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[1]And as aiders we entreat of you, that the grace of God which ye have received, may not be ineffectual in you.
[2]For he hath said, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in the day of life I have aided thee. Behold, now is the acceptable time ! and behold, now is the day of life !
[3]Give ye no occasion of offence to any one in any thing, that there may be no reproach on our ministry.
[4]But we, in all things, would show ourselves to be the ministers of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in necessity, in distresses,
[5]in scourgings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in toil, in watching, in fasting;
[6]by purity, by knowledge, by long suffering, by benignity, by the Holy Spirit, by love unfeigned,
[7]by the speaking of truth, by the energy of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left;
[8]amid honor and dishonor, amid praise and contumely; as deceivers, and yet true;
[9]as not known, and yet we are well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as chastised, yet not killed;
[10]as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as indigent, yet enriching many; as possessing nothing, yet having all things.
[11]O ye Corinthians, our mouth is opened towards you, and our heart expanded.
[12]Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own bowels.
[13]I speak as to [my] children, Pay me the debt which ye owe, and expand your love towards me.
[14]And be ye not yoke-fellows with them that believe not: for what fellowship hath righteousness with iniquity? or what communion hath light with darkness?
[15]or what concord hath the Messiah with Satan? or what part hath a believer with an unbeliever?
[16]or what agreement hath the temple of God with that of demons? For ye are the temple of the living God; as it is said, I will dwell among them, and walk among them, and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
[17]Wherefore, come ye out from among them, and be ye separate from them, saith the Lord; and come not near the unclean thing, and I will receive you;
[18]and will be to you a Father, and ye shall be sons and daughters to me, saith the Lord Almighty.
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