Holiness & Consecration

¹³Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ¹⁴As obedient children, do not conform to the passions of your former ignorance. ¹⁵But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, ¹⁶for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” ¹⁷Since you call on a Father who judges each one’s work impartially, conduct yourselves in reverent fear during your stay as foreigners. ¹⁸For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers, ¹⁹but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot. ²⁰He was known before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in the last times for your sake. ²¹Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him; and so your faith and hope are in God. ²²Since you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth so that you have a genuine love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart. ²³For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. ²⁴For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, ²⁵but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was proclaimed to you.

¹Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. ²Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

¹Therefore, beloved, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that defiles body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us. ²Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ¹⁰Our fathers disciplined us for a short time as they thought best, but God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share in His holiness. ¹¹No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who have been trained by it. ¹²Therefore strengthen your limp hands and weak knees. ¹³Make straight paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. ¹⁴Pursue peace with everyone, as well as holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.

¹Finally, brothers, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus to live in a way that is pleasing to God, just as you have received from us. This is how you already live, so you should do so all the more. ²For you know the instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. ³For it is God’s will that you should be holy: You must abstain from sexual immorality; ⁴each of you must know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, ⁵not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God; ⁶and no one should ever violate or exploit his brother in this regard, because the Lord will avenge all such acts, as we have already told you and solemnly warned you. ⁷For God has not called us to impurity, but to holiness. ⁸Anyone, then, who rejects this command does not reject man but God, the very One who gives you His Holy Spirit.

¹¹For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to everyone. ¹²It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age, ¹³as we await the blessed hope and glorious appearance of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. ¹⁴He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

¹⁶So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want. ¹⁸But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. ¹⁹The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; ²⁰idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions, ²¹and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit.

¹Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. ³For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. ⁵Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry. ⁶Because of these, the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience. ⁷When you lived among them, you also used to walk in these ways. ⁸But now you must put aside all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. ⁹Do not lie to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices, ¹⁰and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. ¹¹Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all. ¹²Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. ¹³Bear with one another and forgive any complaint you may have against someone else. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴And over all these virtues put on love, which is the bond of perfect unity. ¹⁵Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, for to this you were called as members of one body. And be thankful. ¹⁶Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. ¹⁷And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

⁴⁴For I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am holy. You must not defile yourselves by any creature that crawls along the ground. ⁴⁵For I am the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt so that I would be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.

⁷Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am the LORD your God. ⁸And you shall keep My statutes and practice them. I am the LORD who sanctifies you. ²⁶You 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.

¹What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase? ²Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer? ³Or aren’t you aware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ⁴We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life. ⁵For if we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection. ⁶We know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. ⁷For anyone who has died has been freed from sin. ⁸Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. ⁹For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. ¹⁰The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God. ¹¹So you too must count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹²Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires. ¹³Do not present the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and present the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. ¹⁴For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. ¹⁵What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? Certainly not! ¹⁶Do you not know that when you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness? ¹⁷But thanks be to God that, though you once were slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were committed. ¹⁸You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. ¹⁹I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to escalating wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. ²⁰For when you were slaves to sin, you were free of obligation to righteousness. ²¹What fruit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The outcome of those things is death. ²²But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the fruit you reap leads to holiness, and the outcome is eternal life. ²³For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹⁷So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. ¹⁸They are darkened in their understanding and alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts. ¹⁹Having lost all sense of shame, they have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity, with a craving for more. ²⁰But this is not the way you came to know Christ. ²¹Surely you heard of Him and were taught in Him—in keeping with the truth that is in Jesus— ²²to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³to be renewed in the spirit of your minds; ²⁴and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. ²⁵Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one another. ²⁶“Be angry, yet do not sin.” Do not let the sun set upon your anger, ²⁷and do not give the devil a foothold. ²⁸He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing good with his own hands, that he may have something to share with the one in need. ²⁹Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen. ³⁰And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice. ³²Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.

³Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain, “This is what you are to tell the house of Jacob and explain to the sons of Israel: ⁴‘You have seen for yourselves what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. ⁵Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine. ⁶And unto Me you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to speak to the Israelites.”

