24 Friends come and friends go,

but a true friend sticks by you like family.

17 Friends love through all kinds of weather,

and families stick together in all kinds of trouble.

9 Just as lotions and fragrance give sensual delight,

a sweet friendship refreshes the soul.

17 You use steel to sharpen steel,

and one friend sharpens another.

5 A spoken reprimand is better

than approval that’s never expressed.

6 The wounds from a lover are worth it;

kisses from an enemy do you in.

10 Don’t leave your friends or your parents’ friends

and run home to your family when things get rough;

Better a nearby friend

than a distant family.

20 Become wise by walking with the wise;

hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces.

24,25 Don’t hang out with angry people;

don’t keep company with hotheads.

Bad temper is contagious—

don’t get infected.

6 Lots of people claim to be loyal and loving,

but where on earth can you find one?

4 Wealth attracts friends as honey draws flies,

but poor people are avoided like a plague.

11-15 "I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I’m no longer calling you servants because servants don’t understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I’ve named you friends because I’ve let you in on everything I’ve heard from the Father.

11-15 "I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I’m no longer calling you servants because servants don’t understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I’ve named you friends because I’ve let you in on everything I’ve heard from the Father.

11,12 My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!

16,17 This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.

18-20 My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality. It’s also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.

21-24 Wasn’t our ancestor Abraham "made right with God by works" when he placed his son Isaac on the sacrificial altar? Isn’t it obvious that faith and works are yoked partners, that faith expresses itself in works? That the works are "works of faith"? The full meaning of "believe" in the Scripture sentence, "Abraham believed God and was set right with God," includes his action. It’s that weave of believing and acting that got Abraham named "God’s friend." Is it not evident that a person is made right with God not by a barren faith but by faith fruitful in works?

9,10 Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

9,10 It’s better to have a partner than go it alone.

Share the work, share the wealth.

And if one falls down, the other helps,

But if there’s no one to help, tough!

1-3 How wonderful, how beautiful,

when brothers and sisters get along!

It’s like costly anointing oil

flowing down head and beard,

Flowing down Aaron’s beard,

flowing down the collar of his priestly robes.

It’s like the dew on Mount Hermon

flowing down the slopes of Zion.

Yes, that’s where God commands the blessing,

ordains eternal life.

57-64 Because you have satisfied me, God, I promise

to do everything you say.

I beg you from the bottom of my heart: smile,

be gracious to me just as you promised.

When I took a long, careful look at your ways,

I got my feet back on the trail you blazed.

I was up at once, didn’t drag my feet,

was quick to follow your orders.

The wicked hemmed me in—there was no way out—

but not for a minute did I forget your plan for me.

I get up in the middle of the night to thank you;

your decisions are so right, so true—I can’t wait till morning!

I’m a friend and companion of all who fear you,

of those committed to living by your rules.

Your love, God, fills the earth!

Train me to live by your counsel.

* * *

3,4 Jonathan, out of his deep love for David, made a covenant with him. He formalized it with solemn gifts: his own royal robe and weapons—armor, sword, bow, and belt.

30-33 And why do you think I keep risking my neck in this dangerous work? I look death in the face practically every day I live. Do you think I’d do this if I wasn’t convinced of your resurrection and mine as guaranteed by the resurrected Messiah Jesus? Do you think I was just trying to act heroic when I fought the wild beasts at Ephesus, hoping it wouldn’t be the end of me? Not on your life! It’s resurrection, resurrection, always resurrection, that undergirds what I do and say, the way I live. If there’s no resurrection, "We eat, we drink, the next day we die," and that’s all there is to it. But don’t fool yourselves. Don’t let yourselves be poisoned by this anti-resurrection loose talk. "Bad company ruins good manners."