Instructions for the Church

(A)Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, (B)younger men as brothers,

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32 (A)“You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall (B)fear your God: I am the Lord.

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Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. (A)Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for (B)“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

(C)Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,

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Likewise, urge (A)the younger men to be self-controlled.

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Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, (A)sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness.

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19 Do not admit a charge against an elder except (A)on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 20 As for those who persist in sin, (B)rebuke them in the presence of all, (C)so that the rest may stand in fear.

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Bear One Another's Burdens

Brothers,[a] (A)if anyone is caught in any transgression, (B)you who are spiritual should restore him in (C)a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

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Footnotes

  1. Galatians 6:1 Or Brothers and sisters; also verse 18

Shepherd the Flock of God

So I exhort the elders among you, (A)as a fellow elder and (B)a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed:

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17 Let the elders (A)who rule well be considered worthy of (B)double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.

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(A)But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are (B)all brothers.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 23:8 Or brothers and sisters

If Your Brother Sins Against You

15 (A)“If your brother sins against you, (B)go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have (C)gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established (D)by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, (E)tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, (F)let him be to you as (G)a Gentile and (H)a tax collector.

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Qualifications for Elders

(A)This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and (B)appoint elders in every town as I directed you— (C)if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife,[a] and his children are believers[b] and not open to the charge of (D)debauchery or insubordination.

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Footnotes

  1. Titus 1:6 Or a man of one woman
  2. Titus 1:6 Or are faithful

24 And (A)the Lord's servant[a] must not be quarrelsome but (B)kind to everyone, (C)able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents (D)with gentleness. God (E)may perhaps grant them repentance (F)leading to a knowledge of the truth,

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Timothy 2:24 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface

Paul Opposes Peter

11 But (A)when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him (B)to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, (C)he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing (D)the circumcision party.[a] 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their (E)conduct was not in step with (F)the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas (G)before them all, “If you, though a Jew, (H)live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

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Footnotes

  1. Galatians 2:12 Or fearing those of the circumcision

(A)Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

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(A)When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and (B)the apostles and the elders, and (C)they declared all that God had done with them.

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23 And when they had (A)appointed (B)elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting (C)they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

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Around the throne were (A)twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, (B)clothed in white garments, with (C)golden crowns on their heads.

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Greeting

(A)The elder to the beloved Gaius, (B)whom I love in truth.

Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. For (C)I rejoiced greatly when the brothers[a] came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that (D)my children are walking in the truth.

Support and Opposition

Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for (E)these brothers, (F)strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner (G)worthy of God. For they have gone out for the sake of (H)the name, (I)accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.

I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. 10 So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church.

11 Beloved, (J)do not imitate evil but imitate good. (K)Whoever does good is from God; (L)whoever does evil has not seen God. 12 Demetrius (M)has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and (N)you know that our testimony is true.

Final Greetings

13 (O)I had much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.

15 Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, (P)each by name.

Footnotes

  1. 3 John 1:3 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters; also verses 5, 10

Greeting

(A)The elder to the elect lady and her children, (B)whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who (C)know (D)the truth, (E)because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever:

(F)Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love.

Walking in Truth and Love

(G)I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father. And now I ask you, dear lady—(H)not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—(I)that we love one another. And (J)this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just (K)as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. For (L)many deceivers (M)have gone out into the world, (N)those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, (O)so that you may not lose what we[a] have worked for, but (P)may win a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, (Q)does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching (R)has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, (S)do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, 11 for whoever greets him (T)takes part in his wicked works.

Final Greetings

12 (U)Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. (V)Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, (W)so that our joy may be complete.

13 The children of your elect sister greet you.

Footnotes

  1. 2 John 1:8 Some manuscripts you

14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, (A)anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

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17 But (A)the wisdom from above is first pure, then (B)peaceable, gentle, open to reason, (C)full of mercy and good fruits, (D)impartial and (E)sincere.

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yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now (A)a prisoner also for Christ Jesus— 10 I appeal to you for (B)my child, (C)Onesimus,[a] (D)whose father I became in my imprisonment.

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Footnotes

  1. Philemon 1:10 Onesimus means useful (see verse 11) or beneficial (see verse 20)

(A)The (B)apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter.

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who said of his father and mother,
    ‘I regard them not’;
(A)he disowned his brothers
    and ignored his children.
For (B)they observed your word
    and kept your covenant.

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