Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.

²I am so glad that you always keep me in your thoughts, and that you are following the teachings I passed on to you.

³But there is one thing I want you to know: The head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.

⁴A man dishonors his head if he covers his head while praying or prophesying.

⁵But a woman dishonors her head if she prays or prophesies without a covering on her head, for this is the same as shaving her head.

⁶Yes, if she refuses to wear a head covering, she should cut off all her hair! But since it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut or her head shaved, she should wear a covering.

⁷A man should not wear anything on his head when worshiping, for man is made in God’s image and reflects God’s glory. And woman reflects man’s glory.

⁸For the first man didn’t come from woman, but the first woman came from man.

⁹And man was not made for woman, but woman was made for man.

¹⁰For this reason, and because the angels are watching, a woman should wear a covering on her head to show she is under authority.

¹¹But among the Lord’s people, women are not independent of men, and men are not independent of women.

¹²For although the first woman came from man, every other man was born from a woman, and everything comes from God.

¹³Judge for yourselves. Is it right for a woman to pray to God in public without covering her head?

¹⁴Isn’t it obvious that it’s disgraceful for a man to have long hair?

¹⁵And isn’t long hair a woman’s pride and joy? For it has been given to her as a covering.

¹⁶But if anyone wants to argue about this, I simply say that we have no other custom than this, and neither do God’s other churches.

¹⁷But in the following instructions, I cannot praise you. For it sounds as if more harm than good is done when you meet together.

¹⁸First, I hear that there are divisions among you when you meet as a church, and to some extent I believe it.

¹⁹But, of course, there must be divisions among you so that you who have God’s approval will be recognized!

²⁰When you meet together, you are not really interested in the Lord’s Supper.

²¹For some of you hurry to eat your own meal without sharing with others. As a result, some go hungry while others get drunk.

²²What? Don’t you have your own homes for eating and drinking? Or do you really want to disgrace God’s church and shame the poor? What am I supposed to say? Do you want me to praise you? Well, I certainly will not praise you for this!

²³For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread

²⁴and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

²⁵In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people — an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.”

²⁶For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.

²⁷So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.

²⁸That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup.

²⁹For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself.

³⁰That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died.

³¹But if we would examine ourselves, we would not be judged by God in this way.

³²Yet when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned along with the world.

³³So, my dear brothers and sisters, when you gather for the Lord’s Supper, wait for each other.

³⁴If you are really hungry, eat at home so you won’t bring judgment upon yourselves when you meet together. I’ll give you instructions about the other matters after I arrive.

¹Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don’t want you to misunderstand this.

²You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols.

³So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.

⁴There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all.

⁵There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord.

⁶God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.

⁷A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.

⁸To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice ; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge.

⁹The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing.

¹⁰He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said.

¹¹It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

¹²The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ.

¹³Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.

¹⁴Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part.

¹⁵If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body.

¹⁶And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body?

¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?

¹⁸But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it.

¹⁹How strange a body would be if it had only one part!

²⁰Yes, there are many parts, but only one body.

²¹The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”

²²In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary.

²³And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen,

²⁴while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity.

²⁵This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other.

²⁶If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.

²⁷All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.

²⁸Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church: first are apostles, second are prophets, third are teachers, then those who do miracles, those who have the gift of healing, those who can help others, those who have the gift of leadership, those who speak in unknown languages.

²⁹Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles?

³⁰Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not!

³¹So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts. But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.

¹If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

²If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.

³If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

⁴Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud

⁵or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.

⁶It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.

⁷Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

⁸Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever!

⁹Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture!

¹⁰But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.

¹¹When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.

¹²Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

¹³Three things will last forever — faith, hope, and love — and the greatest of these is love.

¹Let love be your highest goal! But you should also desire the special abilities the Spirit gives — especially the ability to prophesy.

²For if you have the ability to speak in tongues, you will be talking only to God, since people won’t be able to understand you. You will be speaking by the power of the Spirit, but it will all be mysterious.

³But one who prophesies strengthens others, encourages them, and comforts them.

⁴A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally, but one who speaks a word of prophecy strengthens the entire church.

