2 Corinthians 2 Cross References - MSB

¹ So I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you. ² For if I grieve you, who is left to cheer me but those whom I have grieved? ³ I wrote to you as I did so that on my arrival I would not be saddened by those who ought to make me rejoice. I had confidence in all of you, that you would share my joy. ⁴ For through many tears I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart, not to grieve you but to let you know how much I love you. ⁵ Now if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me but all of you—to some degree, not to overstate it. ⁶ The punishment imposed on him by the majority is sufficient for him. ⁷ So instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. ⁸ Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him. ⁹ My purpose in writing you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. ¹⁰ If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And if I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven it in the presence of Christ for your sake, ¹¹ in order that Satan should not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes. ¹² Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and a door stood open for me in the Lord, ¹³ I had no peace in my spirit, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia. ¹⁴ But thanks be to God, who always leads us triumphantly as captives in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. ¹⁵ For we are to God the sweet aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. ¹⁶ To the one, we are an odor of death and demise; to the other, a fragrance that brings life. And who is qualified for such a task? ¹⁷ For we are not like others, who peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as men sent from God.

²⁹ So the disciples, each according to his ability, decided to send relief to the brothers living in Judea.

² Therefore after engaging these men in sharp debate, Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.

³⁷ Barnabas wanted to take John called Mark.

² For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

²¹ Which do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and with a gentle spirit?

³ Although I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, and I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present.

¹⁵ Confident of this, I planned to visit you first, so that you might receive a double blessing. ¹⁶ I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to return to you from Macedonia, and then to have you help me on my way to Judea. ¹⁷ When I planned this, did I do it carelessly? Or do I make my plans by human standards, so as to say “Yes, yes” when I really mean “No, no”?

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

⁴ For through many tears I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart, not to grieve you but to let you know how much I love you.

⁵ For when we arrived in Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were pressed from every direction—conflicts on the outside, fears within. ⁶ But God, who comforts the downcast, 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, your mourning, and your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced all the more. ⁸ Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Although I did regret it, I now see that my letter caused you sorrow, but only for a short time.

²⁰ For I am afraid that when I come, I may not find you as I wish, and you may not find me as you wish. I fear that there may be quarrels, jealousy, rage, rivalry, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder. ²¹ I am afraid that when I come again, my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of their acts of impurity, sexual immorality, and debauchery.

¹⁰ This is why I write these things while absent, so that when I am present I will not need to be severe in my use of the authority that the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down.

¹² As soon as I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, make every effort to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there.

¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.

²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

¹⁴ as you have already understood us in part, so that you may boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus.

⁸ Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Although I did regret it, I now see that my letter caused you sorrow, but only for a short time.

²⁹ Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not burn with grief?

²¹ Which do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and with a gentle spirit?

¹⁵ Confident of this, I planned to visit you first, so that you might receive a double blessing.

⁶ But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the arrival of Titus,

¹² So even though I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did wrong or the one who was harmed, but rather that your earnestness on our behalf would be made clear to you in the sight of God.

²² And we are sending along with them our brother whose earnestness has been proven many times and in many ways, and now even more so by his great confidence in you.

¹¹ I have become a fool in my boasting, but you drove me to it. In fact, you should have commended me, since I am in no way inferior to those “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing.

²¹ I am afraid that when I come again, my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of their acts of impurity, sexual immorality, and debauchery.

¹⁰ I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is troubling you will bear the judgment, whoever he may be.

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

²¹ Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.

¹⁷ You must not harbor hatred against your brother in your heart. Directly rebuke your neighbor, so that you will not incur guilt on account of him. ¹⁸ Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

¹³⁶ My eyes shed streams of tears because Your law is not obeyed.

⁵ Better an open rebuke than love that is concealed. ⁶ The wounds of a friend are faithful, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

¹⁵ Listen and give heed. Do not be arrogant, for the LORD has spoken. ¹⁶ Give glory to the LORD your God before He brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the dusky mountains. You wait for light, but He turns it into deep gloom and thick darkness. ¹⁷ But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.

⁴¹ As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it ⁴² and said, “If only you had known, even you, at least on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes. ⁴³ For the days will come upon you when your enemies will barricade you and surround you and hem you in on every side. ⁴⁴ They will level you to the ground—you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”

² I have deep sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³ For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my own flesh and blood,

⁸ Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Although I did regret it, I now see that my letter caused you sorrow, but only for a short time. ⁹ And now I rejoice, not because you were made sorrowful, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you felt the sorrow that God had intended, and so were not harmed in any way by us.

