Day 337: Galatians 1 - 3

Chapter 1

1: Paul an apostle—sent neither by human commission nor from human authorities, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—
2: and all the members of God's family who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:
3: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
4: who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
5: to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
6: I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—
7: not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.
8: But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed!
9: As we have said before, so now I repeat, if anyone proclaims to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let that one be accursed!
10: Am I now seeking human approval, or God's approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
11: For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin;
12: for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
13: You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it.
14: I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.
15: But when God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased
16: to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with any human being,
17: nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus.
18: Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days;
19: but I did not see any other apostle except James the Lord's brother.
20: In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!
21: Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia,
22: and I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea that are in Christ;
23: they only heard it said, "The one who formerly was persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy."
24: And they glorified God because of me.

Chapter 2

1: Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me.
2: I went up in response to a revelation. Then I laid before them (though only in a private meeting with the acknowledged leaders) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure that I was not running, or had not run, in vain.
3: But even Titus, who was with me, was not compelled to be circumcised, though he was a Greek.
4: But because of false believers secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might enslave us- 
5: we did not submit to them even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might always remain with you.
6: And from those who were supposed to be acknowledged leaders (what they actually were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those leaders contributed nothing to me.
7: On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel for the circumcised
8: (for he who worked through Peter making him an apostle to the circumcised also worked through me in sending me to the Gentiles),
9: and when James and Cephas and John, who were acknowledged pillars, recognized the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.
10: They asked only one thing, that we remember the poor, which was actually what I was eager to do.
11: But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood self-condemned;
12: for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction.
13: And the other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.
14: But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, "If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?"
15: We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners;
16: yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law.
17: But if, in our effort to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have been found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not!
18: But if I build up again the very things that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a transgressor.
19: For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ;
20: and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
21: I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.

Chapter 3

1: You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited as crucified!
2: The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard?
3: Are you so foolish? Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh?
4: Did you experience so much for nothing?—if it really was for nothing.
5: Well then, does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?
6: Just as Abraham "believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,"
7: so, you see, those who believe are the descendants of Abraham.
8: And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, declared the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "All the Gentiles shall be blessed in you."
9: For this reason, those who believe are blessed with Abraham who believed.
10: For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law."
11: Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law; for "The one who is righteous will live by faith."
12: But the law does not rest on faith; on the contrary, "Whoever does the works of the law will live by them."
13: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"—
14: in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
15: Brothers and sisters, I give an example from daily life: once a person's will has been ratified, no one adds to it or annuls it.
16: Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring; it does not say, "And to offsprings," as of many; but it says, "And to your offspring," that is, to one person, who is Christ.
17: My point is this: the law, which came four hundred thirty years later, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise.
18: For if the inheritance comes from the law, it no longer comes from the promise; but God granted it to Abraham through the promise.
19: Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring would come to whom the promise had been made; and it was ordained through angels by a mediator.
20: Now a mediator involves more than one party; but God is one.
21: Is the law then opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could make alive, then righteousness would indeed come through the law.
22: But the scripture has imprisoned all things under the power of sin, so that what was promised through faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
23: Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed.
24: Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith.
25: But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian,
26: for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.
27: As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
28: There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
29: And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise.

Day 336: 2 Corinthians 10 - 13

Chapter 10

1: I myself, Paul, appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!—
2: I ask that when I am present I need not show boldness by daring to oppose those who think we are acting according to human standards.
3: Indeed, we live as human beings, but we do not wage war according to human standards;
4: for the weapons of our warfare are not merely human, but they have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments
5: and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.
6: We are ready to punish every disobedience when your obedience is complete.
7: Look at what is before your eyes. If you are confident that you belong to Christ, remind yourself of this, that just as you belong to Christ, so also do we.
8: Now, even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it.
9: I do not want to seem as though I am trying to frighten you with my letters.
10: For they say, "His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible."
11: Let such people understand that what we say by letter when absent, we will also do when present.
12: We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another, and compare themselves with one another, they do not show good sense.
13: We, however, will not boast beyond limits, but will keep within the field that God has assigned to us, to reach out even as far as you.
14: For we were not overstepping our limits when we reached you; we were the first to come all the way to you with the good news of Christ.
15: We do not boast beyond limits, that is, in the labors of others; but our hope is that, as your faith increases, our sphere of action among you may be greatly enlarged,
16: so that we may proclaim the good news in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in someone else's sphere of action.
17: "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."
18: For it is not those who commend themselves that are approved, but those whom the Lord commends.

