We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you,
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.
Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.”
for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such people.
be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer.
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior;
And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.
And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.
For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.
In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.
And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house.
As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.
This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you—
It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.
For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.
Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death.
Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.
“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.
“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.
“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. “‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.
“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.
“And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.
“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.
I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary.
Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.
I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.
As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear.
Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers,
For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.
I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you.
Unless otherwise indicated, all content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Contact me: openbibleinfo (at) gmail.com.