Our Eternal Dwelling

¹For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is dismantled, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

²For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling,

³because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.

⁴For while we are in this tent, we groan under our burdens, because we do not wish to be unclothed but clothed, so that our mortality may be swallowed up by life.

⁵And it is God who has prepared us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a pledge of what is to come.

⁶Therefore we are always confident, although we know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord.

⁷For we walk by faith, not by sight.

⁸We are confident, then, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

⁹So we aspire to please Him, whether we are at home in this body or away from it.

¹⁰For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.

Ambassadors for Christ

¹¹Therefore, since we know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is clear to God, and I hope it is clear to your conscience as well.

¹²We are not commending ourselves to you again. Instead, we are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you can answer those who take pride in appearances rather than in the heart.

¹³If we are out of our mind, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you.

¹⁴For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that One died for all, therefore all died.

¹⁵And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and was raised again.

¹⁶So from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Although we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.

¹⁷Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!

¹⁸All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

¹⁹that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

²⁰Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God.

²¹God made Him who knew no sin to be sinon our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

The Rights of an Apostle

¹Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you yourselves not my workmanship in the Lord?

²Even if I am not an apostle to others, surely I am to you. For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

³This is my defense to those who scrutinize me:

⁴Have we no right to food and to drink?

⁵Have we no right to take along a believing wife,as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?

⁶Or are Barnabas and I the only apostles who must work for a living?

⁷Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Who tends a flock and does not drink of its milk?

⁸Do I say this from a human perspective? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing?

⁹For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.”Is it about oxen that God is concerned?

¹⁰Isn’t He actually speaking on our behalf? Indeed, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they should also expect to share in the harvest.

¹¹If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much for us to reap a material harvest from you?

¹²If others have this right to your support, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not exercise this right. Instead, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.

¹³Do you not know that those who work in the temple eat of its food, and those who serve at the altar partake of its offerings?

¹⁴In the same way, the Lord has prescribed that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.

¹⁵But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this to suggest that something be done for me. Indeed, I would rather die than let anyone nullify my boast.

¹⁶Yet when I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am obligated to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!

¹⁷If my preaching is voluntary, I have a reward. But if it is not voluntary, I am still entrusted with a responsibility.

¹⁸What then is my reward? That in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not use up my rights in preaching it.

Paul the Servant to All

¹⁹Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.

²⁰To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), to win those under the law.

²¹To those without the law I became like one without the law (though I am not outside the law of God but am under the law of Christ), to win those without the law.

²²To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.

²³I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

Run Your Race to Win

²⁴Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize.

²⁵Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable.

²⁶Therefore I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight like I am beating the air.

²⁷No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

The Fifth Trumpet

¹Then the fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth, and it was given the key to the pit of the Abyss.

²The star opened the pit of the Abyss, and smoke rose out of it like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the pit.

³And out of the smoke, locusts descended on the earth, and they were given power like that of the scorpions of the earth.

⁴They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

⁵The locusts were not given power to kill them, but only to torment them for five months, and their torment was like the stinging of a scorpion.

⁶In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, but death will escape them.

⁷And the locusts looked like horses prepared for battle, with something like crowns of gold on their heads; and their faces were like the faces of men.

⁸They had hair like that of women, and teeth like those of lions.

⁹They also had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the roar of many horses and chariots rushing into battle.

¹⁰They had tails with stingers like scorpions, which had the power to injure people for five months.

¹¹They were ruled by a king, the angel of the Abyss. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon,and in Greek it is Apollyon.

¹²The first woe has passed. Behold, two woes are still to follow.

The Sixth Trumpet

¹³Then the sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God

¹⁴saying to the sixth angel with the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”

¹⁵So the four angels who had been prepared for this hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind.

¹⁶And the number of mounted troops was two hundred million; I heard their number.

¹⁷Now the horses and riders in my vision looked like this: The riders had breastplates the colors of fire, sapphire, and sulfur. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and out of their mouths proceeded fire, smoke, and sulfur.

¹⁸A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke, and sulfur that proceeded from their mouths.

¹⁹For the power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; indeed, their tails were like snakes, having heads with which to inflict harm.

²⁰Now the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk.

²¹Furthermore, they did not repent of their murder, sorcery, sexual immorality, and theft.

The Psalm of the Cross

¹My God, my God,why have You forsaken me?Why are You so far from saving me,so far from my words of groaning?

²I cry out by day, O my God,but You do not answer,and by night,but I have no rest.

³Yet You are holy,enthroned on the praises of Israel.

⁴In You our fathers trusted;they trusted and You delivered them.

⁵They cried out to You and were set free;they trusted in You and were not disappointed.

⁶But I am a worm and not a man,scorned by men and despised by the people.

⁷All who see me mock me;they sneer and shake their heads:

⁸“He trusts in the LORD,let the LORD deliver him;let the LORD rescue him,since He delights in him.”

⁹Yet You brought me forth from the womb;You made me secure at my mother’s breast.

¹⁰From birth I was cast upon You;from my mother’s womb You have been my God.

¹¹Be not far from me,for trouble is nearand there is no one to help.

¹²Many bulls surround me;strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

¹³They open their jaws against melike lions that roar and maul.

¹⁴I am poured out like water,and all my bones are disjointed.My heart is like wax;it melts away within me.

¹⁵My strengthis dried up like a potsherd,and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.You lay me in the dust of death.

¹⁶For dogs surround me;a band of evil men encircles me;they have pierced my hands and feet.

¹⁷I can count all my bones;they stare and gloat over me.

¹⁸They divide my garments among themand cast lots for my clothing.

¹⁹But You, O LORD, be not far off;O my Strength, come quickly to help me.

²⁰Deliver my soul from the sword,my precious life from the power of wild dogs.

²¹Save me from the mouth of the lion;at the horns of the wild oxen You have answered me!

²²I will proclaim Your name to my brothers;I will praise You in the assembly.

²³You who fear the LORD, praise Him!All descendants of Jacob, honor Him!All offspring of Israel, revere Him!

²⁴For He has not despised or detestedthe torment of the afflicted.He has not hidden His face from him,but has attended to his cry for help.

²⁵My praise for You resounds in the great assembly;I will fulfill my vows before those who fear You.

²⁶The poor will eat and be satisfied;those who seek the LORD will praise Him.May your hearts live forever!

²⁷All the ends of the earthwill remember and turn to the LORD.All the families of the nationswill bow down before Him.

²⁸For dominion belongs to the LORDand He rules over the nations.

²⁹All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;all who go down to the dust will kneel before Him—even those unable to preserve their lives.

³⁰Posterity will serve Him;they will declare the Lord to a new generation.

³¹They will come and proclaim His righteousnessto a people yet unborn—all that He has done.