I urge you, friends, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love that the Spirit gives: join me in praying fervently to God for me.

By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ I appeal to all of you, my friends, to agree in what you say, so that there will be no divisions among you. Be completely united, with only one thought and one purpose.

Here we are, then, speaking for Christ, as though God himself were making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ's behalf: let God change you from enemies into his friends!

In our work together with God, then, we beg you who have received God's grace not to let it be wasted.

I, Paul, make a personal appeal to you---I who am said to be meek and mild when I am with you, but harsh with you when I am away. By the gentleness and kindness of Christ

I urge you, then---I who am a prisoner because I serve the Lord: live a life that measures up to the standard God set when he called you.

Finally, our friends, you learned from us how you should live in order to please God. This is, of course, the way you have been living. And now we beg and urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to do even more.

And you have, in fact, behaved like this toward all the believers in all of Macedonia. So we beg you, our friends, to do even more.

We beg you, our friends, to pay proper respect to those who work among you, who guide and instruct you in the Christian life.

I beg you, my friends, to listen patiently to this message of encouragement; for this letter I have written you is not very long.

Or perhaps you despise his great kindness, tolerance, and patience. Surely you know that God is kind, because he is trying to lead you to repent.

And he also wanted to reveal his abundant glory, which was poured out on us who are the objects of his mercy, those of us whom he has prepared to receive his glory.

As for you Gentiles, you disobeyed God in the past; but now you have received God's mercy because the Jews were disobedient.

In the same way, because of the mercy that you have received, the Jews now disobey God, in order that they also may now receive God's mercy.

What can I offer the LORD for all his goodness to me?

I tell you, then, the great love she has shown proves that her many sins have been forgiven. But whoever has been forgiven little shows only a little love."

God in his mercy has given us this work to do, and so we do not become discouraged.

We are ruled by the love of Christ, now that we recognize that one man died for everyone, which means that they all share in his death.

He died for all, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but only for him who died and was raised to life for their sake.

But God's mercy is so abundant, and his love for us is so great,

In our union with Christ Jesus he raised us up with him to rule with him in the heavenly world.

For it is by God's grace that you have been saved through faith. It is not the result of your own efforts, but God's gift, so that no one can boast about it.

God has made us what we are, and in our union with Christ Jesus he has created us for a life of good deeds, which he has already prepared for us to do.

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.

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.

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

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior was revealed,

God poured out the Holy Spirit abundantly on us through Jesus Christ our Savior,

This is a true saying. I want you to give special emphasis to these matters, so that those who believe in God may be concerned with giving their time to doing good deeds, which are good and useful for everyone.

At one time you were not God's people, but now you are his people; at one time you did not know God's mercy, but now you have received his mercy.

Your conduct among the heathen should be so good that when they accuse you of being evildoers, they will have to recognize your good deeds and so praise God on the Day of his coming.

Nor must you surrender any part of yourselves to sin to be used for wicked purposes. Instead, give yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life, and surrender your whole being to him to be used for righteous purposes.

Surely you know that when you surrender yourselves as slaves to obey someone, you are in fact the slaves of the master you obey---either of sin, which results in death, or of obedience, which results in being put right with God.

(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.

Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?

Let the giving of thanks be your sacrifice to God, and give the Almighty all that you promised.

Someone else will say, "Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food." Yes; but God will put an end to both. The body is not to be used for sexual immorality, but to serve the Lord; and the Lord provides for the body.

You know that your bodies are parts of the body of Christ. Shall I take a part of Christ's body and make it part of the body of a prostitute? Impossible!

But he who joins himself to the Lord becomes spiritually one with him.

Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and who was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourselves but to God;

My deep desire and hope is that I shall never fail in my duty, but that at all times, and especially right now, I shall be full of courage, so that with my whole being I shall bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die.

So let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith, with hearts that have been purified from a guilty conscience and with bodies washed with clean water.

I will praise God with a song; I will proclaim his greatness by giving him thanks.

This will please the LORD more than offering him cattle, more than sacrificing a full-grown bull.

Return to the LORD, and let this prayer be your offering to him: "Forgive all our sins and accept our prayer, and we will praise you as we have promised.

You must remove the old yeast of sin so that you will be entirely pure. Then you will be like a new batch of dough without any yeast, as indeed I know you actually are. For our Passover Festival is ready, now that Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

Let us celebrate our Passover, then, not with bread having the old yeast of sin and wickedness, but with the bread that has no yeast, the bread of purity and truth.

For this reason we never become discouraged. Even though our physical being is gradually decaying, yet our spiritual being is renewed day after day.

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.

He opened for us a new way, a living way, through the curtain---that is, through his own body.

So let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith, with hearts that have been purified from a guilty conscience and with bodies washed with clean water.

Let us, then, always offer praise to God as our sacrifice through Jesus, which is the offering presented by lips that confess him as Lord.

Do not forget to do good and to help one another, because these are the sacrifices that please God.

Come as living stones, and let yourselves be used in building the spiritual temple, where you will serve as holy priests to offer spiritual and acceptable sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ.

Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God---what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect.

of being a servant of Christ Jesus to work for the Gentiles. I serve like a priest in preaching the Good News from God, in order that the Gentiles may be an offering acceptable to God, dedicated to him by the Holy Spirit.

May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O LORD, my refuge and my redeemer!

"I will bring you to Zion, my sacred hill, give you joy in my house of prayer, and accept the sacrifices you offer on my altar. My Temple will be called a house of prayer for the people of all nations."

What do I care about the incense they bring me from Sheba, or the spices from a distant land? I will not accept their offerings or be pleased with their sacrifices.

Try to learn what pleases the Lord.

Here, then, is my receipt for everything you have given me---and it has been more than enough! I have all I need now that Epaphroditus has brought me all your gifts. They are like a sweet-smelling offering to God, a sacrifice which is acceptable and pleasing to him.

This is good and it pleases God our Savior,

But if a widow has children or grandchildren, they should learn first to carry out their religious duties toward their own family and in this way repay their parents and grandparents, because that is what pleases God.

Come as living stones, and let yourselves be used in building the spiritual temple, where you will serve as holy priests to offer spiritual and acceptable sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ.

For what credit is there if you endure the beatings you deserve for having done wrong? But if you endure suffering even when you have done right, God will bless you for it.