² I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. For I promised you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

¹⁵ And for the sake of your souls, I will most gladly spend my money and myself. If I love you more, will you love me less?

¹⁸ For as I have often told you before, and now say again even with tears: Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.

²⁵ A foolish son brings grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him.

¹ It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not even named among pagans: A man has his father’s wife. ² And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been stricken with grief and have removed from your fellowship the man who did this? ³ Although I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, and I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present. ⁴ When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and I am with you in spirit, along with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁵ hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the Day of the Lord Jesus.

¹² What business of mine is it to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? ¹³ God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.”

¹² I beg you, brothers, become like me, for I became like you. You have done me no wrong.

¹¹ Consider what this godly sorrow of yours has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what vindication! In every way you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.

²⁰ Those who persist in sin should be rebuked in front of everyone, so that the others will stand in fear of sin.

¹⁹ I am among the peaceable and faithful in Israel, but you are trying to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up the LORD’s inheritance?” ²⁰ “Far be it!” Joab declared. “Far be it from me to swallow up or destroy!

⁹ You will place them in a fiery furnace at the time of Your appearing. In His wrath the LORD will engulf them, and the fire will consume them.

¹ For the choirmaster. To the tune of “A Dove on Distant Oaks.” A Miktam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath. Be merciful to me, O God, for men are hounding me; all day they press their attack. ² My enemies pursue me all day long, for many proudly assail me.

³ He reaches down from heaven and saves me; He rebukes those who trample me. Selah God sends forth His loving devotion and His truth.

³ when their anger flared against us, then they would have swallowed us alive,

¹² let us swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole like those descending into the Pit.

²² A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.

⁷ These also stagger from wine and stumble from strong drink: Priests and prophets reel from strong drink and are befuddled by wine. They stumble because of strong drink, muddled in their visions and stumbling in their judgments.

⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come to pass: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

⁴ So while we are in this tent, we groan under our burdens, because we do not wish to be unclothed but clothed, so that our mortality may be swallowed up by life.

¹⁰ Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

¹ Brothers, if someone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him with a spirit of gentleness. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. ² Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

³² Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave us.

²⁷ He was sick indeed, nearly unto death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow.

¹³ Bear with one another and forgive any complaint you may have against someone else. Forgive as Christ forgave you.

¹³ Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope.

⁶ Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who leads an undisciplined life that is not in keeping with the tradition you received from us.

¹⁴ Take note of anyone who does not obey the instructions we have given in this letter. Do not associate with him, so that he may be ashamed. ¹⁵ Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

¹² Therefore strengthen your limp hands and weak knees. ¹³ Make straight paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather 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 falls short of the grace of God, and that no root of bitterness springs up to cause trouble and defile many.

¹³ For you, brothers, were called to freedom; but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another in love.

¹⁰ Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to the family of faith.

²² And indeed, have mercy on some, making a distinction; ²³ save others with fear by snatching them from the fire, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh.

⁴ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test whether or not they will follow My instructions.

² Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments.

¹⁶ He fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers had not known, in order to humble you and test you, so that in the end He might cause you to prosper.

³ you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. For the LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

¹² So even though I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did wrong or the one who was harmed, but rather that your earnestness on our behalf would be made clear to you in the sight of God. ¹³ On account of this, we are encouraged. In addition to our own encouragement, we were even more delighted by the joy of Titus. For his spirit has been refreshed by all of you. ¹⁴ Indeed, I was not embarrassed by anything I had boasted to him about you. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting to Titus has proved to be true as well. ¹⁵ And his affection for you is even greater when he remembers that you were all obedient as you welcomed him with fear and trembling.

²⁴ In full view of the churches, then, show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our boasting about you.

⁶ And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, as soon as your obedience is complete.

¹² Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

²² But you know Timothy’s proven worth, that as a child with his father he has served with me to advance the gospel.

¹⁴ Take note of anyone who does not obey the instructions we have given in this letter. Do not associate with him, so that he may be ashamed.

¹⁸ Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

²³ If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.”

⁴ When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and I am with you in spirit, along with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,

²⁰ Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God.

¹ Then Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. ² So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan and bring me a report, so that I may know their number.”

¹¹ But stretch out Your hand and strike all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”

³ Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil. He still retains his integrity, even though you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.”

