The princess is in the palace---how beautiful she is! Her gown is made of gold thread.

May your priests do always what is right; may your people shout for joy!

I will bless her priests in all they do, and her people will sing and shout for joy.

Jerusalem rejoices because of what the LORD has done. She is like a bride dressed for her wedding. God has clothed her with salvation and victory.

"Then I took water and washed the blood off you. I rubbed olive oil on your skin.

I put jewels on you---bracelets and necklaces.

You had ornaments of gold and silver, and you always wore clothes of embroidered linen and silk. You ate bread made from the best flour, and had honey and olive oil to eat. Your beauty was dazzling, and you became a queen.

Joshua was standing there, wearing filthy clothes.

He commanded the attendants to put a clean turban on Joshua's head. They did so, and then they put the new clothes on him while the angel of the LORD stood there.

"The king went in to look at the guests and saw a man who was not wearing wedding clothes.

'Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' the king asked him. But the man said nothing.

God puts people right through their faith in Jesus Christ. God does this to all who believe in Christ, because there is no difference at all:

But take up the weapons of the Lord Jesus Christ, and stop paying attention to your sinful nature and satisfying its desires.

You were baptized into union with Christ, and now you are clothed, so to speak, with the life of Christ himself.

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.

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.

But a few of you there in Sardis have kept your clothes clean. You will walk with me, clothed in white, because you are worthy to do so.

Those who win the victory will be clothed like this in white, and I will not remove their names from the book of the living. In the presence of my Father and of his angels I will declare openly that they belong to me.

I advise you, then, to buy gold from me, pure gold, in order to be rich. Buy also white clothing to dress yourself and cover up your shameful nakedness. Buy also some ointment to put on your eyes, so that you may see.

Each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to rest a little while longer, until the complete number of other servants and believers were killed, as they had been.

After this I looked, and there was an enormous crowd---no one could count all the people! They were from every race, tribe, nation, and language, and they stood in front of the throne and of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.

One of the elders asked me, "Who are these people dressed in white robes, and where do they come from?"

"I don't know, sir. You do," I answered. He said to me, "These are the people who have come safely through the terrible persecution. They have washed their robes and made them white with the blood of the Lamb.

She has been given clean shining linen to wear." (The linen is the good deeds of God's people.)

The king removed from his finger the ring engraved with the royal seal and put it on Joseph's finger. He put a fine linen robe on him, and placed a gold chain around his neck.

The king took off his ring, which was used to stamp proclamations and make them official, and gave it to the enemy of the Jewish people, Haman son of Hammedatha, the descendant of Agag.

The king took off his ring with his seal on it (which he had taken back from Haman) and gave it to Mordecai. Esther put Mordecai in charge of Haman's property.

For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God's children, and by the Spirit's power we cry out to God, "Father! my Father!"

to redeem those who were under the Law, so that we might become God's children.

To show that you are his children, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who cries out, "Father, my Father."

And you also became God's people when you heard the true message, the Good News that brought you salvation. You believed in Christ, and God put his stamp of ownership on you by giving you the Holy Spirit he had promised.

The Spirit is the guarantee that we shall receive what God has promised his people, and this assures us that God will give complete freedom to those who are his. Let us praise his glory!

"If you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches! "To those who win the victory I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give each of them a white stone on which is written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.

May his towns be protected with iron gates, And may he always live secure."

He makes me sure-footed as a deer; he keeps me safe on the mountains.

What a magnificent young woman you are! How beautiful are your feet in sandals. The curve of your thighs is like the work of an artist.

I dressed you in embroidered gowns and gave you shoes of the best leather, a linen headband, and a silk cloak.

and as your shoes the readiness to announce the Good News of peace.