Chapter 11

1: I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me!
2: I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I promised you in marriage to one husband, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
3: But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by its cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
4: For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you submit to it readily enough.
5: I think that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles.
6: I may be untrained in speech, but not in knowledge; certainly in every way and in all things we have made this evident to you.
7: Did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I proclaimed God's good news to you free of charge?
8: I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you.
9: And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for my needs were supplied by the friends who came from Macedonia. So I refrained and will continue to refrain from burdening you in any way.
10: As the truth of Christ is in me, this boast of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia.
11: And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!
12: And what I do I will also continue to do, in order to deny an opportunity to those who want an opportunity to be recognized as our equals in what they boast about.
13: For such boasters are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.
14: And no wonder! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
15: So it is not strange if his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness. Their end will match their deeds.
16: I repeat, let no one think that I am a fool; but if you do, then accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little.
17: What I am saying in regard to this boastful confidence, I am saying not with the Lord's authority, but as a fool;
18: since many boast according to human standards, I will also boast.
19: For you gladly put up with fools, being wise yourselves!
20: For you put up with it when someone makes slaves of you, or preys upon you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or gives you a slap in the face.
21: To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that! But whatever anyone dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that.
22: Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.
23: Are they ministers of Christ? I am talking like a madman—I am a better one: with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless floggings, and often near death.
24: Five times I have received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.
25: Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked; for a night and a day I was adrift at sea;
26: on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers and sisters;
27: in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked.
28: And, besides other things, I am under daily pressure because of my anxiety for all the churches.
29: Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I am not indignant?
30: If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.
31: The God and Father of the Lord Jesus (blessed be he forever!) knows that I do not lie.
32: In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas guarded the city of Damascus in order to seize me,
33: but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped from his hands.

Chapter 12

1: It is necessary to boast; nothing is to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.
2: I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows.
3: And I know that such a person—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows—
4: was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat.
5: On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses.
6: But if I wish to boast, I will not be a fool, for I will be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think better of me than what is seen in me or heard from me,
7: even considering the exceptional character of the revelations. Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated.
8: Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me,
9: but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
10: Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.
11: I have been a fool! You forced me to it. Indeed you should have been the ones commending me, for I am not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing.
12: The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, signs and wonders and mighty works.
13: How have you been worse off than the other churches, except that I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong!
14: Here I am, ready to come to you this third time. And I will not be a burden, because I do not want what is yours but you; for children ought not to lay up for their parents, but parents for their children.
15: I will most gladly spend and be spent for you. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?
16: Let it be assumed that I did not burden you. Nevertheless (you say) since I was crafty, I took you in by deceit.
17: Did I take advantage of you through any of those whom I sent to you?
18: I urged Titus to go, and sent the brother with him. Titus did not take advantage of you, did he? Did we not conduct ourselves with the same spirit? Did we not take the same steps?
19: Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves before you? We are speaking in Christ before God. Everything we do, beloved, is for the sake of building you up.
20: For I fear that when I come, I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish; I fear that there may perhaps be quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder.
21: I fear that when I come again, my God may humble me before you, and that I may have to mourn over many who previously sinned and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and licentiousness that they have practiced.

Chapter 13

1: This is the third time I am coming to you. "Any charge must be sustained by the evidence of two or three witnesses."
2: I warned those who sinned previously and all the others, and I warn them now while absent, as I did when present on my second visit, that if I come again, I will not be lenient—
3: since you desire proof that Christ is speaking in me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful in you.
4:: For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God.
5: Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless, indeed, you fail to meet the test!
6: I hope you will find out that we have not failed.
7: But we pray to God that you may not do anything wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed.
8: For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth.
9: For we rejoice when we are weak and you are strong. This is what we pray for, that you may become perfect.
10: So I write these things while I am away from you, so that when I come, I may not have to be severe in using the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down.
11: Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
12: Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.
13: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

