So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men,
Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.
We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you,
for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such people.
that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.
“Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward.
For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I am.
So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church.
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.
Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions—if he comes to you, welcome him),
(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one.
And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
They also honored us greatly, and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed.
So there was much joy in that city.
And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”
And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.”
And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
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.