But if the ministry that produced death – carved in letters on stone tablets ¹  – came with glory, so that the Israelites ²  could not keep their eyes fixed on the face of Moses because of the glory of his face ³  (a glory ⁴  which was made ineffective), ⁵ 

Look, for the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden to you, because I do not want your possessions, but you. For children should not have ¹  to save up for their parents, but parents for their children.

Because of this I am writing these things while absent, so that when I arrive ¹  I may not have to deal harshly with you ²  by using my authority – the Lord gave it to me for building up, not for tearing down!

I went there ¹  because of ²  a revelation and presented ³  to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did so ⁴  only in a private meeting with the influential people, ⁵  to make sure that I was not running – or had not run ⁶  – in vain.

yet we know ¹  that no one ²  is justified by the works of the law ³  but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. ⁴  And ⁵  we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ ⁶  and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one ⁷  will be justified.

I have been crucified with Christ, ¹  and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So ²  the life I now live in the body, ³  I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, ⁴  who loved me and gave himself for me.

For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren woman who does not bear children; ¹  break forth and shout, you who have no birth pains, because the children of the desolate woman are more numerous than those of the woman who has a husband.” ² 

For ¹  it is right for me to think this about all of you, because I have you in my heart, ²  since both in my imprisonment ³  and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel all of you became partners in God’s grace ⁴  together with me.

“It will not be like the covenant ¹  that I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I had no regard for them, says the Lord.

They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us, because if they had belonged to us, they would have remained ¹  with us. But ²  they went out from us ³  to demonstrate ⁴  that all of them do not belong to us. ⁵ 

(The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has testified concerning his Son.) ¹ 

They were singing a new song: ¹  “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were killed, ²  and at the cost of your own blood ³  you have purchased ⁴  for God persons ⁵  from every tribe, language, ⁶  people, and nation.

Then ¹  I looked, and I heard an ²  eagle ³  flying directly overhead, ⁴  proclaiming with a loud voice, “Woe! Woe! Woe to those who live on the earth because of the remaining sounds of the trumpets of the three angels who are about to blow them!” ⁵ 

Then ¹  I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, “The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the ruling authority ²  of his Christ, ³  have now come, because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, ⁴  the one who accuses them day and night ⁵  before our God, has been thrown down.

Therefore you heavens rejoice, and all who reside in them! But ¹  woe to the earth and the sea because the devil has come down to you! He ²  is filled with terrible anger, for he knows that he only has a little time!”

Then ¹  I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: ‘Blessed are the dead, those who die in the Lord from this moment on!’” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so they can rest from their hard work, ²  because their deeds will follow them.” ³ 

Then ¹  another angel came out of the temple, shouting in a loud voice to the one seated on the cloud, “Use ²  your sickle and start to reap, ³  because the time to reap has come, since the earth’s harvest is ripe!”

Another ¹  angel, who was in charge of ²  the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to the angel ³  who had the sharp sickle, “Use ⁴  your sharp sickle and gather ⁵  the clusters of grapes ⁶  off the vine of the earth, ⁷  because its grapes ⁸  are now ripe.” ⁹ 

And they threw dust on their heads and were shouting with weeping and mourning, ¹  “Woe, Woe, O great city – in which all those who had ships on the sea got rich from her wealth – because in a single hour she has been destroyed!” ² 

Even the light from a lamp will never shine in you again! The voices of the bridegroom and his bride will never be heard in you again. For your merchants were the tycoons of the world, because all the nations ¹  were deceived by your magic spells! ²