Jude Cross References - WNT

¹ Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James: To those who are in God the Father, enfolded in His love, and kept for Jesus Christ, and called. ² May mercy, peace and love be abundantly granted to you. ³ Dear friends, since I am eager to begin a letter to you on the subject of our common salvation, I find myself constrained to write and cheer you on to the vigorous defense of the faith delivered once for all to God's people. ⁴ For certain persons have crept in unnoticed--men spoken of in ancient writings as pre-destined to this condemnation--ungodly men, who pervert the grace of our God into an excuse for immorality, and disown Jesus Christ, our only Sovereign and Lord. ⁵ I desire to remind you--although the whole matter is already familiar to you--that the Lord saved a people out of the land of Egypt, but afterwards destroyed those who had no faith. ⁶ And angels--those who did not keep the position originally assigned to them, but deserted their own proper abode--He reserves in everlasting bonds, in darkness, in preparation for the judgement of the great day. ⁷ So also Sodom and Gomorrah--and the neighboring towns in the same manner--having been guilty of gross fornication and having gone astray in pursuit of unnatural vice, are now before us as a specimen of the fire of the Ages in the punishment which they are undergoing. ⁸ Yet in just the same way these dreamers also pollute the body, while they set authority at naught and speak evil of dignities. ⁹ But Michael the Archangel, when contending with the Devil and arguing with him about the body of Moses, did not dare to pronounce judgement on him in abusive terms, but simply said, "The Lord rebuke you." ¹⁰ Yet these men are abusive in matters of which they know nothing, and in things which, like the brutes, they understand instinctively--in all these they corrupt themselves. ¹¹ Alas for them; for they have followed in the steps of Cain; for the sake of gain they have rushed on headlong in the evil ways of Balaam; and have perished in rebellion like that of Korah! ¹² These men--sunken rocks! --are those who share the pleasure of your love-feasts, unrestrained by fear while caring only for themselves; clouds without water, driven away by the winds; trees that cast their fruit, barren, doubly dead, uprooted; ¹³ wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, for whom is reserved dense darkness of age-long duration. ¹⁴ It was also about these that Enoch, who belonged to the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, "The Lord has come, attended by myriads of His people, to execute judgement upon all, ¹⁵ and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly deeds which in their ungodliness they have committed, and of all the hard words which they, ungodly sinners as they are, have spoken against Him." ¹⁶ These men are murmurers, ever bemoaning their lot. Their lives are guided by their evil passions, and their mouths are full of big, boastful words, while they treat individual men with admiring reverence for the sake of the advantage they can gain. ¹⁷ But as for you, my dearly-loved friends, remember the words that before now were spoken by the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ-- ¹⁸ how they declared to you, "In the last times there shall be scoffers, obeying only their own ungodly passions." ¹⁹ These are those who cause divisions. They are men of the world, wholly unspiritual. ²⁰ But you, my dearly-loved friends, building yourselves up on the basis of your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ must keep yourselves safe in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ which will result in the Life of the Ages. ²² Some, when they argue with you, you must endeavor to convince; ²³ others you must try to save, as brands plucked from the flames; and on others look with pity mingled with fear, while you hate every trace of their sin. ²⁴ But to Him who is able to keep you safe from stumbling, and cause you to stand in the presence of His glory free from blemish and full of exultant joy-- ²⁵ to the only God our Saviour--through Jesus Christ our Lord, be ascribed glory, majesty, might, and authority, as it was before all time, is now, and shall be to all the Ages! Amen.

³ Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax-gatherer, James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;

¹⁸ Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananaean,

¹⁶ James's relative Judas, and Judas Iscariot who proved to be a traitor.

³⁹ And this is the will of Him who sent me, that of all that He has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it to life on the last day.

²⁸ I give them the Life of the Ages, and they shall never, never perish, nor shall any one wrest them from my hand. ²⁹ What my Father has given me is more precious than all besides; and no one is able to wrest anything from my Father's hand. ³⁰ I and the Father are one."

²⁶ If a man wishes to be my servant, let him follow me; and where I am, there too shall my servant be. If a man wishes to be my servant, the Father will honour him.

²² Judas (not the Iscariot) asked, "Master, how is it that you will reveal yourself clearly to us and not to the world?"

¹⁶ It is not you who chose me, but it is I who chose you and appointed you that you might go and be fruitful and that your fruit might remain; so that whatever petition you present to the Father in my name He may give you.

¹¹ I am now no longer in the world, but they are in the world and I am coming to Thee. "Holy Father, keep them true to Thy name--the name which Thou hast given me to bear--that they may be one, even as we are. ¹² While I was with them, I kept them true to Thy name--the name Thou hast given me to bear--and I kept watch over them, and not one of them is lost but only he who is doomed to destruction--that the Scripture may be fulfilled.

¹⁵ I do not ask that Thou wilt remove them out of the world, but that Thou wilt protect them from the Evil one.

¹⁷ Make them holy in the truth: Thy Message is truth.

¹⁹ and on their behalf I consecrate myself, in order that they may become perfectly consecrated in truth.

¹³ They entered the city, and they went up to the upper room which was now their fixed place for meeting. Their names were Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the brother of James.

³² "And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace. He is able to build you up and to give you your inheritance among His people.

²³ For there stood by my side, last night, an angel of the God to whom I belong, and whom also I worship,

¹ Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an Apostle, set apart to proclaim God's Good News,

²² But now that you have been set free from the tyranny of Sin, and have become the bondservants of God, you have your reward in being made holy, and you have the Life of the Ages as the final result.

³⁰ and those whom He has pre-destined He also has called; and those whom He has called He has also declared free from guilt; and those whom He has declared free from guilt He has also crowned with glory.

²⁴ even towards us whom He has called not only from among the Jews but also from among the Gentiles?

¹⁸ For men of that stamp are not bondservants of Christ our Lord, but are slaves to their own appetites; and by their plausible words and their flattery they utterly deceive the minds of the simple.

² To the Church of God in Corinth, men and women consecrated in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all in every place who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ-- their Lord as well as ours.

¹¹ And all this describes what some of you were. But now you have had every stain washed off: now you have been set apart as holy: now you have been pronounced free from guilt; in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and through the Spirit of our God.

²⁶ in order to make her holy, cleansing her with the baptismal water by the word,

¹² and imploring you to live lives worthy of fellowship with God who is inviting you to share His own Kingship and glory.

²³ And may God Himself who gives peace, make you entirely holy; and may your spirits, souls and bodies be preserved complete and be found blameless at the Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹³ And from us thanks are always due to God on your behalf--brethren whom the Lord loves--because God from the beginning has chosen you for salvation through the Spirit's sanctifying influence and your belief in the truth. ¹⁴ To this blessing God has called you by our Good News, so that you may have a share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁹ For He saved us and called us with a holy call, not in accordance with our desserts, but in accordance with His own purpose and the free grace which He bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before the commencement of the Ages,

¹⁸ The Lord will deliver me from every cruel attack and will keep me safe in preparation for His heavenly Kingdom. To Him be the glory until the Ages of the Ages! Amen.

¹ Therefore, holy brethren, sharers with others in a heavenly invitation, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest whose followers we profess to be.

¹ James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ: to the twelve tribes who are scattered over the world. All good wishes. ² chosen in accordance with the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, with a view to their obedience and to their being sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ. May more and more grace and peace be granted to you.

⁵ whom God in His power is guarding through faith for a salvation that even now stands ready for unveiling at the End of the Age.

⁹ But you are a chosen race, a priesthood of kingly lineage, a holy nation, a people belonging specially to God, that you may make known the perfections of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.

¹⁰ And God, the giver of all grace, who has called you to share His eternal glory, through Christ, after you have suffered for a short time, will Himself make you perfect, firm, and strong.

¹ Simon Peter, a bondservant and Apostle of Jesus Christ: To those to whom there has been allotted the same precious faith as that which is ours through the righteousness of our God and of our Saviour Jesus Christ.

