But keep away from youthful passions, and pursue righteousness, faithfulness, love, and peace, in company with others ¹  who call on the Lord from a pure heart. ² 

I ¹  have had great joy and encouragement because ²  of your love, for the hearts ³  of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother.

and congregation of the firstborn, who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous, who have been made perfect,

Yet do it with courtesy and respect, ¹  keeping a good conscience, so that those who slander your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame when they accuse you. ² 

Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another ¹  as good stewards of the varied grace of God.

If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory, ¹  who is the Spirit of God, ²  rests ³  on you.

For this very reason, ¹  make every effort ²  to add to your faith excellence, ³  to excellence, knowledge;

But whoever has the world’s possessions ¹  and sees his fellow Christian ²  in need and shuts off his compassion against him, how can the love of God ³  reside ⁴  in such a person? ⁵ 

But you have a few individuals ¹  in Sardis who have not stained ²  their clothes, and they will walk with me dressed ³  in white, because they are worthy.

The ¹  proposal pleased the entire group, so ²  they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, with ³  Philip, ⁴  Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a Gentile convert to Judaism ⁵  from Antioch. ⁶ 

But when ¹  some were stubborn ²  and refused to believe, reviling ³  the Way ⁴  before the congregation, he left ⁵  them and took the disciples with him, ⁶  addressing ⁷  them every day ⁸  in the lecture hall ⁹  of Tyrannus.

They have been informed about you – that you teach all the Jews now living ¹  among the Gentiles to abandon ²  Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children ³  or live ⁴  according to our customs.

The brothers from there, ¹  when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius ²  and Three Taverns ³  to meet us. When he saw them, ⁴  Paul thanked God and took courage.

You, however, are not in ¹  the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him.

Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, ¹  groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, ²  the redemption of our bodies. ³ 

For if your brother or sister ¹  is distressed because of what you eat, ²  you are no longer walking in love. ³  Do not destroy by your food someone for whom Christ died.

so that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and provide her with whatever help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many, including me.

The unbeliever ¹  does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

For if someone weak sees you who possess knowledge dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience be “strengthened” ¹  to eat food offered to idols?

Or is he not surely speaking for our benefit? It was written for us, because the one plowing and threshing ought to work in hope of enjoying the harvest.