Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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1 All these promises are made to
us, my dear friends. So then, let
us purify ourselves from everything
that makes body or soul unclean,
and let us be completely holy by living
in reverence for God.
Paul's Joy
2 Make room for us in your hearts.
We have wronged no one; we have
ruined no one, nor tried to take advantage
of anyone.
3 I do not say this
to condemn you; for, as I have said
before, you are so dear to us that we
are always together, whether we live
or die.
4 I am so sure of you; I take
such pride in you! In all our troubles
I am still full of courage; I am running
over with joy.
5 Even after we arrived in Macedonia,
we did not have any rest.
There were troubles everywhere,
-- --
quarrels with others, fears in our
hearts. note
6 But God, who encourages
the downhearted, encouraged us
with the coming of Titus.
7 It was not
only his coming that cheered us, but
also his report of how you encouraged
him. He told us how much you
want to see me, how sorry you are,
how ready you are to defend me;
and so I am even happier now.
8 For even if that letter of mine
made you sad, I am not sorry I wrote
it. I could have been sorry when I
saw that it made you sad for a while.
9 But now I am happy—not because
I made you sad, but because your
sadness made you change your
ways. That sadness was used by
God, and so we caused you no harm.
10 For the sadness that is used by
God brings a change of heart that
leads to salvation—and there is no
regret in that! But sadness that is
merely human causes death.
11 See
what God did with this sadness of
yours: how earnest it has made you,
how eager to prove your innocence!
Such indignation, such alarm, such
feelings, such devotion, such readiness
to punish wrongdoing! You
have shown yourselves to be without
fault in the whole matter.
12 So, even though I wrote that letter,
it was not because of the one
who did wrong or the one who was
wronged. Instead, I wrote it to make
plain to you, in God's sight, how
deep your devotion to us really is.
13 That is why we were encouraged.
13 Not only were we encouraged;
how happy Titus made us with his
happiness over the way in which all
of you helped to cheer him up!
14 I
did boast of you to him, and you
have not disappointed me. We have
always spoken the truth to you, and
in the same way the boast we made
to Titus has proved true.
15 And so
his love for you grows stronger, as
he remembers how all of you were
ready to obey his instructions, how
you welcomed him with fear and
trembling.
16 How happy I am that I
can depend on you completely!
Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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