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 

revealing ¹  that you are a letter of Christ, delivered by us, ²  written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets ³  but on tablets of human hearts.

But their minds were closed. ¹  For to this very day, the same veil remains when they hear the old covenant read. ²  It has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away. ³ 

We were encouraged ¹  not only by his arrival, but also by the encouragement ²  you gave ³  him, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, ⁴  your deep concern ⁵  for me, so that I rejoiced more than ever.

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 

For we would not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who recommend themselves. But when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding. ¹ 

But what does the scripture say? “Throw out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the son” ¹  of the free woman.

For our struggle ¹  is not against flesh and blood, ²  but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, ³  against the spiritual forces ⁴  of evil in the heavens. ⁵ 

So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, continue working out your salvation with awe and reverence, ¹ 

More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things – indeed, I regard them as dung! ¹  – that I may gain Christ,

For though ¹  I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, rejoicing to see ²  your morale ³  and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

in that ¹  our gospel did not come to you merely in words, ²  but in power and in the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction (surely you recall the character we displayed when we came among you to help you). ³ 

But here is why I was treated with mercy: so that ¹  in me as the worst, ²  Christ Jesus could demonstrate his utmost patience, as an example for those who are going to believe in him for eternal life.

But those who have believing masters must not show them less respect ¹  because they are brothers. Instead they are to serve all the more, because those who benefit from their service are believers and dearly loved. ² Teach them and exhort them about these things. ³ 

He is the one who saved us ¹  and called us with a holy calling, not based on ²  our works but on his own purpose and grace, granted to us in Christ Jesus before time began, ³ 

Finally the crown of righteousness is reserved for me. The Lord, the righteous Judge, will award it to me in that day – and not to me only, but also to all who have set their affection on ¹  his appearing.

These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, ¹  but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners ²  on the earth.

But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there, ¹  and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out – he ²  will be blessed in what he does. ³ 

Do not speak against one another, brothers and sisters. ¹  He who speaks against a fellow believer ²  or judges a fellow believer speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but its judge. ³ 

But set Christ ¹  apart ²  as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess. ³