²³ To the great meeting and church of the first of those who are named in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of good men made complete,

²² And you are to say to Pharaoh, The Lord says, Israel is the first of my sons:

²⁰ Do not be glad, however, because you have power over spirits, but because your names are recorded in heaven.

² Be lifted up, O judge of the earth; let their reward come to the men of pride.

²⁵ Let such a thing be far from you, to put the upright to death with the sinner: will not the judge of all the earth do right?

²² And he has put all things under his feet, and has made him to be head over all things to the church,

⁴⁰ Because God had kept some better thing for us, so that it was not possible for them to become complete without us.

¹⁰ For God is true, and will not put away from him the memory of your work and of your love for his name, in the help which you gave and still give to the saints.

¹¹ And it is our desire that you may all keep the same high purpose in certain hope to the end:

¹² So that you may not be slow in heart, but may take as your example those to whom God has given their heritage, because of their faith and their long waiting.

²⁷ And because by God's law death comes to men once, and after that they are judged;

⁵ (For if a man has not the art of ruling his house, how will he take care of the church of God?)

⁵ Which is a clear sign of the decision which God in his righteousness has made; to give you a part in his kingdom, for which you have undergone this pain;

⁶ For it is an act of righteousness on God's part to give trouble as their reward to those who are troubling you,

⁷ And to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus comes from heaven with the angels of his power in flames of fire,

²⁴ Now I have joy in my pain because of you, and in my flesh I undergo whatever is still needed to make the sorrows of Christ complete, for the salvation of his body, the church;

¹⁴ And I said to him, My lord, you have knowledge. And he said to me, These are they who came through the great testing, and their robes have been washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb.

¹⁵ This is why they are before the high seat of God; and they are his servants day and night in his house: and he who is seated on the high seat will be a tent over them.

¹⁶ They will never be in need of food or drink: and they will never again be troubled by the burning heat of the sun:

¹⁷ For the Lamb who is on the high seat will be their keeper and their guide to fountains of living water: and God will make glad their eyes for ever.

¹² Giving praise to the Father who has given us a part in the heritage of the saints in light;

⁴ By faith Abel made a better offering to God than Cain, and he had witness through it of his righteousness, God giving his approval of his offering: and his voice still comes to us through it though he is dead.

¹⁸ Of his purpose he gave us being, by his true word, so that we might be, in a sense, the first-fruits of all the things which he had made.

²³ To sharp words he gave no sharp answer; when he was undergoing pain, no angry word came from his lips; but he put himself into the hands of the judge of righteousness:

⁸ And all who are on the earth will give him worship, everyone whose name has not been from the first in the book of life of the Lamb who was put to death.

⁴ These are they who have not made themselves unclean with women; for they are virgins. These are they who go after the Lamb wherever he goes. These were taken from among men to be the first fruits to God and to the Lamb.

¹⁵ And if anyone's name was not in the book of life, he went down into the sea of fire.

⁷ God is greatly to be feared among the saints, and to be honoured over all those who are about him.

³ And I make request to you, true helper in my work, to see to the needs of those women who took part with me in the good news, with Clement and the rest of my brother-workers whose names are in the book of life.

¹² Not as if I had even now got the reward or been made complete: but I go on in the hope that I may come to the knowledge of that for which I was made the servant of Christ Jesus.

¹³ Brothers, it is clear to me that I have not come to that knowledge; but one thing I do, letting go those things which are past, and stretching out to the things which are before,

¹⁴ I go forward to the mark, even the reward of the high purpose of God in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵ Then let us all, who have come to full growth, be of this mind: and if in anything you are of a different mind, even this will God make clear to you:

¹⁶ Only, as far as we have got, let us be guided by the same rule.

¹⁷ Brothers, take me as your example, and take note of those who are walking after the example we have given.

¹⁸ For there are those, of whom I have given you word before, and do so now with sorrow, who are haters of the cross of Christ;

¹⁹ Whose end is destruction, whose god is the stomach, and whose glory is in their shame, whose minds are fixed on the things of the earth.

²⁰ For our country is in heaven; from where the Saviour for whom we are waiting will come, even the Lord Jesus Christ:

²¹ By whom this poor body of ours will be changed into the image of the body of his glory, in the measure of the working by which he is able to put all things under himself.

²¹ For to me life is Christ and death is profit.

²² But if I go on living in the flesh--if this is the fruit of my work--then I do not see what decision to make.

²³ I am in a hard position between the two, having a desire to go away and be with Christ, which is very much better:

¹ Let the Lord be praised. I will give praise to the Lord with all my heart, among the upright, and in the meeting of the people.

⁹ Before the Lord, for he has come as judge of the earth; judging the world in righteousness, and giving true decisions for the peoples.

¹³ Before the Lord, for he is come; he is come to be the judge of the earth; the earth will be judged in righteousness, and the peoples with unchanging faith.

²⁷ And I will make him the first of my sons, most high over the kings of the earth.

²⁸ Let their names be taken from the book of the living, let them not be numbered with the upright.

⁵ Let my saints come together to me; those who have made an agreement with me by offerings.

⁶ And let the heavens make clear his righteousness; for God himself is the judge. (Selah.)

¹⁷ But he is to give his first son his birthright, and twice as great a part of his property: for he is the first-fruits of his strength and the right of the first son is his.

³² But now, if you will give them forgiveness--but if not, let my name be taken out of your book.

⁷ And the dust goes back to the earth as it was, and the spirit goes back to God who gave it.

⁹ They will come with weeping, and going before them I will be their guide: guiding them by streams of water in a straight way where there is no falling: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is the first of my sons.

²⁴ And as the church is under Christ's authority, so let wives be under the rule of their husbands in all things.

²⁵ Husbands, have love for your wives, even as Christ had love for the church, and gave himself for it;

²⁶ So that he might make it holy, having made it clean with the washing of water by the word,

²⁷ And might take it for himself, a church full of glory, not having one mark or fold or any such thing; but that it might be holy and complete.

⁸ We are without fear, desiring to be free from the body, and to be with the Lord.

⁵⁴ But when this has taken place, then that which was said in the Writings will come true, Death is overcome by life.

⁴⁹ And in the same way as we have taken on us the image of the man from the earth, so we will take on us the image of the one from heaven.

¹² For now we see things in a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now my knowledge is in part; then it will be complete, even as God's knowledge of me.

²⁸ Give attention to yourselves, and to all the flock which the Holy Spirit has given into your care, to give food to the church of God, for which he gave his blood.

²⁷ And he has given him authority to be judge because he is the Son of man.

³¹ But when the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then will he be seated in his glory:

³² And before him all the nations will come together; and they will be parted one from another, as the sheep are parted from the goats by the keeper.

³³ And he will put the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.

³⁴ Then will the King say to those on his right, Come, you who have the blessing of my Father, into the kingdom made ready for you before the world was:

² Let the first male child of every mother among the children of Israel be kept holy for me, even the first male birth among man or beast; for it is mine.