| Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. | Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God. |
| But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” | But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” |
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| Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. | Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. |
| How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. | How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word. |
| He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time. | For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. |
| Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. | Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. |
| In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. | You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. |
| Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. | Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life. |
| You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own. | You must be holy because I, the Lord, am holy. I have set you apart from all other people to be my very own. |
| But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. | Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. |
| Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. | And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. |
| There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. | No one is holy like the Lord! There is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. |
| But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. | But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. |
| For this is what the high and exalted One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.” | The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.” |
| Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. | But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. |
| Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? | Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? |
| I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. | And now I make one more appeal, my dear brothers and sisters. Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people’s faith by teaching things contrary to what you have been taught. Stay away from them. |
| And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord. | In this way, I will show my greatness and holiness, and I will make myself known to all the nations of the world. Then they will know that I am the Lord. |
| Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. | Do what is good and run from evil so that you may live! Then the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will be your helper, just as you have claimed. |
| Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. | Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. |
| And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it. | And a great road will go through that once deserted land. It will be named the Highway of Holiness. Evil-minded people will never travel on it. It will be only for those who walk in God’s ways; fools will never walk there. |
| It is a trap to dedicate something rashly and only later to consider one’s vows. | Don’t trap yourself by making a rash promise to God and only later counting the cost. |
| The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. | Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment. |
| I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes. | I will show how holy my great name is—the name on which you brought shame among the nations. And when I reveal my holiness through you before their very eyes, says the Sovereign Lord, then the nations will know that I am the Lord. |
| No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. | No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a bowl or hides it under a bed. A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house. |
