Romans 16 Cross References - Goodspeed

¹ I want to introduce to you our sister Phoebe, who is a helper in the church at Cenchreae. ² Welcome her as a Christian, as God's people should welcome one another, and give her whatever help she may need from you. For she has herself been a protection to many, including myself. ³ Remember me to Prisca and Aquila, my fellow-workers in the cause of Christ Jesus, ⁴ who risked their necks to save my life. Not only I but also all the churches among the heathen thank them. Remember me also to the church that meets at their house. ⁵ Remember me to my dear Epaenetus, who was the first man in Asia to turn to Christ. ⁶ Remember me to Mary, who has worked so hard for you. ⁷ Remember me to Andronicus and Junias, my fellow-countrymen, who went to prison with me. They are noted men among the missionaries, and they became Christians before I did. ⁸ Remember me to Ampliatus, my dear Christian friend. ⁹ Remember me to Urbanus, our fellow-worker in Christ's cause, and to my dear Stachys. ¹⁰ Remember me to that veteran Christian, Apelles. Remember me to those who belong to the household of Aristobulus. ¹¹ Remember me to my fellow-countryman, Herodion. Remember me to the Christians in the household of Narcissus. ¹² Remember me to Tryphaena and Tryphosa, those hard workers in the Lord's cause. Remember me to my dear Persis, who has worked so hard for the Lord, ¹³ Remember me to Rufus, that eminent Christian, and to his mother, who has been a mother to me. ¹⁴ Remember me to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who meet with them. ¹⁵ Remember me to Philologus and Julia, to Nereus and his sister, and to Olympas, and all God's people who meet with them. ¹⁶ Greet one another with a sacred kiss. All the churches of Christ wish to be remembered to you. ¹⁷ I beg you, brothers, to be on the watch for those who introduce divisions and difficulties, in opposition to the instruction that you were given, and to avoid them. ¹⁸ Such men are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own base passions, and with their plausible and flattering talk they deceive simple-minded people. ¹⁹ Everyone has heard of your obedience, and I am very happy about you, but I want you to be wise about what is good and guileless about what is bad. ²⁰ And God, who is the source of peace, will soon crush Satan under your feet. The blessing of our Lord Jesus be with you. ²¹ My fellow-worker, Timothy, wishes to be remembered to you, and so do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my fellow-countrymen. ²² I, Tertius, who write this letter, wish to be remembered to you as a fellow-Christian. ²³ My host, Gaius, the host of the whole church, wishes to be remembered to you. Erastus, the city-treasurer, and our brother Quartus wish to be remembered to you. ²⁴ OMITTED TEXT ²⁵ To him who can make you strong by the good news I bring and the preaching about Jesus Christ, through the disclosure of the secret kept back for long ages but now revealed, ²⁶ and at the command of the eternal God made known through the writings of the prophets to all the heathen, to lead them to obedience and faith— ²⁷ to the one wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ. Amen.

²⁴ No slave can belong to two masters, for he will either hate one and love the other, or stand by one and make light of the other. You cannot serve God and money.

¹⁵ "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you disguised as sheep but are ravenous wolves underneath.

³⁸ So pray to the owner of the harvest to send reapers to gather it."

¹⁶ "Here I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. So you must be wise like serpents, and guileless like doves.

⁴⁰ "Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes him who has sent me. ⁴¹ Whoever welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will have the same reward as a prophet, and whoever welcomes an upright man because he is upright will have the same reward as an upright man. ⁴² And no one who will give the humblest of my disciples even a cup of cold water because he is my disciple, I tell you, can ever fail of his reward."

⁴⁹ And he pointed to his disciples and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! ⁵⁰ For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!"

⁵⁰ For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!"

¹⁷ For I tell you, many prophets and upright men have longed to see what you see, and could not see it, and to hear what you hear, and could not hear it.

³⁵ to fulfil what was said by the prophet, "I will open my mouth in figures, I will utter things that have been hidden since the creation."

⁷ Alas for the world for such hindrances! They have to come, but alas for the man who causes them!

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

²⁰ For wherever two or three are gathered as my followers, I am there among them."

¹⁶ So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last."

¹¹ Many false prophets will appear, and many will be misled by them,

²⁴ for false Christs and false prophets will appear, and they will show great signs and wonders to mislead God's chosen people if they can.

⁴⁸ But if he is a bad slave and says to himself, 'My master is going to stay a long time,' ⁴⁹ and begins to beat the other slaves, and eats and drinks with drunkards, ⁵⁰ that slave's master will come back some day when he does not expect him, and at some time of which he does not know ⁵¹ and will cut him in two, and put him with the hypocrites, to weep and gnash his teeth.

⁴⁰ The king will answer, 'I tell you, in so far as you did it to one of the humblest of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.'

⁵⁵ There were several women there watching from a distance who had followed Jesus from Galilee to wait upon him,

¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all the heathen, baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teach them to observe all the commands that I have given you. I will always be with you, to the very close of the age."

³⁵ Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."

³⁰ but will receive now in this life a hundred times as much in homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and lands, though not without persecution—and in the coming age eternal life.

²¹ And they forced a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross—one Simon, a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus.

¹⁵ And he said to them, "Go to the whole world and proclaim the good news to all the creation.

³ and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them with their means.

³ Now go. Here I send you out like lambs among wolves.

¹⁹ Here I have given you the power to tread on snakes and scorpions, and to trample on all the power of the enemy. Nothing will hurt you at all.

²³ And he turned to his disciples when they were alone, and said, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! ²⁴ For I tell you, many prophets and kings have wished to see what you see, and could not see it, and to hear what you hear, and could not hear it!"

¹ And he said to his disciples, "It is inevitable that hindrances should arise, but alas for the man who causes them!