⁵I wish you could all speak in tongues, but even more I wish you could all prophesy. For prophecy is greater than speaking in tongues, unless someone interprets what you are saying so that the whole church will be strengthened.

⁶Dear brothers and sisters, if I should come to you speaking in an unknown language, how would that help you? But if I bring you a revelation or some special knowledge or prophecy or teaching, that will be helpful.

⁷Even lifeless instruments like the flute or the harp must play the notes clearly, or no one will recognize the melody.

⁸And if the bugler doesn’t sound a clear call, how will the soldiers know they are being called to battle?

⁹It’s the same for you. If you speak to people in words they don’t understand, how will they know what you are saying? You might as well be talking into empty space.

¹⁰There are many different languages in the world, and every language has meaning.

¹¹But if I don’t understand a language, I will be a foreigner to someone who speaks it, and the one who speaks it will be a foreigner to me.

¹²And the same is true for you. Since you are so eager to have the special abilities the Spirit gives, seek those that will strengthen the whole church.

¹³So anyone who speaks in tongues should pray also for the ability to interpret what has been said.

¹⁴For if I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying, but I don’t understand what I am saying.

¹⁵Well then, what shall I do? I will pray in the spirit, and I will also pray in words I understand. I will sing in the spirit, and I will also sing in words I understand.

¹⁶For if you praise God only in the spirit, how can those who don’t understand you praise God along with you? How can they join you in giving thanks when they don’t understand what you are saying?

¹⁷You will be giving thanks very well, but it won’t strengthen the people who hear you.

¹⁸I thank God that I speak in tongues more than any of you.

¹⁹But in a church meeting I would rather speak five understandable words to help others than ten thousand words in an unknown language.

²⁰Dear brothers and sisters, don’t be childish in your understanding of these things. Be innocent as babies when it comes to evil, but be mature in understanding matters of this kind.

²¹It is written in the Scriptures : “I will speak to my own people through strange languages and through the lips of foreigners. But even then, they will not listen to me,” says the LORD.

²²So you see that speaking in tongues is a sign, not for believers, but for unbelievers. Prophecy, however, is for the benefit of believers, not unbelievers.

²³Even so, if unbelievers or people who don’t understand these things come into your church meeting and hear everyone speaking in an unknown language, they will think you are crazy.

²⁴But if all of you are prophesying, and unbelievers or people who don’t understand these things come into your meeting, they will be convicted of sin and judged by what you say.

²⁵As they listen, their secret thoughts will be exposed, and they will fall to their knees and worship God, declaring, “God is truly here among you.”

²⁶Well, my brothers and sisters, let’s summarize. When you meet together, one will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in tongues, and another will interpret what is said. But everything that is done must strengthen all of you.

²⁷No more than two or three should speak in tongues. They must speak one at a time, and someone must interpret what they say.

²⁸But if no one is present who can interpret, they must be silent in your church meeting and speak in tongues to God privately.

²⁹Let two or three people prophesy, and let the others evaluate what is said.

³⁰But if someone is prophesying and another person receives a revelation from the Lord, the one who is speaking must stop.

³¹In this way, all who prophesy will have a turn to speak, one after the other, so that everyone will learn and be encouraged.

³²Remember that people who prophesy are in control of their spirit and can take turns.

³³For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the meetings of God’s holy people.

³⁴Women should be silent during the church meetings. It is not proper for them to speak. They should be submissive, just as the law says.

³⁵If they have any questions, they should ask their husbands at home, for it is improper for women to speak in church meetings.

³⁶Or do you think God’s word originated with you Corinthians? Are you the only ones to whom it was given?

³⁷If you claim to be a prophet or think you are spiritual, you should recognize that what I am saying is a command from the Lord himself.

³⁸But if you do not recognize this, you yourself will not be recognized.

³⁹So, my dear brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and don’t forbid speaking in tongues.

⁴⁰But be sure that everything is done properly and in order.

¹Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it.

²It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you — unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.

³I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said.

⁴He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.

⁵He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve.

⁶After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.

⁷Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles.

⁸Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him.

