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48-2CO/08.usfm

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 \v 1 We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about how God has been kindly working in wonderful ways among the churches in the province of Macedonia.
 \v 2 Although the believers there were suffering very much, they were rejoicing so much that, although they are poor, they gave much money for the collection for the believers in Jerusalem.
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 \v 3 They gave as much as they were able—and I testify it is true—and some sacrificed and gave so much they suffered need themselves, but they still gave. They wanted to give,
 \v 4 and they begged us over and over and pleaded with us to allow them to give to this collection, so they could help those believers whom God has set apart for himself.
 \v 5 We did not think they could give like that. But they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then they gave themselves to us.
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 \v 6 Titus had already begun encouraging you to contribute money, so we urged him to guide the collection to its end.
 \v 7 As you do better than others, not only in your trust in God, in your encouraging words, in what you have learned, in taking a task to completion, and in your love for us—make sure you do very well by completing this collection also.
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 \v 10 And in this I have some encouragement to give you: you started this ministry of help a year ago, and when you began it you were eager to do it.
 \v 11 In the same way, you should finish this work. Just as you were eager to begin this work, you should be eager to end it, and to do this as quickly as you can.
 \v 12 God will accept what you do in this task, if you are eager to do it. You must finish the work by giving money from the money that you have. You cannot give what you do not have.
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 \v 13 We are not taxing you because we do not want others to have to support themselves. But it is fair for you to help them.
 \v 14 You have more than you need at this time; what you have left over will be enough for them, too. In the future, they will have more than they need, and perhaps then, they will be able to help you. That is fair for everyone.
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 \v 16 We thank God because he has caused Titus to care for you as much as I do.
 \v 17 When we asked him to help you, he agreed to do so. He was so eager to help you that he decided to visit you himself.
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 \v 18 We have sent Titus along with another Christian brother. All the believers in the churches praise him because he preaches the good news very well.
 \v 19 The believers in the churches asked him to go with us to Jerusalem to help us take to the believers there what you and the others are giving to them. We all want to contribute this money in order to honor the Lord and to show everyone how much we believers help each other.
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 \v 20 We are doing everything we can to keep anyone from asking why we are asking for this money that you are giving so generously.
 \v 21 We are careful to do all this in an honest and open way. We want everyone to know how we are doing this, and we know that the Lord sees us, too.
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 \v 22 And with these brothers we are sending to you, we are adding still one more brother. We have seen that this brother does important work in a very faithful manner. He now desires even more to help you because he trusts you very much.
 \v 23 As for Titus himself, he is my partner; he works alongside me. The other brothers—it is the churches in our region who have chosen them to go with us to Jerusalem. When other people see them, they will praise Christ very much because of them.
 \v 24 So show these brothers how you love them; show them why we spoke so well about you, and why we could not stop telling all the churches how proud we are of you.
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48-2CO/09.usfm

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 \v 1 Now about this collection of money for the believers in Jerusalem—all those people whom God has set apart for himself, I really do not need to write anything more to you.
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 \v 2 I already know that you want to help, and I praised you for this to the believers of Macedonia. In fact, I told them that you, and the other people of the province of Achaia, have been preparing for this collection since last year. Your enthusiasm is an example that has moved the believers of Macedonia to take action.
 
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 \v 4 I am afraid that some Macedonians might come with me when I come a little later, and that they might find that you are not ready to give all that you want to give. If that happens, we will be ashamed that we spoke so well about you—and you would be ashamed, too.
 \v 5 I decided it was necessary to make every effort to send the brothers to you, so they could set in order everything necessary to receive the money you have promised to give. In this way, this money will be something you freely offer, rather than a tax that we make you pay.
 
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 \v 6 The point is, anyone who sows very little seed will also have a small crop to harvest, but anyone who sows a great amount of seed will gather a great harvest.
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 \v 13 Because you began this task, you have shown what kind of people you are. You honor God by obeying him and believing what he says in the good news about Christ. You also honor him by giving generously.
 \v 14 The ones to whom you will give will greatly desire to see you; they will pray for you, because of the wonderful way in which God has been kind to you.
 \v 15 We give thanks to God for this gift from him—his gift is so great we cannot express it in words.
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48-2CO/10.usfm

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 \v 1 Now I, Paul, beg of you—and I am humble and gentle as I do so, because Christ has made me that way:  I, who was shy when I was  in front of you, but forceful when I am writing you a letter from far away:
 \v 2 I beg of you that, when I come, I will not have to be harsh with you. I am afraid, however, that I will have to be, in order to speak against the people who think that we work with human standards.
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 \v 5 In this way we can prove wrong everyone who proudly speaks against God in order to keep others from knowing him. We can also change how people think, so that they begin to obey Christ.
 \v 6 When we see that you are completely obeying Christ yourselves, we will be ready to punish any who remain disobedient to him.
 