⁴⁴ Then he said to them, "This is what I told you when I was still with you—that everything that is written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must come true." ⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds to the understanding of the Scriptures, ⁴⁶ and said to them, "The Scriptures said that Christ should suffer as he has done, and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷ and that repentance leading to the forgiveness of sins should be preached to all the heathen in his name.

⁵⁶ Whoever lives on my flesh and drinks my blood remains united to me and I remain united to him.

²⁶ If anyone serves me, he must follow me, and wherever I am found, my servant must be also. If anyone serves me, my Father will show him honor.

²⁰ When that day comes you will know that I am in union with my Father and you are with me and I am with you.

² Any branch of mine that does not bear fruit he trims away, and he prunes every branch that bears fruit, to make it bear more.

¹³ No one can show greater love than by giving up his life for his friends.

¹⁶ It was not you who chose me, it is I that have chosen you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that shall be lasting, so that the Father may grant you whatever you ask him for as my followers.

²⁷ Then he said to his disciple, "There is your mother!" And from that time his disciple took her into his home.

⁷ So God's message continued to spread; the number of the disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a great many priests accepted the faith.

³² This was the passage of Scripture that he was reading: "Like a sheep he was led away to be slaughtered, And just as a lamb is dumb before its shearer, He does not open his mouth. ³³ His sentence ended in his humiliation. Who will tell the story of his posterity? For his life is perished from the earth." ³⁴ "Tell me, of whom is the prophet speaking?" said the eunuch to Philip, "Of himself, or of someone else?" ³⁵ Then Philip began, and starting from this passage, he told him the good news about Jesus.

²⁰ and began at once to declare in the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God.

³⁶ Among the disciples at Joppa there was a woman named Tabitha, which is in Greek Dorcas, that is, gazelle. She had devoted herself to doing good and to acts of charity.

³⁹ Peter went with them at once. When he arrived, they took him up to the room and all the widows stood around him crying and showing him the shirts and coats that Dorcas had made when she was still with them.

⁴¹ He gave her his hand and raised her to her feet, and calling in the believers and the widows, he gave her back to them alive.

⁴³ It is of him that all the prophets bear witness that everyone that believes in him will have his sins forgiven in his name."

¹ There were at Antioch in the church there a number of prophets and teachers—Barnabas, Symeon who was called Niger, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod the governor, and Saul.

⁴⁶ Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out plainly, and said, "God's message had to be told to you first, but since you thrust it off and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we now turn to the heathen. ⁴⁷ For these are the orders the Lord has given us: " 'I have made you a light for the heathen, To be the means of salvation to the very ends of the earth!' "

¹ Some people came down from Judea and began to teach the brothers that unless they were circumcised as Moses prescribed, they could not be saved. ² This created a disturbance and a serious discussion between Paul and Barnabas and them, and it was agreed that Paul and Barnabas and some others of their number should go up to Jerusalem to confer with the apostles and elders about this question. ³ The church saw them off upon their journey, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria they told of the conversion of the heathen, and caused great rejoicing among all the brothers. ⁴ When they reached Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, the apostles, and the elders, and they reported how God had worked with them. ⁵ But some members of the Pharisees' party who had become believers got up and said that such converts ought to be circumcised and told to obey the Law of Moses.

²⁴ As we have heard that some of our number, without any instructions from us, have disturbed you by their teaching and unsettled your minds,

⁴¹ He traveled through Syria and Cilicia and strengthened the churches.

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

⁵ So the churches became stronger and stronger in the faith, and their numbers increased from day to day.

⁵ This offended the Jews and they gathered some unprincipled loafers, formed a mob and started a riot in the town. They attacked Jason's house, to find them and bring them out among the people.

¹⁴ Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off to the coast, while Silas and Timothy stayed behind.

² There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, ³ and as they practiced the same trade, he stayed with them, and they worked together, for they were tent-makers. ⁴ Every Sabbath he would preach in the synagogue, and try to convince both Jews and Greeks. ⁵ By the time Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was absorbed in preaching the message, emphatically assuring the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

⁵ By the time Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was absorbed in preaching the message, emphatically assuring the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. ⁶ But as they contradicted and abused him, he shook his clothes in protest, and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am not to blame for it! After this I will go to the heathen." ⁷ So he moved to the house of a devout proselyte named Titius Justus, which was next door to the synagogue. ⁸ But Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, and so did all his household, and many of the people of Corinth heard Paul and believed and were baptized. ⁹ One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, "Do not be afraid! Go on speaking and do not give up, ¹⁰ for I am with you, and no one shall attack you or injure you, for I have many people in this city." ¹¹ So he settled there for a year and a half, and taught them God's message. ¹² While Gallio was governor of Greece the Jews made a concerted attack upon Paul, and brought him before the governor.

¹² While Gallio was governor of Greece the Jews made a concerted attack upon Paul, and brought him before the governor. ¹³ "This fellow," they said, "is trying to induce people to worship God in ways that are against the law." ¹⁴ Before Paul could open his lips, Gallio said to the Jews, "If some misdemeanor or rascality were involved, Jews, you might reasonably expect me to listen to you. ¹⁵ But as it is only a question of words and titles and your own law, you must look after it yourselves. I refuse to decide such matters." ¹⁶ And he drove them away from the court. ¹⁷ Then they all seized Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the court. But Gallio paid no attention to it. ¹⁸ Paul stayed some time longer, and then bade the brothers goodbye and sailed for Syria, with Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had his hair cut, because of a vow he had been under.

²⁶ He spoke very confidently in the synagogue at first, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him home and explained the Way of God to him more correctly. ²⁷ As he wanted to cross to Greece, the brothers wrote to the disciples there, urging them to welcome him. On his arrival there he was of great service to those who through God's favor had become believers,

²² He sent two of his assistants, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed on for a while in Asia.

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

⁴ He was accompanied by Sopater of Berea, the son of Pyrrhus, Aristarchus and Secundus, from Thessalonica, Gaius of Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus, from Asia.

³² Now I commit you to the Lord, and to the message of his favor, which will build you up and give you a place among those whom God has consecrated.