⁷ To all God's loved ones who are in Rome, called to be saints. May grace and peace be granted to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

² May more and more grace and peace be granted to you in a full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,

⁴ John sends greetings to the seven Churches in the province of Asia. May grace be granted to you, and peace, from Him who is and was and evermore will be; and from the seven Spirits which are before His throne; ⁵ and from Jesus Christ, the truthful witness, the first of the dead to be born to Life, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins with His own blood, ⁶ and has formed us into a Kingdom, to be priests to God, His Father--to Him be ascribed the glory and the power until the Ages of the Ages. Amen.

¹² And in no other is the great salvation to be found; for, in fact, there is no second name under Heaven that has been given among men through which we are to be saved."

⁸ And Stephen, full of grace and power, performed great marvels and signs among the people. ⁹ But some members of the so-called 'Synagogue of the Freed-men,' together with some Cyrenaeans, Alexandrians, Cilicians and men from Roman Asia, were roused to encounter Stephen in debate. ¹⁰ They were quite unable, however, to resist the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.

²² Saul, however, gained more and more influence, and as for the Jews living in Damascus, he bewildered them with his proofs that Jesus is the Christ.

⁴⁶ Then, throwing off all reserve, Paul and Barnabas said, "We were bound to proclaim God's Message to you first. But since you spurn it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of the Life of the Ages--well, we turn to the Gentiles. ⁴⁷ For such is the Lord's command to us. "'I HAVE PLACED THEE,' He says of Christ, 'AS A LIGHT TO THE GENTILES, IN ORDER THAT THOU MAYEST BE A SAVIOUR AS FAR AS THE REMOTEST PARTS OF THE EARTH.'"

³ which he clearly explained, pointing out that it had been necessary for the Christ to suffer and rise again from the dead, and insisting, "The Jesus whom I am announcing to you is the Christ."

⁴ But, Sabbath after Sabbath, he preached in the synagogue and tried to win over both Jews and Greeks. ⁵ Now at the time when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was preaching fervently and was solemnly telling the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. ⁶ But upon their opposing him with abusive language, he shook his clothes by way of protest, and said to them, "Your ruin will be upon your own heads. I am not responsible: in future I will go among the Gentiles."

²⁸ for he powerfully and in public overcame the Jews in argument, proving to them from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.

²⁷ For I have not shrunk from declaring to you God's whole truth.

²⁸ "Be fully assured, therefore, that this salvation--God's salvation--has now been sent to the Gentiles, and that they, at any rate, will give heed."

¹⁵ But I write to you the more boldly--partly as reminding you of what you already know--because of the authority graciously entrusted to me by God, ¹⁶ that I should be a minister of Christ Jesus among the Gentiles, doing priestly duties in connexion with God's Good News so that the sacrifice--namely the Gentiles--may be acceptable to Him, being (as it is) an offering which the Holy Spirit has made holy.

³ For I repeated to you the all-important fact which also I had been taught, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures;

⁵ But not for an hour did we give way and submit to them; in order that the Good News might continue with you in its integrity.

²⁸ In Him the distinctions between Jew and Gentile, slave and free man, male and female, disappear; you are all one in Christ Jesus.

¹¹ See in what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand.

¹ Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God: To God's people who are in Ephesus--believers in Christ Jesus.

¹ Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Christ Jesus: To all God's people in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the ministers of the Church and their assistants.

²⁷ Only let the lives you live be worthy of the Good News of the Christ, in order that, whether I come and see you or, being absent, only hear of you, I may know that you are standing fast in one spirit and with one mind, fighting shoulder to shoulder for the faith of the Good News.

² To the people of God and the believing brethren at Colossae who are in Christ. May grace and peace be granted to you from God our Father.

² But, as you will remember, after we had already met with suffering and outrage at Philippi, we summoned up boldness, by the help of our God, to tell you God's Good News amid much opposition.

¹⁸ This is the charge which I entrust to you, my son Timothy, in accordance with the inspired instructions concerning you which were given me long ago, that being equipped with them as your armour you may be continually fighting the good fight,

¹² Exert all your strength in the honourable struggle for the faith; lay hold of the Life of the Ages, to which you were called, when you made your noble profession of faith before many witnesses.

¹³ Provide yourself with an outline of the sound teaching which you have heard from my lips, and be true to the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

⁷ I have gone through the glorious contest; I have run the race; I have guarded the faith. ⁸ From this time onward there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who love the thought of His Appearing.

⁴ To Titus my own true child in our common faith. May grace and peace be granted to you from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Saviour.

²² Bear with me, brethren, when I thus exhort you; for, in fact, it is but a short letter that I have written to you.

¹² I send this short letter by Silas, our faithful brother--for such I regard him--in order to encourage you, and to bear witness that what I have told you is the true grace of God. In it stand fast.

¹² For this reason I shall always persist in reminding you of these things, although you know them and are stedfast believers in truth which you already possess. ¹³ But I think it right, so long as I remain in the body, my present dwelling-place, to arouse you by such reminders. ¹⁴ For I know that the time for me to lay aside my body is now rapidly drawing near, even as our Lord Jesus Christ has revealed to me. ¹⁵ So on every possible occasion I will also do my best to enable you to recall these things after my departure.

¹ This letter which I am now writing to you, dear friends, is my second letter. In both my letters I seek to revive in your honest minds the memory of certain things, ² so that you may recall the words spoken long ago by the holy Prophets, and the commandments of our Lord and Saviour given you through your Apostles.

¹⁷ But as for you, my dearly-loved friends, remember the words that before now were spoken by the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ--

²⁰ But you, my dearly-loved friends, building yourselves up on the basis of your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,

¹⁰ Dismiss your fears concerning all that you are about to suffer. I tell you that the Devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be put to the test, and for ten days you will have to endure persecution. Be faithful to the End, even if you have to die, and then I will give you the victor's Wreath of Life.

¹¹ But they have gained the victory over him because of the blood of the Lamb and of the testimony which they have borne, and because they held their lives cheap and did not shrink even from death.

²⁵ but during the night his enemy comes, and over the first seed he sows darnel among the wheat, and goes away.

³ And in this consists the Life of the Ages--in knowing Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.

²³ On getting there he was delighted to see the grace which God had bestowed; and he encouraged them all to remain, with fixed resolve, faithful to the Lord.

²⁴ As we have been informed that certain persons who have gone out from among us have disturbed you by their teaching and have unsettled your minds, without having received any such instructions from us;

¹ To what conclusion, then, shall we come? Are we to persist in sinning in order that the grace extended to us may be the greater? ² No, indeed; how shall we who have died to sin, live in it any longer?

²¹ Or has not the potter rightful power over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel for more honourable and another for less honourable uses? ²² And what if God, while choosing to make manifest the terrors of His anger and to show what is possible with Him, has yet borne with long-forbearing patience with the subjects of His anger who stand ready for destruction,

⁴ Yet there was danger of this through the false brethren secretly introduced into the Church, who had stolen in to spy out the freedom which is ours in Christ Jesus, in order to rob us of it.

¹³ You however, brethren, were called to freedom. Only do not turn your freedom into an excuse for giving way to your lower natures; but become bondservants to one another in a spirit of love.

¹⁴ So we shall no longer be babes nor shall we resemble mariners tossed on the waves and carried about with every changing wind of doctrine according to men's cleverness and unscrupulous cunning, making use of every shifting device to mislead.

¹⁵ For, as its appointed time, this will be brought about by the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶ who alone possesses immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, and whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be eternal honour and power! Amen.

⁶ Among them are included the men who make their way into private houses and carry off weak women as their prisoners--women who, weighed down by the burden of their sins, are led by ever-changing caprice,

¹⁵ To the pure everything is pure; but to the polluted and unbelieving nothing is pure, but on the contrary their very minds and consciences are polluted. ¹⁶ They profess to know God; but in their actions they disown Him, and are detestable and disobedient men, and for any good work are utterly useless.