Day 335: 2 Corinthians 5 - 9

Chapter 5

1 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2 For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling—
3 if indeed, when we have taken it off we will not be found naked.
4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan under our burden, because we wish not to be unclothed but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
6 So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord—
7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.
8 Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.
10 For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil.
11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade others; but we ourselves are well known to God, and I hope that we are also well known to your consciences.
12 We are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast in outward appearance and not in the heart.
13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.
14 For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died.
15 And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them.
16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way.
17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!
18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation;
19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.
20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Chapter 6

1: As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain.
2: For he says, "At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you." See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!
3: We are putting no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry,
4: but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities,
5: beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger;
6: by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love,
7: truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left;
8: in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true;
9: as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed;
10: as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
11: We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you.
12: There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours.
13: In return—I speak as to children—open wide your hearts also.
14: Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship is there between light and darkness?
15: What agreement does Christ have with Beliar? Or what does a believer share with an unbeliever?
16: What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will live in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
17: Therefore come out from them, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch nothing unclean; then I will welcome you,
18: and I will be your father, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."

Chapter 7

1: Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and of spirit, making holiness perfect in the fear of God.
2: Make room in your hearts for us; we have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one.
3: I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.
4: I often boast about you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with consolation; I am overjoyed in all our affliction.
5: For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted in every way—disputes without and fears within.
6: But God, who consoles the downcast, consoled us by the arrival of Titus,
7: and not only by his coming, but also by the consolation with which he was consoled about you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more.
8: For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it (though I did regret it, for I see that I grieved you with that letter, though only briefly).
9: Now I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because your grief led to repentance; for you felt a godly grief, so that you were not harmed in any way by us.
10: For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death.
11: For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves guiltless in the matter.
12: So although I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did the wrong, nor on account of the one who was wronged, but in order that your zeal for us might be made known to you before God.
13: In this we find comfort. In addition to our own consolation, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his mind has been set at rest by all of you.
14: For if I have been somewhat boastful about you to him, I was not disgraced; but just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting to Titus has proved true as well.
15: And his heart goes out all the more to you, as he remembers the obedience of all of you, and how you welcomed him with fear and trembling.
16: I rejoice, because I have complete confidence in you.

Chapter 8

1: We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia;
2: for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.
3: For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means,
4: begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the saints—
5: and this, not merely as we expected; they gave themselves first to the Lord and, by the will of God, to us,
6: so that we might urge Titus that, as he had already made a beginning, so he should also complete this generous undertaking among you.
7: Now as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you —so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.
8: I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others.
9: For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.
10: And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something—
11: now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means.
12: For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has—not according to what one does not have.
13: I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between
14: your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance.
15: As it is written, "The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little."
16: But thanks be to God who put in the heart of Titus the same eagerness for you that I myself have.
17: For he not only accepted our appeal, but since he is more eager than ever, he is going to you of his own accord.
18: With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his proclaiming the good news;
19: and not only that, but he has also been appointed by the churches to travel with us while we are administering this generous undertaking for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our goodwill.
20: We intend that no one should blame us about this generous gift that we are administering,
21: for we intend to do what is right not only in the Lord's sight but also in the sight of others.
22: And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found eager in many matters, but who is now more eager than ever because of his great confidence in you.
23: As for Titus, he is my partner and co-worker in your service; as for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ.
24: Therefore openly before the churches, show them the proof of your love and of our reason for boasting about you.

Chapter 9

1: Now it is not necessary for me to write you about the ministry to the saints,
2: for I know your eagerness, which is the subject of my boasting about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year; and your zeal has stirred up most of them.
3: But I am sending the brothers in order that our boasting about you may not prove to have been empty in this case, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be;
4: otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—in this undertaking.
5: So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you, and arrange in advance for this bountiful gift that you have promised, so that it may be ready as a voluntary gift and not as an extortion.
6: The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
7: Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
8: And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.
9: As it is written, "He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures forever."
10: He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.
11: You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us;
12: for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God.
13: Through the testing of this ministry you glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ and by the generosity of your sharing with them and with all others,
14: while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God that he has given you.
15: Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

