiah and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of knowing him. ¹⁵ To God we are the aroma of the Messiah among those who are being saved and among those who are being lost. ¹⁶ To some people we are a deadly fragrance, while to others we are a living fragrance. Who is qualified for this? ¹⁷ At least we are not commercializing God’s word like so many others. Instead, we speak with sincerity in the Messiah’s name, like people who are sent from God and are accountable to God.

²⁹ So all of the disciples decided they would send a contribution to the brothers living in Judea, as they were able,

² Paul and Barnabas had quite a dispute and argument with them. So Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to confer with the apostles and elders about this question.

³⁷ Barnabas wanted to take along John, who was called Mark,

² For while I was with you I resolved to know nothing except Jesus the Messiah, and him crucified.

²¹ Which do you prefer? Should I come to you with a stick, or with love and a gentle spirit?

³ Even though I am away from you physically, I am with you in spirit. I have already passed judgment on the man who did this, as though I were present with you.

¹⁵ Why Paul’s Visit Was PostponedBecause I was confident, I planned to come to you first so you might receive a double blessing. ¹⁶ I planned to leave you in order to go to Macedonia, and then come back to you from Macedonia, and let you send me on to Judea.
¹⁷ When I planned this, I did not do it lightly, did I? Are my plans so fickle that I can say “Yes” and “No” at the same time?

²³ I call upon God as a witness on my behalf that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth.

⁴ I wrote to you out of great sorrow and anguish of heart—along with many tears—not to make you sad but to let you know how much love I have for you.

⁵ For even when we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest. We suffered in a number of ways. Outwardly there were conflicts, inwardly there were fears. ⁶ Yet God, who comforts those who feel miserable, comforted us by the arrival of Titus, ⁷ and not only by his arrival but also by the comfort he had received from you. He told us about your longing for me, your sorrow, and your eagerness to take my side, and this made me even happier.
⁸ If I made you sad with my letter, I do not regret it, although I did regret it then. I see that the letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while.

²⁰ I am afraid that I may come and somehow find you not as I want to find you, and that you may find me not as you want to find me. Perhaps there will be quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorderly conduct. ²¹ I am afraid that when I come my God may again humble me before you and that I may have to grieve over many who formerly lived in sin and have not repented of their impurity, sexual immorality, and promiscuity that they once practiced.

¹⁰ For this reason I am writing this while I am away from you: When I come I do not want to be severe in using the authority the Lord gave me to build you up and not to tear you down.

¹² Final Instructions to TitusAs soon as I send Artemas to you, or perhaps Tychicus, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there.

¹⁵ Rejoice with those who are rejoicing. Cry with those who are crying.

²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is praised, every part rejoices with it.

¹⁴ just as you have already understood us partially, so that on the Day of our Lord Jesus we can be your reason to boast, even as you are ours.

⁸ If I made you sad with my letter, I do not regret it, although I did regret it then. I see that the letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while.

²⁹ Who is weak without me being weak, too? Who is caused to stumble without me becoming indignant?

²¹ Which do you prefer? Should I come to you with a stick, or with love and a gentle spirit?

¹⁵ Why Paul’s Visit Was PostponedBecause I was confident, I planned to come to you first so you might receive a double blessing.

⁶ Yet God, who comforts those who feel miserable, comforted us by the arrival of Titus,

¹² So, even though I wrote to you, it wasn’t because of the man who did the wrong or because of the man who was hurt. Instead, I wrote to you so that your devotion to us might be made perfectly clear to you before God.

²² We have also sent with them our brother whom we have often tested in many ways and found to be dedicated. At present he is more dedicated than ever because he has so much confidence in you.

¹¹ Concern for the CorinthiansI have become a fool. You forced me to be one. Really, I should have been commended by you, for I am not in any way inferior to your “super-apostles,” even if I am nothing.

²¹ I am afraid that when I come my God may again humble me before you and that I may have to grieve over many who formerly lived in sin and have not repented of their impurity, sexual immorality, and promiscuity that they once practiced.

¹⁰ I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view of this. However, the one who is troubling you will suffer God’s judgment, whoever he is.

