29 Who is weak, and I do not feel weak?(A) Who is led into sin,(B) and I do not inwardly burn?

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22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak.(A) I have become all things to all people(B) so that by all possible means I might save some.(C)

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13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.(A)

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15 I know your deeds,(A) that you are neither cold nor hot.(B) I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’(C) But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.(D) 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire,(E) so you can become rich; and white clothes(F) to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness;(G) and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

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20 Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel,(A) who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.(B)

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I know your deeds,(A) your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested(B) those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.(C)

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The Sin and Doom of Ungodly People

Dear friends,(A) although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share,(B) I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend(C) for the faith(D) that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.(E) For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about[a] long ago have secretly slipped in among you.(F) They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.(G)

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Footnotes

  1. Jude 1:4 Or individuals who were marked out for condemnation

10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them.(A) 11 Anyone who welcomes them shares(B) in their wicked work.

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For this reason, when I could stand it no longer,(A) I sent to find out about your faith.(B) I was afraid that in some way the tempter(C) had tempted you and that our labors might have been in vain.(D)

Timothy’s Encouraging Report

But Timothy(E) has just now come to us from you(F) and has brought good news about your faith and love.(G) He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you.(H) Therefore, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. For now we really live, since you are standing firm(I) in the Lord.

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Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.(A)

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Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised,(A) Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.(B) You who are trying to be justified by the law(C) have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.(D)

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Paul’s Concern for the Galatians

Formerly, when you did not know God,(A) you were slaves(B) to those who by nature are not gods.(C) But now that you know God—or rather are known by God(D)—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces[a]? Do you wish to be enslaved(E) by them all over again?(F) 10 You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!(G) 11 I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.(H)

12 I plead with you, brothers and sisters,(I) become like me, for I became like you. You did me no wrong. 13 As you know, it was because of an illness(J) that I first preached the gospel to you, 14 and even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself.(K) 15 Where, then, is your blessing of me now? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. 16 Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?(L)

17 Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may have zeal for them.(M) 18 It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always, not just when I am with you.(N) 19 My dear children,(O) for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,(P) 20 how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!

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Footnotes

  1. Galatians 4:9 Or principles

Faith or Works of the Law

You foolish(A) Galatians!(B) Who has bewitched you?(C) Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.(D) I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit(E) by the works of the law,(F) or by believing what you heard?(G) Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?[a]

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Footnotes

  1. Galatians 3:3 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.

14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel,(A) I said to Cephas(B) in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew.(C) How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?(D)

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This matter arose because some false believers(A) had infiltrated our ranks to spy on(B) the freedom(C) we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel(D) might be preserved for you.

As for those who were held in high esteem(E)—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism(F)—they added nothing to my message.(G)

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which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion(A) and are trying to pervert(B) the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you,(C) let them be under God’s curse!(D) As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted,(E) let them be under God’s curse!

10 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people?(F) If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

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We are glad whenever we are weak(A) but you are strong;(B) and our prayer is that you may be fully restored.(C)

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13 For such people are false apostles,(A) deceitful(B) workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.(C) 14 And no wonder, for Satan(D) himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.(E)

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For when we came into Macedonia,(A) we had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn(B)—conflicts on the outside, fears within.(C) But God, who comforts the downcast,(D) comforted us by the coming of Titus,(E)

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For I wrote you(A) out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.

Forgiveness for the Offender

If anyone has caused grief,(B) he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you to some extent—not to put it too severely.

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36 How foolish!(A) What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.(B)

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The Resurrection of the Dead

12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead,(A) how can some of you say that there is no resurrection(B) of the dead?(C) 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised,(D) our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead.(E) But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.(F) 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep(G) in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.(H)

20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead,(I) the firstfruits(J) of those who have fallen asleep.(K) 21 For since death came through a man,(L) the resurrection of the dead(M) comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.(N) 23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits;(O) then, when he comes,(P) those who belong to him.(Q) 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom(R) to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.(S) 25 For he must reign(T) until he has put all his enemies under his feet.(U) 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.(V) 27 For he “has put everything under his feet.”[a](W) Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ.(X) 28 When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him,(Y) so that God may be all in all.(Z)

29 Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? 30 And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour?(AA) 31 I face death every day(AB)—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32 If I fought wild beasts(AC) in Ephesus(AD) with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised,

“Let us eat and drink,
    for tomorrow we die.”[b](AE)

33 Do not be misled:(AF) “Bad company corrupts good character.”[c](AG) 34 Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God(AH)—I say this to your shame.(AI)

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 15:27 Psalm 8:6
  2. 1 Corinthians 15:32 Isaiah 22:13
  3. 1 Corinthians 15:33 From the Greek poet Menander

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

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22 Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God(A) by humiliating those who have nothing?(B) What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you?(C) Certainly not in this matter!

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15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself?(A) Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! 16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”[a](B) 17 But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.[b](C)

18 Flee from sexual immorality.(D) All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.(E)

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 6:16 Gen. 2:24
  2. 1 Corinthians 6:17 Or in the Spirit

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