¹¹ For the grace of God has displayed itself with healing power to all mankind, ¹² training us to renounce ungodliness and all the pleasures of this world, and to live sober, upright, and pious lives at the present time,

¹⁵ Be carefully on your guard lest there be any one who falls back from the grace of God; lest any root bearing bitter fruit spring up and cause trouble among you, and through it the whole brotherhood be defiled; ¹⁶ lest there be a fornicator, or an ungodly person like Esau, who, in return for a single meal, parted with the birthright which belonged to him.

⁸ and "A STONE FOR THE FOOT TO STRIKE AGAINST, AND A ROCK TO STUMBLE OVER." Their foot strikes against it because they are disobedient to God's Message, and to this they were appointed.

¹⁶ Be free men, and yet do not make your freedom an excuse for base conduct, but be God's bondservants.

¹⁸ And if it is difficult even for a righteous man to be saved, what will become of irreligious men and sinners?

¹ But there were also false prophets among the people, as there will be teachers of falsehood among you also, who will cunningly introduce fatal divisions, disowning even the Sovereign Lord who has redeemed them, and bringing on themselves swift destruction. ² And in their immoral ways they will have many eager disciples, through whom religion will be brought into disrepute. ³ Thirsting for riches, they will trade on you with their canting talk. From of old their judgement has been working itself out, and their destruction has not been slumbering.

⁵ And He did not spare the ancient world, although He preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a deluge on the world of the ungodly. ⁶ He reduced to ashes the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and condemned them to overthrow, making them an example to people who might in future be living godless lives.

¹⁰ and especially those who are abandoned to sensuality--craving, as they do, for polluted things, and scorning control. Fool-hardy and self-willed, they do not tremble when speaking evil of glorious beings;

¹⁸ For, while they pour out their frivolous and arrogant talk, they use earthly cravings--every kind of immorality--as a bait to entrap men who are just escaping from the influence of those who live in error. ¹⁹ And they promise them freedom, although they are themselves the slaves of what is corrupt. For a man is the slave of any one by whom he has been worsted in fight. ²⁰ For if, after escaping from the pollutions of the world through a full knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, people are once more entangled in these pollutions and are overcome, their last state has become worse than their first. ²¹ For it would have been better for them not to have fully known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandments in which they were instructed. ²² Their case is that described in the true proverb, "A DOG RETURNS TO WHAT HE HAS VOMITED," and also in the other proverb, "The sow has washed itself and now goes back to roll in its filth."

⁷ But the present heavens and the present earth are, by the command of the same God, kept stored up, reserved for fire in preparation for a day of judgement and of destruction for the ungodly.

²² Who is a liar compared with him who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He who disowns the Father and the Son is the anti-Christ.

¹⁵ and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly deeds which in their ungodliness they have committed, and of all the hard words which they, ungodly sinners as they are, have spoken against Him."

⁴ Who shall not be afraid, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? For Thou alone art holy. All nations shall come and shall worship Thee, because the righteousness of all that Thou hast done has been made manifest."

¹⁵ But I write to you the more boldly--partly as reminding you of what you already know--because of the authority graciously entrusted to me by God,

¹ For I would have you remember, brethren, how our forefathers were all of them sheltered by the cloud, and all got safely through the Red Sea. ² All were baptized in the cloud and in the sea to be followers of Moses. ³ All ate the same spiritual food, ⁴ and all drank the same spiritual drink; for they long drank the water that flowed from the spiritual rock that went with them--and that rock was the Christ. ⁵ But with most of them God was not well pleased; for they were laid low in the Desert. ⁶ And in this they became a warning to us, to teach us not to be eager, as they were eager, in pursuit of what is evil. ⁷ And you must not be worshippers of idols, as some of them were. For it is written, "THE PEOPLE SAT DOWN TO EAT AND DRINK, AND STOOD UP TO DANCE." ⁸ Nor may we be fornicators, like some of them who committed fornication and on a single day 23,000 of them fell dead. ⁹ And do not let us test the Lord too far, as some of them tested Him and were destroyed by the serpents. ¹⁰ And do not be discontented, as some of them were, and they were destroyed by the Destroyer. ¹¹ All this kept happening to them with a figurative meaning; but it was put on record by way of admonition to us upon whom the ends of the Ages have come. ¹² So then let him who thinks he is standing securely beware of falling.

¹⁶ For who were they that heard, and yet provoked God? Was it not the whole of the people who had come out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses?

¹² For this reason I shall always persist in reminding you of these things, although you know them and are stedfast believers in truth which you already possess. ¹³ But I think it right, so long as I remain in the body, my present dwelling-place, to arouse you by such reminders.

¹ This letter which I am now writing to you, dear friends, is my second letter. In both my letters I seek to revive in your honest minds the memory of certain things,

²⁹ They cried aloud, "What hast Thou to do with us, Thou Son of God? Hast Thou come here to torment us before the time?"

⁴¹ "Then will He say to those at His left, "'Begone from me, with the curse resting upon you, into the Fire of the Ages, which has been prepared for the Devil and his angels.

⁴⁴ The father whose sons you are is the Devil; and you desire to do what gives him pleasure. *He* was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand firm in the truth--for there is no truth in him. Whenever he utters his lie, he utters it out of his own store; for he is a liar, and the father of lies.

¹² For ours is not a conflict with mere flesh and blood, but with the despotisms, the empires, the forces that control and govern this dark world--the spiritual hosts of evil arrayed against us in the heavenly warfare.

²⁷ There remains nothing but a certain awful expectation of judgement, and the fury of a fire which before long will devour the enemies of the truth.

⁴ For God did not spare angels when they had sinned, but hurling them down to Tartarus consigned them to caves of darkness, keeping them in readiness for judgement.

⁹ Since all this is so, the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from temptation, and on the other hand how to keep the unrighteous under punishment in readiness for the Day of Judgement,

¹⁰ and the Devil, who had been leading them astray, was thrown into the Lake of fire and sulphur where the Wild Beast and the false Prophet were, and day and night they will suffer torture until the Ages of the Ages.

²⁴ Only I tell you all, that it will be more endurable for the land of Sodom on the day of Judgement than for thee."

⁴³ If your hand should cause you to sin, cut it off: it would be better for you to enter into Life maimed, than remain in possession of both your hands and go away into Gehenna, into the fire which cannot be put out. ⁴⁴ OMITTED TEXT ⁴⁵ Or if your foot should cause you to sin, cut it off: it would be better for you to enter into Life crippled, than remain in possession of both your feet and be thrown into Gehenna. ⁴⁶ OMITTED TEXT ⁴⁷ Or if your eye should cause you to sin, tear it out. It would be better for you to enter into the Kingdom of God half-blind than remain in possession of two eyes and be thrown into Gehenna, ⁴⁸ where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE AND THE FIRE DOES NOT GO OUT. ⁴⁹ Every one, however, will be salted with fire.

²⁹ but on the day that Lot left Sodom, God rained fire and brimstone from the sky and destroyed them all.

²⁶ This then is the reason why God gave them up to vile passions. For not only did the women among them exchange the natural use of their bodies for one which is contrary to nature, but the men also, ²⁷ in just the same way--neglecting that for which nature intends women--burned with passion towards one another, men practising shameful vice with men, and receiving in their own selves the reward which necessarily followed their misconduct.

⁹ Do you not know that unrighteous men will not inherit God's Kingdom? Cherish no delusion here. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor any who are guilty of unnatural crime,

⁶ He reduced to ashes the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and condemned them to overthrow, making them an example to people who might in future be living godless lives.

¹⁴ "Now his countrymen hated him, and sent a deputation after him to say, 'We are not willing that he should become our king.'

²⁷ "But the man who was doing the wrong resented his interference, and asked, "'Who appointed you magistrate and judge over us?

³⁹ "Our forefathers, however, would not submit to him, but spurned his authority and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.

