15 Instead, be holy in all that you do, just as God who called you is holy. 16 *The scripture says, "Be holy because I am holy."

15 Instead, be holy in all that you do, just as God who called you is holy. 16 *The scripture says, "Be holy because I am holy."

4 Even before the world was made, God had already chosen us to be his through our union with Christ, so that we would be holy and without fault before him.

Because of his love

3 God wants you to be holy and completely free from sexual immorality. 4 Each of you should know how to live with your wife* in a holy and honorable way, 5 not with a lustful desire, like the heathen who do not know God. 6 In this matter, then, none of you should do wrong to other Christians or take advantage of them. We have told you this before, and we strongly warned you that the Lord will punish those who do that. 7 God did not call us to live in immorality, but in holiness.

9 He saved us and called us to be his own people, not because of what we have done, but because of his own purpose and grace. He gave us this grace by means of Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,

3 But you are enthroned as the Holy One,

the one whom Israel praises.

2 "No one is holy like the Lord;

there is none like him,

no protector like our God.

15 "I am the high and holy God, who lives forever. I live in a high and holy place, but I also live with people who are humble and repentant, so that I can restore their confidence and hope.

23 In this way I will show all the nations that I am great and that I am holy. They will know then that I am the Lord."

23 When I demonstrate to the nations the holiness of my great name—the name you disgraced among them—then they will know that I am the Lord. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. I will use you to show the nations that I am holy.

14 Try to be at peace with everyone, and try to live a holy life, because no one will see the Lord without it.

14 Try to be at peace with everyone, and try to live a holy life, because no one will see the Lord without it.

1 All these promises are made to us, my dear friends. So then, let us purify ourselves from everything that makes body or soul unclean, and let us be completely holy by living in awe of God.

1 All these promises are made to us, my dear friends. So then, let us purify ourselves from everything that makes body or soul unclean, and let us be completely holy by living in awe of God.

22 But now you have been set free from sin and are the slaves of God. Your gain is a life fully dedicated to him, and the result is eternal life.

19 (I use everyday language because of the weakness of your natural selves.) At one time you surrendered yourselves entirely as slaves to impurity and wickedness for wicked purposes. In the same way you must now surrender yourselves entirely as slaves of righteousness for holy purposes.

1 So then, my friends, because of God’s great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer.

17 I urge you, my friends: watch out for those who cause divisions and upset people’s faith and go against the teaching which you have received. Keep away from them!

3 Since you are God’s people, it is not right that any matters of sexual immorality or indecency or greed should even be mentioned among you.

3 Since you are God’s people, it is not right that any matters of sexual immorality or indecency or greed should even be mentioned among you.

22 *So get rid of your old self, which made you live as you used to—the old self that was being destroyed by its deceitful desires. 23 Your hearts and minds must be made completely new, 24 *and you must put on the new self, which is created in God’s likeness and reveals itself in the true life that is upright and holy.

21 At one time you were far away from God and were his enemies because of the evil things you did and thought. 22 But now, by means of the physical death of his Son, God has made you his friends, in order to bring you, holy, pure, and faultless, into his presence. 23 You must, of course, continue faithful on a firm and sure foundation, and must not allow yourselves to be shaken from the hope you gained when you heard the gospel. It is of this gospel that I, Paul, became a servant—this gospel which has been preached to everybody in the world.

17 Dedicate them to yourself by means of the truth; your word is truth.

9 How can young people keep their lives pure?

By obeying your commands.

23 Examine me, O God, and know my mind;

test me, and discover my thoughts.

24 Find out if there is any evil in me

and guide me in the everlasting way.*

1 Praise the Lord, my soul!

All my being, praise his holy name!

16 *Surely you know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you!

2 *To the church of God which is in Corinth, to all who are called to be God’s holy people, who belong to him in union with Christ Jesus, together with all people everywhere who worship our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

5 The attitude you should have is the one that Christ Jesus had:

1 Your life in Christ makes you strong, and his love comforts you. You have fellowship with the Spirit,* and you have kindness and compassion for one another. 2 I urge you, then, to make me completely happy by having the same thoughts, sharing the same love, and being one in soul and mind. 3 Don’t do anything from selfish ambition or from a cheap desire to boast, but be humble toward one another, always considering others better than yourselves. 4 And look out for one another’s interests, not just for your own. 5 The attitude you should have is the one that Christ Jesus had:

6 He always had the nature of God,

but he did not think that by force he should try to remain* equal with God.

7 Instead of this, of his own free will he gave up all he had,

and took the nature of a servant.

He became like a human being

and appeared in human likeness.

8 He was humble and walked the path of obedience all the way to death—

his death on the cross.

9 For this reason God raised him to the highest place above

and gave him the name that is greater than any other name.

10 * And so, in honor of the name of Jesus

all beings in heaven, on earth, and in the world below*

will fall on their knees,

11 and all will openly proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

12 So then, dear friends, as you always obeyed me when I was with you, it is even more important that you obey me now while I am away from you. Keep on working with fear and trembling to complete your salvation, 13 because God is always at work in you to make you willing and able to obey his own purpose.

14 Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15 * so that you may be innocent and pure as God’s perfect children, who live in a world of corrupt and sinful people. You must shine among them like stars lighting up the sky, 16 as you offer them the message of life. If you do so, I shall have reason to be proud of you on the Day of Christ, because it will show that all my effort and work have not been wasted.

17 Perhaps my life’s blood is to be poured out like an offering on the sacrifice that your faith offers to God. If that is so, I am glad and share my joy with you all. 18 In the same way, you too must be glad and share your joy with me.

19 If it is the Lord’s will, I hope that I will be able to send Timothy to you soon, so that I may be encouraged by news about you. 20 He is the only one who shares my feelings and who really cares about you. 21 Everyone else is concerned only with their own affairs, not with the cause of Jesus Christ. 22 And you yourselves know how he has proved his worth, how he and I, like a son and his father, have worked together for the sake of the gospel. 23 So I hope to send him to you as soon as I know how things are going to turn out for me. 24 And I trust in the Lord that I myself will be able to come to you soon.

25 I have thought it necessary to send to you our brother Epaphroditus, who has worked and fought by my side and who has served as your messenger in helping me. 26 He is anxious to see you all and is very upset because you had heard that he was sick. 27 Indeed he was sick and almost died. But God had pity on him, and not only on him but on me, too, and spared me an even greater sorrow. 28 I am all the more eager, then, to send him to you, so that you will be glad again when you see him, and my own sorrow will disappear. 29 Receive him, then, with joy, as a believer in the Lord. Show respect to all such people as he, 30 because he risked his life and nearly died for the sake of the work of Christ, in order to give me the help that you yourselves could not give.

48 *You must be perfect—just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

16 *"No one lights a lamp and covers it with a bowl or puts it under a bed. Instead, it is put on the lampstand, so that people will see the light as they come in.

14 Make it your aim to do what is right, not what is evil, so that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty really will be with you, as you claim he is.

10 *To be wise you must first have reverence for the Lord. If you know the Holy One, you have understanding.

25 Think carefully before you promise an offering to God. You might regret it later.

26 You shall be holy and belong only to me, because I am the Lord and I am holy. I have set you apart from the other nations so that you would belong to me alone.

26 You shall be holy and belong only to me, because I am the Lord and I am holy. I have set you apart from the other nations so that you would belong to me alone.

7 Keep yourselves holy, because I am the Lord your God.

4 Sing to God, sing praises to his name;

prepare a way for him who rides on the clouds.*

His name is the Lord—be glad in his presence!

5 God, who lives in his sacred Temple,

cares for orphans and protects widows.