⁵ But stretch out Your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”

⁹ Then Job’s wife said to him, “Do you still retain your integrity? Curse God and die!”

¹ Then the angel showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, with Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. ² And the LORD said to Satan: “The LORD rebukes you, Satan! Indeed, the LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you! Is not this man a firebrand snatched from the fire?” ³ Now Joshua was dressed in filthy garments as he stood before the angel. ⁴ So the angel said to those standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes!” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have removed your iniquity, and I will clothe you with splendid robes.”

¹⁰ “Get behind Me, Satan!” Jesus declared. “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”

³¹ And the Lord said “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat.

² The evening meal was underway, and the devil had already put into the heart of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.

²⁵ to receive a portion in this ministry and apostleship, which Judas abandoned to go to his rightful place.”

⁵ Do not deprive each other, except by mutual consent and for a time, so you may devote yourselves to fasting and to prayer. Then come together again, so that Satan will not tempt you through your lack of self-control.

⁴ The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

³ I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from the simplicity that is in Christ.

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

¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

²⁵ He must gently reprove those who oppose him, in the hope that God may grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth.

⁸ Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

²⁴ But I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned the so-called deep things of Satan: I will place no further burden upon you.

⁹ And the great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. ¹⁰ And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down—he who accuses them day and night before our God. ¹¹ They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives so as to shy away from death.

⁸ And all who dwell on the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written from the foundation of the world in the Book of Life belonging to the Lamb who was slain.

²⁷ When they arrived, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them, and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

⁸ So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.

¹ When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples. And he said goodbye to them and left for Macedonia. ² After traveling through that area and speaking many words of encouragement, he arrived in Greece, ³ where he stayed three months. And when the Jews formed a plot against him as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go back through Macedonia. ⁴ Paul was accompanied into the province of Asia by Sopater from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. ⁵ These men went on ahead and waited for us in Troas. ⁶ And after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, we sailed from Philippi, and five days later we rejoined them in Troas, where we stayed seven days.

⁸ Now there were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered.

¹ Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, and set apart for the gospel of God—

⁹ because a great door for effective work has opened to me, even though many oppose me.

³ as you pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.

⁷ To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the One who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut (except Him who opens) and no one can open. ⁸ I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door, which no one can shut. For you have only a little strength, yet you have kept My word and have not denied My name.

¹ When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples. And he said goodbye to them and left for Macedonia. ² After traveling through that area and speaking many words of encouragement, he arrived in Greece,

⁵ For when we arrived in Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were pressed from every direction—conflicts on the outside, fears within. ⁶ But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the arrival of Titus,

¹³ On account of this, we are encouraged. In addition to our own encouragement, we were even more delighted by the joy of Titus. For his spirit has been refreshed by all of you.

⁶ So we urged Titus to help complete your act of grace, just as he had started it.

¹⁶ But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same devotion I have for you.

²³ As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you. As for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, to the glory of Christ.

¹⁸ I urged Titus to visit you, and I sent our brother with him. Did Titus exploit you in any way? Did we not walk in the same Spirit and follow in the same footsteps?

¹ Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, accompanied by Barnabas. I took Titus along also.

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

¹⁰ because Demas, in his love of this world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia.

⁴ To Titus, my true child in our common faith: Grace, mercy, (and) peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.

⁴⁷ Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to Your holy name, that we may glory in Your praise.

¹⁴ He has raised up a horn for His people, the praise of all His saints, of Israel, a people near to Him. Hallelujah!

³ The fragrance of your perfume is pleasing; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens adore you.

¹⁷ But thanks be to God that, though you once were slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were committed.

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

¹⁹ by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.

³⁷ And what you sow is not the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or something else.

¹¹ as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on your behalf for the favor shown us in answer to their prayers.

¹⁵ For we are to God the sweet aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. ¹⁶ To the one, we are an odor of death and demise; to the other, a fragrance that brings life. And who is qualified for such a task?

¹⁵ Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

² and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.

²⁰ always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁸ I have all I need and more, now that I have received your gifts from Epaphroditus. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.

⁶ that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood the grace of God.

²³ if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope of the gospel you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

¹⁵ And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

⁹ How can we adequately thank God for you in return for our great joy over you in His presence?

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

²¹ When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, He said in His heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from his youth. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done.

¹⁸ Then burn the entire ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to the LORD, a pleasing aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD.

²⁵ Then take them from their hands and burn them on the altar atop the burnt offering as a pleasing aroma before the LORD; it is an offering made by fire to the LORD.