⁵ "I did not know, brethren," replied Paul, "that he was the High Priest; for it is written, 'THOU SHALT NOT SPEAK EVIL OF A RULER OF THY PEOPLE.'"

¹⁷ If any one is marring the Sanctuary of God, him will God mar; for the Sanctuary of God is holy, which you all are.

⁸ Therefore a defiant spirit in such a case provokes not man but God, who puts His Holy Spirit into your hearts.

¹⁰ fornicators, sodomites, slave-dealers, liars and false witnesses; and for whatever else is opposed to wholesome teaching

¹⁷ Obey your leaders and be submissive to them. For they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give account; that they may do this with joy and not with lamentation. For that would be of no advantage to you.

¹⁷ Honour every one. Love the brotherhood, fear God, honour the Emperor.

¹⁰ and especially those who are abandoned to sensuality--craving, as they do, for polluted things, and scorning control. Fool-hardy and self-willed, they do not tremble when speaking evil of glorious beings; ¹¹ while angels, though greater than they in might and power, do not bring any insulting accusation against such in the presence of the Lord. ¹² But these men, like brute beasts, created (with their natural instincts) only to be captured or destroyed, are abusive in matters of which they are ignorant, and in their corruption will perish,

⁹ But Michael the Archangel, when contending with the Devil and arguing with him about the body of Moses, did not dare to pronounce judgement on him in abusive terms, but simply said, "The Lord rebuke you." ¹⁰ Yet these men are abusive in matters of which they know nothing, and in things which, like the brutes, they understand instinctively--in all these they corrupt themselves.

²⁹ And all the passers-by reviled Him. They shook their heads at Him and said, "Ah! you who were for destroying the Sanctuary and building a new one in three days,

³⁹ Now one of the criminals who had been crucified insulted Him, saying, "Are not you the Christ? Save yourself and us." ⁴⁰ But the other, answering, reproved him. "Do you also not fear God," he said, "when you are actually suffering the same punishment?

¹⁶ For the Lord Himself will come down from Heaven with a loud word of command, and with an archangel's voice and the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

⁹ not requiting evil with evil nor abuse with abuse, but, on the contrary, giving a blessing in return, because a blessing is what you have been called by God to inherit.

¹¹ while angels, though greater than they in might and power, do not bring any insulting accusation against such in the presence of the Lord.

⁷ And war broke out in Heaven, Michael and his angels engaging in battle with the Dragon.

²¹ For when they had come to know God, they did not give Him glory as God nor render Him thanks, but they became absorbed in useless discussions, and their senseless minds were darkened. ²² While boasting of their wisdom they became utter fools,

¹² But these men, like brute beasts, created (with their natural instincts) only to be captured or destroyed, are abusive in matters of which they are ignorant, and in their corruption will perish,

²¹ "Alas for thee, Chorazin!" He cried. "Alas for thee, Bethsaida! For had the mighty works been done in Tyre and Sidon which have been done in both of you, they would long ere now have repented, covered with sackcloth and ashes.

¹³ "But alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you lock the door of the Kingdom of the Heavens against men; you yourselves do not enter, nor do you allow those to enter who are seeking to do so. ¹⁴ OMITTED TEXT ¹⁵ "Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you scour sea and land in order to win one convert--and when he is gained, you make him twice as much a son of Gehenna as yourselves. ¹⁶ "Alas for you, you blind guides, who say, "'Whoever swears by the Sanctuary it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the Sanctuary, is bound by the oath.'

⁴² "But alas for you Pharisees! for you pay tithes on your mint and rue and every kind of garden vegetable, and are indifferent to justice and the love of God. These are the things you ought to have attended to, while not neglecting the others. ⁴³ Alas for you Pharisees! for you love the best seats in the synagogues, and you like to be bowed to in places of public resort. ⁴⁴ Alas for you! for you are like the tombs which lie hidden, and the people who walk over them are not aware of their existence." ⁴⁵ Hereupon one of the expounders of the Law exclaimed, "Rabbi, in saying such things you reproach us also." ⁴⁶ "Alas too for you expounders of the Law!" replied Jesus, "for you load men with cumbrous burdens which you yourselves will not touch with one of your fingers. ⁴⁷ Alas for you! for you repair the tombs of the Prophets, whom your forefathers killed.

⁴ Through faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain did, and through this faith he obtained testimony that he was righteous, God giving the testimony by accepting his gifts; and through it, though he is dead, he still speaks.

¹⁵ Forsaking the straight road, they have gone astray, having eagerly followed in the steps of Balaam, the son of Beor, who was bent on securing the wages of unrighteousness.

¹² We are not to resemble Cain, who was a child of the Evil one and killed his own brother. And why did he kill him? Because his own actions were wicked and his brother's actions righteous.

¹⁴ Yet I have a few things against you, because you have with you some that cling to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling-block in the way of the descendants of Israel--to eat what had been sacrificed to idols, and commit fornication.

⁶ but when the sun is risen, it is scorched by the heat, and through having no root it withers up.

¹³ "Every plant," He replied, "which my Heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.

¹⁹ and seeing a fig-tree on the road-side He went up to it, but found nothing on it but leaves. "On you," He said, "no fruit shall ever again grow." And immediately the fig-tree withered away. ²⁰ When the disciples saw it they exclaimed in astonishment, "How instantaneously the fig-tree has withered away!"

⁶ but when the sun is risen, it is scorched, and through having no root it withers away.

²⁰ In the early morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig-tree withered to the roots; ²¹ and Peter, recollecting, said to Him, "Look, Rabbi, the fig-tree which you cursed is withered up."

⁶ Another part drops upon the rock, and after growing up it withers away for want of moisture.

¹⁹ and I will say to my life, "'Life, you have ample possessions laid up for many years to come: take your ease, eat, drink, enjoy yourself.' ²⁰ "But God said to him, "'Foolish man, this night your life is demanded from you; and these preparations--for whom shall they be?'

⁴⁵ But if that servant should say in his heart, 'My Master is a long time in coming,' and should begin to beat the menservants and the maids, and to eat and drink, drinking even to excess;

¹⁹ "There was once a rich man who habitually arrayed himself in purple and fine linen, and enjoyed a splendid banquet every day,

³⁴ "But take heed to yourselves, lest your souls be weighed down with self-indulgence and drunkenness or the anxieties of this life, and that day come upon you, suddenly, like a falling trap;

⁴ Continue in me, and let me continue in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself--that is, if it does not continue in the vine--so neither can you if you do not continue in me. ⁵ I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who continues in me and in whom I continue bears abundant fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If any one does not continue in me, he is like the unfruitful branch which is at once thrown away and then withers up. Such branches they gather up and throw into the fire and they are burned.

²⁰ When, however, you meet in one place, there is no eating the Supper of the Lord; ²¹ for it is his own supper of which each of you is in a hurry to partake, and one eats like a hungry man, while another has already drunk to excess. ²² Why, have you no homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you wish to show your contempt for the Church of God and make those who have no homes feel ashamed? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this matter I certainly do not praise you.

¹⁹ Their end is destruction, their bellies are their God, their glory is in their shame, and their minds are devoted to earthly things.

⁶ So then let us not sleep, like the rest of the world, but let us keep awake and be sober. ⁷ For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who drink freely, drink at night.

⁶ but a pleasure-loving widow is dead even while still alive.

⁴ For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once for all been enlightened, and have tasted the sweetness of the heavenly gift, and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, ⁵ and have realized how good the word of God is and how mighty are the powers of the coming Age, and then fell away-- ⁶ it is impossible, I say, to keep bringing them back to a new repentance, for, to their own undoing, they are repeatedly crucifying the Son of God afresh and exposing Him to open shame. ⁷ For land which has drunk in the rain that often falls upon it, and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sakes, indeed, it is tilled, has a share in God's blessing. ⁸ But if it only yields a mass of thorns and briers, it is considered worthless, and is in danger of being cursed, and in the end will be destroyed by fire.