¹And God spoke all these words: ²“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ³You shall have no other gods before Me. ⁴You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath. ⁵You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, ⁶but showing loving devotion to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments. ⁷You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave anyone unpunished who takes His name in vain. ⁸Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ⁹Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant or livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates. ¹¹For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but on the seventh day He rested. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy. ¹²Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. ¹³You shall not murder. ¹⁴You shall not commit adultery. ¹⁵You shall not steal. ¹⁶You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. ¹⁷You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

¹Then the LORD said to Moses, ²“Speak to the whole congregation of Israel and tell them: Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy. ³Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must keep My Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God. ⁴Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods. I am the LORD your God. ⁹When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. ¹⁰You must not strip your vineyard bare or gather its fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the LORD your God. ¹¹You must not steal. You must not lie or deceive one another. ¹²You must not swear falsely by My name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD. ¹³You must not defraud your neighbor or rob him. You must not withhold until morning the wages due a hired hand. ¹⁴You must not curse the deaf or place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God. I am the LORD. ¹⁵You must not pervert justice; you must not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the rich; you are to judge your neighbor fairly. ¹⁶You must not go about spreading slander among your people. You must not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am the LORD. ¹⁷You must not harbor hatred against your brother in your heart. Directly rebuke your neighbor, so that you will not incur guilt on account of him. ¹⁸Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

¹And the LORD said to Moses, ²“Speak to the Israelites and tell them that if a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD, ³he is to abstain from wine and strong drink. He must not drink vinegar made from wine or strong drink, and he must not drink any grape juice or eat fresh grapes or raisins. ⁴All the days of his separation, he is not to eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins. ⁵For the entire period of his vow of separation, no razor shall touch his head. He must be holy until the time of his separation to the LORD is complete; he must let the hair of his head grow long. ⁶Throughout the days of his separation to the LORD, he must not go near a dead body. ⁷Even if his father or mother or brother or sister should die, he is not to defile himself, because the symbol of consecration to his God is upon his head. ⁸Throughout the time of his separation, he is holy to the LORD.

⁴Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One. ⁵And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts. ⁷And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸Tie them as reminders on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.

⁶For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of the earth.

¹²And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, ¹³and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD that I am giving you this day for your own good?

⁵Then Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.”

¹⁴Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; cast aside the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. ¹⁵But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!” ¹⁶The people replied, “Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods! ¹⁷For the LORD our God brought us and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and performed these great signs before our eyes. He also protected us throughout our journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. ¹⁸And the LORD drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites who lived in the land. We too will serve the LORD, because He is our God!” ¹⁹But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD, for He is a holy God; He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your rebellion or your sins. ²⁰If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, He will turn and bring disaster on you and consume you, even after He has been good to you.” ²¹“No!” replied the people. “We will serve the LORD!” ²²Then Joshua told them, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the LORD.” “We are witnesses!” they said. ²³“Now, therefore,” he said, “get rid of the foreign gods among you and incline your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.” ²⁴So the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the LORD our God and obey His voice.”

²²But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams. ²³For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you as king.”

¹⁴and if My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.

¹⁰For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, to practice it, and to teach its statutes and ordinances in Israel.

¹On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth, with dust on their heads. ²Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all the foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. ³While they stood in their places, they read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day, and they spent another quarter of the day in confession and worship of the LORD their God.

¹A Psalm of David. O LORD, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy mountain? ²He who walks with integrity and practices righteousness, who speaks the truth from his heart, ³who has no slander on his tongue, who does no harm to his neighbor, who casts no scorn on his friend, ⁴who despises the vile but honors those who fear the LORD, who does not revise a costly oath, ⁵who lends his money without interest and refuses a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.

³Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in His holy place? ⁴He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear deceitfully. ⁵He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from the God of his salvation. ⁶Such is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face, O God of Jacob. Selah

¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. ¹¹Cast me not away from Your presence; take not Your Holy Spirit from me. ¹²Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit. ¹³Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will return to You. ¹⁴Deliver me from bloodguilt, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness. ¹⁵O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise. ¹⁶For You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You take no pleasure in burnt offerings. ¹⁷The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

¹A Psalm of David. I will sing of Your loving devotion and justice; to You, O LORD, I will sing praises. ²I will ponder the way that is blameless—when will You come to me? I will walk in my house with integrity of heart. ³I will set no worthless thing before my eyes. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me. ⁴A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will know nothing of evil. ⁵Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, I will put to silence; the one with haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not endure. ⁶My eyes favor the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in the way of integrity shall minister to me. ⁷No one who practices deceit shall dwell in my house; no one who tells lies shall stand in my presence. ⁸Every morning I will remove all the wicked of the land, that I may cut off every evildoer from the city of the LORD.

