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Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Praise to the God of All Comfort
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
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as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus.
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Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm.
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Ministers of the New Covenant
Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me,
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But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
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Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
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And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
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For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
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because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself.
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Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.
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We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
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The Ministry of Reconciliation
Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.
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Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”
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And, “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
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The Collection for the Lord’s People
And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches.
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they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people.
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And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.
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For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
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What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering, which we administer in order to honor the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help.
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For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of man.
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There is no need for me to write to you about this service to the Lord’s people.
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This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.
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So even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it.
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But, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