⁴ We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do what we command.

²¹ Confident of your obedience, I am writing to you because I know that you will do even more than I ask.

¹⁷ “You are not to hate your relative in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor if you must, but you are not to incur guilt on account of him.
¹⁸ “You are not to seek vengeance or hold a grudge against the descendants of your people. Instead, love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.”

¹³⁶ My eyes shed rivers of tears, when others do not obey your instruction.

⁵ An open rebuke is better than unspoken love. ⁶ Wounds from someone who loves are trustworthy, but kisses from an enemy speak volumes.

¹⁵ Listen and pay attention! Don’t be proud, for the LORD has spoken. ¹⁶ Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the mountains at twilight. You hope for light, but he turns it into deep darkness. He changes it into heavy gloom. ¹⁷ If you don’t listen, I’ll cry secretly because of your pride. My eyes will cry bitterly, flowing tears, because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.

⁴¹ When he came closer and saw the city, he began to grieve over it: ⁴² “If you had only known today what could have brought you peace! But now it is hidden from your sight, ⁴³ because the days will come when your enemies will build walls around you, surround you, and close you in on every side. ⁴⁴ They will level you to the ground—you and those who live within your city limits. They will not leave one stone on another within your walls, because you didn’t recognize the time when you were visited.”

² I have deep sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart, ³ for I could wish that I myself were condemned and cut off from the Messiah for the sake of my brothers, my own people,

⁸ If I made you sad with my letter, I do not regret it, although I did regret it then. I see that the letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while. ⁹ Now I am happy, not because you had such sorrow, but because your sorrow led you to repent. For you were sorry in a godly way, and so you were not hurt by us in any way.

² I am jealous of you with God’s own jealousy, because I promised you in marriage to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to the Messiah.

¹⁵ I will be very glad to spend my money and myself for you. Do you love me less because I love you so much?

¹⁸ For I have often told you, and now tell you even with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of the Messiah.

²⁵ A foolish son brings grief to his father and bitterness to his mother.

¹ Disciplining for Sexual ImmoralityIt is actually reported that sexual immorality exists among you, and of a kind that is not found even among the gentiles. A man is actually living with his father’s wife! ² And you are being arrogant instead of being filled with grief and seeing to it that the man who did this is removed from among you. ³ Even though I am away from you physically, I am with you in spirit. I have already passed judgment on the man who did this, as though I were present with you. ⁴ In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are gathered together (and I am there in spirit), and the power of our Lord Jesus is there, too, ⁵ turn this man over to Satan for the destruction of his body, so that his spirit may be saved on the Day of the Lord.

¹² After all, is it my business to judge outsiders? You are to judge those who are in the community, aren’t you? ¹³ God will judge outsiders. “Expel that wicked man.”

¹² Paul’s Concern for the GalatiansI beg you, brothers, to become like me, since I became like you. You did not do anything wrong to me.

¹¹ See what great earnestness godly sorrow has produced in you! How ready you are to clear yourselves, how indignant, how alarmed, how full of longing and enthusiasm, how eager to seek justice! In every way you have demonstrated that you are innocent in this matter.

²⁰ As for those who keep on sinning, rebuke them in front of everyone so that the rest will also be afraid.

¹⁹ I’m one of the peaceful and faithful citizens of Israel. You’re trying to destroy a city that’s a mother in Israel. Why are you devouring the heritage of the LORD?”
²⁰ But Joab replied, “No way! No way! I’m not here to devour or destroy!

⁹ When you appear, you will set them ablaze like a fire furnace. In his wrath, the LORD will consume them, and the fire will devour them.

¹ To the Director: A special Davidic psalm to the tune of “A Silent Dove Far Away,” when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
A Prayer about Trust in God Have mercy on me, God, because men have harassed me. Those who oppress me have fought against me all day long. ² Those who watch me all day have harassed me, for there are many who fight against me out of conceit.

³ He will send help from heaven to deliver me from those who harass and despise me. Interlude God will send his gracious love and truth.

³ then they would have devoured us alive, when their anger burned against us.