⁹How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to Your word. ¹⁰With all my heart I have sought You; do not let me stray from Your commandments. ¹¹I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.

²³Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. ²⁴See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the way everlasting.

²³Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life. ²⁴Put away deception from your mouth; keep your lips from perverse speech. ²⁵Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead. ²⁶Make a level path for your feet, and all your ways will be sure. ²⁷Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your feet away from evil.

²All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart. ³To do righteousness and justice is more desirable to the LORD than sacrifice.

¹³He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.

¹⁶Wash and cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil! ¹⁷Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.” ¹⁸“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.

¹In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted; and the train of His robe filled the temple. ²Above Him stood seraphim, each having six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. ³And they were calling out to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory.” ⁴At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke. ⁵Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.” ⁶Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷And with it he touched my mouth and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for.” ⁸Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: “Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?” And I said: “Here am I. Send me!”

⁸And there will be a highway called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel it—only those who walk in the Way—and fools will not stray onto it.

¹¹Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing; come out from it, purify yourselves, you who carry the vessels of the LORD.

¹⁵For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.

¹This is what the LORD says: “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me? Or where will My place of repose be? ²Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the LORD. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word.

³For this is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: “Break up your unplowed ground, and do not sow among the thorns. ⁴Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and remove the foreskins of your hearts, O men of Judah and people of Jerusalem. Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to extinguish it, because of your evil deeds.”

³¹Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. ³²It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant they broke, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. ³³“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people. ³⁴No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”

¹⁹And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh, ²⁰so that they may follow My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God.

³⁰Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, so that your iniquity will not become your downfall. ³¹Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions you have committed, and fashion for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel? ³²For I take no pleasure in anyone’s death, declares the Lord GOD. So repent and live!

²⁵I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. ²⁶I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.

⁸But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or wine. So he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself.

¹⁶Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. ¹⁷If the God whom we serve exists, then He is able to deliver us from the blazing fiery furnace and from your hand, O king. ¹⁸But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden statue you have set up.” ²⁸Nebuchadnezzar declared, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him. They violated the king’s command and risked their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.

¹²Sow for yourselves righteousness and reap the fruit of loving devotion; break up your unplowed ground. For it is time to seek the LORD until He comes and sends righteousness upon you like rain.

⁸He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

¹Then the angel showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, with Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. ²And the LORD said to Satan: “The LORD rebukes you, Satan! Indeed, the LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you! Is not this man a firebrand snatched from the fire?” ³Now Joshua was dressed in filthy garments as he stood before the angel. ⁴So the angel said to those standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes!” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have removed your iniquity, and I will clothe you with splendid robes.” ⁵Then I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So a clean turban was placed on his head, and they clothed him, as the angel of the LORD stood by. ⁶Then the angel of the LORD gave this charge to Joshua: ⁷“This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘If you walk in My ways and keep My instructions, then you will govern My house and will also have charge of My courts; and I will give you a place among these who are standing here.

²But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap. ³And He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will present offerings to the LORD in righteousness. ⁴Then the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will please the LORD, as in days of old and years gone by.

³“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ⁴Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. ⁵Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. ⁶Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. ⁷Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. ⁸Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. ⁹Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. ¹⁰Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ¹¹Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. ¹²Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you. ²⁷You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ ²⁸But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. ³⁰And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to depart into hell. ⁴³You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘Hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even Gentiles do the same? ⁴⁸Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

¹“Be careful not to perform your righteous acts before men to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. ²So when you give to the needy, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward. ³But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ⁵And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward. ⁶But when you pray, go into your inner room, shut your door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ⁷And when you pray, do not babble on like pagans, for they think that by their many words they will be heard. ⁸Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. ⁹So then, this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. ¹⁰Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. ¹¹Give us this day our daily bread. ¹²And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ¹³And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ ¹⁴For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yours. ¹⁶When you fast, do not be somber like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward. ¹⁷But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, ¹⁸so that your fasting will not be obvious to men, but only to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ²⁴No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

¹³Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it. ¹⁵Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶By their fruit you will recognize them. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. ¹⁹Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰So then, by their fruit you will recognize them. ²¹Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²²Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ ²³Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’ ²⁴Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because its foundation was on the rock. ²⁶But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its collapse!”

