Bible In A Year

¹Why do the nations rage, And the peoples plot a vain thing?

²The kings of the earth take a stand, And the rulers take counsel together, Against Yahweh, and against his anointed,{The word "anointed" is the same as the word for "Messiah" or "Christ"} saying,

³"Let's break their bonds apart, And cast away their cords from us."

⁴He who sits in the heavens will laugh. The Lord will have them in derision.

⁵Then he will speak to them in his anger, And terrify them in his wrath:

⁶"Yet I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion."

⁷I will tell of the decree. Yahweh said to me, "You are my son. Today I have become your father.

⁸Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, The uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.

⁹You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."

¹⁰Now therefore be wise, you kings. Be instructed, you judges of the earth.

¹¹Serve Yahweh with fear, And rejoice with trembling.

¹²Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, For his wrath will soon be kindled. Blessed are all those who take refuge in him.

¹Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. ²Open your hearts to us. We wronged no one. We corrupted no one. We took advantage of no one. ³I say this not to condemn you, for I have said before, that you are in our hearts to die together and live together. ⁴Great is my boldness of speech toward you. Great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort. I overflow with joy in all our affliction. ⁵For even when we had come into Macedonia, our flesh had no relief, but we were afflicted on every side. Fightings were outside. Fear was inside. ⁶Nevertheless, he who comforts the lowly, God, comforted us by the coming of Titus; ⁷and not by his coming only, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you, while he told us of your longing, your mourning, and your zeal for me; so that I rejoiced still more. ⁸For though I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it. For I see that my letter made you sorry, though just for a while. ⁹I now rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that you were made sorry to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly way, that you might suffer loss by us in nothing. ¹⁰For godly sorrow works repentance to salvation, which brings no regret. But the sorrow of the world works death. ¹¹For behold, this same thing, that you were made sorry in a godly way, what earnest care it worked in you. Yes, what defense, indignation, fear, longing, zeal, and vengeance! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be pure in the matter. ¹²So although I wrote to you, I wrote not for his cause that did the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered the wrong, but that your earnest care for us might be revealed in you in the sight of God. ¹³Therefore we have been comforted. In our comfort we rejoiced the more exceedingly for the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. ¹⁴For if in anything I have boasted to him on your behalf, I was not disappointed. But as we spoke all things to you in truth, so our glorying also which I made before Titus was found to be truth. ¹⁵His affection is more abundantly toward you, while he remembers all of your obedience, how with fear and trembling you received him. ¹⁶I rejoice that in everything I am of good courage concerning you.

¹Moreover, brothers, we make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the assemblies of Macedonia; ²how that in much proof of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded to the riches of their liberality. ³For according to their power, I testify, yes and beyond their power, they gave of their own accord, ⁴begging us with much entreaty to receive this grace and the fellowship in the service to the saints. ⁵This was not as we had hoped, but first they gave their own selves to the Lord, and to us through the will of God. ⁶So we urged Titus, that as he made a beginning before, so he would also complete in you this grace. ⁷But as you abound in everything, in faith, utterance, knowledge, all earnestness, and in your love to us, see that you also abound in this grace. ⁸I speak not by way of commandment, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity also of your love. ⁹For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich. ¹⁰I give a judgment in this: for this is expedient for you, who were the first to start a year ago, not only to do, but also to be willing. ¹¹But now complete the doing also, that as there was the readiness to be willing, so there may be the completion also out of your ability. ¹²For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what you have, not according to what you don't have. ¹³For this is not that others may be eased and you distressed, ¹⁴but for equality. Your abundance at this present time supplies their lack, that their abundance also may become a supply for your lack; that there may be equality. ¹⁵As it is written, "He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack." ¹⁶But thanks be to God, who puts the same earnest care for you into the heart of Titus. ¹⁷For he indeed accepted our exhortation, but being himself very earnest, he went out to you of his own accord. ¹⁸We have sent together with him the brother whose praise in the Gospel is known through all the assemblies. ¹⁹Not only so, but who was also appointed by the assemblies to travel with us in this grace, which is served by us to the glory of the Lord himself, and to show our readiness. ²⁰We are avoiding this, that any man should blame us concerning this abundance which is administered by us. ²¹Having regard for honorable things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men. ²²We have sent with them our brother, whom we have many times proved earnest in many things, but now much more earnest, by reason of the great confidence which he has in you. ²³As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for you. As for our brothers, they are the apostles of the assemblies, the glory of Christ. ²⁴Therefore show the proof of your love to them in front of the assemblies, and of our boasting on your behalf.