to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. I serve ¹  the gospel of God ²  like a priest, so that the Gentiles may become an acceptable offering, ³  sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

but now is disclosed, and through the prophetic scriptures has been made known to all the nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith –

Nevertheless, ¹  as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each person, so must he live. I give this sort of direction in all the churches.

To the weak I became weak in order to gain the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that by all means I may save some.

For out of great distress and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not to make you sad, but to let you know the love that I have especially for you. ¹ 

and not like Moses who used to put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites ¹  from staring ²  at the result ³  of the glory that was made ineffective. ⁴ 

For you know the grace ¹  of our Lord Jesus Christ, that although he was rich, he became poor for your sakes, so that you by his poverty could become rich.

In addition, ¹  this brother ²  has also been chosen by the churches as our traveling companion as we administer this generous gift ³  to the glory of the Lord himself and to show our readiness to help. ⁴ 

even because of the extraordinary character of the revelations. Therefore, ¹  so that I would not become arrogant, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to trouble ²  me – so that I would not become arrogant. ³ 

Have you been thinking all this time ¹  that we have been defending ourselves to you? We are speaking in Christ before God, and everything we do, dear friends, is to build you up. ² 

Finally, brothers and sisters, ¹  rejoice, set things right, be encouraged, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.

Am I now trying to gain the approval of people, ¹  or of God? Or am I trying to please people? ²  If I were still trying to please ³  people, ⁴  I would not be a slave ⁵  of Christ!

Now this matter arose ¹  because of the false brothers with false pretenses ²  who slipped in unnoticed to spy on ³  our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, to make us slaves. ⁴ 

But if while seeking to be justified in Christ we ourselves have also been found to be sinners, is Christ then one who encourages ¹  sin? Absolutely not!

Those who want to make a good showing in external matters ¹  are trying to force you to be circumcised. They do so ²  only to avoid being persecuted ³  for the cross of Christ.

– since the eyes of your ¹  heart have been enlightened ²  – so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, ³  what is the wealth of his glorious ⁴  inheritance in the saints,

and live ¹  in love, just as Christ also loved us ²  and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering ³  to God.

by holding on to ¹  the word of life so that on the day of Christ I will have a reason to boast that I did not run in vain nor labor in vain.

so that you may live ¹  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ²  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

My goal is that ¹  their hearts, having been knit together ²  in love, may be encouraged, and that ³  they may have all the riches that assurance brings in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ, ⁴