²⁴Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. ²⁵For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. ²⁶What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

³⁷Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

²⁰He continued: “What comes out of a man, that is what defiles him. ²¹For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, ²²greed, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness. ²³All these evils come from within, and these are what defile a man.”

³⁴Then Jesus called the crowd to Him along with His disciples, and He told them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. ³⁵For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and for the gospel will save it. ³⁶What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? ³⁷Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? ³⁸If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in His Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

¹⁵If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. ²¹Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.” ²³Jesus replied, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. ²⁴Whoever does not love Me does not keep My words. The word that you hear is not My own, but it is from the Father who sent Me.

¹“I am the true vine, and My Father is the keeper of the vineyard. ²He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it even more fruitful. ³You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. ⁵I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing. ⁶If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, proving yourselves to be My disciples. ⁹As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Remain in My love. ¹⁰If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. ¹¹I have told you these things so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

¹⁵I am not asking that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. ¹⁶They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁷Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth. ¹⁸As You sent Me into the world, I have also sent them into the world. ¹⁹For them I sanctify Myself, so that they too may be sanctified by the truth.

³⁷When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” ³⁸Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹This promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far off—to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself.” ⁴⁰With many other words he testified, and he urged them, “Be saved from this corrupt generation.” ⁴¹Those who embraced his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to the believers that day. ⁴²They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

³⁰Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all people everywhere to repent. ³¹For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”

¹⁶In this hope, I strive always to maintain a clear conscience before God and man.

⁵Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. ⁶The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace, ⁷because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. ⁸Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God. ⁹You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. ¹⁰But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. ¹¹And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you. ¹²Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation, but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. ¹³For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

⁹Love must be sincere. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Outdo yourselves in honoring one another. ¹¹Do not let your zeal subside; keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹²Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, persistent in prayer. ¹³Share with the saints who are in need. Practice hospitality. ¹⁴Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse. ¹⁵Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. ¹⁶Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but associate with the lowly. Do not be conceited. ¹⁷Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Carefully consider what is right in the eyes of everybody. ¹⁸If it is possible on your part, live at peace with everyone. ¹⁹Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.” ²⁰On the contrary, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head.” ²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

¹¹And do this, understanding the occasion. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. ¹²The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. ¹³Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. ¹⁴Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.

¹⁶Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? ¹⁷If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

⁶Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven works through the whole batch of dough? ⁷Get rid of the old leaven, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. ⁸Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old bread, leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and of truth.

⁹Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts, ¹⁰nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. ¹²“Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be mastered by anything. ¹³“Food for the stomach and the stomach for food,” but God will destroy them both. The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴By His power God raised the Lord from the dead, and He will raise us also. ¹⁵Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! ¹⁶Or don’t you know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” ¹⁷But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with Him in spirit. ¹⁸Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. ¹⁹Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.

²⁴Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize. ²⁵Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable. ²⁶Therefore I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight like I am beating the air. ²⁷No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

¹I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud, and that they all passed through the sea. ²They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. ³They all ate the same spiritual food ⁴and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. ⁵Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the wilderness. ⁶These things took place as examples to keep us from craving evil things as they did. ⁷Do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” ⁸We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. ⁹We should not test Christ, as some of them did, and were killed by snakes. ¹⁰And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel. ¹¹Now these things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. ¹²So the one who thinks he is standing firm should be careful not to fall. ¹³No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide an escape, so that you can stand up under it. ³¹So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.

¹⁴Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? ¹⁵What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? ¹⁶What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.” ¹⁷“Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” ¹⁸And: “I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

²⁰I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

⁷Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return. ⁸The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. ⁹Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. ¹⁰Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to the family of faith. ¹⁴But as for me, may I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

⁴For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love

¹⁰For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.

