| 1 Συνεργοῦντες δὲ καὶ παρακαλοῦμεν μὴ εἰς κενὸν τὴν χάριν τοῦ θεοῦ δέξασθαι ὑμᾶς 2 λέγει γάρ, καιρῷ δεκτῷ ἐπήκουσά σου καὶ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ σωτηρίας ἐβοήθησά σοι: ἰδοὺ νῦν καιρὸς εὐπρόσδεκτος, ἰδοὺ νῦν ἡμέρα σωτηρίας 3 μηδεμίαν ἐν μηδενὶ διδόντες προσκοπήν, ἵνα μὴ μωμηθῇ ἡ διακονία, 4 ἀλλ' ἐν παντὶ συνίσταντες ἑαυτοὺς ὡς θεοῦ διάκονοι, ἐν ὑπομονῇ πολλῇ, ἐν θλίψεσιν, ἐν ἀνάγκαις, ἐν στενοχωρίαις, 5 ἐν πληγαῖς, ἐν φυλακαῖς, ἐν ἀκαταστασίαις, ἐν κόποις, ἐν ἀγρυπνίαις, ἐν νηστείαις, 6 ἐν ἁγνότητι, ἐν γνώσει, ἐν μακροθυμίᾳ, ἐν χρηστότητι, ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ, ἐν ἀγάπῃ ἀνυποκρίτῳ, 7 ἐν λόγῳ ἀληθείας, ἐν δυνάμει θεοῦ: διὰ τῶν ὅπλων τῆς δικαιοσύνης τῶν δεξιῶν καὶ ἀριστερῶν, 8 διὰ δόξης καὶ ἀτιμίας, διὰ δυσφημίας καὶ εὐφημίας: ὡς πλάνοι καὶ ἀληθεῖς, 9 ὡς ἀγνοούμενοι καὶ ἐπιγινωσκόμενοι, ὡς ἀποθνῄσκοντες καὶ ἰδοὺ ζῶμεν, ὡς παιδευόμενοι καὶ μὴ θανατούμενοι, 10 ὡς λυπούμενοι ἀεὶ δὲ χαίροντες, ὡς πτωχοὶ πολλοὺς δὲ πλουτίζοντες, ὡς μηδὲν ἔχοντες καὶ πάντα κατέχοντες. |
1 And now, to further that work, we entreat you not to offer God’s grace an inef-fectual welcome. 2 (I have answered thy prayer, he says, in a time of pardon, I have brought thee help in a day of salvation. And here is the time of pardon; the day of salvation has come already.)[1] 3 We are careful not to give offence to anybody, lest we should bring discredit on our ministry; 4 as God’s ministers, we must do everything to make ourselves acceptable. We have to shew great patience, in times of affliction, of need, of difficulty; 5 under the lash, in prison, in the midst of tumult; when we are tired out, sleepless, and fasting. 6 We have to be pure-minded, enlightened, forgiving and gracious to others; we have to rely on the Holy Spirit, on unaffected love, 7 on the truth of our message, on the power of God. To right and to left we must be armed with innocence; 8 now honoured, now slighted, now traduced, now flattered. They call us deceivers, and we tell the truth; unknown, and we are fully acknowledged;[2] 9 dying men, and see, we live; punished, yes, but not doomed to die; 10 sad men, that rejoice continually; beggars, that bring riches to many; disinherited, and the world is ours. |
1 Adjuvantes autem exhortamur ne in vacuum gratiam Dei recipiatis. 2 Ait enim: Tempore accepto exaudivi te, et in die salutis adjuvi te. Ecce nunc tempus acceptabile, ecce nunc dies salutis. 3 Nemini dantes ullam offensionem, ut non vituperetur ministerium nostrum: 4 sed in omnibus exhibeamus nosmetipsos sicut Dei ministros in multa patientia, in tribulationibus, in necessitatibus, in angustiis, 5 in plagis, in carceribus, in seditionibus, in laboribus, in vigiliis, in jejuniis, 6 in castitate, in scientia, in longanimitate, in suavitate, in Spiritu Sancto, in caritate non ficta, 7 in verbo veritatis, in virtute Dei, per arma justitiæ a dextris et a sinistris, 8 per gloriam, et ignobilitatem, per infamiam, et bonam famam: ut seductores, et veraces, sicut qui ignoti, et cogniti: 9 quasi morientes, et ecce vivimus: ut castigati, et non mortificati: 10 quasi tristes, semper autem gaudentes: sicut egentes, multos autem locupletantes: tamquam nihil habentes, et omnia possidentes. |