¹¹ Then he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the people of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will come and help you.

Striving and Suffering for Christ

²⁷ Only ^(A)let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, ^(B)with one mind ^(C)striving together for the faith of the gospel, ²⁸ and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but ^[a]to you of salvation, and that from God.

^2 (A)Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill ^(B)the law of Christ.

Bearing Others’ Burdens

15 We ^(A)then who are strong ought to bear with the ^[a]scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

³² But ^(A)I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, ^(B)strengthen your brethren.”

²⁰ Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. ^(A)Our God will fight for us.”

⁹ Then the people of Ammon came out and put themselves in battle array before the gate of the city, and the kings who had come were by themselves in the field.

¹⁰ When Joab saw that the battle line was against him before and behind, he chose some of Israel’s best and put them in battle array against the Syrians. ¹¹ And the rest of the people he put under the command of Abishai his brother, and they set themselves in battle array against the people of Ammon. ¹² Then he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the people of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will help you.