The History of Creation^(A)

1 In the ^(B)beginning ^(C)God created the heavens and the earth.

²⁶ Then God said, ^(A)“Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; ^(B)let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over ^[a]all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

²⁷ So God created man ^(A)in His own image; in the image of God He created him; ^(B)male and female He created them.

^19 (A)Go ^[a]therefore and ^(B)make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

^2 (A)elect ^(B)according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, ^(C)in sanctification of the Spirit, for ^(D)obedience and ^(E)sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ:

^(F)Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

^14 (A)The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and ^(B)the ^[a]communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

¹⁰ “For his letters,” they say, “are weighty and powerful, but ^(A)his bodily presence is weak, and his ^(B)speech contemptible.” ¹¹ Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when we are absent, such we will also be in deed when we are present.

Limits of Paul’s Authority

^12 (C)For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. ^13 (D)We, however, will not boast beyond measure, but within the limits of the sphere which God appointed us—a sphere which especially includes you. ¹⁴ For we are not overextending ourselves (as though our authority did not extend to you), ^(E)for it was to you that we came with the gospel of Christ;

A Heavenly Inheritance

^3 (A)Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who ^(B)according to His abundant mercy ^(C)has begotten us again to a living hope ^(D)through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an inheritance ^[a]incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, ^(E)reserved in heaven for you, ^5 (F)who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.