By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death, and he was not to be found because God took him up. For before his removal he had been commended as having pleased God.

So in fact children ¹  were fathered by one man – and this one as good as dead – like the number of stars in the sky and like the innumerable grains of sand ²  on the seashore. ³ 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, ¹  we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us,

For the sun rises with its heat and dries up the meadow; the petal of the flower falls off and its beauty is lost forever. ¹  So also the rich person in the midst of his pursuits will wither away.

Adulterers, do you not know that friendship with the world means hostility toward God? ¹  So whoever decides to be the world’s friend makes himself God’s enemy.

So be patient, brothers and sisters, ¹  until the Lord’s return. ²  Think of how the farmer waits ³  for the precious fruit of the ground and is patient ⁴  for it until it receives the early and late rains.

And above all, my brothers and sisters, ¹  do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath. But let your “Yes” be yes and your “No” be no, so that you may not fall into judgment.

You ¹  have not seen him, but you love him. You ²  do not see him now but you believe in him, and so you rejoice ³  with an indescribable and glorious ⁴  joy,

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues ¹  of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

and maintain good conduct ¹  among the non-Christians, ²  so that though ³  they now malign you as wrongdoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God when he appears. ⁴ 

For what credit is it if you sin and are mistreated and endure it? But if you do good and suffer and so endure, this finds favor with God. ¹ 

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 

Now it was for this very purpose ¹  that the gospel was preached to those who are now dead, ²  so that though ³  they were judged in the flesh ⁴  by human standards ⁵  they may live spiritually ⁶  by God’s standards. ⁷ 

So as your fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings and as one who shares in the glory that will be revealed, I urge the elders among you:

What we have seen and heard we announce ¹  to you too, so that ²  you may have fellowship ³  with us (and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ).

(My little children, ¹  I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. ² ) But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate ³  with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous One, ⁴ 

Children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists ¹  have appeared. We know from this that it is the last hour.

By this ¹  the love of God ²  is revealed in us: ³  that God has sent his one and only ⁴  Son into the world so that we may live through him.

So also ¹  Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns, ²  since they indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire ³  in a way similar to ⁴  these angels, ⁵  are now displayed as an example by suffering the punishment of eternal fire.

So ¹  I looked, ²  and here came ³  a white horse! The ⁴  one who rode it ⁵  had a bow, and he was given a crown, ⁶  and as a conqueror ⁷  he rode out to conquer.