⁵ And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, that Israel might be gathered to Him—for I am honored in the sight of the LORD, and My God is My strength— ⁶ He says: “It is not enough for You to be My Servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the protected ones of Israel. I will also make You a light for the nations, to bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.”

⁴¹ When I bring you from the peoples and gather you from the lands to which you have been scattered, I will accept you as a pleasing aroma. And I will show My holiness through you in the sight of the nations.

¹⁸ For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

³ And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴ The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

¹⁰ and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them.

³⁴ Then Simeon blessed them and said to His mother Mary: “Behold, this Child is appointed to cause the rise and fall of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against,

³⁹ Then Jesus declared, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind may see and those who see may become blind.”

⁴⁵ But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and they blasphemously contradicted what Paul was saying. ⁴⁶ Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. ⁴⁷ For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”

²⁶ Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. ²⁷ For I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole will of God.

¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

⁵ Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God. ⁶ And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

⁷ To you who believe, then, this stone is precious. But to those who are disobedient, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” ⁸ and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed.

³¹ The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?

²⁷ They suppose the dreams that they tell one another will make My people forget My name, just as their fathers forgot My name through the worship of Baal. ²⁸ Let the prophet who has a dream retell it, but let him who has My word speak it truthfully. For what is straw compared to grain?” declares the LORD. ²⁹ “Is not My word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that smashes a rock?” ³⁰ “Therefore behold,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words they attribute to Me.” ³¹ “Yes,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and proclaim, ‘The LORD declares it.’” ³² “Indeed,” declares the LORD, “I am against those who prophesy false dreams and retell them to lead My people astray with their reckless lies. It was not I who sent them or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all to these people,” declares the LORD.

²⁴ For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders that would deceive even the elect, if that were possible.

²⁰ I did not shrink back from declaring anything that was helpful to you as I taught you publicly and from house to house,

²⁷ For I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole will of God.

⁸ Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old bread, leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and of truth.

¹² And this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in relation to you, in the integrity and sincerity that are from God—not in worldly wisdom, but in the grace of God.

² Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful ways. We do not practice deceit, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by open proclamation of the truth, we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

¹³ For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. ¹⁵ It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their actions.

¹⁹ holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and thereby shipwrecked their faith. ²⁰ Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.

¹ Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, ² influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron. ³ They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from certain foods that God has created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

⁶ The hardworking farmer should be the first to partake of the crops. ⁷ Consider what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all things. ⁸ Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David, as proclaimed by my gospel, ⁹ for which I suffer to the extent of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God cannot be chained! ¹⁰ For this reason I endure all things for the sake of the elect, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. ¹¹ This is a trustworthy saying: If we died with Him, we will also live with Him; ¹² if we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He will also deny us; ¹³ if we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself. ¹⁴ Remind the believers of these things, charging them before the Lord to avoid quarreling over words, which succeeds only in leading the listeners to ruin. ¹⁵ Make every effort to present yourself approved to God, an unashamed workman who accurately handles the word of truth. ¹⁶ But avoid irreverent, empty chatter, which will only lead to more ungodliness, ¹⁷ and the talk of such men will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸ who have deviated from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already occurred, and they undermine the faith of some.

³ For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. ⁴ So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

¹¹ who must be silenced. For the sake of dishonorable gain, they undermine entire households and teach things they should not.

²⁷ By faith Moses left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible.

¹ Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. ² Many will follow in their depravity, and because of them the way of truth will be defamed. ³ In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction will not sleep.

¹ Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.

⁷ For many deceivers have entered into the world, refusing to confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. ⁸ Watch yourselves, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be fully rewarded. ⁹ Anyone who transgresses without remaining in the teaching of Christ does not have God. Whoever remains in the teaching of Christ has both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰ If anyone comes to you but does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your home or even greet him. ¹¹ Whoever greets such a person shares in his evil deeds.

⁴ For certain men have crept in among you unnoticed—ungodly ones who were designated long ago for condemnation. They turn the grace of our God into a license for immorality, and they deny God our only Master and the Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁴ But I have a few things against you, because some of you hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block before the Israelites so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality. ¹⁵ In the same way, some of you also hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

²⁰ But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads My servants to be sexually immoral and to eat food sacrificed to idols.

⁹ And the great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

²⁰ But the beast was captured along with the false prophet, who on its behalf had performed signs deceiving those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. Both the beast and the false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.