For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. | Because it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer on his behalf. |
But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! | If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you. |
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May God give you more and more mercy, peace, and love. | May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. |
So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and he heard our prayer. | So we fasted and begged our God for this, and he granted our request. |
By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. | Seeing that his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue. |
Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and become a slave. | The hands of the diligent ones shall rule, but laziness ends in slave labor. |
And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. | By which he has granted to us his precious and exceedingly great promises; that through these you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust. |
But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. | But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God’s children, to those who believe in his name. |
So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. | Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober, and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. |
Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. | For I say through the grace that was given me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think; but to think reasonably, as God has apportioned to each person a measure of faith. |