²⁷ And when he wished to cross to ^(A)Achaia, ^(B)the brothers encouraged him and ^(C)wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, ^(D)he greatly helped those who through grace had believed,

¹⁶ Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. ^17 (A)Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from ^(B)the Father of lights, ^(C)with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.^{[a] 18 (D)}Of his own will he ^(E)brought us forth by the word of truth, ^(F)that we should be a kind of ^(G)firstfruits of his creatures.

Stand Firm

¹³ But ^(A)we ought always to give thanks to God for you, ^(B)brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you ^(C)as the firstfruits^{[a] (D)}to be saved, ^(E)through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. ¹⁴ To this he called you through ^(F)our gospel, ^(G)so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁸ Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.

⁹ 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.

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

May ^(D)grace and ^(E)peace be multiplied to you.

Born Again to a Living Hope

^3 (F)Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! ^(G)According to his great mercy, ^(H)he has caused us to be born again to a living hope ^(I)through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

⁴ But when ^(A)the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, ⁵ he saved us, ^(B)not because of works done by us in righteousness, but ^(C)according to his own mercy, by ^(D)the washing of regeneration and ^(E)renewal of the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom he ^(F)poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

^10 (A)Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark ^(B)the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions—^(C)if he comes to you, welcome him),

^12 (A)having been buried with him in baptism, in which ^(B)you were also raised with him through faith in ^(C)the powerful working of God, ^(D)who raised him from the dead.

²⁹ For ^(A)it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also ^(B)suffer for his sake,