³⁷ They all wept aloud, and throwing their arms about Paul's neck they kissed him affectionately,

¹⁷ I will save you from your people and from the heathen, to whom I will send you ¹⁸ to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from Satan's control to God, so that they may have their sins forgiven and have a place among those who are consecrated through faith in me.'

²² To this day I have had God's help and I stand here to testify to high and low alike, without adding a thing to what Moses and the prophets declared would happen, ²³ if the Christ was to suffer and by being the first to rise from the dead was to proclaim the light to our people and to the heathen."

² which he promised long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,

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

⁷ to all those in Rome whom God loves, who are called to be his people; God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ bless you and give you peace. ⁸ First I thank my God through Jesus Christ about you all, because the news of your faith is spreading all over the world.

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

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

²¹ But now God's way of uprightness has been disclosed without any reference to law, though the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it.

⁷ Why, a man will hardly give his life for an upright person, though perhaps for a really good man some may be brave enough to die.

¹ So there is no condemnation any more for those who are in union with Christ Jesus.

²⁹ For those whom he had marked out from the first he predestined to be made like his Son, so that he should be the eldest of many brothers;

³⁷ But in all these things we are more than victorious through him who loved us.

¹⁶ If the first handful of dough is consecrated, the whole mass is, and if the root of a tree is consecrated, so are its branches.

³³ How inexhaustible God's resources, wisdom, and knowledge are! How unfathomable his decisions are, and how untraceable his ways! ³⁴ "Who has ever known the Lord's thoughts, or advised him?

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

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

¹⁸ Whoever serves Christ in that way pleases God and gains the approval of men.

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

⁷ Therefore, treat one another like brothers, in God's honor, just as Christ has treated you.

¹⁸ For I will venture to speak only of what Christ has accomplished through me in winning the heathen to obedience, by word and action,

²⁶ For Macedonia and Greece have determined to make a contribution for the poor among God's people in Jerusalem.

³³ God who gives peace be with you all! Amen.

² Welcome her as a Christian, as God's people should welcome one another, and give her whatever help she may need from you. For she has herself been a protection to many, including myself.

² Welcome her as a Christian, as God's people should welcome one another, and give her whatever help she may need from you. For she has herself been a protection to many, including myself. ³ Remember me to Prisca and Aquila, my fellow-workers in the cause of Christ Jesus,

³ Remember me to Prisca and Aquila, my fellow-workers in the cause of Christ Jesus, ⁴ who risked their necks to save my life. Not only I but also all the churches among the heathen thank them. Remember me also to the church that meets at their house. ⁵ Remember me to my dear Epaenetus, who was the first man in Asia to turn to Christ. ⁶ Remember me to Mary, who has worked so hard for you. ⁷ Remember me to Andronicus and Junias, my fellow-countrymen, who went to prison with me. They are noted men among the missionaries, and they became Christians before I did. ⁸ Remember me to Ampliatus, my dear Christian friend. ⁹ Remember me to Urbanus, our fellow-worker in Christ's cause, and to my dear Stachys.

¹¹ Remember me to my fellow-countryman, Herodion. Remember me to the Christians in the household of Narcissus. ¹² Remember me to Tryphaena and Tryphosa, those hard workers in the Lord's cause. Remember me to my dear Persis, who has worked so hard for the Lord,

¹⁴ Remember me to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who meet with them.

¹⁹ Everyone has heard of your obedience, and I am very happy about you, but I want you to be wise about what is good and guileless about what is bad. ²⁰ And God, who is the source of peace, will soon crush Satan under your feet. The blessing of our Lord Jesus be with you. ²¹ My fellow-worker, Timothy, wishes to be remembered to you, and so do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my fellow-countrymen.

²³ My host, Gaius, the host of the whole church, wishes to be remembered to you. Erastus, the city-treasurer, and our brother Quartus wish to be remembered to you.

¹⁰ But I urge you all, brothers, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, to agree in what you say, and not to allow factions among you, but to be perfectly united in mind and judgment. ¹¹ For I have been informed, my brothers, by Chloe's people, that quarrels are going on among you. ¹² What I mean is this, that one of you says, "I am a follower of Paul," another, "And I, of Apollos," another, "And I, of Cephas," and another, "And I, of Christ!" ¹³ Christ has been divided up! But was it Paul who was crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? ¹⁴ I am thankful that I never baptized any of you except Crispus and Gaius,

²³ but we proclaim a Christ who was crucified—an idea that is revolting to Jews and absurd to the heathen,

³⁰ But you are his children, through your union with Christ Jesus, whom God has made our wisdom—our uprightness and consecration and redemption,

¹ So when I came to you, brothers, I did not come and tell you the secret purpose of God in superior, philosophical language, ² for I resolved, while I was with you, to forget everything but Jesus Christ and his crucifixion.

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

³ for you are still worldly. For when there are still jealousy and quarrels among you, are you not worldly and living on a merely human level?

¹ The right way for a man to think of us is as Christ's servants, and managers authorized to distribute the secret truths of God.

⁹ I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people— ¹⁰ not that you are to have nothing whatever to do with the immoral people of the world, any more than with its greedy and grasping people or idolaters, for then you would have to leave the world altogether. ¹¹ What I meant was that you are not to associate with anyone who is supposed to be a Christian brother, and yet is immoral or greedy or idolatrous or abusive or drunken or grasping—with such a person you must not even eat.

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

¹⁸ For, in the first place, when you meet as a congregation, I hear that you divide into sets, and in a measure I believe it. ¹⁹ Doubtless there must be parties among you, if those who are right are to be recognized among you.

²⁰ Brothers, you must not be children mentally. In evil be babies, but mentally be mature.

¹⁰ But by God's favor I have become what I am, and the favor he showed me has not gone for nothing, but I have worked harder than any of them, although it was not really I but the favor God showed me.

