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¹ As God's fellow-workers we also urge you not to receive his grace and then do nothing with it. ² For he says,

³ We try not to put obstacles in anyone's path, so that no one can find fault with the work we do. ⁴ On the contrary, we try to commend ourselves in every way as workers for God by continually enduring troubles, hardships, calamities, ⁵ beatings, imprisonments, riots, overwork, lack of sleep and food. ⁶ We commend ourselves by our purity, knowledge, patience and kindness; by the Ruach HaKodesh; by genuineness of love ⁷ and truthfulness of speech; and by God's power. We commend ourselves through our use of righteous weapons, whether for pressing our cause or defending it; ⁸ through being honored and dishonored, praised and blamed, considered deceptive and sincere, ⁹ unknown and famous. And we commend ourselves as God's workers headed for death, yet look! we're alive! as punished, yet not killed; ¹⁰ as having reason to be sad, yet always filled with joy; as poor, yet making many people rich; as having nothing, yet having everything!

¹¹ Dear friends in Corinth! We have spoken frankly to you, we have opened our hearts wide. ¹² Any constraint you feel has not been imposed by us, but by your own inner selves. ¹³ So, just to be "fair" (I am using the language of children), open wide your hearts too.

¹⁴ Do not yoke yourselves together in a team with unbelievers. For how can righteousness and lawlessness be partners? What fellowship does light have with darkness? ¹⁵ What harmony can there be between the Messiah and B'liya‘al? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? ¹⁶ What agreement can there be between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God — as God said,

¹⁷ Therefore Adonai says,

says Adonai-Tzva'ot."^[e]