The one who leads a blameless life and does what is right, who speaks the truth from the heart and does not slander anyone, who does not harm a friend and does not scorn a neighbor.
For I know full well the plans I have for you, plans for your welfare and not for your misfortune, plans that will offer you a future filled with hope.
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.
It is the will of God that you should lead a life of sanctity. You must refrain from sexual immorality. Each of you must learn to acquire a wife from pure and honorable motives, not to gratify passion like the Gentiles who do not know God.
For the Lord loves the just, and he will not forsake his faithful ones. Those who follow evil paths will be destroyed, and the children of the wicked will be cut off.
By these he has given us his precious promises, great beyond all price, so that through them you may escape from the corruption with which evil desires have infected the world and thereby may come to share in the divine nature.
Let the wicked abandon their ways and those who are evil their thoughts. Let them return to the Lord so that he may have mercy upon them; and to our God, for he is rich in forgiveness.
Love is patient; love is charitable. Love is not envious; it does not have an inflated opinion of itself; it is not filled with its own importance. Love is never rude; it does not seek its own advantage. It is not prone to anger; neither does it brood over setbacks.
If it seems wrong to you to serve the Lord, then today you must choose whom you will serve, whether it be the gods that your fathers served on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites who dwell in the land. As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.
Therefore, rid yourselves of everything sordid and of every wicked excess, and welcome in all humility the word that is implanted in you and is able to save your souls.
For the carved images of the nations are powerless; they are nothing more than wood cut from a forest, fashioned with a knife by craftsmen and embellished with silver and gold. Then they are fastened with hammers and nails to prevent them from toppling. Like scarecrows in a cucumber field they are unable to speak, and they must be carried from place to place since they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they can do no harm, nor do they have any power to do good.
Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may show yourselves blameless and beyond reproach, children of God without spot in the midst of an evil and depraved generation, among which you shine like lights in the world as you hold fast tenaciously to the word of life.
And God is able to enrich you with an abundance of every grace, so that, with all of your needs provided for, you may be able to produce a surplus of good works.