⁵⁸ So my dear brothers, be firm and unmoved, and always devote yourselves to the Lord's work, for you know that through the Lord your labor is not thrown away.

¹ About the collection for God's people, I want you to do as I told the churches of Galatia to do. ² On the first of every week each of you is to put aside and store up whatever he gains, so that money will not have to be collected after I come. ³ When I come I will send whatever persons you authorize with credentials, to carry your gift to Jerusalem. ⁴ And if it seems worth while for me to go myself, they can go with me.

¹⁵ Now I urge you, brothers—you know that the family of Stephanas was the first to be converted in Greece, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of God's people— ¹⁶ I want you to enlist under such leaders, and under anyone who joins with you and works hard.

¹⁹ The churches of Asia wish to be remembered to you. Aquila and Prisca, with the congregation that meets at their house, send you their special Christian greetings. ²⁰ All the brothers wish to be remembered to you. Greet one another with a sacred kiss. ²¹ This farewell I, Paul, add in my own hand.

²³ The blessing of the Lord Jesus be with you!

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

¹⁹ The Son of God, Christ Jesus, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus, Timothy, and I, you have not found wavering between "Yes" and "No." With him it has always been "Yes,"

⁹ For that is why I wrote you—to find out how you would stand the test, and see if you would obey me absolutely.

¹⁷ For I am no peddler of God's message, like most men, but like a man of sincerity, commissioned by God and in his presence, in union with Christ I utter his message.

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

² I disown disgraceful, underhanded ways. I refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's message. It is by the open statement of the truth that I would commend myself to every human conscience in the sight of God. ³ If the meaning of my preaching of the good news is veiled at all, it is so only in the case of those who are on the way to destruction.

⁵ For it is not myself but Christ Jesus that I am proclaiming as Lord; I am only a slave of yours for Jesus' sake.

¹⁷ So if anyone is in union with Christ, he is a new being; the old state of things has passed away; there is a new state of things.

²¹ He made him who knew nothing of sin to be sin, for our sake, so that through union with him we might become God's uprightness.

²² I send with them another brother of ours whose devotion we have often tested in many ways, which is now greater than ever, because of his perfect confidence in you.

² for I know how willing you are to help in it; I boast of you for it to the people in Macedonia, telling them that Greece has been ready since last year, and your enthusiasm has been a stimulus to most of them.

³ But I am afraid that just as the serpent by his cunning deceived Eve, your thoughts will be led astray from their single-hearted fidelity to Christ.

¹³ Such men are sham apostles, dishonest workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ And no wonder, for even Satan himself masquerades as a shining angel. ¹⁵ So it is nothing strange if his servants also masquerade as servants of uprightness. But their doom will fit their actions.

²³ If they are Christian workers—I am talking like a madman!—I am a better one! with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, vastly worse beatings, and in frequent danger of death.

¹² Greet one another with a sacred kiss.

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

⁴ who to save us from the present wicked world gave himself for our sins at the will of our God and Father. ⁵ To him be glory forever and ever! Amen.

⁷ not that there is any other, only that there are some people who are trying to unsettle you and want to turn the good news of the Christ around. ⁸ But even if we or an angel from heaven preach to you good news that contradicts the good news we have preached to you, a curse upon him! ⁹ We have said it before, and I repeat it now—if anyone is preaching to you good news that contradicts the good news you have already received, a curse upon him! ¹⁰ Is that appealing to men's weaknesses, or to God? Is that trying to suit men? If I were still doing that, I would be no slave of Christ.

²² I was still personally unknown to the Christian churches of Judea;

² It was in obedience to a revelation that I went. I laid before them the good news that I preach to the heathen, presenting it privately to the leaders, for fear my efforts might be or might have been futile.

⁴ to gratify the false brothers who had been smuggled in, who sneaked in to spy upon the freedom we enjoy in Christ Jesus, so as to reduce us to slavery again.

⁶ Those who were regarded as the leaders—what they once were makes no difference to me; God takes no account of external differences—the leaders contributed nothing new to me.

⁸ The Scripture foresaw that God would accept the heathen as upright in consequence of their faith, and preached the good news in advance to Abraham in the words, "All the heathen will be blessed through you."

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

¹¹ See what large letters I make, when I write to you with my own hand!

¹⁵ For neither circumcision nor the want of it is of any importance, but only a new creation.

¹⁸ The blessing of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.

¹ Paul, by God's will an apostle of Christ Jesus, to God's people who are steadfast in Christ Jesus;

⁴ Through him he chose us out before the creation of the world, to be consecrated and above reproach in his sight in love.

⁷ It is through union with him and through his blood that we have been delivered and our offenses forgiven, ⁸ in the abundance of his mercy which he has lavished upon us. ⁹ He has given us perfect insight into his secret purpose and understanding of it, in following out the design he planned to carry out in Christ,

¹⁵ This is why I, for my part, since I have heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus that prevails among you and among all God's people, ¹⁶ never cease to thank God for you when I mention you in my prayers. ¹⁷ The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, grant you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation through the knowledge of himself, ¹⁸ enlightening the eyes of your mind so that you may know what the hope is to which he calls you, and how gloriously rich his inheritance is among God's people,

¹⁰ For he has made us, creating us through our union with Christ Jesus for the life of goodness which God had predestined us to live.

²⁰ You are built upon the apostles and prophets as your foundation, and Christ Jesus himself is the cornerstone.

³ and how the secret was made known to me by revelation, as I have just briefly written. ⁴ As you read that, you will be able to understand the insight I have into the secret of the Christ ⁵ (which in past ages was not disclosed to mankind as fully as it has now been revealed through the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets)

⁹ and making clear how the secret purpose is to be worked out which has been hidden away for ages in God the creator of all things, ¹⁰ so that the many-sided wisdom of God may now through the church be made known to the rulers and authorities in heaven, ¹¹ fulfilling the eternal purpose which God carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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

³ But immorality or any form of vice or greed must not be so much as mentioned among you; that would not be becoming in God's people.

