Study Desk

Now, in regard to the collection being made for God's people: you are to do the same as I directed the congregations in Galatia to do.

I will visit you after I have gone through Macedonia, for I am intending to pass through Macedonia,

For I don't want to see you now, when I am only passing through; because I am hoping to spend some time with you, if the Lord allows it.

because a great and important door has opened for my work, and there are many people opposing me.

If Timothy comes, see that he has nothing to be afraid of while he is with you; for he is doing the Lord's work, just as I am.

So let no one treat him with disrespect. Help him on his way in peace, so that he will return to me, for the brothers and I are expecting him.

As for brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to go and visit you along with the other brothers; and although it was not at all his desire to come at this time, he will come when he has the opportunity.

I am glad that Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus are here, because they have helped make up for your not being here.

They have refreshed my spirit, just as they have yours. I want you to show appreciation for people like these.

For just as the Messiah's sufferings overflow into us, so through the Messiah our encouragement also overflows.

So if we undergo trials, it is for your encouragement and deliverance; and if we are encouraged, that should encourage you when you have to endure sufferings like those we are experiencing.

Moreover, our hope for you remains staunch, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, you will also share in the encouragement.

For, brothers, we want you to know about the trials we have undergone in the province of Asia. The burden laid on us was so far beyond what we could bear that we even despaired of living through it.

And you must add your help by praying for us; for the more people there are praying, the more people there will be to give thanks when their prayer for us is answered.

For we take pride in this: that our conscience assures us that in our dealings with the world, and especially with you, we have conducted ourselves with frankness and godly pureness of motive — not by worldly wisdom but by God-given grace.

For the Son of God, the Messiah Yeshua, who was proclaimed among you through us — that is, through me and Sila and Timothy — was not a yes-and-no man; on the contrary, with him it is always "Yes!"

For however many promises God has made, they all find their "Yes" in connection with him; that is why it is through him that we say the "Amen" when we give glory to God.

put his seal on us, and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee for the future.

I call God to witness — he knows what my life is like — that the reason I held back from coming to Corinth was out of consideration for you!

We are not trying to dictate how you must live out your trust in the Messiah, for in your trust you are standing firm. Rather, we are working with you for your own happiness.