⁵ Here on earth you have lived self-indulgent and profligate lives. You have stupefied yourselves with gross feeding; but a day of slaughter has come.

¹³ being doomed to receive a requital for their guilt. They reckon it pleasure to feast daintily in broad daylight. They are spots and blemishes, while feeding luxuriously at their love-feasts, and banqueting with you. ¹⁴ Their very eyes are full of adultery--being eyes which never cease from sin. These men set traps to catch unstedfast souls, their own hearts being well trained in greed. They are fore-doomed to God's curse!

¹⁷ These people are wells without water, mists driven along by a storm, men for whom the dense darkness has been reserved. ¹⁸ For, while they pour out their frivolous and arrogant talk, they use earthly cravings--every kind of immorality--as a bait to entrap men who are just escaping from the influence of those who live in error. ¹⁹ And they promise them freedom, although they are themselves the slaves of what is corrupt. For a man is the slave of any one by whom he has been worsted in fight. ²⁰ For if, after escaping from the pollutions of the world through a full knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, people are once more entangled in these pollutions and are overcome, their last state has become worse than their first.

¹³ But bad men and impostors will go on from bad to worse, misleading and being misled.

¹⁷ These people are wells without water, mists driven along by a storm, men for whom the dense darkness has been reserved.

¹⁰ The third angel blew his trumpet; and there fell from Heaven a great star, which was on fire like a torch. It fell upon a third part of the rivers and upon the springs of water. ¹¹ The name of the star is 'Wormwood;' and a third part of the waters were turned into wormwood, and vast numbers of the people died from drinking the water, because it had become bitter.

¹⁰ he shall drink the wine of God's anger which stands ready, undiluted, in the cup of His fury, and he shall be tormented with fire and sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. ¹¹ And the smoke of their torment goes up until the Ages of the Ages; and the worshipers of the Wild Beast and his statue have no rest day or night, nor has any one who receives the mark of his name.

⁸ But as for cowards and the unfaithful, and the polluted, and murderers, fornicators, and those who practise magic or worship idols, and all liars--the portion allotted to them shall be in the Lake which burns with fire and sulphur. This is the Second Death."

²⁷ For the Son of Man is soon to come in the glory of the Father with His angels, and then will He requite every man according to his actions.

³⁰ Then will appear the Sign of the Son of Man in the sky; and THEN WILL ALL THE NATIONS OF THE EARTH LAMENT, when they see the Son of Man COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with great power and glory. ³¹ And He will send out His angels WITH A LOUD TRUMPET-BLAST, and THEY WILL BRING TOGETHER HIS OWN PEOPLE TO HIM FROM NORTH, SOUTH, EAST AND WEST--FROM ONE EXTREMITY OF THE WORLD TO THE OTHER.

³¹ "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then will He sit upon His glorious throne,

¹³ Thus He will build up your characters, so that you will be faultlessly holy in the presence of our God and Father at the Coming of our Lord Jesus with all His holy ones.

⁷ and to requite with rest you who are suffering affliction now--rest with us at the re-appearing of the Lord Jesus from Heaven, attended by His mighty angels. ⁸ He will come in flames of fire to take vengeance on those who have no knowledge of God, and do not obey the Good News as to Jesus, our Lord.

⁵ Through faith Enoch was taken from the earth so that he did not see death, and he could not be found, because God had taken him; for before he was taken we have evidence that he truly pleased God. ⁶ But where there is no faith it is impossible truly to please Him; for the man who draws near to God must believe that there is a God and that He proves Himself a rewarder of those who earnestly try to find Him.

⁷ He is coming in the clouds, and every eye will see Him, and so will those who pierced Him; and all the nations of the earth will gaze on Him and mourn. Even so. Amen.

³¹ This is why I tell you that men may find forgiveness for every other sin and impious word, but that for impious speaking against the Holy Spirit they shall find no forgiveness. ³² And whoever shall speak against the Son of Man may obtain forgiveness; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, neither in this nor in the coming age shall he obtain forgiveness." ³³ "Either grant the tree to be wholesome and its fruit wholesome, or the tree poisonous and its fruit poisonous; for the tree is known by its fruit. ³⁴ O vipers' brood, how can you speak what is good when you are evil? For it is from the overflow of the heart that the mouth speaks. ³⁵ A good man from his good store produces good things, and a bad man from his bad store produces bad things. ³⁶ But I tell you that for every careless word that men shall speak they will be held accountable on the day of Judgement. ³⁷ For each of you by his words shall be justified, or by his words shall be condemned."

²² The Father indeed does not judge any one, but He has entrusted all judgement to the Son, ²³ that all may honour the Son even as they honour the Father. The man who withholds honour from the Son withholds honour from the Father who sent Him.

²⁷ And He has conferred on Him authority to act as Judge, because He is the Son of Man.

³¹ seeing that He has appointed a day on which, before long, He will judge the world in righteousness, through the instrumentality of a man whom He has pre-destined to this work, and has made the fact certain to every one by raising Him from the dead."

⁵ The fact is that in the stubbornness of your impenitent heart you are treasuring up against yourself anger on the day of Anger--the day when the righteousness of God's judgements will stand revealed.

¹⁶ on the day when God will judge the secrets of men's lives by Jesus Christ, as declared in the Good News as I have taught it.

¹⁹ But it cannot be denied that all that the Law says is addressed to those who are living under the Law, in order that every mouth may be stopped, and that the whole world may await sentence from God. ²⁰ For on the ground of obedience to Law no man living will be declared righteous before Him. Law simply brings a sure knowledge of sin.

¹⁰ But you, why do you find fault with your brother? Or you, why do you look down upon your brother? We shall all stand before God to be judged;

⁵ Therefore form no premature judgements, but wait until the Lord returns. He will both bring to light the secrets of darkness and will openly disclose the motives that have been in people's hearts; and then the praise which each man deserves will come to him from God.

¹³ while you leave to God's judgement those who are outside? Remove the wicked man from among you.

⁹ and remembers that a law is not enacted to control a righteous man, but for the lawless and rebellious, the irreligious and sinful, the godless and profane--for those who strike their fathers or their mothers, for murderers,

⁶ He reduced to ashes the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and condemned them to overthrow, making them an example to people who might in future be living godless lives. ⁷ But when righteous Lot was sore distressed by the gross misconduct of immoral men He rescued him. ⁸ (For their lawless deeds were torture, day after day, to the pure soul of that righteous man--all that he saw and heard whilst living in their midst.) ⁹ Since all this is so, the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from temptation, and on the other hand how to keep the unrighteous under punishment in readiness for the Day of Judgement,

¹⁶ These men are murmurers, ever bemoaning their lot. Their lives are guided by their evil passions, and their mouths are full of big, boastful words, while they treat individual men with admiring reverence for the sake of the advantage they can gain.

⁵ And there was given him a mouth full of boastful and blasphemous words; and liberty of action was granted him for forty-two months. ⁶ And he opened his mouth to utter blasphemies against God, to speak evil of His name and of His dwelling-place--that is to say, of those who dwell in Heaven.

¹¹ Then I saw another Wild Beast, coming up out of the earth. He had two horns like those of a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon.

¹² "I am coming quickly; and My reward is with Me, that I may requite every man in accordance with what his conduct has been. ¹³ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. ¹⁴ Blessed are those who wash their robes clean, that they may have a right to the Tree of Life, and may go through the gates into the city. ¹⁵ The unclean are shut out, and so are all who practise magic, all fornicators, all murderers, and those who worship idols, and every one who loves falsehood and tells lies.

²⁰ "He who solemnly declares all this says, "'Yes, I am coming quickly.'" Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

³⁰ This led the Pharisees and Scribes of their party to expostulate with His disciples and ask, "Why are you eating and drinking with these tax-gatherers and notorious sinners?"

² and this led the Pharisees and the Scribes indignantly to complain, saying, "He gives a welcome to notorious sinners, and joins them at their meals!"