Day 334: 2 Corinthians 1 - 4

Chapter 1

1: Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God that is in Corinth, including all the saints throughout Achaia: 

2: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation,
4: who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God.
5: For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ.
6: If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we are also suffering.
7: Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our consolation.
8: We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of the affliction we experienced in Asia; for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself.
9: Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
10: He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us; on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again,
11: as you also join in helping us by your prayers, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.
12: Indeed, this is our boast, the testimony of our conscience: we have behaved in the world with frankness and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God—and all the more toward you.
13: For we write you nothing other than what you can read and also understand; I hope you will understand until the end—
14: as you have already understood us in part—that on the day of the Lord Jesus we are your boast even as you are our boast.
15: Since I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a double favor;
16: I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on to Judea.
17: Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to ordinary human standards, ready to say "Yes, yes" and "No, no" at the same time?
18: As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been "Yes and No."
19: For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not "Yes and No"; but in him it is always "Yes."
20: For in him every one of God's promises is a "Yes." For this reason it is through him that we say the "Amen," to the glory of God.
21: But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us,
22: by putting his seal on us and giving us his Spirit in our hearts as a first installment.
23: But I call on God as witness against me: it was to spare you that I did not come again to Corinth.
24: I do not mean to imply that we lord it over your faith; rather, we are workers with you for your joy, because you stand firm in the faith.

Chapter 2

1: So I made up my mind not to make you another painful visit.
2: For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained?
3: And I wrote as I did, so that when I came, I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice; for I am confident about all of you, that my joy would be the joy of all of you.
4: For I wrote you out of much distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain, but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.
5: But if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but to some extent—not to exaggerate it—to all of you.
6: This punishment by the majority is enough for such a person;
7: so now instead you should forgive and console him, so that he may not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.
8: So I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.
9: I wrote for this reason: to test you and to know whether you are obedient in everything.
10: Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. What I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ.
11: And we do this so that we may not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.
12: When I came to Troas to proclaim the good news of Christ, a door was opened for me in the Lord;
13: but my mind could not rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said farewell to them and went on to Macedonia.
14: But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him.
15: For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;
16: to the one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?
17: For we are not peddlers of God's word like so many; but in Christ we speak as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God and standing in his presence.

Chapter 3

1: Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Surely we do not need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we?
2: You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all;
3: and you show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
4: Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God.
5: Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God,
6: who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
7: Now if the ministry of death, chiseled in letters on stone tablets, came in glory so that the people of Israel could not gaze at Moses' face because of the glory of his face, a glory now set aside,
8: how much more will the ministry of the Spirit come in glory?
9: For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, much more does the ministry of justification abound in glory!
10: Indeed, what once had glory has lost its glory because of the greater glory;
11: for if what was set aside came through glory, much more has the permanent come in glory!
12: Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great boldness,
13: not like Moses, who put a veil over his face to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of the glory that was being set aside.
14: But their minds were hardened. Indeed, to this very day, when they hear the reading of the old covenant, that same veil is still there, since only in Christ is it set aside.
15: Indeed, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds;
16: but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.
17: Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
18: And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.

Chapter 4

1: Therefore, since it is by God's mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart.
2: We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God's word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God.
3: And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
4: In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
5: For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus' sake.
6: For it is the God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7: But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.
8: We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;
9: persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
10: always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.
11: For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh.
12: So death is at work in us, but life in you.
13: But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture—"I believed, and so I spoke"—we also believe, and so we speak,
14: because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence.
15: Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
16: So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.
17: For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure,
18: because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

