For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love. The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. But test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil. I will hasten and not delay
to obey your commands. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. I will never forget your precepts,
for by them you have preserved my life. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Humility is the fear of the Lord;
its wages are riches and honor and life. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, Lord, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth. A thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me. I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. Before the mountains were born
or you brought forth the whole world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God. It is written: ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will acknowledge God.’ The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. Observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go. Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. The integrity of the upright guides them,
but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. May he give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed. Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.