And working together with him we entreat also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain
(for he saith,
{Isaiah 49:8.}At an acceptable time I hearkened unto thee,
And in a day of salvation did I succor thee:
behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation):
giving no occasion of stumbling in anything, that our ministration be not blamed;
but in everything commending ourselves, as ministers of God, in much {Or, stedfastness}patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,
in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings;
in pureness, in knowledge, in longsuffering, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in love unfeigned,
in the word of truth, in the power of God; {Greek: though.}by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true;
as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed;
as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
Our mouth is open unto you, O Corinthians, our heart is enlarged.
Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own affections.
Now for a recompense in like kind (I speak as unto my children), be ye also enlarged.
Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers: for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? or what communion hath light with darkness?
And what concord hath Christ with {Greek: Beliar.}Belial? or what portion hath a believer with an unbeliever?
And what agreement hath a {Or, santuary}temple of God with idols? for we are a {Or, santuary}temple of the living God; even as God said, {Leviticus 26:12; Exodus 29:45; Ezekiel 37:27; Jeremiah 31:1.}I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Wherefore
{Isaiah 52:11.}Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate,
saith the Lord,
And touch no unclean thing;
And I will receive you,
{Hosea 1:10; Isaiah 43:6.}And will be to you a Father,
And ye shall be to me sons and daughters,
saith the Lord Almighty.
Querverweise zu 2. Korinther 6,5 2Kor 6,5
Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as one beside himself) I more; in labors more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths oft.
Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.
Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day have I been in the deep;
and say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace.
For we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning our affliction which befell us in Asia, that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, insomuch that we despaired even of life:
{Or, but we ourselves}yea, we ourselves have had the {Greek: answer.}sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raiseth the dead:
who delivered us out of so great a death, and will deliver: on whom we have {Some ancient authorities read set our hope; and still will he deliver us.}set our hope that he will also still deliver us;
Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as one beside himself) I more; in labors more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths oft.
in labor and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
And Jesus said unto them, Can the {That is, companions of the bridegroom.}sons of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then will they fast.
Forty stripes he may give him, he shall not exceed; lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee.
Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in the {Hebrew: house of the stocks.}prison-house; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time.
But there came Jews thither from Antioch and Iconium: and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul, and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.
But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not found {Or, void}vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the guard, saying,
But the Jews, being moved with jealousy, took unto them certain vile fellows of the rabble, and gathering a crowd, set the city on an uproar; and assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them forth to the people.
For ye remember, brethren, our labor and travail: working night and day, that we might not burden any of you, we preached unto you the {Greek: good tidings: and so elsewhere; see marginal note on Matthew 4:23.}gospel of God.
It is as when a man, sojourning in another country, having left his house, and given authority to his {Greek: bondservants.}servants, to each one his work, commanded also the porter to watch.
Watch therefore: for ye know not when the lord of the house cometh, whether at even, or at midnight, or at cockcrowing, or in the morning;
lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
And when they had appointed for them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they had believed.
And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:
And the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe; for they had made that the prison.
But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment-seat,
saying, This man persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law.
But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If indeed it were a matter of wrong or of wicked villany, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you:
but if they are questions about words and names and your own law, look to it yourselves; I am not minded to be a judge of these matters.
And he drove them from the judgment-seat.
And they all laid hold on Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment-seat. And Gallio cared for none of these things.
For to this end we labor and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of them that believe.
Wherefore watch ye, remembering that by the space of three years I ceased not to admonish every one night and day with tears.
Defraud ye not one the other, except it be by consent for a season, that ye may give yourselves unto prayer, and may be together again, that Satan tempt you not because of your incontinency.
When Jeremiah was come into the {Or, house of the pit}dungeon-house, and into the cells, and Jeremiah had remained there many days;
And about that time there arose no small stir concerning the Way.
For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of {Greek: Artemis.}Diana, brought no little business unto the craftsmen;
whom he gathered together, with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this business we have our wealth.
And ye see and hear; that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they are no gods, that are made with hands:
and not only is there danger that this our trade come into disrepute; but also that the temple of the great goddess {Greek: Artemis.}Diana be made of no account, and that she should even be deposed from her magnificence whom all Asia and {Greek: the inhabited earth.}the world worshippeth.