¹⁷ So do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.

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

¹ Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus, to all the devoted adherents of Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the superintendents and assistants;

⁹ And it is my prayer that your love may grow richer and richer in knowledge and perfect insight,

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

¹⁵ so that you will be blameless and honest, faultless children of God in the midst of a crooked and perverted age, in which you appear like stars in a dark world,

¹⁹ I hope, with the help of the Lord Jesus, to send Timothy to you soon, so that I, too, may be cheered by having news about you. ²⁰ For I have no one like him who would take such a real interest in you. ²¹ For they are all looking out for their own interests, not for those of Jesus Christ.

²¹ For they are all looking out for their own interests, not for those of Jesus Christ. ²² But you know his character, and how like a son helping his father he has worked like a slave with me in preaching the good news.

²² But you know his character, and how like a son helping his father he has worked like a slave with me in preaching the good news. ²³ So I hope to send him to you just as soon as I can see how my case is going to turn out.

²⁹ So give him a hearty Christian welcome, and value men like him very highly, ³⁰ for he came near dying for the Lord's work, and risked his life to make up for what was lacking in the service you have done me.

² Look out for those dogs, those mischief-makers, with their amputation! ³ We are the true circumcision, who worship God by his Spirit, priding ourselves only on Christ Jesus, and not relying on physical advantages,

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

¹⁹ They are doomed to destruction: their appetites are their god; they glory in their shame; they are absorbed in earthly matters.

¹ So, my dear brothers whom I so long to see, my joy and pride, stand firm in the Lord, dear friends.

¹⁴ But it was very kind of you to share my difficulties. ¹⁵ And you at Philippi know as well as I do, that in the early days of the good news, after I left Macedonia, no church but yours went into partnership and opened an account with me. ¹⁶ Even when I was at Thessalonica you sent money more than once for my needs. ¹⁷ Not that I want your gifts, but I want you to have the profits that will accumulate to your credit. ¹⁸ You have paid me in full, and more too. I am fully supplied with what I have received from you through Epaphroditus. It is like fragrant incense, just such a sacrifice as God welcomes and approves. ¹⁹ My God will gloriously supply all your needs with his wealth, through your union with Christ Jesus. ²⁰ Glory to our God and Father forever and ever. Amen.

²³ The blessing of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirits.

¹ Paul, by God's will an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Timothy, ² to the devoted and steadfast Christian brothers in Colossae; God our Father bless you and give you peace. ³ We never pray for you without thanking God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴ for what we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love you have for all God's people, ⁵ and for the hope of what is stored up for you in heaven. You first heard of it long ago when the true message of the gospel ⁶ came among you, to thrive and bear its fruit among you, as it does all over the world, from the time when you first heard about the mercy of God, ⁷ and really came to know it, in the form in which Epaphras, my dear fellow-slave, taught it to you. He is my faithful representative as a servant of Christ, ⁸ and it is he who has told me of the love the Spirit has awakened in you. ⁹ That is why, from the day I first heard of it, I have never given up praying for you and asking God to fill you, through full spiritual wisdom and insight, with a clear knowledge of what his will is,

²⁶ that secret, hidden from the ages and generations, but now disclosed to those who are consecrated to him,

²⁶ that secret, hidden from the ages and generations, but now disclosed to those who are consecrated to him, ²⁷ to whom God has chosen to make known among the heathen how glorious this mystery of Christ in you, the promise of glorification, really is.

²⁹ That is what I am working for, fighting with all the energy with which he so mightily endows me.

² that your hearts may be cheered. I want you to be united by love, and to have all the benefit of assured knowledge in coming to know Christ— ³ that divine mystery in which all treasures of wisdom and knowledge are to be found. ⁴ What I mean is, let nobody mislead you by specious arguments.

⁸ Take care that nobody exploits you through the pretensions of philosophy, guided by human tradition, following material ways of looking at things, instead of following Christ.

¹⁶ Let the message of Christ live in your hearts in all its wealth of wisdom. Teach it to one another and train one another in it with thankfulness, with psalms, hymns, and sacred songs, and sing to God with all your hearts. ¹⁷ And whatever you have to say or do, do it all as followers of the Lord Jesus, and offer your thanksgiving to God the Father through him.

²⁴ for you know that it is from him that you are to receive that inheritance which is to be your reward. Think of Christ as the master you are working for.

¹⁰ Aristarchus, my fellow-prisoner, wishes to be remembered to you, and so does Barnabas' cousin Mark. (About him you have had instructions; if he comes to see you, make him welcome.)

¹² Epaphras, one of your own number, a slave of Christ Jesus, wishes to be remembered to you. He is always standing up for you in his prayers that you may stand fast, like men of mature convictions, whatever God's will for you may be.

¹⁵ Remember me to the brothers in Laodicea and to Nympha and the church that meets at her house.

¹ Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the Thessalonian church in union with God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ; God bless you and give you peace. ² We always thank God for you all when we mention you in our prayers, ³ for we can never forget before our God and Father your energetic faith, your loving service, and your unwavering expectation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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

⁸ For the Lord's message has rung out from you not only over Macedonia and Greece, but the story of your belief in God has gone everywhere, so that we never need to mention it. ⁹ For when people speak of us, they tell what a welcome you gave us, and how you turned from idols to God, to serve a true and living God,

¹⁴ For you, brothers, followed the example of God's churches in Judea that are in union with Christ Jesus, for you in your turn had to bear the same ill-treatment from your neighbors as they did from the Jews,

² and I sent my brother Timothy, a servant of God in preaching the good news of the Christ, to strengthen you in your faith

⁶ But now that Timothy has just come back to me from you, and brought me good news of your faith and love, and told me how kindly you think of me and that you long to see me just as much as I long to see you,

⁶ But now that Timothy has just come back to me from you, and brought me good news of your faith and love, and told me how kindly you think of me and that you long to see me just as much as I long to see you, ⁷ I feel encouraged, brothers, about you, in spite of all my distress and trouble, at your faith, ⁸ for now I can really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. ⁹ For how can I thank God enough for you, for all the happiness you make me feel in the presence of our God, ¹⁰ as I pray night and day with intense earnestness that I may see your faces and supply what is lacking in your faith?

