so that no one would be shaken by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.

And we urge you, brothers and sisters, ¹  admonish the undisciplined, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient toward all.

Now to the eternal king, ¹  immortal, invisible, the only ²  God, be honor and glory forever and ever! ³  Amen.

To do this ¹  you must hold firmly to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck in regard to the faith.

and constant bickering by people corrupted in their minds and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness ¹  is a way of making a profit.

and like a robe you will fold them up and like a garment ¹  they will be changed, but you are the same and your years will never run out.” ² 

For if the message spoken through angels ¹  proved to be so firm that every violation ²  or disobedience received its just penalty,

Without father, without mother, without genealogy, he has neither beginning of days nor end of life but is like the son of God, and he remains a priest for all time.

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, ¹  full of mercy and good fruit, ²  impartial, and not hypocritical. ³ 

He was foreknown ¹  before the foundation of the world but ²  was manifested in these last times ³  for your sake.

When he was maligned, he ¹  did not answer back; when he suffered, he threatened ²  no retaliation, ³  but committed himself to God ⁴  who judges justly.

If you know that he is righteous, you also know ¹  that everyone who practices righteousness has been fathered ²  by him.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” ¹  says the Lord God – the one who is, and who was, and who is still to come – the All-Powerful! ² 

Now ¹  I heard the angel of the waters saying: “You are just ²  – the one who is and who was, the Holy One – because you have passed these judgments, ³ 

“You are to put the Urim and the Thummim ¹  into the breastpiece of decision; and they are to be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the Lord. Aaron is to bear the decisions ²  of the Israelites over his heart before the Lord continually.

It is to belong to Aaron and to his sons from the Israelites, by a perpetual ordinance, for it is a contribution. It is to be a contribution from the Israelites from their peace offerings, their contribution to the Lord.

Pay careful attention to all these things I am commanding you so that it may always go well with you and your children after you when you do what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.

Then I will raise up for myself a faithful priest. He will do what is in my heart and soul. I will build for him a secure dynasty ¹  and he will serve my chosen one for all time. ² 

But the servant said to him, “Look, there is a man of God in this town. He is highly respected. Everything that he says really happens. ¹  Now let’s go there. Perhaps he will tell us where we should go from here.” ² 

and the Lord will fulfill his promise to me, ¹  ‘If your descendants watch their step ²  and live faithfully in my presence ³  with all their heart and being, ⁴  then,’ he promised, ⁵  ‘you will not fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’ ⁶