²² And when He had said this, He breathed on them and *said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ^23 (A)If you forgive the sins of any, their sins ^[a]have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”

¹⁶ to be ^(A)a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the ^(B)gospel of God, so that my ^(C)offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸ Now ^(A)all these things are from God, ^(B)who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ^(C)ministry of reconciliation, ¹⁹ namely, that ^(D)God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, ^(E)not counting their wrongdoings against them, and ^[a]He has ^[b]committed to us the word of reconciliation.

²⁰ Therefore, we are ^(F)ambassadors for Christ, ^(G)as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be ^(H)reconciled to God.