Day 333: 1 Corinthians 15 - 16

Chapter 15

1: Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, 

2: through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain.
3: For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures,
4: and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures,
5: and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
6: Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.
7: Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
8: Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
9: For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
10: But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
11: Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.
12: Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead?
13: If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised;
14: and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain.
15: We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ—whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.
16: For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised.
17: If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
18: Then those also who have died in Christ have perished.
19: If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
20: But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.
21: For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being;
22: for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ.
23: But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
24: Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power.
25: For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
26: The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
27: For "God has put all things in subjection under his feet." But when it says, "All things are put in subjection," it is plain that this does not include the one who put all things in subjection under him.
28: When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all.
29: Otherwise, what will those people do who receive baptism on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?
30: And why are we putting ourselves in danger every hour?
31: I die every day! That is as certain, brothers and sisters, as my boasting of you—a boast that I make in Christ Jesus our Lord.
32: If with merely human hopes I fought with wild animals at Ephesus, what would I have gained by it? If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."
33: Do not be deceived: "Bad company ruins good morals."
34: Come to a sober and right mind, and sin no more; for some people have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
35: But someone will ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?"
36: Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.
37: And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.
38: But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.
39: Not all flesh is alike, but there is one flesh for human beings, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.
40: There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one thing, and that of the earthly is another.
41: There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; indeed, star differs from star in glory.
42: So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable.
43: It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.
44: It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body.
45: Thus it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living being"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
46: But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical, and then the spiritual.
47: The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.
48: As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven.
49: Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.
50: What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
51: Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed,
52: in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
53: For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
54: When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
55: "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"
56: The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
57: But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58: Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Chapter 16

1: Now concerning the collection for the saints: you should follow the directions I gave to the churches of Galatia.
2: On the first day of every week, each of you is to put aside and save whatever extra you earn, so that collections need not be taken when I come.
3: And when I arrive, I will send any whom you approve with letters to take your gift to Jerusalem.
4: If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.
5: I will visit you after passing through Macedonia—for I intend to pass through Macedonia—
6: and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way, wherever I go.
7: I do not want to see you now just in passing, for I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits.
8: But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost,
9: for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.
10: If Timothy comes, see that he has nothing to fear among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord just as I am;
11: therefore let no one despise him. Send him on his way in peace, so that he may come to me; for I am expecting him with the brothers.
12: Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but he was not at all willing to come now. He will come when he has the opportunity.
13: Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong.
14: Let all that you do be done in love.
15: Now, brothers and sisters, you know that members of the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints;
16: I urge you to put yourselves at the service of such people, and of everyone who works and toils with them.
17: I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence;
18: for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. So give recognition to such persons.
19: The churches of Asia send greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, greet you warmly in the Lord.
20: All the brothers and sisters send greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.
21: I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand.
22: Let anyone be accursed who has no love for the Lord. Our Lord, come!
23: The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.
24:My love be with all of you in Christ Jesus.

Day 332: 1 Corinthians 12 - 14

Chapter 12

1: Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.
2: You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak.
3: Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says "Let Jesus be cursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit.
4: Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;
5: and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord;
6: and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.
7: To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
8: To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,
9: to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,
10: to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
11: All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.
12: For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.
13: For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
14: Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many.
15: If the foot would 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 would 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 the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?
18: But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.
19: If all were a single member, where would the body be?
20: As it is, there are many members, 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 members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,
23: and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect;
24: whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member,
25: that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another.
26: If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.
27: Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
28: And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues.
29: Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?
30: Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?
31: But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

Chapter 13

1: If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
2: And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
3: If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4: Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant
5: or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
6: it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.
7: It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8: Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end.
9: For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part;
10: but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end.
11: When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.
12: For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.
13: And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

