The Coming of the Kingdom

²⁰ Being asked by the Pharisees ^(A)when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God ^(B)is not coming in ways that can be observed, ²¹ nor ^(C)will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”^[a]

One Body with Many Members

¹² For just as ^(A)the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, ^(B)so it is with Christ. ¹³ For ^(C)in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—^(D)Jews or Greeks, slaves^[a] or free—and ^(E)all were made to drink of one Spirit.

¹⁴ For the body does not consist of one member but of many. ¹⁵ If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? ¹⁸ But as it is, ^(F)God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, ^(G)as he chose. ¹⁹ If all were a single member, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts,^[b] yet one body.

²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²² On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, ²⁴ which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, ²⁵ that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. ²⁶ If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, ^(H)all rejoice together.

²⁷ Now ^(I)you are the body of Christ and individually ^(J)members of it.

The Cheerful Giver

⁶ The point is this: ^(A)whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully^[a] will also reap bountifully. ⁷ Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, ^(B)not reluctantly or under compulsion, for ^(C)God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And ^(D)God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency^[b] in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.