Who are you to judge the servants of someone else? It is their own Master who will decide whether they succeed or fail. And they will succeed, because the Lord is able to make them succeed.

"And now I commend you to the care of God and to the message of his grace, which is able to build you up and give you the blessings God has for all his people.

To him who by means of his power working in us is able to do so much more than we can ever ask for, or even think of:

to God be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever! Amen.

In this way he will strengthen you, and you will be perfect and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all who belong to him.

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and in his grace gave us unfailing courage and a firm hope,

encourage you and strengthen you to always do and say what is good.

But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and keep you safe from the Evil One.

And so he is able, now and always, to save those who come to God through him, because he lives forever to plead with God for them.

But after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who calls you to share his eternal glory in union with Christ, will himself perfect you and give you firmness, strength, and a sure foundation.

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to bring you faultless and joyful before his glorious presence---

to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, might, and authority, from all ages past, and now, and forever and ever! Amen.

And so, according to the Good News I preach, this is how it will be on that Day when God through Jesus Christ will judge the secret thoughts of all.

For if the gospel we preach is hidden, it is hidden only from those who are being lost.

I went because God revealed to me that I should go. In a private meeting with the leaders I explained the gospel message that I preach to the Gentiles. I did not want my work in the past or in the present to be a failure.

God called you to this through the Good News we preached to you; he called you to possess your share of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Remember Jesus Christ, who was raised from death, who was a descendant of David, as is taught in the Good News I preach.

He went straight to the synagogues and began to preach that Jesus was the Son of God.

As for us, we proclaim the crucified Christ, a message that is offensive to the Jews and nonsense to the Gentiles;

For while I was with you, I made up my mind to forget everything except Jesus Christ and especially his death on the cross.

For it is not ourselves that we preach; we preach Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.

The wisdom I proclaim is God's secret wisdom, which is hidden from human beings, but which he had already chosen for our glory even before the world was made.

God did what he had purposed, and made known to us the secret plan he had already decided to complete by means of Christ.

which is the secret he hid through all past ages from all human beings but has now revealed to his people.

God's plan is to make known his secret to his people, this rich and glorious secret which he has for all peoples. And the secret is that Christ is in you, which means that you will share in the glory of God.

I am going to use wise sayings and explain mysteries from the past,

He reveals things that are deep and secret; he knows what is hidden in darkness, and he himself is surrounded by light.

The Sovereign LORD never does anything without revealing his plan to his servants, the prophets.

I assure you that many prophets and many of God's people wanted very much to see what you see, but they could not, and to hear what you hear, but they did not.

He did this to make come true what the prophet had said, "I will use parables when I speak to them; I will tell them things unknown since the creation of the world."

Then Jesus turned to the disciples and said to them privately, "How fortunate you are to see the things you see!

I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, but they could not, and to hear what you hear, but they did not."

God revealed his secret plan and made it known to me. (I have written briefly about this,

In past times human beings were not told this secret, but God has revealed it now by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets.

It was concerning this salvation that the prophets made careful search and investigation, and they prophesied about this gift which God would give you.

God revealed to these prophets that their work was not for their own benefit, but for yours, as they spoke about those things which you have now heard from the messengers who announced the Good News by the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. These are things which even the angels would like to understand.