Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, ¹  bear with my message of exhortation, for in fact I have written to you briefly.

You know that I did not hold back from proclaiming ¹  to you anything that would be helpful, ²  and from teaching you publicly ³  and from house to house,

Blessed is ¹  the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,

For just as the sufferings ¹  of Christ ²  overflow ³  toward us, so also our comfort through Christ overflows to you. ⁴ 

And our hope for you is steadfast because we know that as you share in ¹  our sufferings, so also you will share in ²  our comfort.

I have great confidence in you; I take great pride ¹  on your behalf. I am filled with encouragement; ²  I am overflowing with joy in the midst of ³  all our suffering.

exhorting and encouraging you and insisting that you live in a way worthy of God who calls you to his own kingdom and his glory.

If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house and do not give him any greeting, ¹ 

Now the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Look, the prophets are in complete agreement that the king will succeed. ¹  Your words must agree with theirs; you must predict success!” ² 

He appointed military officers over the army ¹  and assembled them in the square at the city gate. He encouraged them, ²  saying,

Then ¹  the church throughout Judea, Galilee, ²  and Samaria experienced ³  peace and thus was strengthened. ⁴  Living ⁵  in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, the church ⁶  increased in numbers.

who comforts us in all our troubles ¹  so that we may be able to comfort those experiencing any trouble ²  with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

You must let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but only what is beneficial for the building up of the one in need, ¹  that it may give grace to those who hear.

And Jesus who is called Justus also sends greetings. In terms of Jewish converts, ¹  these are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me.

I put this charge ¹  before you, Timothy my child, in keeping with the prophecies once spoken about you, ²  in order that with such encouragement ³  you may fight the good fight.

He must hold firmly to the faithful message as it has been taught, ¹  so that he will be able to give exhortation in such healthy teaching ²  and correct those who speak against it.

So get up now and go out and give some encouragement to ¹  your servants. For I swear by the Lord that if you don’t go out there, not a single man will stay here with you tonight! This disaster will be worse for you than any disaster that has overtaken you from your youth right to the present time!”

Now the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Look, the prophets are in complete agreement that the king will succeed. ¹  Your words must agree with theirs; you must predict success.” ² 

Hezekiah expressed his appreciation to all the Levites, ¹  who demonstrated great skill in serving the Lord. ²  They feasted for the seven days of the festival, ³  and were making peace offerings and giving thanks to the Lord God of their ancestors.

But I see the prophets of Jerusalem ¹  doing something just as shocking. They are unfaithful to me and continually prophesy lies. ²  So they give encouragement to people who are doing evil, with the result that they do not stop their evildoing. ³  I consider all of them as bad as the people of Sodom, and the citizens of Jerusalem as bad as the people of Gomorrah. ⁴