⁹For I am the least of all the apostles. In fact, I’m not even worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted God’s church.

¹⁰But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me — and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace.

¹¹So it makes no difference whether I preach or they preach, for we all preach the same message you have already believed.

¹²But tell me this — since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead?

¹³For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either.

¹⁴And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless.

¹⁵And we apostles would all be lying about God — for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead.

¹⁶And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised.

¹⁷And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins.

¹⁸In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost!

¹⁹And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.

²⁰But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.

²¹So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man.

²²Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life.

²³But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.

²⁴After that the end will come, when he will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having destroyed every ruler and authority and power.

²⁵For Christ must reign until he humbles all his enemies beneath his feet.

²⁶And the last enemy to be destroyed is death.

²⁷For the Scriptures say, “God has put all things under his authority.” (Of course, when it says “all things are under his authority,” that does not include God himself, who gave Christ his authority.)

²⁸Then, when all things are under his authority, the Son will put himself under God’s authority, so that God, who gave his Son authority over all things, will be utterly supreme over everything everywhere.

²⁹If the dead will not be raised, what point is there in people being baptized for those who are dead? Why do it unless the dead will someday rise again?

³⁰And why should we ourselves risk our lives hour by hour?

³¹For I swear, dear brothers and sisters, that I face death daily. This is as certain as my pride in what Christ Jesus our Lord has done in you.

³²And what value was there in fighting wild beasts — those people of Ephesus — if there will be no resurrection from the dead? And if there is no resurrection, “Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

³³Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for “bad company corrupts good character.”

³⁴Think carefully about what is right, and stop sinning. For to your shame I say that some of you don’t know God at all.

³⁵But someone may ask, “How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?”

³⁶What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first.

³⁷And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting.

³⁸Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed.

³⁹Similarly there are different kinds of flesh — one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.

⁴⁰There are also bodies in the heavens and bodies on the earth. The glory of the heavenly bodies is different from the glory of the earthly bodies.

⁴¹The sun has one kind of glory, while the moon and stars each have another kind. And even the stars differ from each other in their glory.

⁴²It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever.

⁴³Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength.

⁴⁴They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.

⁴⁵The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But the last Adam — that is, Christ — is a life-giving Spirit.

⁴⁶What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later.

⁴⁷Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven.

⁴⁸Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man.

⁴⁹Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man.

⁵⁰What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.

⁵¹But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed!

⁵²It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed.

⁵³For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.

⁵⁴Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory.

⁵⁵O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? ”

⁵⁶For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power.

⁵⁷But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.

¹Now regarding your question about the money being collected for God’s people in Jerusalem. You should follow the same procedure I gave to the churches in Galatia.

²On the first day of each week, you should each put aside a portion of the money you have earned. Don’t wait until I get there and then try to collect it all at once.

³When I come, I will write letters of recommendation for the messengers you choose to deliver your gift to Jerusalem.

⁴And if it seems appropriate for me to go along, they can travel with me.

⁵I am coming to visit you after I have been to Macedonia, for I am planning to travel through Macedonia.

⁶Perhaps I will stay awhile with you, possibly all winter, and then you can send me on my way to my next destination.

⁷This time I don’t want to make just a short visit and then go right on. I want to come and stay awhile, if the Lord will let me.

⁸In the meantime, I will be staying here at Ephesus until the Festival of Pentecost.

⁹There is a wide-open door for a great work here, although many oppose me.

¹⁰When Timothy comes, don’t intimidate him. He is doing the Lord’s work, just as I am.

¹¹Don’t let anyone treat him with contempt. Send him on his way with your blessing when he returns to me. I expect him to come with the other believers.

¹²Now about our brother Apollos — I urged him to visit you with the other believers, but he was not willing to go right now. He will see you later when he has the opportunity.

¹³Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.

¹⁴And do everything with love.

¹⁵You know that Stephanas and his household were the first of the harvest of believers in Greece, and they are spending their lives in service to God’s people. I urge you, dear brothers and sisters,

¹⁶to submit to them and others like them who serve with such devotion.