¹Be imitators of God, therefore, as beloved children, ²and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God. ³But among you, as is proper among the saints, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed. ⁴Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or crude joking, which are out of character, but rather thanksgiving. ⁵For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person (that is, an idolater) has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. ⁶Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience. ⁷Therefore do not be partakers with them. ⁸For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, ⁹for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. ¹⁰Test and prove what pleases the Lord. ¹¹Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. ¹²For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. ¹³But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that is illuminated becomes a light itself. ¹⁴So it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” ¹⁵Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶redeeming the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. ¹⁸Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. ¹⁹Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord, ²⁰always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²¹Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

¹²Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. ¹³For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose. ¹⁴Do everything without complaining or arguing, ¹⁵so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world ¹⁶as you hold forth the word of life, in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.

¹²Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵All of us who are mature should embrace this point of view. And if you think differently about some issue, God will reveal this to you as well. ¹⁶Nevertheless, we must live up to what we have already attained.

⁸Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things. ⁹Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me, put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

²¹but test all things. Hold fast to what is good. ²²Abstain from every form of evil. ²³Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your entire spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.

⁷But reject irreverent, silly myths. Instead, train yourself for godliness. ⁸For physical exercise is of limited value, but godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for the present life and for the one to come. ¹²Let no one despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

¹¹But you, O man of God, flee from these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. ¹²Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession before many witnesses. ¹³I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who made the good confession in His testimony before Pontius Pilate: ¹⁴Keep this commandment without stain or reproach until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵which the blessed and only Sovereign One—the King of kings and Lord of lords—will bring about in His own time. ¹⁶He alone is immortal and dwells in unapproachable light. No one has ever seen Him, nor can anyone see Him. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.

¹⁹Nevertheless, God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord must turn away from iniquity.” ²⁰A large house contains not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. Some indeed are for honorable use, but others are for common use. ²¹So if anyone cleanses himself of what is unfit, he will be a vessel for honor: sanctified, useful to the Master, and prepared for every good work. ²²Flee from youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, together with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

¹⁴But as for you, continue in the things you have learned and firmly believed, since you know from whom you have learned them. ¹⁵From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.

³For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. ⁴But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, ⁵He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. ⁶This is the Spirit He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷so that, having been justified by His grace, we would become heirs with the hope of eternal life. ⁸This saying is trustworthy. And I want you to emphasize these things, so that those who have believed God will take care to devote themselves to good deeds. These things are excellent and profitable for the people.

¹⁰And by that will, we have been sanctified through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. ¹⁴because by a single offering He has made perfect for all time those who are being sanctified.

¹²And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate, to sanctify the people by His own blood. ¹³Therefore let us go to Him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace He bore. ¹⁴For here we do not have a permanent city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. ¹⁵Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name. ¹⁶And do not neglect to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

²¹Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and every expression of evil, and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save your souls. ²²Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves. ²³For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror, ²⁴and after observing himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—he will be blessed in what he does. ²⁶If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart and his religion is worthless. ²⁷Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

⁴You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God. ⁵Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy? ⁶But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” ⁷Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

⁹But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. ¹⁰Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. ¹¹Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul. ¹²Conduct yourselves with such honor among the Gentiles that, though they slander you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.

²¹For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His footsteps: ²²“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.” ²³When they heaped abuse on Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats, but entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly. ²⁴He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.”

⁸Finally, all of you, be like-minded and sympathetic, love as brothers, be tenderhearted and humble. ⁹Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. ¹⁰For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. ¹¹He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. ¹²For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” ¹³Who can harm you if you are zealous for what is good? ¹⁴But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be shaken.” ¹⁵But in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give a defense to everyone who asks you the reason for the hope that is in you. But respond with gentleness and respect, ¹⁶keeping a clear conscience, so that those who slander you may be put to shame by your good behavior in Christ.

³His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. ⁴Through these He has given us His precious and magnificent promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, now that you have escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. ⁵For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; ⁶and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; ⁷and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. ⁸For if you possess these qualities and continue to grow in them, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹But whoever lacks these traits is nearsighted to the point of blindness, having forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. ¹⁰Therefore, brothers, strive to make your calling and election sure. For if you practice these things you will never stumble, ¹¹and you will receive a lavish reception into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

¹¹Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to conduct yourselves in holiness and godliness ¹²as you anticipate and hasten the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt in the heat. ¹³But in keeping with God’s promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. ¹⁴Therefore, beloved, as you anticipate these things, make every effort to be found at peace—spotless and blameless in His sight.

