so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

So then, dear brothers and sisters, ¹  be firm. Do not be moved! Always be outstanding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

– though mine too are significant. ¹  If someone thinks he has good reasons to put confidence in human credentials, ²  I have more:

Make every effort to present yourself before God as a proven worker who does not need to be ashamed, teaching the message of truth accurately. ¹ 

Therefore, brothers and sisters, ¹  make every effort to be sure of your calling and election. ²  For by doing this ³  you will never ⁴  stumble into sin. ⁵ 

Bless, O Lord, his goods, and be pleased with his efforts; undercut the legs ¹  of any who attack him, and of those who hate him, so that they cannot stand.

Israel has been living in Heshbon and its nearby towns, in Aroer and its nearby towns, and in all the cities along the Arnon for three hundred years! Why did you not reclaim them during that time?

I did not restrain myself from getting whatever I wanted; ¹  I did not deny myself anything that would bring me pleasure. ²  So all my accomplishments gave me joy; ³  this was my reward for all my effort. ⁴ 

Yet when I reflected on everything I had accomplished ¹  and on all the effort that I had expended to accomplish it, ²  I concluded: ³  “All these ⁴  achievements and possessions ⁵  are ultimately ⁶  profitless ⁷  – like chasing the wind! There is nothing gained ⁸  from them ⁹  on earth.”

Who knows if he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet ¹  he will be master over all the fruit of ²  my labor ³  for which I worked so wisely ⁴  on earth! ⁵  This also is futile!

For this is what the master, the Lord, the Holy One of Israel says: “If you repented and patiently waited for me, you would be delivered; ¹  if you calmly trusted in me you would find strength, ²  but you are unwilling.

From that time ¹  when one came expecting a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten; when one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty measures from it, there were only twenty.

From this point on, Pilate tried ¹  to release him. But the Jewish leaders ²  shouted out, ³  “If you release this man, ⁴  you are no friend of Caesar! ⁵  Everyone who claims to be a king ⁶  opposes Caesar!”

For who concedes you any superiority? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as though you did not?

For though you may have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, because I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

But if while seeking to be justified in Christ we ourselves have also been found to be sinners, is Christ then one who encourages ¹  sin? Absolutely not!

For all who ¹  rely on doing the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not keep on doing everything written in the book of the law.” ² 

Is the law therefore opposed to the promises of God? ¹  Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that was able to give life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. ² 

because they hinder us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. Thus they constantly fill up their measure of sins, ¹  but wrath ²  has come upon them completely. ³ 

But when we were separated from you, brothers and sisters, ¹  for a short time (in presence, not in affection) ²  we became all the more fervent in our great desire ³  to see you in person. ⁴