⁷ When they all saw this, they began to complain with indignation. "He has gone in to be the guest of a notorious sinner!" they said.

⁴¹ Now the Jews began to find fault about Him because of His claiming to be the bread which came down out of Heaven.

⁶¹ But, knowing in Himself that His disciples were dissatisfied about it, Jesus asked them,

¹⁰ And do not be discontented, as some of them were, and they were destroyed by the Destroyer.

¹⁶ This then is what I mean. Let your lives be guided by the Spirit, and then you will certainly not indulge the cravings of your lower natures.

²⁴ Against such things as these there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their lower nature with its passions and appetites.

¹⁴ Be ever on your guard against a grudging and contentious spirit,

⁵ that you be not overmastered by lustful cravings, like the Gentiles who have no knowledge of God;

⁵ and persistent wranglings on the part of people whose intellects are disordered and they themselves blinded to all knowledge of the truth; who imagine that godliness means gain.

³ For a time is coming when they will not tolerate wholesome instruction, but, wanting to have their ears tickled, they will find a multitude of teachers to satisfy their own fancies;

¹⁴ But when a man is tempted, it is his own passions that carry him away and serve as a bait. ¹⁵ Then the passion conceives, and becomes the parent of sin; and sin, when fully matured, gives birth to death.

¹ My brethren, you must not make distinctions between one man and another while you are striving to maintain faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our glory. ² For suppose a man comes into one of your meetings wearing gold rings and fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man wearing shabby clothes, ³ and you pay court to the one who wears the fine clothes, and say, "Sit here; this is a good place;" while to the poor man you say, "Stand there, or sit on the floor at my feet;" ⁴ is it not plain that in your hearts you have little faith, seeing that you have become judges full of wrong thoughts? ⁵ Listen, my dearly-loved brethren. Has not God chosen those whom the world regards as poor to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which He has promised to those that love Him? ⁶ But *you* have put dishonour upon the poor man. Yet is it not the rich who grind you down? Are not they the very people who drag you into the Law courts? -- ⁷ and the very people who speak evil of the noble Name by which you are called? ⁸ If, however, you are keeping the Law as supreme, in obedience to the Commandment which says "YOU ARE TO LOVE YOUR FELLOW MAN JUST AS YOU LOVE YOURSELF," you are acting rightly. ⁹ But if you are making distinctions between one man and another, you are guilty of sin, and are convicted by the Law as offenders.

¹⁴ And, since you delight in obedience, do not shape your lives by the cravings which used to dominate you in the time of your ignorance,

¹¹ Dear friends, I entreat you as pilgrims and foreigners not to indulge the cravings of your lower natures: for all such cravings wage war upon the soul.

² that in future you may spend the rest of your earthly lives, governed not by human passions, but by the will of God.

¹⁸ For, while they pour out their frivolous and arrogant talk, they use earthly cravings--every kind of immorality--as a bait to entrap men who are just escaping from the influence of those who live in error.

³ But, above all, remember that, in the last days, men will come who make a mock at everything--men governed only by their own passions,

¹⁸ how they declared to you, "In the last times there shall be scoffers, obeying only their own ungodly passions."

³⁵ In all things I have set you an example, showing you that, by working as I do, you ought to help the weak, and to bear in mind the words of the Lord Jesus, how He Himself said, "'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

²⁰ You are a building which has been reared on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, the cornerstone being Christ Jesus Himself,

¹¹ And He Himself appointed some to be Apostles, some to be Prophets, some to be evangelists, some to be pastors and teachers,

² so that you may recall the words spoken long ago by the holy Prophets, and the commandments of our Lord and Saviour given you through your Apostles.

⁶ The man who is beginning to know God listens to us, but he who is not a child of God does not listen to us. By this test we can distinguish the Spirit of truth from the spirit of error.

²⁹ I know that, when I am gone, cruel wolves will come among you and will not spare the flock;

¹ Now the Spirit expressly declares that in later times some will fall away from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and the teachings of demons; ² through the hypocrisy of men who teach falsely and have their own consciences seared as with a hot iron;

¹ But of this be assured: in the last days grievous times will set in. ² For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, profane. They will be disobedient to parents, thankless, irreligious, ³ destitute of natural affection, unforgiving, slanderers. They will have no self-control, but will be brutal, opposed to goodness, ⁴ treacherous, headstrong, self-important. They will love pleasure instead of loving God, ⁵ and will keep up a make-believe of piety and yet live in defiance of its power. Turn away from people of this sort.

¹ But there were also false prophets among the people, as there will be teachers of falsehood among you also, who will cunningly introduce fatal divisions, disowning even the Sovereign Lord who has redeemed them, and bringing on themselves swift destruction.

⁵ "In most solemn truth I tell you," replied Jesus, "that unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. ⁶ Whatever has been born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever has been born of the Spirit is spirit.

⁹ You, however, are not devoted to earthly, but to spiritual things, if the Spirit of God is really dwelling in you; whereas if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, such a one does not belong to Him.

¹⁴ The unspiritual man rejects the things of the Spirit of God, and cannot attain to the knowledge of them, because they are spiritually judged.

¹⁹ Or do you not know that your bodies are a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is within you--the Spirit whom you have from God?

²⁵ not neglecting--as some habitually do--to meet together, but encouraging one another, and doing this all the more since you can see the day of Christ approaching.

¹⁵ That is not the wisdom which comes down from above: it belongs to earth, to the unspiritual nature, and to evil spirits.

³¹ The Church, however, throughout the whole of Judaea, Galilee and Samaria, had peace and was spiritually built up; and grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord and receiving encouragement from the Holy Spirit.

⁹ and He made no difference between us and them, in that He cleansed their hearts by their faith.

¹⁸ that they may turn from darkness to light and from the obedience to Satan to God, in order to receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified through faith in Me.'

¹⁵ You have not for the second time acquired the consciousness of being--a consciousness which fills you with terror. But you have acquired a deep inward conviction of having been adopted as sons--a conviction which prompts us to cry aloud, "Abba! our Father!"

²⁶ In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness; for we do not know what prayers to offer nor in what way to offer them. But the Spirit Himself pleads for us in yearnings that can find no words, ²⁷ and the Searcher of hearts knows what the Spirit's meaning is, because His intercessions for God's people are in harmony with God's will.

² Let each of us endeavour to please his fellow Christian, aiming at a blessing calculated to build him up.

⁸ who will also keep you stedfast to the very End, so that you will be free from reproach on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

²³ Everything is allowable, but not everything is profitable. Everything is allowable, but everything does not build others up.

⁴ He who speaks in an unknown tongue does good to himself, but he who prophesies does good to the Church. ⁵ I should be right glad were you all to speak in 'tongues,' but yet more glad were you all to prophesy. And, in fact, the man who prophesies is superior to him who speaks in 'tongues,' except when the latter can interpret in order that the Church may get a blessing.

¹⁵ How then does the matter stand? I will pray in spirit, and I will pray with my understanding also. I will praise God in spirit, and I will praise Him with my understanding also.

²⁶ What then, brethren? Whenever you assemble, there is not one of you who is not ready either with a song of praise, a sermon, a revelation, a 'tongue,' or an interpretation. Let everything be done with a view to the building up of faith and character.

⁶ And because you are sons, God has sent out the Spirit of His Son to enter your hearts and cry "Abba! our Father!"

¹² in order fully to equip His people for the work of serving--for the building up of Christ's body--

¹⁶ Dependent on Him, the whole body--its various parts closely fitting and firmly adhering to one another-- grows by the aid of every contributory link, with power proportioned to the need of each individual part, so as to build itself up in a spirit of love.

²⁹ Let no unwholesome words ever pass your lips, but let all your words be good for benefiting others according to the need of the moment, so that they may be a means of blessing to the hearers.

