- Do not let kindness and fidelity leave you;
fasten them around your neck
and inscribe them on the tablet of your heart.
Then you will gain favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man. - Now in regard to the eating of meat sacrificed to idols, we know that idols are nothing in the world and that there is only one God.
- Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that weighs us down and the sins that so easily distract us and with perseverance run the race that lies ahead of us.
- They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and offered worship and service to the creature rather than to the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural practices. Likewise, men gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameful acts with men and received in their own persons the fitting penalty for their perversion. Furthermore, since these people did not see fit to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their depraved way of thinking and to all types of vile behavior.
- “But you,” he said to them, “who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
- I will put my Spirit in you and make you follow my statutes and my ordinances.
- Fix your thoughts on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth.
- Stand firm, then, with the belt of truth fastened around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness clothing you, and with your feet shod in zeal to proclaim the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, hold in your hand the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
- Wait quietly for the Lord
and be patient until he comes.
Do not fret over the man who prospers
because of his evil schemes. - Those who live according to the flesh fix their attention on the things of the flesh, while those who live according to the Spirit set their thoughts on spiritual things.
- Exhort slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give them satisfaction in every respect. They are not to talk back to them, nor are they to steal from them. Rather, they should show themselves to be completely trustworthy so that in every way they may add luster to the doctrine of God our Savior.
- Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
- But I will sing of your strength;
when morning dawns, I will proclaim your kindness.
For you have been my fortress,
my refuge in times of trouble. - And not only that, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we realize that suffering develops perseverance, and perseverance produces character, and character produces hope.
- When things are going well, be grateful for your blessings,
and in times of adversity consider this:
God has made both of them,
so that we cannot predict with confidence
what the future holds. - Why do you take note of the splinter in your brother’s eye but do not notice the wooden plank in your own eye?
- Now let the fear of the Lord be upon you. Be careful in your judgments, for the Lord, our God, will not tolerate the perversion of justice, or partiality, or the taking of bribes.
- For you did not receive a spirit of slavery leading to fear; rather, you received the Spirit of adoption, enabling us to cry out, “Abba! Father!”
- A highway will be there
that will be called the Way of Holiness.
No one who is unclean may pass over it;
it will serve as a path for pilgrims
and no fool will be able to use it. - Whatever moves and has life will be used for your food. I give you all these things, just as I have already given you every green plant. Only do not eat flesh along with its life, that is, with its blood.
- The birth of Jesus Christ occurred in this way. When his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came to live together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
- What then should we say? That the Law is sinful? Absolutely not! Yet if it had not been for the Law, I would not have known what sin was. I would not have known what covet is if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
- Thus you could understand that the Lord, your God, was disciplining you, just like a father disciplines his son.
- Come to your senses and sin no more. For some of you have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
- Rather, revere Christ as Lord in your hearts.
Always be prepared to offer an explanation to anyone who asks you to justify the hope that is in you. However, do so with gentleness and respect.
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