¹³ so that your hearts may be strong and faultlessly pure in the sight of our God and Father, when our Lord Jesus appears with all his saints!

¹² We beg you, brothers, to respect those who work with you and who lead you in the service of the Lord, and teach you. ¹³ Hold them in the highest esteem and affection for what they do. Live at peace with one another.

²⁶ Greet all the brothers with a sacred kiss.

²⁸ The blessing of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

¹ Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the Thessalonian church in union with God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ;

¹⁰ and full of wicked deception for men who are going to destruction, because they refused to love the truth and be saved.

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

¹⁶ May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and kindly given us unfailing encouragement and a well-founded hope, ¹⁷ encourage you and strengthen you to do and say everything that is right.

³ But the Lord is to be relied on, and he will give you strength and protect you from the evil one.

⁶ We charge you, brothers, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who lives in idleness, instead of following the teaching you received from us.

¹⁴ If anyone refuses to obey what we have said in this letter, mark the man and do not have anything to do with him, to make him feel ashamed. ¹⁵ Do not look upon him as an enemy but warn him as a brother.

¹⁸ The blessing of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

² to Timothy, my true child in faith; God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord bless you and be merciful to you, and give you peace. ³ As I asked you to do when I was on my way to Macedonia, stay on in Ephesus in order to warn certain people there not to teach strange views

¹⁷ To the eternal King, immortal and invisible, the one God, be honor and glory forever and ever! Amen.

¹⁰ but, as is appropriate for women who profess to be religious, with good actions.

¹⁰ They should first be tested, and afterward, if there is no fault to be found with them, they can serve as assistants.

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

² older women like mothers, younger ones like sisters, with absolute purity.

⁹ No one under sixty years of age should be put on the list of widows. A widow must have been married but once, ¹⁰ and have a good reputation for Christian service, such as bringing up children, being hospitable to strangers, washing the feet of God's people, helping people in distress, or devoting herself to any form of doing good.

¹⁰ and have a good reputation for Christian service, such as bringing up children, being hospitable to strangers, washing the feet of God's people, helping people in distress, or devoting herself to any form of doing good.

¹⁷ Elders who do their duties well should be considered as deserving twice as much as they get, particularly those who work at preaching and teaching. ¹⁸ For the Scripture says, "You must not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain," and the workman deserves his wages.

³ Anyone who teaches different views and does not agree with the wholesome instruction which comes from our Lord Jesus Christ, and with religious teaching ⁴ is a conceited, ignorant person, with a morbid craving for speculations and arguments which result only in envy, quarreling, abuse, base suspicions, ⁵ and mutual irritation between people of depraved minds, who are lost to the truth and think of religion only as a means of gain.

⁵ and mutual irritation between people of depraved minds, who are lost to the truth and think of religion only as a means of gain.

¹¹ But you, man of God, must fly from these things. Strive for uprightness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.

¹⁶ who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

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

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

⁹ He saved us and called us to a consecrated life, not for anything we had done, but of his own accord and out of the mercy which he bestowed upon us ages ago through Christ Jesus, ¹⁰ which has now been revealed through the appearance of our Savior Christ Jesus. He has taken away the power of death and brought life and immortality to light through the good news,

¹⁸ The Lord grant that he may be shown mercy by the Lord on that Day! And you know well enough how he helped me at Ephesus.

⁸ Remember Jesus Christ as risen from the dead, and descended from David, as I preach the good news,

¹⁶ Leave worldly, empty phrases alone, for they lead people deeper and deeper into godlessness, ¹⁷ and their teaching spreads like a cancer; men like Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸ who have missed the truth and say that the resurrection has taken place already, thus undermining people's faith.

² People will be selfish, avaricious, boastful, arrogant, abusive, undutiful, ungrateful, irreverent, ³ unfeeling, irreconcilable, slanderous, with no self-control, brutal, with no love for what is good, ⁴ treacherous, reckless, conceited, caring more for pleasure than for God, ⁵ keeping up the forms of religion, but resisting its influence. Avoid such people.

⁵ keeping up the forms of religion, but resisting its influence. Avoid such people. ⁶ They are the kind of men who make their way into people's houses and make captives of poor, weak women, loaded down with their sins and under the control of all sorts of impulses,

¹⁵ and how from childhood you have known the Scriptures which can give you the wisdom that through faith in Christ Jesus leads to salvation. ¹⁶ All Scripture is divinely inspired, and useful in teaching, in reproof, in correcting faults, and in training in uprightness, ¹⁷ so that the man of God will be adequate, and equipped for any good work.

¹⁸ The Lord will rescue me from any harm and bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen. ¹⁹ Remember me to Prisca and Aquila, and to the members of the household of Onesiphorus. ²⁰ Erastus stayed in Corinth. I left Trophimus sick at Miletus.

²² The Lord be with your spirit. God bless you all.

² in the hope of eternal life, which God who never lies promised ages ago,

² in the hope of eternal life, which God who never lies promised ages ago, ³ and revealed at the proper time in his message, through the preaching with which I have been intrusted at the command of God our Savior,

¹⁰ For there are many undisciplined people, who deceive themselves with their empty talk, especially those of the party of circumcision. ¹¹ They must be silenced, for such men upset whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach, for the sake of dishonest gain. ¹² It was a Cretan, a prophet of their own, who said, "Cretans are always liars, savage brutes, lazy gluttons,"

³ Teach the older women, too, to be reverent in their behavior, and not to gossip or be slaves of drink, but to be teachers of what is right,

¹⁰ If a man is inclined to a sect, after warning him once or twice, have nothing more to do with him.