Chapter 14

1: Pursue love and strive for the spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy.
2: For those who speak in a tongue do not speak to other people but to God; for nobody understands them, since they are speaking mysteries in the Spirit.
3: On the other hand, those who prophesy speak to other people for their up-building and encouragement and consolation.
4: Those who speak in a tongue build up themselves, but those who prophesy build up the church.
5: Now I would like all of you to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. One who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.
6: Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I speak to you in some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching?
7: It is the same way with lifeless instruments that produce sound, such as the flute or the harp. If they do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is being played?
8: And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle?
9: So with yourselves; if in a tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is being said? For you will be speaking into the air.
10: There are doubtless many different kinds of sounds in the world, and nothing is without sound.
11: If then I do not know the meaning of a sound, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me.
12: So with yourselves; since you are eager for spiritual gifts, strive to excel in them for building up the church.
13: Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret.
14: For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unproductive.
15: What should I do then? I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray with the mind also; I will sing praise with the spirit, but I will sing praise with the mind also.
16: Otherwise, if you say a blessing with the spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say the "Amen" to your thanksgiving, since the outsider does not know what you are saying?
17: For you may give thanks well enough, but the other person is not built up.
18: I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you;
19: nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind, in order to instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.
20: Brothers and sisters, do not be children in your thinking; rather, be infants in evil, but in thinking be adults.
21: In the law it is written, "By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people; yet even then they will not listen to me," says the Lord.
22: Tongues, then, are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers.
23: If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your mind?
24: But if all prophesy, an unbeliever or outsider who enters is reproved by all and called to account by all.
25: After the secrets of the unbeliever's heart are disclosed, that person will bow down before God and worship him, declaring, "God is really among you."
26: What should be done then, my friends? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.
27: If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn; and let one interpret.
28: But if there is no one to interpret, let them be silent in church and speak to themselves and to God.
29: Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said.
30: If a revelation is made to someone else sitting nearby, let the first person be silent.
31: For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged.
32: And the spirits of prophets are subject to the prophets,
33: for God is a God not of disorder but of peace. (As in all the churches of the saints,
34: women should be silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate, as the law also says.
35: If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.
36: Or did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only ones it has reached?)
37: Anyone who claims to be a prophet, or to have spiritual powers, must acknowledge that what I am writing to you is a command of the Lord.
38: Anyone who does not recognize this is not to be recognized.
39: So, my friends, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues;
40: but all things should be done decently and in order.

Day 331: 1 Corinthians 9 - 11

Chapter 9

1: Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?
2: If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
3: This is my defense to those who would examine me.
4: Do we not have the right to our food and drink?
5: Do we not have the right to be accompanied by a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?
6: Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living?
7: Who at any time pays the expenses for doing military service? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not get any of its milk?
8: Do I say this on human authority? Does not the law also say the same?
9: For it is written in the law of Moses, "You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain." Is it for oxen that God is concerned?
10: Or does he not speak entirely for our sake? It was indeed written for our sake, for whoever plows should plow in hope and whoever threshes should thresh in hope of a share in the crop.
11: If we have sown spiritual good among you, is it too much if we reap your material benefits?
12: If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we still more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.
13: Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is sacrificed on the altar?
14: In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.
15: But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing this so that they may be applied in my case. Indeed, I would rather die than that—no one will deprive me of my ground for boasting!
16: If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel!
17: For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission.
18: What then is my reward? Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel.
19: For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them.
20: To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law.
21: To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law) so that I might win those outside the law.
22: To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some.
23: I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.
24: Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it.
25: Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one.
26: So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air;
27: but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.

Chapter 10

1: I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea,
2: and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,
3: and all ate the same spiritual food,
4: and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.
5: Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness.
6: Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did.
7: Do not become idolaters as some of them did; as it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play."
8: We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day.
9: We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents.
10: And do not complain as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.
11: These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come.
12: So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall.
13: No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.
14: Therefore, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols.
15: I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.
16: The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?
17: Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
18: Consider the people of Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar?
19: What do I imply then? That food sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?
20: No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons.
21: You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.
22: Or are we provoking the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
23: "All things are lawful," but not all things are beneficial. "All things are lawful," but not all things build up.
24: Do not seek your own advantage, but that of the other.
25: Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience,
26: for "the earth and its fullness are the Lord's."
27: If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience.
28: But if someone says to you, "This has been offered in sacrifice," then do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience—
29: I mean the other's conscience, not your own. For why should my liberty be subject to the judgment of someone else's conscience?
30: If I partake with thankfulness, why should I be denounced because of that for which I give thanks?
31: So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.
32: Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God,
33: just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, so that they may be saved.