¹⁷I am very glad that Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus have come here. They have been providing the help you weren’t here to give me.

¹⁸They have been a wonderful encouragement to me, as they have been to you. You must show your appreciation to all who serve so well.

¹⁹The churches here in the province of Asia send greetings in the Lord, as do Aquila and Priscilla and all the others who gather in their home for church meetings.

²⁰All the brothers and sisters here send greetings to you. Greet each other with a sacred kiss.

²¹HERE IS MY GREETING IN MY OWN HANDWRITING — PAUL.

²²If anyone does not love the Lord, that person is cursed. Our Lord, come!

²³May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.

²⁴My love to all of you in Christ Jesus.

¹This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy. I am writing to God’s church in Corinth and to all of his holy people throughout Greece.

²May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

³All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort.

⁴He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.

⁵For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ.

⁶Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer.

⁷We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God gives us.

⁸We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it.

⁹In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead.

¹⁰And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us.

¹¹And you are helping us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because God has graciously answered so many prayers for our safety.

¹²We can say with confidence and a clear conscience that we have lived with a God-given holiness and sincerity in all our dealings. We have depended on God’s grace, not on our own human wisdom. That is how we have conducted ourselves before the world, and especially toward you.

¹³Our letters have been straightforward, and there is nothing written between the lines and nothing you can’t understand. I hope someday you will fully understand us,

¹⁴even if you don’t understand us now. Then on the day when the Lord Jesus returns, you will be proud of us in the same way we are proud of you.

¹⁵Since I was so sure of your understanding and trust, I wanted to give you a double blessing by visiting you twice —

¹⁶first on my way to Macedonia and again when I returned from Macedonia. Then you could send me on my way to Judea.

¹⁷You may be asking why I changed my plan. Do you think I make my plans carelessly? Do you think I am like people of the world who say “Yes” when they really mean “No”?

¹⁸As surely as God is faithful, our word to you does not waver between “Yes” and “No.”

¹⁹For Jesus Christ, the Son of God, does not waver between “Yes” and “No.” He is the one whom Silas, Timothy, and I preached to you, and as God’s ultimate “Yes,” he always does what he says.

²⁰For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory.

²¹It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us,

²²and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us.

²³Now I call upon God as my witness that I am telling the truth. The reason I didn’t return to Corinth was to spare you from a severe rebuke.

²⁴But that does not mean we want to dominate you by telling you how to put your faith into practice. We want to work together with you so you will be full of joy, for it is by your own faith that you stand firm.

¹So I decided that I would not bring you grief with another painful visit.

²For if I cause you grief, who will make me glad? Certainly not someone I have grieved.

³That is why I wrote to you as I did, so that when I do come, I won’t be grieved by the very ones who ought to give me the greatest joy. Surely you all know that my joy comes from your being joyful.

⁴I wrote that letter in great anguish, with a troubled heart and many tears. I didn’t want to grieve you, but I wanted to let you know how much love I have for you.

⁵I am not overstating it when I say that the man who caused all the trouble hurt all of you more than he hurt me.

⁶Most of you opposed him, and that was punishment enough.

⁷Now, however, it is time to forgive and comfort him. Otherwise he may be overcome by discouragement.

⁸So I urge you now to reaffirm your love for him.

⁹I wrote to you as I did to test you and see if you would fully comply with my instructions.

¹⁰When you forgive this man, I forgive him, too. And when I forgive whatever needs to be forgiven, I do so with Christ’s authority for your benefit,

¹¹so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.

¹²When I came to the city of Troas to preach the Good News of Christ, the Lord opened a door of opportunity for me.

¹³But I had no peace of mind because my dear brother Titus hadn’t yet arrived with a report from you. So I said good-bye and went on to Macedonia to find him.

¹⁴But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume.

¹⁵Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing.

¹⁶To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this?

¹⁷You see, we are not like the many hucksters who preach for personal profit. We preach the word of God with sincerity and with Christ’s authority, knowing that God is watching us.

¹Are we beginning to praise ourselves again? Are we like others, who need to bring you letters of recommendation, or who ask you to write such letters on their behalf? Surely not!