¹² Let’s swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole like those who go down into the Pit.

²² A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit drains one’s strength.

⁷ These people also stagger from wine and reel from strong drink. Priests and prophets stagger from strong drink; they’re drunk from wine; they reel from strong drink, waver when seeing visions, and stumble when rendering decisions.

⁵⁴ Now, when what is decaying is clothed with what cannot decay, and what is dying is clothed with what cannot die, then the written word will be fulfilled: “Death has been swallowed up by victory!”

⁴ So while we are still in this tent, we sigh under our burdens, because we do not want to put it off but to put it on, so that our dying bodies may be swallowed up by life.

¹⁰ For having sorrow in a godly way results in repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regrets. But the sorrow of the world produces death.

¹ Help Each OtherBrothers, if a person is caught doing something wrong, those of you who are spiritual should restore that person gently. Watch out for yourself so that you are not tempted as well. ² Practice carrying each other’s burdens. In this way you will fulfill the law of the Messiah.

³² And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another just as God has forgiven you in the Messiah.

²⁷ Indeed, he was sick to the point of death, but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, so that I would not have one sorrow on top of another.

¹³ Be tolerant of one another and forgive each other if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, you also should forgive.

¹³ Comfort about Christians who Have DiedBut we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve like other people who have no hope.

⁶ In the name of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is living in idleness and not living according to the tradition that they received from us.

¹⁴ If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of him. Have nothing to do with him so that he will feel ashamed. ¹⁵ Yet, don’t treat him like an enemy, but warn him like a brother.

¹² Live as God’s PeopleTherefore, strengthen your tired arms and your weak knees, ¹³ and straighten the paths of your life, so that your lameness may not become worse, but instead may be healed.
¹⁴ Pursue peace with everyone, as well as holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. ¹⁵ See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up and causes you trouble, or many of you will become defiled.

¹³ For you, brothers, were called to freedom. Only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity to gratify your flesh, but through love make it your habit to serve one another.

¹⁰ So then, whenever we have the opportunity, let’s practice doing good to everyone, especially to the family of faith.

²² Show mercy to those who have doubts. ²³ Save others by snatching them from the fire. To others, show mercy with fear, hating even the clothes stained by their sinful lives.

⁴ The LORD told Moses, “Listen very carefully! I’ll cause food to rain down for you from heaven, and the people are to go out and gather each day’s portion on that day. In this way I’ll test them to demonstrate whether or not they’ll live according to my instructions.

² Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way these 40 years in the desert, to humble and test you in order to make known what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.

¹⁶ and fed you in the desert with manna that neither you nor your ancestors had known, to humble and test you so that things go well with you later.

³ you must not listen to the words of that prophet or that diviner of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to make known whether or not you’ll continue to love the LORD your God with all your heart and soul.

¹² So, even though I wrote to you, it wasn’t because of the man who did the wrong or because of the man who was hurt. Instead, I wrote to you so that your devotion to us might be made perfectly clear to you before God.
¹³ This is what comforted us. In addition to our own comfort, we were even more delighted at the joy of Titus, because his spirit had been set at rest by all of you. ¹⁴ For if I have been doing some boasting about you to him, I have never been ashamed of it. Moreover, since everything we told you was true, our boasting to Titus has also proved to be true. ¹⁵ His affection for you is even greater as he remembers how obedient all of you were and how you welcomed him with fear and trembling.

²⁴ Therefore, demonstrate to the churches that you love them and show them publicly why we boast about you.

⁶ Once your obedience is complete, we will be ready to reprimand every type of disobedience.

¹² Blameless LivingAnd so, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only when I was with you but even more now that I am absent, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

²² But you know his proven worth—how like a son with his father he served with me in the gospel.

¹⁴ If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of him. Have nothing to do with him so that he will feel ashamed.

¹⁸ “I tell all of you with certainty, whatever you prohibit on earth will have been prohibited in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will have been permitted in heaven.

²³ If you forgive people’s sins, they are forgiven. If you retain people’s sins, they are retained.”