² and our sister Apphia, and our fellow-soldier Archippus, and the church that meets in your house;

¹² and now that I send him back to you, it is like sending my very heart.

¹⁷ So if you regard me as a comrade, welcome him as you would me.

²³ Epaphras, my fellow-prisoner for Christ Jesus, wishes to be remembered to you,

²⁵ The blessing of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirits.

¹⁴ Therefore since these children referred to have the same mortal nature, Jesus also shared it, like them, in order that by his death he might dethrone the lord of death, the devil, ¹⁵ and free from their slavery men who had always lived in fear of death.

¹ Therefore, my fellow-Christians, who have likewise heard the heavenly invitation, observe how faithful Jesus, the commissioner and high priest of our religion,

¹⁰ For God is not so unjust as to forget the work you have done and the love you have showed for his cause, in giving help to your fellow-Christians as you still do. ¹¹ But we want each of you to exhibit this same earnestness to the very end with regard to your confidence in your hope,

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

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

⁸ Jesus Christ is the same today that he was yesterday, and he will be so forever.

¹⁵ In his name let us continually offer praise as our sacrifice to God—the utterance of lips that glorify God's name.

²¹ fit you by every blessing to do his will, and through Jesus Christ carry out in us what will please him. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.

²³ You must know that our brother Timothy has been released from prison. If he comes here soon, we will see you together.

¹ James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, sends greeting to the twelve tribes that are scattered over the world.

¹⁸ Of his own accord he brought us into being through the message of truth, so that we might be a kind of first-fruits among his creatures.

¹⁵ If some brother or sister has no clothes and has not food enough for a day,

¹³ What wise, intelligent man is there among you? Let him show by his good life that what he does is done in the humility of wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you cherish bitter feelings of jealousy and rivalry in your hearts, do not pride yourselves on it and thus belie the truth. ¹⁵ Such wisdom does not come from above. It is earthly, animal, demon-like. ¹⁶ For wherever jealousy and rivalry exist, there will be confusion and every low action. ¹⁷ The wisdom that is from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, considerate, willing to yield, full of compassion and good deeds, whole-hearted, straightforward. ¹⁸ The harvest uprightness yields must be sown in peace, by peacemakers.

² whom God the Father has chosen and predestined by the consecration of the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ, and to be sprinkled with his blood; God bless you and give you perfect peace.

⁷ they are to show that your faith when tested is found to be more precious than gold, which though it is perishable is tested with fire, and they will bring you praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

¹⁰ About this salvation the prophets who prophesied of the blessing that was destined for you made the most careful investigation, ¹¹ trying to learn for what possible time the spirit of Christ within them in predicting the sufferings destined for Christ intended them and the glories that were to follow them. ¹² It was disclosed to them that they were serving not themselves but you in dealing with these things, which have now been told you by those who through the holy Spirit sent from heaven brought you the good news; things into which angels long to look!

²⁰ who was predestined for this before the foundation of the world, but was revealed only at the end of the ages,

²² Now that by obeying the truth you have purified your souls for sincere love of the brotherhood, you must love one another intensely and heartily, ²³ for you have been born anew from a germ not perishable, but imperishable, through the message of the living, everlasting God.

⁵ and build yourselves up as living stones into a spiritual house for a consecrated priesthood, so as to offer spiritual sacrifices that through Jesus Christ will be acceptable to God.

¹⁰ And God, the giver of all mercy, who through your union with Christ has called you to his eternal glory, after you have suffered a little while will himself make you perfect, steadfast, and strong.

¹⁰ And God, the giver of all mercy, who through your union with Christ has called you to his eternal glory, after you have suffered a little while will himself make you perfect, steadfast, and strong. ¹¹ His be the dominion forever. Amen.

¹⁴ Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you that are in union with Christ.

¹ There were false prophets too among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will introduce destructive sects and deny the Master who has bought them, thus bringing on themselves swift destruction. ² Many people will follow their immoral ways, and they will cause the true way to be maligned. ³ In their greed they will exploit you with pretended arguments. From of old their condemnation has not been idle, and their destruction has not slumbered.

¹⁰ especially those who yield to their physical nature and indulge in passions that defile them, and despise authority. Rash, headstrong men! They stand in no awe of majesty, but deride beings ¹¹ against whom even angels far superior to these beings in strength and power bring no abusive charge before the Lord. ¹² These men, like unreasoning animals, mere creatures of instinct created to be caught and killed, abuse what they do not understand and will be destroyed like animals, ¹³ suffering wrong as the reward for their wrongdoing. They find pleasure in the indulgence of the moment; they are a stain and a disgrace, and they revel in their deceit while they join in your religious meals. ¹⁴ They have eyes for nobody but adulterous women—eyes insatiable in sin. They lure unsteadfast souls. Their hearts are trained in greed. They are accursed! ¹⁵ They have left the straight path and gone astray. They have followed the path of Balaam, the son of Beor, who set his heart on dishonest gain,

¹⁸ They utter arrogant nonsense and use physical cravings to lure into immorality men who are just escaping from among those who live in error; ¹⁹ promising them freedom when they are themselves slaves of destruction; for a man is the slave of whatever overcomes him. ²⁰ For if after men have escaped the corrupting influences of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they again become entangled in them and are overcome by them, their final condition is worse than their former one.

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

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

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

¹⁴ We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love is still in death.

¹⁶ We know what love means from the fact that he laid down his life for us; so we also ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

¹ Dear friends, do not believe every inspired utterance, but test the utterances to see whether they come from God, for many false prophets have come out into the world. ² You can tell the Spirit of God in this way: all inspiration that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in human form comes from God, ³ and any inspired utterance that does not acknowledge Jesus does not come from God; it is the inspiration of the Antichrist. You have heard that it was coming, and here it is already in the world.

