¹³ “If you will only heed his every commandment^[a] that I am commanding you today—loving the Lord your God and serving him with all your heart and with all your soul^(A)— ¹⁴ then he^[b] will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, and you will gather in your grain, your wine, and your oil,^{(B) 15} and he^[c] will give grass in your field for your livestock, and you will eat your fill.^{(C) 16} Take care, or you will be seduced into turning away, serving other gods and worshiping them,^{(D) 17} for then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will not yield its produce; then you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you.^(E)

¹⁸ “You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and fix them as an emblem on your forehead.^{(F) 19} Teach them to your children, talking about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise up.^(G)

The Ministry of Reconciliation

¹¹ Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade people, but we ourselves are well known to God, and I hope that we are also well known to your consciences.^{(A) 12} We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you an opportunity to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast in outward appearance and not in the heart.^{(B) 13} For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.^{(C) 14} For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died.^{(D) 15} And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves but for the one who for their sake died and was raised.

¹⁶ From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view;^[a] even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view,^[b] we no longer know him in that way.^{(E) 17} So if anyone is in Christ, there^[c] is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being!^{[d](F) 18} All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation;^{(G) 19} that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself,^[e] not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.^{(H) 20} So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ: be reconciled to God.^{(I) 21} For our sake God made the one who knew no sin to be sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.^(J)

6 As we work together with him,^[f] we entreat you also not to accept the grace of God in vain.^{(K) 2} For he says,

Look, now is the acceptable time; look, now is the day of salvation!^(L)

Some Sayings of Jesus

17 Jesus^[a] said to his disciples, “Occasions for sin^[b] are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come!^{(A) 2} It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to sin.^{[c](B) 3} Be on your guard! If a brother or sister sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive.^{(C) 4} And if the same person sins against you seven times a day and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive.”^(D)

⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”^{(E) 6} The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a^[d] mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.^(F)

⁷ “Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? ⁸ Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me; put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’?^{(G) 9} Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? ¹⁰ So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’ ”