And when they heard this they were filled with wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is {Greek: Artemis.}Diana of the Ephesians.
And the city was filled with the confusion: and they rushed with one accord into the theatre, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in travel.
And when Paul was minded to enter in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not.
And certain also of the {That is, officers having charge of festivals &c. In the Roman province of Asia.}Asiarchs, being his friends, sent unto him and besought him not to adventure himself into the theatre.
Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was in confusion; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together.
{Or, And some of the multitude instructed Alexander}And they brought Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made a defense unto the people.
But when they perceived that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is {Greek: Artemis.}Diana of the Ephesians.
But be thou sober in all things, suffer hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil thy ministry.
Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the {Or, pit}dungeon of Malchijah {Or, the son of Hammelech}the king's son, that was in the court of the guard: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.
And when the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the multitude and laid hands on him,
crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man that teacheth all men everywhere against the people, and the law, and this place; and moreover he brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath defiled this holy place.
For they had before seen with him in the city Trophimus the Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.
And all the city was moved, and the people ran together; and they laid hold on Paul, and dragged him out of the temple: and straightway the doors were shut.
And as they were seeking to kill him, tidings came up to the {Or, military tribune Greek: chiliarch.}chief captain of the {Or, cohort}band, that all Jerusalem was in confusion.
And forthwith he took soldiers and centurions, and ran down upon them: and they, when they saw the {Or, military tribune Greek: chiliarch.}chief captain and the soldiers, left off beating Paul.
Then the {Or, military tribune Greek: chiliarch.}chief captain came near, and laid hold on him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and inquired who he was, and what he had done.
And some shouted one thing, some another, among the crowd: and when he could not know the certainty for the uproar, he commanded him to be brought into the castle.
And when he came upon the stairs, so it was that he was borne of the soldiers for the violence of the crowd;
Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit to them: for they watch in behalf of your souls, as they that shall give account; that they may do this with joy, and not with {Greek: groaning.}grief: for this were unprofitable for you.
For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife.
And as they cried out, and threw off their garments, and cast dust into the air,
and he sent and beheaded John in the prison.
And when there arose a great dissension, the {Or, military tribune Greek: chiliarch}chief captain, fearing lest Paul should be torn in pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them, and bring him into the castle.
and laid hands on the apostles, and put them in public ward.
And when he had taken him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to guard him; intending after the Passover to bring him forth to the people.
Peter therefore was kept in the prison: but prayer was made earnestly of the church unto God for him.
who, having received such a charge, cast them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
the {Or, military tribune Greek: chiliarch.}chief captain commanded him be brought into the castle, bidding that he should be examined by scourging, that he might know for what cause they so shouted against him.
I will hear thee fully, said he, when thine accusers also are come: and he commanded him to be kept in Herod's {Greek: Prætorium.}palace.
But when two years were fulfilled, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus; and desiring to gain favor with the Jews, Felix left Paul in bonds.
And this I also did in Jerusalem: and I both shut up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death I gave my vote against them.
And Paul said, I would to God, that whether with little or with much, not thou only, but also all that hear me this day, might become such as I am, except these bonds.
And when we entered into Rome, {Some ancient authorities insert the centurion delivered the prisoners to the Chief of the camp: but &c.}Paul was suffered to abide by himself with the soldier that guarded him.
And it came to pass, that after three days he called together {Or, those that were of the Jews first}those that were the chief of the Jews: and when they were come together, he said unto them, I, brethren, though I had done nothing against the people, or the customs of our fathers, yet was delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans:
And he abode two whole years in his own hired dwelling, and received all that went in unto him,
For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus in behalf of you Gentiles,—
so that my bonds became manifest in Christ {Greek: in the whole Prætorium.}throughout the whole praetorian guard, and to all the rest;
Be not ashamed therefore of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but suffer hardship with the {Greek: good tidings; and so elsewhere. See marginal note on Matthew 4:23.}gospel according to the power of God;
wherein I suffer hardship unto bonds, as a malefactor; but the word of God is not bound.
and others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
Know ye that our brother Timothy hath been set at liberty; with whom, if he come shortly, I will see you.
Fear not the things which thou art about to suffer: behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; {Some ancient authorities read and may have.}and ye shall have {Greek: a tribulation of ten days.}tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life.