⁵And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you: God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. ⁶If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. ⁷But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.

³By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments. ⁴If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵But if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him: ⁶Whoever claims to abide in Him must walk as Jesus walked. ¹⁵Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷The world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God remains forever. ²⁸And now, little children, remain in Christ, so that when He appears, we may be confident and unashamed before Him at His coming. ²⁹If you know that He is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him.

¹Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. ²Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. ³And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as Christ is pure. ⁴Everyone who practices sin practices lawlessness as well. Indeed, sin is lawlessness. ⁵But you know that Christ appeared to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin. ⁶No one who remains in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has seen Him or known Him. ⁷Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Christ is righteous. ⁸The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil. ⁹Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. ¹⁰By this the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

²By this we know that we love the children of God: when we love God and keep His commandments. ³For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome, ⁴because everyone born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith. ⁵Who then overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

²⁰But you, beloved, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹keep yourselves in the love of God as you await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you eternal life. ²²And indeed, have mercy on those who doubt; ²³save others by snatching them from the fire; and to still others show mercy tempered with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh.

¹⁴To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Originator of God’s creation. ¹⁵I know your deeds; you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were one or the other! ¹⁶So because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to vomit you out of My mouth! ¹⁷You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. ¹⁸I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness not exposed, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. ¹⁹Those I love I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent. ²⁰Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me. ²¹To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. ²²He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

⁷Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him the glory. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready. ⁸She was given clothing of fine linen, bright and pure.” For the fine linen she wears is the righteous acts of the saints.

¹¹Let the unrighteous continue to be unrighteous, and the vile continue to be vile; let the righteous continue to practice righteousness, and the holy continue to be holy.” ¹²“Behold, I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me, to give to each one according to what he has done. ¹³I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” ¹⁴Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by its gates.

¹²“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.” ¹³So rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to the LORD your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion. And He relents from sending disaster.

⁴I was overjoyed to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father has commanded us. ⁵And now I urge you, dear lady—not as a new commandment to you, but one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another. ⁶And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the very commandment you have heard from the beginning, that you must walk in love.

¹When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.

⁷and after some time his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph and said, “Sleep with me.” ⁸But he refused. “Look,” he said to his master’s wife, “with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in his house, and he has entrusted everything he owns to my care. ⁹No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?” ¹⁰Although Potiphar’s wife spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be near her. ¹¹One day, however, Joseph went into the house to attend to his work, and not a single household servant was inside. ¹²She grabbed Joseph by his cloak and said, “Sleep with me!” But leaving his cloak in her hand, he escaped and ran outside.

¹²Who can discern his own errors? Cleanse me from my hidden faults. ¹³Keep Your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless and cleansed of great transgression. ¹⁴May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

¹For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. When Nathan the prophet came to him after his adultery with Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your loving devotion; according to Your great compassion, blot out my transgressions. ²Wash me clean of my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. ³For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. ⁴Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You may be proved right when You speak and blameless when You judge. ⁵Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me. ⁶Surely You desire truth in the inmost being; You teach me wisdom in the inmost place. ⁷Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. ⁸Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice. ⁹Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities.

⁶Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. ⁷Let the wicked man forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.

⁷⁴deliverance from hostile hands, that we may serve Him without fear, ⁷⁵in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our lives.

²⁹For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.

¹⁸And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

²⁵Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her ²⁶to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.

²¹Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil deeds. ²²But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy, unblemished, and blameless in His presence— ²³if indeed you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope of the gospel you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

¹²And may the Lord cause you to increase and overflow with love for one another and for everyone else, just as our love for you overflows, ¹³so that He may establish your hearts in blamelessness and holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. Amen.

¹Therefore, since Christ suffered in His body, arm yourselves with the same resolve, because anyone who has suffered in his body is done with sin. ²Consequently, he does not live out his remaining time on earth for human passions, but for the will of God. ³For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.

⁷But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart.”

²All a man’s ways are pure in his own eyes, but his motives are weighed out by the LORD.