Chapter 11

1: Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
2: I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions just as I handed them on to you.
3: But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the husband is the head of his wife, and God is the head of Christ.
4: Any man who prays or prophesies with something on his head disgraces his head,
5: but any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled disgraces her head—it is one and the same thing as having her head shaved.
6: For if a woman will not veil herself, then she should cut off her hair; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or to be shaved, she should wear a veil.
7: For a man ought not to have his head veiled, since he is the image and reflection of God; but woman is the reflection of man.
8: Indeed, man was not made from woman, but woman from man.
9: Neither was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for the sake of man.
10: For this reason a woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.
11: Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man or man independent of woman.
12: For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman; but all things come from God.
13: Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head unveiled?
14: Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair, it is degrading to him,
15: but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering.
16: But if anyone is disposed to be contentious—we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God.
17: Now in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse.
18: For, to begin with, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and to some extent I believe it.
19: Indeed, there have to be factions among you, for only so will it become clear who among you are genuine.
20: When you come together, it is not really to eat the Lord's supper.
21: For when the time comes to eat, each of you goes ahead with your own supper, and one goes hungry and another becomes drunk.
22: What! Do you not have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you show contempt for the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I commend you? In this matter I do not commend you!
23: For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread,
24: and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me."
25: In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."
26: For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
27: Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord.
28: Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
29: For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves.
30: For this reason many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.
31: But if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged.
32: But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
33: So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.
34: If you are hungry, eat at home, so that when you come together, it will not be for your condemnation. About the other things I will give instructions when I come.

Day 330: 1 Corinthians 5 - 8

Chapter 5

1: It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not found even among pagans; for a man is living with his father's wife. 

2: And you are arrogant! Should you not rather have mourned, so that he who has done this would have been removed from among you?
3: For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present I have already pronounced judgment
4: in the name of the Lord Jesus on the man who has done such a thing. When you are assembled, and my spirit is present with the power of our Lord Jesus,
5: you are to hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.
6: Your boasting is not a good thing. Do you not know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough?
7: Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch, as you really are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed.
8: Therefore, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
9: I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral persons—
10: not at all meaning the immoral of this world, or the greedy and robbers, or idolaters, since you would then need to go out of the world.
11: But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother or sister who is sexually immoral or greedy, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or robber. Do not even eat with such a one.
12: For what have I to do with judging those outside? Is it not those who are inside that you are to judge?
13: God will judge those outside. "Drive out the wicked person from among you."

Chapter 6

1: When any of you has a grievance against another, do you dare to take it to court before the unrighteous, instead of taking it before the saints?
2: Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases?
3: Do you not know that we are to judge angels—to say nothing of ordinary matters?
4: If you have ordinary cases, then, do you appoint as judges those who have no standing in the church?
5: I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to decide between one believer and another,
6: but a believer goes to court against a believer —and before unbelievers at that?
7: In fact, to have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?
8: But you yourselves wrong and defraud—and believers at that.
9: Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites,
10: thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers—none of these will inherit the kingdom of God.
11: And this is what some of you used to be. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
12: "All things are lawful for me," but not all things are beneficial. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be dominated by anything.
13: "Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food," and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
14: And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power.
15: Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!
16: Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, "The two shall be one flesh."
17: But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.
18: Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself.
19: Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?
20: For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.

Chapter 7

1: Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: "It is well for a man not to touch a woman."
2: But because of cases of sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.
3: The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband.
4: For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.
5: Do not deprive one another except perhaps by agreement for a set time, to devote yourselves to prayer, and then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
6: This I say by way of concession, not of command.
7: I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has a particular gift from God, one having one kind and another a different kind.
8: To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is well for them to remain unmarried as I am.
9: But if they are not practicing self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion.
10: To the married I give this command—not I but the Lord—that the wife should not separate from her husband
11: (but if she does separate, let her remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife.
12: To the rest I say—I and not the Lord—that if any believer has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her.
13: And if any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him.
14: For the unbelieving husband is made holy through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy through her husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.
15: But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so; in such a case the brother or sister is not bound. It is to peace that God has called you.
16: Wife, for all you know, you might save your husband. Husband, for all you know, you might save your wife.
17: However that may be, let each of you lead the life that the Lord has assigned, to which God called you. This is my rule in all the churches.
18: Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision.
19: Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing; but obeying the commandments of God is everything.
20: Let each of you remain in the condition in which you were called.
21: Were you a slave when called? Do not be concerned about it. Even if you can gain your freedom, make use of your present condition now more than ever.
22: For whoever was called in the Lord as a slave is a freed person belonging to the Lord, just as whoever was free when called is a slave of Christ.
23: You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of human masters.
24: In whatever condition you were called, brothers and sisters, there remain with God.
25: Now concerning virgins, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy.
26: I think that, in view of the impending crisis, it is well for you to remain as you are.
27: Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife.
28: But if you marry, you do not sin, and if a virgin marries, she does not sin. Yet those who marry will experience distress in this life, and I would spare you that.
29: I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none,
30: and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions,
31: and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.
32: I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord;
33: but the married man is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please his wife,
34: and his interests are divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin are anxious about the affairs of the Lord, so that they may be holy in body and spirit; but the married woman is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please her husband.
35: I say this for your own benefit, not to put any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and unhindered devotion to the Lord.
36: If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his fiancee, if his passions are strong, and so it has to be, let him marry as he wishes; it is no sin. Let them marry.
37: But if someone stands firm in his resolve, being under no necessity but having his own desire under control, and has determined in his own mind to keep her as his fiancee, he will do well.
38: So then, he who marries his fiancee does well; and he who refrains from marriage will do better.
39: A wife is bound as long as her husband lives. But if the husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, only in the Lord.
40: But in my judgment she is more blessed if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