¹⁸ Pray with unceasing prayer and entreaty on every fitting occasion in the Spirit, and be always on the alert to seize opportunities for doing so, with unwearied persistence and entreaty on behalf of all God's people,

⁷ having the roots of your being firmly planted in Him, and continually building yourselves up in Him, and always being increasingly confirmed in the faith as you were taught it, and abounding in it with thanksgiving.

¹¹ Therefore encourage one another, and let each one help to strengthen his friend, as in fact you do.

⁴ and the attention they bestow on mere fables and endless pedigrees, such as lead to controversy rather than to a true stewardship for God, which only exists where there is faith. And I make the same request now. ⁵ For I recall the sincere faith which is in your heart--a faith which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and then in your mother Eunice, and, I am fully convinced, now dwells in you also.

¹ Paul, a bondservant of God and an Apostle of Jesus Christ for building up the faith of God's own people and spreading a full knowledge of the truths of religion,

²² You notice that his faith was co-operating with his actions, and that by his actions his faith was perfected;

⁴ For every child of God overcomes the world; and the victorious principle which has overcome the world is our faith.

³ Dear friends, since I am eager to begin a letter to you on the subject of our common salvation, I find myself constrained to write and cheer you on to the vigorous defense of the faith delivered once for all to God's people.

¹⁰ If any one is eager to lead others into captivity, he must himself go into captivity. If any one is bent on killing with the sword, he must himself be killed by the sword. Here is an opportunity for endurance, and for the exercise of faith, on the part of God's people.

⁴² Be on the alert therefore, for you do not know the day on which your Lord is coming. ⁴³ But of this be assured, that if the master of the house had known the hour at which the robber was coming, he would have kept awake, and not have allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁴ Therefore you also must be ready; for it is at a time when you do not expect Him that the Son of Man will come. ⁴⁵ "Who therefore is the loyal and intelligent servant to whom his master has entrusted the control of his household to give them their rations at the appointed time? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes shall find so doing! ⁴⁷ In solemn truth I tell you that he will give him the management of all his wealth. ⁴⁸ But if the man, being a bad servant, should say in his heart, 'My master is a long time in coming,' ⁴⁹ and should begin to beat his fellow servants, while he eats and drinks with drunkards; ⁵⁰ the master of that servant will arrive on a day when he is not expecting him and at an hour of which he has not been informed; ⁵¹ he will treat him with the utmost severity and assign him a place among the hypocrites: there will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

³⁶ and be yourselves like men waiting for their master--on the look-out till he shall return from the wedding feast--that, when he comes and knocks, they may open the door instantly. ³⁷ Blessed are those servants, whom their Master when He comes shall find on the watch. I tell you in solemn truth, that He will tie an apron round Him, and will bid them recline at table while He comes and waits on them. ³⁸ And whether it be in the second watch or in the third that He comes and finds them so, blessed are they. ³⁹ Of this be sure, that if the master of the house had known what time the robber was coming, he would have kept awake and not have allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁰ Be you also ready, for at an hour when you are not expecting Him the Son of Man will come."

¹⁷ For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

²¹ He who has my commandments and obeys them--he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will clearly reveal myself to him."

⁹ As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you: continue in my love. ¹⁰ If you obey my commands, you will continue in my love, as I have obeyed my Father's commands and continue in His love.

⁵ and that this hope never disappoints, because God's love for us floods our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

²¹ in order that as sin has exercised kingly sway in inflicting death, so grace, too, may exercise kingly sway in bestowing a righteousness which results in the Life of the Ages through Jesus Christ our Lord.

²³ For the wages paid by Sin are death; but God's free gift is the Life of the Ages bestowed upon us in Christ Jesus our Lord.

³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God which rests upon us in Christ Jesus our Lord.

⁵ And may the Lord guide your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.

² To Timothy, my own true son in the faith. May grace, mercy and peace be granted to you from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

² To Timothy my dearly-loved child. May grace, mercy and peace be granted to you from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹⁶ May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus; for many a time he cheered me and he was not ashamed of my chain.

¹⁸ (The Lord grant that he may obtain mercy at His hands on that day!) And you yourself well know all the services which he rendered me in Ephesus.

⁸ From this time onward there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who love the thought of His Appearing.

¹³ in expectation of the fulfilment of our blessed hope--the Appearing in glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ; ¹⁴ who gave Himself for us to purchase our freedom from all iniquity, and purify for Himself a people who should be specially His own, zealous for doing good works.

²⁸ so the Christ also, having been once offered in sacrifice in order that He might bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, separated from sin, to those who are eagerly expecting Him, to make their salvation complete.

¹² eagerly looking forward to the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens, all ablaze, will be destroyed, and the elements will melt in the fierce heat?

¹⁶ We know what love is--through Christ's having laid down His life on our behalf; and in the same way we ought to lay down our lives for our brother men. ¹⁷ But if any one has this world's wealth and sees that his brother man is in need, and yet hardens his heart against him--how can such a one continue to love God?

¹⁶ And, as for us, we know the love which God has for us, and we confide in it. God is love, and he who continues to love continues in union with God, and God continues in union with him.

¹⁰ He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in his own heart: he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, in that he has refused to accept the testimony which God has given about His Son. ¹¹ And that testimony is to the effect that God has given us the Life of the Ages, and that this Life is in His Son.

¹⁸ We know that no one who is a child of God lives in sin, but He who is God's Child keeps him, and the Evil one cannot touch him.

²¹ Dear children, guard yourselves from idols.

²⁴ But to Him who is able to keep you safe from stumbling, and cause you to stand in the presence of His glory free from blemish and full of exultant joy--

²⁰ Would that I were with you and could change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

¹ Brethren, if anybody be detected in any misconduct, you who are spiritual should restore such a one in a spirit of meekness. And let each of you keep watch over himself, lest he also fall into temptation.

¹⁹ My brethren, if one of you strays from the truth and some one brings him back, ²⁰ let him know that he who brings a sinner back from his evil ways will save the man's soul from death and throw a veil over a multitude of sins.

¹⁶ If any one sees a brother man committing a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask and God shall give him life--for those who do not sin unto death. There is such a thing as sin unto death; for that I do not bid him make request. ¹⁷ Any kind of wrongdoing is sin; but there is sin which is not unto death. ¹⁸ We know that no one who is a child of God lives in sin, but He who is God's Child keeps him, and the Evil one cannot touch him.

⁴ For certain persons have crept in unnoticed--men spoken of in ancient writings as pre-destined to this condemnation--ungodly men, who pervert the grace of our God into an excuse for immorality, and disown Jesus Christ, our only Sovereign and Lord. ⁵ I desire to remind you--although the whole matter is already familiar to you--that the Lord saved a people out of the land of Egypt, but afterwards destroyed those who had no faith. ⁶ And angels--those who did not keep the position originally assigned to them, but deserted their own proper abode--He reserves in everlasting bonds, in darkness, in preparation for the judgement of the great day. ⁷ So also Sodom and Gomorrah--and the neighboring towns in the same manner--having been guilty of gross fornication and having gone astray in pursuit of unnatural vice, are now before us as a specimen of the fire of the Ages in the punishment which they are undergoing. ⁸ Yet in just the same way these dreamers also pollute the body, while they set authority at naught and speak evil of dignities. ⁹ But Michael the Archangel, when contending with the Devil and arguing with him about the body of Moses, did not dare to pronounce judgement on him in abusive terms, but simply said, "The Lord rebuke you." ¹⁰ Yet these men are abusive in matters of which they know nothing, and in things which, like the brutes, they understand instinctively--in all these they corrupt themselves. ¹¹ Alas for them; for they have followed in the steps of Cain; for the sake of gain they have rushed on headlong in the evil ways of Balaam; and have perished in rebellion like that of Korah! ¹² These men--sunken rocks! --are those who share the pleasure of your love-feasts, unrestrained by fear while caring only for themselves; clouds without water, driven away by the winds; trees that cast their fruit, barren, doubly dead, uprooted; ¹³ wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, for whom is reserved dense darkness of age-long duration.