¹³ This is the way we know that we keep in union with him and he does with us—because he has given us some of his Spirit.

²⁰ And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us power to recognize him who is true; and we are in union with him who is true, through his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

¹ The Elder to the chosen lady and her children, whom I truly love—and not only I but all who know the truth—

⁷ For many impostors have gone out into the world—men who do not acknowledge the coming of Jesus Christ in human form. That is the mark of the impostor and the Antichrist. ⁸ Look out for yourselves, take care not to lose what we have worked for, but make sure that you are paid for it in full. ⁹ Anyone who goes too far and does not keep to the teaching of Christ has not God. It is the man who holds to the teaching who has both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰ If anyone comes to you without bringing this teaching, do not let him come into the house or bid him good morning.

¹⁰ If anyone comes to you without bringing this teaching, do not let him come into the house or bid him good morning. ¹¹ For anyone who bids him good morning shares in his wicked work.

¹ The Elder to my dear friend Gaius, whom I truly love.

¹ The Elder to my dear friend Gaius, whom I truly love. ² Dear friend, it is my prayer that everything is going well with you and that you are well; I know it is well with your soul. ³ For it makes me exceedingly happy to have some brothers come and testify to the truth of your life, for you are guided by truth. ⁴ I know of no greater blessing than hearing that my children are being guided by the truth. ⁵ Dear friend, it is loyal of you to do anything you can for the brothers, especially as they are strangers;

⁵ Dear friend, it is loyal of you to do anything you can for the brothers, especially as they are strangers; ⁶ they have testified before the church to your love. Please see them off on their journey in a way appropriate to God's service.

⁶ they have testified before the church to your love. Please see them off on their journey in a way appropriate to God's service. ⁷ For they have started out for the sake of the cause, and they are accepting nothing from the heathen. ⁸ So we ought to support such men, to show that we are ready to co-operate with the truth. ⁹ I have written briefly to the church, but Diotrephes who likes to be their leader will not accept what I say. ¹⁰ So if I come, I will bring up the things that he is doing, and how he is maliciously accusing me. Not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers himself, and he is interfering with those who want to do so, and has them put out of the church.

¹ Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ, and the brother of James, to those who have been called, who are dear to God the Father and have been kept through union with Jesus Christ;

¹² They are stains on your religious meals, where they carouse together, boldly attending to no one but themselves; rainless clouds driven before the wind; leafless trees without fruit, doubly dead, and uprooted;

¹⁶ These men are grumblers, dissatisfied with life. They go where their passions lead, their talk is arrogant and they cultivate people in the hope of gain.

¹⁹ These are the men who create division; they are animal and devoid of the Spirit.

²⁴ Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in his presence irreproachable and triumphant— ²⁵ to the one God our Savior be glory, majesty, power, and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord now and forever and ever. Amen.

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

¹ A revelation made by Jesus Christ which God gave him to disclose to his slaves of what must very soon happen. He sent and communicated it by his angel to his slave John,

⁴ John to the seven churches in Asia, blessing and peace to you from him who is and was and is coming, and from the seven spirits before his throne, ⁵ and from Jesus Christ the trustworthy witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the sovereign of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has released us from our sins by his blood ⁶ he has made us a kingdom of priests for his God and Father—to him be glory and power forever. Amen.

⁸ "I am the Alpha and the Omega." says the Lord God, who is and was and is coming, the Almighty. ⁹ I, John, your brother and companion in the distress, the kingdom, and the endurance that Jesus brings, found myself on the island called Patmos, for uttering God's message and testifying to Jesus.

⁹ I, John, your brother and companion in the distress, the kingdom, and the endurance that Jesus brings, found myself on the island called Patmos, for uttering God's message and testifying to Jesus. ¹⁰ On the Lord's day I fell into a trance, and I heard a loud voice like a trumpet behind me ¹¹ say, "Write what you see in a roll and send it to the seven churches—to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea."

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. But he laid his right hand upon me, and said, "Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last,

⁹ And whenever the animals offer glory, honor, and thanksgiving to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne, and worship him who lives forever and ever, and they throw down their crowns before the throne, and say, ¹¹ "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory, honor, and power, for you created all things; by your will they existed and were created."

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

¹⁰ and they cried in a loud voice, "Our deliverance is the work of our God who is seated on the throne, and of the Lamb!" ¹¹ Then all the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four animals, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹² saying, "Amen! Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen!"

¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say, "The deliverance and power and reign of our God, and the authority of his Christ have now come, for the accuser of our brothers, who kept bringing charges against them day and night before our God, has been hurled down.

⁴ They are the men who have not been defiled by relations with women; they are celibates. It is they who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been ransomed from among men as the first-fruits for God and the Lamb,

¹ After that I heard what sounded like the loud shout of a great multitude in heaven saying, "Praise the Lord! Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God, ² for his judgments are sound and upright. For he has passed judgment upon the great idolatress who corrupted the earth with her idolatry, and he has avenged the blood of his slaves upon her!" ³ Then they said again, "Praise the Lord! For smoke will go up from her forever and ever!" ⁴ Then the twenty-four elders and the four animals fell down and worshiped God who was seated upon the throne. "Amen!" they said, "Praise the Lord!" ⁵ And there came a voice from the throne, saying, "Praise our God, all you slaves of his, high and low, who fear him!" ⁶ Then I heard what sounded like the shout of a great multitude and the noise of many waters and the sound of mighty thunders, saying, "Praise the Lord; for the Lord our God, the Almighty now reigns!

¹⁰ I fell at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, "You must not do that. I am only a fellow-slave of yours and of your brothers who have accepted the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is what inspires prophecy."

¹ Then I saw an angel come down from heaven with the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. ² He seized the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, ³ and hurled him into the abyss and he closed it and sealed it over him, to keep him from leading the heathen astray any longer, until the thousand years are over; after that he has to be released for a little while.

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