²The only letter of recommendation we need is you yourselves. Your lives are a letter written in our hearts; everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you.

³Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.

⁴We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ.

⁵It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God.

⁶He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.

⁷The old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away.

⁸Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life?

⁹If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes us right with God!

¹⁰In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way.

¹¹So if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new, which remains forever!

¹²Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold.

¹³We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory, even though it was destined to fade away.

¹⁴But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ.

¹⁵Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand.

¹⁶But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

¹⁷For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

¹⁸So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord — who is the Spirit — makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

¹Therefore, since God in his mercy has given us this new way, we never give up.

²We reject all shameful deeds and underhanded methods. We don’t try to trick anyone or distort the word of God. We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know this.

³If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing.

⁴Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

⁵You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake.

⁶For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

⁷We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.

⁸We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair.

⁹We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.

¹⁰Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.

¹¹Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies.

¹²So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you.

¹³But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.”

¹⁴We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you.

¹⁵All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.

¹⁶That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.

¹⁷For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!

¹⁸So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

¹For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.

²We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing.

³For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies.

⁴While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life.

⁵God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.

⁶So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord.

⁷For we live by believing and not by seeing.

⁸Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.

⁹So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him.

¹⁰For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.

¹¹Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too.

¹²Are we commending ourselves to you again? No, we are giving you a reason to be proud of us, so you can answer those who brag about having a spectacular ministry rather than having a sincere heart.

¹³If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit.

¹⁴Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life.

¹⁵He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.

¹⁶So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now!

¹⁷This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

¹⁸And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.

¹⁹For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.

²⁰So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”

²¹For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

¹As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it.

²For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.

³We live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministry.

⁴In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind.

⁵We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food.

⁶We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love.

⁷We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense.

⁸We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors.

⁹We are ignored, even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed.

¹⁰Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.

¹¹Oh, dear Corinthian friends! We have spoken honestly with you, and our hearts are open to you.

¹²There is no lack of love on our part, but you have withheld your love from us.

¹³I am asking you to respond as if you were my own children. Open your hearts to us!

¹⁴Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness?

¹⁵What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil ? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever?

¹⁶And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said: “I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

¹⁷Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the LORD. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you.

¹⁸And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty. ”

¹Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God.

²Please open your hearts to us. We have not done wrong to anyone, nor led anyone astray, nor taken advantage of anyone.

³I’m not saying this to condemn you. I said before that you are in our hearts, and we live or die together with you.

⁴I have the highest confidence in you, and I take great pride in you. You have greatly encouraged me and made me happy despite all our troubles.

⁵When we arrived in Macedonia, there was no rest for us. We faced conflict from every direction, with battles on the outside and fear on the inside.

⁶But God, who encourages those who are discouraged, encouraged us by the arrival of Titus.

⁷His presence was a joy, but so was the news he brought of the encouragement he received from you. When he told us how much you long to see me, and how sorry you are for what happened, and how loyal you are to me, I was filled with joy!

⁸I am not sorry that I sent that severe letter to you, though I was sorry at first, for I know it was painful to you for a little while.

⁹Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you, but because the pain caused you to repent and change your ways. It was the kind of sorrow God wants his people to have, so you were not harmed by us in any way.

¹⁰For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.

¹¹Just see what this godly sorrow produced in you! Such earnestness, such concern to clear yourselves, such indignation, such alarm, such longing to see me, such zeal, and such a readiness to punish wrong. You showed that you have done everything necessary to make things right.

¹²My purpose, then, was not to write about who did the wrong or who was wronged. I wrote to you so that in the sight of God you could see for yourselves how loyal you are to us.

¹³We have been greatly encouraged by this. In addition to our own encouragement, we were especially delighted to see how happy Titus was about the way all of you welcomed him and set his mind at ease.

¹⁴I had told him how proud I was of you — and you didn’t disappoint me. I have always told you the truth, and now my boasting to Titus has also proved true!

¹⁵Now he cares for you more than ever when he remembers the way all of you obeyed him and welcomed him with such fear and deep respect.

¹⁶I am very happy now because I have complete confidence in you.