⁴ In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are gathered together (and I am there in spirit), and the power of our Lord Jesus is there, too,

²⁰ Therefore, we are the Messiah’s representatives, as though God were pleading through us. We plead on the Messiah’s behalf: “Be reconciled to God!”

¹ David’s Unauthorized Census
Then Satan attacked Israel by inciting David to enumerate a census of Israel. ² David ordered Joab and the commanders of the army, “Go take a census of Israel from Beer-sheba to Dan, and bring me a report so I can be aware of the total number.”

¹¹ However, stretch out your hand and strike everything he owns, and he will curse you to your face.”

³ The LORD asked Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on earth. The man is blameless as well as upright. He fears God and keeps away from evil. He remains firm in his integrity, even though you have been urging me to overwhelm him without cause.”

⁵ However, stretch out your hand and strike his bones and flesh, and he’ll curse you to your face, won’t he?”

⁹ Job Refuses to Curse GodThen his wife told him, “Do you remain firm in your integrity? Curse God and die!”

¹ The Vision of the High PriestThen I saw Joshua the High Priest standing in the presence of the angel of the LORD, with Satan standing at his right to oppose him.
² The LORD told Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan—in fact, may the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! This man is a burning brand plucked from the fire, is he not?”
³ Now Joshua was wearing filthy clothes as he stood in the presence of the angel.
⁴ So the angel continued to tell those who were standing in his presence, “Remove his filthy clothes.”
And he told Joshua, “Look how I’ve removed your iniquity. Now I’m clothing you with fine garments.”

¹⁰ Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! Because it is written, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”

³¹ Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial
“Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has asked permission to sift all of you like wheat,

² By supper time, the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray him.

²⁵ to serve in this office of apostle, from which Judas left to go to his own place.”

⁵ Do not withhold yourselves from each other unless you agree to do so just for a set time, in order to devote yourselves to prayer. Then you should come together again so that Satan does not tempt you through your lack of self-control.

⁴ In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe to keep them from seeing the light of the glorious gospel of the Messiah, who is the image of God.

³ However, I am afraid that just as the serpent deceived Eve by its tricks, so your minds may somehow be lured away from sincere and pure devotion to the Messiah.

¹⁴ And no wonder, since Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the devil’s strategies. ¹² For our struggle is not against human opponents, but against rulers, authorities, cosmic powers in the darkness around us, and evil spiritual forces in the heavenly realm.

²⁵ and gentle when refuting opponents. After all, maybe God will allow them to repent and to come to a full knowledge of the truth,

⁸ Be clear-minded and alert. Your opponent, the devil, is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

²⁴ ‘But as for the rest of you in Thyatira—you who do not hold to this teaching and who have not learned what some people call the deep things of Satan—I won’t burden you with anything else.

⁹ The huge dragon was hurled down. That ancient serpent, called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world, was hurled down to the earth, along with its angels.
¹⁰ The Vision of the Cry of VictoryThen I heard a loud voice in heaven say, “Now the salvation, the power, the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah have come. For the one who accuses our brothers, who accuses them day and night in the presence of our God, has been thrown out. ¹¹ Our brothers conquered him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not cling to their lives even in the face of death.

⁸ All those who had become settled down and at home, living on the earth, will worship it, everyone whose name had not been written in the Book of Life belonging to the lamb that had been slaughtered since the foundation of the world.

²⁷ When they arrived, they called the church together and told them everything that God had done with them and how he had opened a door so that gentiles would believe.

⁸ so they bypassed Mysia and went down to Troas.

¹ Paul’s Trip to Macedonia and GreeceWhen the uproar was over, Paul sent for the disciples and encouraged them. Then he said goodbye to them and left to go to Macedonia. ² He went through those regions and encouraged the people with everything he had to say. Then he went to Greece ³ and stayed there for three months. When he was about to sail for Syria, a plot was initiated against him by the Jews, so he decided to go back through Macedonia. ⁴ He was accompanied by Sopater (the son of Pyrrhus) from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from Asia. ⁵ These men went on ahead and were waiting for us in Troas. ⁶ After the Festival of Unleavened Bread, we sailed from Philippi, and days later we joined them in Troas and stayed there for seven days.