¹⁴ trying whether I can succeed in rousing my own countrymen to jealousy and thus save some of them.

¹⁵ If any one's work is burnt up, he will suffer the loss of it; yet he will himself be rescued, but only, as it were, by passing through the fire.

³ I for my part, present with you in spirit although absent in body, have already, as though I were present, judged him who has so acted. ⁴ In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are all assembled and my spirit is with you, together with the power of our Lord Jesus, ⁵ I have handed over such a man to Satan for the destruction of his body, that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord Jesus.

⁹ I wrote to you in that letter that you were not to associate with fornicators; ¹⁰ not that in this world you are to keep wholly aloof from such as they, any more than from people who are avaricious and greedy of gain, or from worshippers of idols. For that would mean that you would be compelled to go out of the world altogether. ¹¹ But what I meant was that you were not to associate with any one bearing the name of "brother," if he was addicted to fornication or avarice or idol-worship or abusive language or hard-drinking or greed of gain. With such a man you ought not even to eat.

³³ Do not deceive yourselves: "Evil companionships corrupt good morals."

¹⁰ For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, a repentance not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world finally produces death. ¹¹ For mark the effects of this very thing--your having sorrowed with a godly sorrow--what earnestness it has called forth in you, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing affection, what jealousy, what meting out of justice! You have completely wiped away reproach from yourselves in the matter. ¹² Therefore, though I wrote to you, it was not to punish the offender, nor to secure justice for him who had suffered the wrong, but it was chiefly in order that your earnest feeling on our behalf might become manifest to yourselves in the sight of God.

¹⁴ and if any one refuses to obey these our written instructions, mark that man and hold no communication with him--so that he may be made to feel ashamed.

¹⁶ Be on your guard as to yourself and your teaching. Persevere in these things; for by doing this you will make certain your own salvation and that of your hearers.

⁴ Yet you have in Sardis a few who have not soiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white; for they are worthy.

¹⁸ Therefore I counsel you to buy of Me gold refined in the fire that you may become rich, and white robes to put on, so as to hide your shameful nakedness, and eye-salve to anoint your eyes with, so that you may be able to see.

¹² Be joyful and triumphant, because your reward is great in the Heavens; for so were the Prophets before you persecuted.

²⁸ "I solemnly tell you," replied Jesus, "that in the New Creation, when the Son of Man has taken His seat on His glorious throne, all of you who have followed me shall also sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel.

²⁶ For whoever shall have been ashamed of me and my teachings, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own and the Father's glory and in that of the holy angels.

³¹ What then shall we say to this? If God is on our side, who is there to appear against us?

⁴ Who are you that you should find fault with the servant of another? Whether he stands or falls is a matter which concerns his own master. But stand he will; for the Master can give him power to stand.

²⁵ To Him who has it in His power to make you strong, as declared in the Good News which I am spreading, and the proclamation concerning Jesus Christ, in harmony with the unveiling of the Truth which in the periods of past Ages remained unuttered, ²⁶ but has now been brought fully to light, and by the command of the God of the Ages has been made known by the writings of the Prophets among all the Gentiles to win them to obedience to the faith-- ²⁷ to God, the only wise, through Jesus Christ, even to Him be the glory through all the Ages! Amen.

¹⁴ For we know that He who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will raise us also to be with Jesus, and will cause both us and you to stand in His own presence.

¹⁷ For this our light and transitory burden of suffering is achieving for us a preponderating, yes, a vastly preponderating, and eternal weight of glory;

² I am jealous over you with God's own jealousy. For I have betrothed you to Christ to present you to Him like a faithful bride to her one husband.

²⁰ Now to Him who, in exercise of His power that is at work within us, is able to do infinitely beyond all our highest prayers or thoughts--

²⁷ that He might present the Church to Himself a glorious bride, without spot or wrinkle or any other defect, but to be holy and unblemished.

²² He has now, in His human body, reconciled to God by His death, to bring you, holy and faultless and irreproachable, into His presence;

²⁸ Him we preach, admonishing every one and instructing every one, with all possible wisdom, so that we may bring every one into God's presence, made perfect through Christ.

⁴ When Christ appears--He is our true Life--then you also will appear with Him in glory.

¹⁶ For the Lord Himself will come down from Heaven with a loud word of command, and with an archangel's voice and the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Afterwards we who are alive and are still on earth will be caught up in their company amid clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

²⁰ Now may God who gives peace, and brought Jesus, our Lord, up again from among the dead--even Him who, by virtue of the blood of the eternal Covenant, is the great Shepherd of the sheep-- ²¹ fully equip you with every grace that you may need for the doing of His will, producing in us that which will truly please Him through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory to the Ages of the Ages! Amen.

¹³ On the contrary, in the degree that you share in the sufferings of the Christ, rejoice, so that at the unveiling of His glory you may also rejoice with triumphant gladness.

²¹ must keep yourselves safe in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ which will result in the Life of the Ages.

⁵ And no lie has ever been found upon their lips: they are faultless.

¹³ and bring us not into temptation, but rescue us from the Evil one.'

²² You worship One of whom you know nothing. We worship One whom we know; for salvation comes from the Jews.

⁴⁴ How is it possible for you to believe, while you receive glory from one another and have no desire for the glory that comes from the only God?

³³ Oh, how inexhaustible are God's resources and God's wisdom and God's knowledge! How impossible it is to search into His decrees or trace His footsteps!

³⁶ For the universe owes its origin to Him, was created by Him, and has its aim and purpose in Him. To Him be the glory throughout the Ages! Amen.

²⁷ to God, the only wise, through Jesus Christ, even to Him be the glory through all the Ages! Amen.

⁸ the grace which He, the possessor of all wisdom and understanding, lavished upon us,

¹⁰ concealed in order that the Church might now be used to display to the powers and authorities in the heavenly realms the innumerable aspects of God's wisdom.

²¹ to Him be the glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, world without end! Amen.

¹⁷ Now to the immortal and invisible King of the Ages, who alone is God, be honour and glory to the Ages of the Ages! Amen.

³ This is right, and is pleasing in the sight of God our Saviour,

³ And at the appointed time He clearly made known His Message in the preaching with which I was entrusted by the command of God our Saviour: ⁴ To Titus my own true child in our common faith. May grace and peace be granted to you from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Saviour.

¹⁰ but manifesting perfect fidelity and kind feeling, in order to bring honour to the teaching of our Saviour, God, in all things.

¹³ in expectation of the fulfilment of our blessed hope--the Appearing in glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ;

⁴ But when the goodness of God our Saviour, and His love to man, dawned upon us, not in consequence of things which we,

⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and to-day--yes, and to the ages to come.

¹¹ If any one preaches, let it be as uttering God's truth; if any one renders a service to others, let it be in the strength which God supplies; so that in everything glory may be given to God in the name of Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the might to the Ages of the Ages. Amen.

¹⁰ And God, the giver of all grace, who has called you to share His eternal glory, through Christ, after you have suffered for a short time, will Himself make you perfect, firm, and strong. ¹¹ To Him be all power unto the Ages of the Ages! Amen.

¹⁸ But be always growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be all glory, both now and to the day of Eternity!

⁶ and has formed us into a Kingdom, to be priests to God, His Father--to Him be ascribed the glory and the power until the Ages of the Ages. Amen.

⁹ And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who is seated on the throne, and lives until the Ages of the Ages, ¹⁰ the twenty-four Elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives until the Ages of the Ages, and they cast their wreaths down in front of the throne, ¹¹ saying, "It is fitting, O our Lord and God, That we should ascribe unto Thee the glory and the honor and the power; For Thou didst create all things, And because it was Thy will they came into existence, and were created."

¹³ And as for every created thing in Heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and everything that was in any of these, I heard them say, "To Him who is seated on the throne, And to the Lamb, Be ascribed all blessing and honor And glory and might, Until the Ages of the Ages!" ¹⁴ Then the four living creatures said "Amen," and the Elders fell down and worshipped.