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 \v 7 You should look at the clear facts. If anyone has faith that he belongs to Christ, remind him that just as he belongs to Christ, so do we!
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 \q    "Let the one who is proud, be proud of the Lord."
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 \v 18 When a person praises himself for what he has done, God does not reward him for doing that. Instead, he rewards those whom he approves.
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48-2CO/11.usfm

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 \v 1 It is foolish for a person to praise himself, but that is what I am doing. Please allow me to continue a little.
 \v 2 For I know that there are other rivals to me that you are considering, and I am jealous for you—jealous to God for you. I am like a father who promised you in marriage to only one husband and who wants to be the one who presents you, as a pure virgin bride, to Christ.
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 \v 3 But as I think about you, I became afraid that someone has tricked you, like the devil tricked Eve. I was afraid that someone had convinced you to stop loving Christ with an honest heart.
 \v 4 I say this, because you do not seem to mind if someone else comes and tells you different things about Jesus than what we did, or if he wants you to receive a different spirit from the Spirit of God, or a different kind of good news.
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 \v 5 People call those teachers "super-apostles," but I do not think they are greater than I am.
 \v 6 It may be true that I never studied how to give wonderful speeches, but I certainly know many things about God, as you learned when I spoke to you.
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 \v 7 Was I wrong to serve you as a humble person in such a way that others praised you instead of me? Was I wrong to preach the good news to you without charging any money?
 \v 8 Yes, I allowed believers in other churches to give me money so I could serve you. Maybe you will say that I was robbing them. But I asked you for nothing.
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 \v 15 His servants also pretend to serve God; they pretend to be good. God will punish them like they deserve.
 
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 \v 16 No one should think I am a fool. But if you really do think of me as a fool, then I will go ahead and continue to praise myself a little more.
 \v 17 When I speak in this way, this is not the way the Lord speaks of me; it is simply me speaking like a fool.
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 \v 32 At the city of Damascus, the governor under King Aretas put a guard around the city, hoping to arrest me.
 \v 33 But my friends put me in a basket and let me down me out of the city, through a window in the wall, and I escaped from him.
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48-2CO/12.usfm

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 \v 1 I must continue to defend myself, so I will continue by boasting about some visions that the Lord gave me.
 \v 2 Fourteen years ago God took me, a man who is joined to Christ, up to the highest heaven—although only God knows whether he took me up only in my spirit or in my body, too.
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 \v 3  And I—whether in my body or only in my spirit, God alone knows—
 \v 4 I was taken up into a place in heaven called paradise. There I heard things that were much too holy,and that I am not able to tell you.
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 \v 6 Even if I kept on boasting about myself, I would not be foolish, because I would be saying only what was true. However, I will boast no more, so that you can judge me only by what you hear me say, or by what you already know about me.
 \v 7 So I will leave the subject of the amazing visions that God gave me; except that I should tell you that God sent me something very difficult to bear, a device from Satan, in order to cause me to suffer. God did this so that I would not become proud about the visions I saw.
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 \v 8 I prayed three times to the Lord about this matter;  each time I begged him to take this away from me.
 \v 9 But he said to me, "No, I will not take this away from you. All you need is for me to love you and be with you, because I do my most powerful work in you when you are weak." That is why I would rather be proud of my weakness, so that Christ's power can come and make me strong.
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 \v 11 When I write this way, I am praising myself. But I had to do so, because you should have had confidence in me. I am just as good as these "super-apostles," even though I am really nothing at all.
 \v 12 I gave you the true signs of being an authentic apostle—miracles that I did very patiently among you: wonderful miracles that proved that I truly serve Jesus Christ.
 \v 13 You certainly were just as important as all the other churches! The only way you were different was that I received no money from you as I did from them. Forgive me that I did not ask this from you!
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 \v 19 You do not really think that I have been trying to defend myself in this letter, do you? God knows that I am joined to Christ, and that I have written everything in order to strengthen you in trusting him.
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 \v 20 But when I come to you, I may not find you as I wished.  When I come you may not want to listen to me. I fear that you are arguing a lot among yourselves, that some of you are jealous of one another, and that some of you become very angry with each other. I fear that some of you are putting yourselves first, that you are talking about each other, and that some of you are very selfish.
 \v 21 When I come to you, I am afraid when I see you, God will humble me. I am sad and I mourn for many of who disobeyed God and have not stopped sinning in various sexual ways.
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48-2CO/13.usfm

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 \v 9 We have joy when we are weak and you are strong. We pray that you may always trust and obey God completely.
 \v 10 I am away from you now as I write this to you. When I come to you, I do not have to deal harshly with you. Because the Lord made me an apostle, I prefer to encourage you and not to make you weaker.
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 \v 11 The last thing, brothers and sisters, is this: Rejoice! Act and behave better than you have been acting, and allow the Lord to give you courage. Agree with each other and live in peace together. If you do these things, God, who loves you and brings you peace, will be with you.
 \v 12 Welcome each other in a way that tells everybody how much you love each other.
 
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 \v 13 All of us here, whom God has set apart for himself, greet you.
 \v 14 May the Lord Jesus Christ act kindly toward you, may God love you, and may the Holy Spirit be with you all.
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