Chapter 8

1: Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that "all of us possess knowledge." Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 

2: Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge;
3: but anyone who loves God is known by him.
4: Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that "no idol in the world really exists," and that "there is no God but one."
5: Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as in fact there are many gods and many lords—
6: yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
7: It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.
8: "Food will not bring us close to God." We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.
9: But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.
10: For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols?
11: So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed.
12: But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.
13: Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.

Day 329: 1 Corinthians 1 - 4

Chapter 1

1: Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
2: To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
3: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4: I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus,
5: for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind—
6: just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you—
7: so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.
8: He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9: God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
10: Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.
11: For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters.
12: What I mean is that each of you says, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to Christ."
13: Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
14: I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,
15: so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name.
16: (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.)
17: For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.
18: For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
19: For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart."
20: Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
21: For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe.
22: For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom,
23: but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
24: but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25: For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.
26: Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
27: But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
28: God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are,
29: so that no one might boast in the presence of God.
30: He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
31: in order that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."

Chapter 2

1: When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom.
2: For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
3: And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.
4: My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
5: so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.
6: Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish.
7: But we speak God's wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.
8: None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9: But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him"—
10: these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
11: For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God's except the Spirit of God.
12: Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God.
13: And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual.
14: Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God's Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
15: Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else's scrutiny.
16: "For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

Chapter 3

1: And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.
2: I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready,
3: for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations?
4: For when one says, "I belong to Paul," and another, "I belong to Apollos," are you not merely human?
5: What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each.
6: I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.
7: So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
8: The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each.
9: For we are God's servants, working together; you are God's field, God's building.
10: According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it.
11: For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ.
12: Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—
13: the work of each builder will become visible, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done.
14: If what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a reward.
15: If the work is burned up, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire.
16: Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?
17: If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.
18: Do not deceive yourselves. If you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may become wise.
19: For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise in their craftiness,"
20: and again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile."
21: So let no one boast about human leaders. For all things are yours,
22: whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all belong to you,
23: and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

Chapter 4

1: Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God's mysteries.
2: Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.
3: But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself.
4: I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.
5: Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive commendation from God.
6: I have applied all this to Apollos and myself for your benefit, brothers and sisters, so that you may learn through us the meaning of the saying, "Nothing beyond what is written," so that none of you will be puffed up in favor of one against another.
7: For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?
8: Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Quite apart from us you have become kings! Indeed, I wish that you had become kings, so that we might be kings with you!
9: For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, as though sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to mortals.
10: We are fools for the sake of Christ, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute.
11: To the present hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed and beaten and homeless,
12: and we grow weary from the work of our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure;
13: when slandered, we speak kindly. We have become like the rubbish of the world, the dregs of all things, to this very day.
14: I am not writing this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children.
15: For though you might have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers. Indeed, in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.
16: I appeal to you, then, be imitators of me.
17: For this reason I sent you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ Jesus, as I teach them everywhere in every church.
18: But some of you, thinking that I am not coming to you, have become arrogant.
19: But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power.
20: For the kingdom of God depends not on talk but on power.
21: What would you prefer? Am I to come to you with a stick, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?