⁸ Now there were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting.

¹ Greetings from PaulFrom: Paul, a servant of Jesus the Messiah, called to be an apostle and set apart for God’s gospel,

⁹ because a door has opened wide for me to do effective work, although many people are opposing me.

³ At the same time also pray for us—that God would open before us a door for the word so that we may tell the secret about the Messiah, for which I have been imprisoned.

⁷ The Letter to the Church in Philadelphia“To the messenger of the church in Philadelphia, write: ‘The one who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens a door that no one can shut, and who shuts a door that no one can open, ‘says this:
⁸ ‘I know what you’ve been doing. Look! I have put in front of you an open door that no one can shut. You have only a little strength, but you have obeyed my word and have not denied my name.

¹ Paul’s Trip to Macedonia and GreeceWhen the uproar was over, Paul sent for the disciples and encouraged them. Then he said goodbye to them and left to go to Macedonia. ² He went through those regions and encouraged the people with everything he had to say. Then he went to Greece

⁵ For even when we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest. We suffered in a number of ways. Outwardly there were conflicts, inwardly there were fears. ⁶ Yet God, who comforts those who feel miserable, comforted us by the arrival of Titus,

¹³ This is what comforted us. In addition to our own comfort, we were even more delighted at the joy of Titus, because his spirit had been set at rest by all of you.

⁶ So we urged Titus to finish this work of kindness among you in the same way that he had started it.

¹⁶ Titus and His CompanionsBut thanks be to God, who placed in the heart of Titus the same dedication to you that I have.

²³ As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker on your behalf. Our brothers, emissaries from the churches, are bringing glory to the Messiah.

¹⁸ I encouraged Titus to visit you, and I sent along with him the brother you know so well. Titus didn’t take advantage of you, did he? We conducted ourselves with the same spirit, didn’t we? We took the very same steps, didn’t we?

¹ How Paul Was Accepted by the Apostles in JerusalemThen fourteen years later, I again went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus with me.

³ But not even Titus, who was with me, was forced to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek.

¹⁰ because Demas, having fallen in love with this present world, has abandoned me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia.

⁴ To: Titus, a genuine child in the faith that we share.
May grace and peace from God the Father and the Messiah, Jesus our Savior, be yours!

⁴⁷ Deliver us, LORD our God, gather us from among the nations so we may praise your holy name and rejoice in praising you.

¹⁴ He has raised up a source of strength for his people, an object of praise for all of his holy ones, that is, for the people of Israel who are near him. Hallelujah!

³ The fragrance of your perfumed oil is wonderful. Your name is perfume poured out. Therefore the young women love you.

¹⁷ But thank God that, though you were once slaves of sin, you became obedient from your hearts to that form of teaching with which you were entrusted!

³⁷ In all these things we are triumphantly victorious due to the one who loved us.

¹⁹ by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of God’s Spirit, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of the Messiah from Jerusalem as far as Illyricum.

³⁷ and what you plant is not the form that it will be, but a bare kernel, whether it is wheat or something else.

¹¹ as you also help us by your prayers for us. Then many people will thank God on our behalf because of the favor shown us through the prayers of many.

¹⁵ To God we are the aroma of the Messiah among those who are being saved and among those who are being lost. ¹⁶ To some people we are a deadly fragrance, while to others we are a living fragrance. Who is qualified for this?

¹⁵ Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

² Live lovingly, just as the Messiah also loved us and gave himself for us as an offering and sacrifice, a fragrant aroma to God.

²⁰ you will consistently give thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah;

¹⁸ I have been paid in full and have more than enough. I am fully supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus what you sent—a fragrant aroma, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.

⁶ that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and spreading all over the world, so it has been doing among you from the day you heard it and came to know the grace of God in truth.

²³ However, you must remain firmly established and steadfast in the faith, without being moved from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

¹⁵ And when he had disarmed the rulers and the authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in the cross.

⁹ How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we have in God’s presence because of you?

