You, LORD, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in you.

"If only you had listened to my commands! Then blessings would have flowed for you like a stream that never goes dry. Victory would have come to you like the waves that roll on the shore.

"I myself will teach your people and give them prosperity and peace.

Justice and right will make you strong. You will be safe from oppression and terror.

"You will leave Babylon with joy; you will be led out of the city in peace. The mountains and hills will burst into singing, and the trees will shout for joy.

I offer peace to all, both near and far! I will heal my people.

The LORD says, "I will bring you lasting prosperity; the wealth of the nations will flow to you like a river that never goes dry. You will be like a child that is nursed by its mother, carried in her arms, and treated with love.

so that he will rule over your people with justice and govern the oppressed with righteousness.

May the land enjoy prosperity; may it experience righteousness.

I am listening to what the LORD God is saying; he promises peace to us, his own people, if we do not go back to our foolish ways.

Those who love your law have perfect security, and there is nothing that can make them fall.

For God's Kingdom is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of the righteousness, peace, and joy which the Holy Spirit gives.

Don't worry about anything, but in all your prayers ask God for what you need, always asking him with a thankful heart.

In conclusion, my friends, fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable.

But the wisdom from above is pure first of all; it is also peaceful, gentle, and friendly; it is full of compassion and produces a harvest of good deeds; it is free from prejudice and hypocrisy.

And goodness is the harvest that is produced from the seeds the peacemakers plant in peace.

and their people will say, "Let us go up the hill of the LORD, to the Temple of Israel's God. He will teach us what he wants us to do; we will walk in the paths he has chosen. For the LORD's teaching comes from Jerusalem; from Zion he speaks to his people."

He will settle disputes among great nations. They will hammer their swords into plows and their spears into pruning knives. Nations will never again go to war, never prepare for battle again.

His royal power will continue to grow; his kingdom will always be at peace. He will rule as King David's successor, basing his power on right and justice, from now until the end of time. The LORD Almighty is determined to do all this.

Wolves and sheep will live together in peace, and leopards will lie down with young goats. Calves and lion cubs will feed together, and little children will take care of them.

Even a baby will not be harmed if it plays near a poisonous snake.

A good person will never fail; he will always be remembered.

He is not worried or afraid; he is certain to see his enemies defeated.

Reverence for the LORD gives confidence and security to a man and his family.

Then tell them that I, the Sovereign LORD, am going to take all my people out of the nations where they have gone, gather them together, and bring them back to their own land.

I will unite them into one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. They will have one king to rule over them, and they will no longer be divided into two nations or split into two kingdoms.

They will live on the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where their ancestors lived. They will live there forever, and so will their children and all their descendants. A king like my servant David will rule them forever.

I will pour out my spirit on the people of Israel and never again turn away from them. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken."

He will settle disputes among the nations, among the great powers near and far. They will hammer their swords into plows and their spears into pruning knives. Nations will never again go to war, never prepare for battle again.

Everyone will live in peace among their own vineyards and fig trees, and no one will make them afraid. The LORD Almighty has promised this.

We are proud that our conscience assures us that our lives in this world, and especially our relations with you, have been ruled by God-given frankness and sincerity, by the power of God's grace and not by human wisdom.

Our great desire is that each of you keep up your eagerness to the end, so that the things you hope for will come true.

So then, my friends, try even harder to make God's call and his choice of you a permanent experience; if you do so, you will never abandon your faith.

In this way you will be given the full right to enter the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

My children, our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.

If our conscience condemns us, we know that God is greater than our conscience and that he knows everything.

We receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.

Those who obey God's commands live in union with God and God lives in union with them. And because of the Spirit that God has given us we know that God lives in union with us.

Love is made perfect in us in order that we may have courage on the Judgment Day; and we will have it because our life in this world is the same as Christ's.