¹² saying, “Amen! Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power, and strength be to our God forever and ever! Amen!”

²¹ When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, he told himself, “I will never again curse the land because of human beings—even though human inclinations remain evil from youth—nor will I destroy every living being ever again, as I’ve done.

¹⁸ and send up the whole ram in smoke on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the LORD; it’s a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the LORD.

²⁵ Then you are to take them from their hands and send them up in smoke on the altar on top of the burnt offering for a soothing aroma in the LORD’s presence. It is an offering by fire to the LORD.

⁵ “And now, says the LORD, who formed you from the womb as his servant to bring Jacob back to him so that Israel might be gathered to him— and I am honored in the LORD’s sight and my God has been my help— ⁶ he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Israel and bring back those of Jacob I have preserved. I’ll also make you as a light to the nations, to be my salvation to the ends of the earth.

⁴¹ “When I will have brought you from among the people and have gathered you from the lands where you were scattered, I’ll accept you as a pleasing aroma. I’ll reveal my holiness among you, and the entire world will see it.

¹⁸ The Messiah is God’s Power and WisdomFor the message about the cross is nonsense to those who are being destroyed, but it is God’s power to us who are being saved.

³ So if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are dying. ⁴ In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe to keep them from seeing the light of the glorious gospel of the Messiah, who is the image of God.

¹⁰ and every type of evil to deceive those who are dying, those who refused to love the truth that would save them.

³⁴ Then Simeon blessed them and told Mary, his mother, “This infant is destined to cause many in Israel to fall and rise. Also, he will be a sign that will be opposed.

³⁹ Then Jesus said, “I have come into this world to judge it, so that those who are blind may see and so that those who see may become blind.”

⁴⁵ But when the Jewish leaders saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to object to the statements made by Paul and even to abuse him.
⁴⁶ Then Paul and Barnabas boldly declared, “We had to speak God’s word to you first, but since you reject it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we are now going to turn to the gentiles. ⁴⁷ For that is what the Lord ordered us to do: ‘I have made you a light to the gentiles to be the means of salvation to the very ends of the earth.’”

²⁶ I therefore declare to you today that I’m not responsible for the blood of any of you, ²⁷ because I never shrank from telling you the whole plan of God.

¹⁰ But by God’s grace I am what I am, and his grace shown to me was not wasted. Instead, I worked harder than all the others—not I, of course, but God’s grace that was with me.

⁵ By ourselves we are not qualified to claim that anything comes from us. Rather, our credentials come from God, ⁶ who has also qualified us to be ministers of a new covenant, which is not written but spiritual, because the written text brings death, but the Spirit gives life.

⁷ Therefore he is precious to you who believe, but to those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, ⁸ a stone they stumble over and a rock they trip on.”They keep on stumbling because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

³¹ The prophets prophesy falsely, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?”

²⁷ With their dreams that they relate to one another, they plan to make my people forget my name just as their ancestors forgot my name by embracing Baal. ²⁸ Let the prophet who has a dream relate the dream, but let whoever receives my message speak my message truthfully. What does straw have in common with wheat?” declares the LORD. ²⁹ “My message is like fire or like a hammer that shatters rock, is it not?” declares the LORD.
³⁰ “Therefore, look, I’m against the prophets,” declares the LORD, “who steal my words from each other. ³¹ Look, I’m against the prophets,” declares the LORD, “who use their tongues to issue a declaration. ³² Look, I’m against those who prophesy based on false dreams,” declares the LORD, “and relate them and lead my people astray with their lies and their recklessness. I didn’t send them; I didn’t command them, and they provide no benefit at all to these people,” declares the LORD.

²⁴ because false messiahs and false prophets will appear and display great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

²⁰ I never shrank from telling you anything that would help you nor from teaching you publicly and from house to house.

²⁷ because I never shrank from telling you the whole plan of God.

⁸ So let’s keep celebrating the festival, neither with old yeast nor with yeast that is evil and wicked, but with yeast-free bread that is both sincere and true.

¹² Paul’s Reason for BoastingFor this is what we boast about: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world with pure motives and godly sincerity, without earthly wisdom but with God’s grace—especially toward you.

² Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful ways. We do not use trickery or pervert God’s word. By clear statements of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience before God.

¹³ Such people are false apostles, dishonest workers who are masquerading as apostles of the Messiah. ¹⁴ And no wonder, since Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. ¹⁵ So it is not surprising if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their doom will match their deeds!

¹⁹ with faith and a good conscience. By ignoring their consciences, some people have destroyed their faith like a wrecked ship. ²⁰ These include Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I handed over to Satan so that they may learn not to blaspheme.

¹ A Prophecy about the FutureNow the Spirit says clearly that in the last times some people will abandon the faith by following deceitful spirits, the teachings of demons, ² and the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences have been burned by a hot iron. ³ They will try to stop people from marrying and from eating certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

⁶ Furthermore, it is the hard working farmer who should have the first share of the crops. ⁷ Think about what I am saying. The Lord will help you to understand all these things.
⁸ Meditate on Jesus, the Messiah, who was raised from the dead and is a descendant of David. This is the gospel I tell others. ⁹ Because of it I am experiencing trouble, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. However, God’s word is not chained. ¹⁰ For that reason, I endure everything for the sake of those who have been chosen so that they, too, may receive the salvation that is in the Messiah Jesus, along with eternal glory. ¹¹ This saying is trustworthy: In dying with the Messiah, true life we gain. ¹² Enduring, we with him will reign. Who him denies, he will disclaim. ¹³ Our faith may fail, his never wanes— That’s who he is, he cannot change!
¹⁴ Remind others about these things, and warn them before God not to argue over words. Arguing does not do any good but only destroys those who are listening. ¹⁵ Do your best to present yourself to God as an approved worker who has nothing to be ashamed of, handling the word of truth with precision. ¹⁶ However, avoid pointless discussions. For people will become more and more ungodly, ¹⁷ and what they say will spread everywhere like gangrene. Hymenaeus and Philetus are like that. ¹⁸ They have abandoned the truth by claiming that the resurrection has already taken place, and so they destroy the faith of others.

³ For the time will come when people will not tolerate healthy doctrine, but with itching ears will surround themselves with teachers who cater to their people’s own desires. ⁴ They will refuse to listen to the truth and will turn to myths.

¹¹ They must be silenced, because they are the kind of people who ruin whole families by teaching what they should not teach in order to make money in a shameful way.

²⁷ By faith he left Egypt, without being afraid of the king’s anger, and he persevered because he saw the one who is invisible.

¹ Warning against False TeachersNow there were false prophets among the people, just as there also will be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves. ² Many people will follow their immoral ways, and because of them the way of truth will be maligned. ³ In their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. The ancient verdict against them is still in force, and their destruction is not delayed.

¹ Test What People SayDear friends, stop believing every spirit. Instead, test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

⁷ Reject False TeachersFor many deceivers have gone out into the world. They refuse to acknowledge Jesus the Messiah as having become human. Any such person is a deceiver and an antichrist. ⁸ See to it that you don’t destroy what we have worked for, but that you receive your full reward. ⁹ Everyone who does not remain true to the teaching of the Messiah, but goes beyond it, does not have God. The person who remains true to the teaching of the Messiah has both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰ If anyone comes to you but does not present his teachings, do not receive him into your house or even welcome him, ¹¹ because the one who welcomes him shares in his evil deeds.

⁴ For some people have slipped in among you unnoticed. They were written about long ago as being deserving of this condemnation because they are ungodly. They turn the grace of our God into uncontrollable lust and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus the Messiah.

¹⁴ But I have a few things against you: You have there some who hold to the teaching of Balaam, the one who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the people of Israel so that they would eat food sacrificed to idols and practice immorality. ¹⁵ You also have some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

²⁰ But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet and who teaches and leads my servants to practice immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.

⁹ The huge dragon was hurled down. That ancient serpent, called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world, was hurled down to the earth, along with its angels.

²⁰ The beast was captured, along with the false prophet who had performed signs on its behalf. By these signs the false prophet had deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and worshipped its image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.