The LORD said, "Jeremiah, if you get tired racing against people, how can you race against horses? If you can't even stand up in open country, how will you manage in the jungle by the Jordan?

For the trouble at that time will be far more terrible than any there has ever been, from the beginning of the world to this very day. Nor will there ever be anything like it again.

"Then, if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Messiah!' or 'There he is!'---do not believe it.

Forgive us our sins, for we forgive everyone who does us wrong. And do not bring us to hard testing.' "

"Simon, Simon! Listen! Satan has received permission to test all of you, to separate the good from the bad, as a farmer separates the wheat from the chaff.

He said to them, "Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you will not fall into temptation."

Are they Christ's servants? I sound like a madman---but I am a better servant than they are! I have worked much harder, I have been in prison more times, I have been whipped much more, and I have been near death more often.

three times I was whipped by the Romans; and once I was stoned. I have been in three shipwrecks, and once I spent twenty-four hours in the water.

There has been work and toil; often I have gone without sleep; I have been hungry and thirsty; I have often been without enough food, shelter, or clothing.

For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age.

So put on God's armor now! Then when the evil day comes, you will be able to resist the enemy's attacks; and after fighting to the end, you will still hold your ground.

Through faith women received their dead relatives raised back to life. Others, refusing to accept freedom, died under torture in order to be raised to a better life.

They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were killed by the sword. They went around clothed in skins of sheep or goats---poor, persecuted, and mistreated.

For in your struggle against sin you have not yet had to resist to the point of being killed.

My friends, remember the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Take them as examples of patient endurance under suffering.

We call them happy because they endured. You have heard of Job's patience, and you know how the Lord provided for him in the end. For the Lord is full of mercy and compassion.

Be glad about this, even though it may now be necessary for you to be sad for a while because of the many kinds of trials you suffer.

Their purpose is to prove that your faith is genuine. Even gold, which can be destroyed, is tested by fire; and so your faith, which is much more precious than gold, must also be tested, so that it may endure. Then you will receive praise and glory and honor on the Day when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Be alert, be on watch! Your enemy, the Devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

Be firm in your faith and resist him, because you know that other believers in all the world are going through the same kind of sufferings.

Don't be afraid of anything you are about to suffer. Listen! The Devil will put you to the test by having some of you thrown into prison, and your troubles will last ten days. Be faithful to me, even if it means death, and I will give you life as your prize of victory.

Because you have kept my command to endure, I will also keep you safe from the time of trouble which is coming upon the world to test all the people on earth.

God is to be trusted, the God who called you to have fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Remember that the LORD your God is the only God and that he is faithful. He will keep his covenant and show his constant love to a thousand generations of those who love him and obey his commands,

LORD, your constant love reaches the heavens; your faithfulness extends to the skies.

But I will not stop loving David or fail to keep my promise to him.

He will rule his people with justice and integrity.

LORD, you are my God; I will honor you and praise your name. You have done amazing things; you have faithfully carried out the plans you made long ago.

Israel's holy God and savior says to the one who is deeply despised, who is hated by the nations and is the servant of rulers: "Kings will see you released and will rise to show their respect; princes also will see it, and they will bow low to honor you." This will happen because the LORD has chosen his servant; the holy God of Israel keeps his promises.

Fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise.

I will keep my promise and make you mine, and you will acknowledge me as LORD.

He who calls you will do it, because he is faithful.

But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and keep you safe from the Evil One.

This is a true saying: "If we have died with him, we shall also live with him.

If we are not faithful, he remains faithful, because he cannot be false to himself."

There are these two things, then, that cannot change and about which God cannot lie. So we who have found safety with him are greatly encouraged to hold firmly to the hope placed before us.

Let us hold on firmly to the hope we profess, because we can trust God to keep his promise.

It was faith that made Abraham able to become a father, even though he was too old and Sarah herself could not have children. He trusted God to keep his promise.

So then, those who suffer because it is God's will for them, should by their good actions trust themselves completely to their Creator, who always keeps his promise.

But if we confess our sins to God, he will keep his promise and do what is right: he will forgive us our sins and purify us from all our wrongdoing.

Then I saw heaven open, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True; it is with justice that he judges and fights his battles.

I have decided that I will bring them out of Egypt, where they are being treated cruelly, and will take them to a rich and fertile land---the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

The wicked will not always rule over the land of the righteous; if they did, the righteous themselves might do evil.

If the God whom we serve is able to save us from the blazing furnace and from your power, then he will.

But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you turn back to me, you must strengthen your brothers."

I give them eternal life, and they shall never die. No one can snatch them away from me.

The Father and I are one."

We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose.

And so those whom God set apart, he called; and those he called, he put right with himself, and he shared his glory with them.

Certainly not God, who did not even keep back his own Son, but offered him for us all! He gave us his Son---will he not also freely give us all things?

Who, then, will condemn them? Not Christ Jesus, who died, or rather, who was raised to life and is at the right side of God, pleading with him for us!

As the scripture says, "For your sake we are in danger of death at all times; we are treated like sheep that are going to be slaughtered."

For I am certain that nothing can separate us from his love: neither death nor life, neither angels nor other heavenly rulers or powers, neither the present nor the future,

From such terrible dangers of death he saved us, and will save us; and we have placed our hope in him that he will save us again,

Three times I prayed to the Lord about this and asked him to take it away.

I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

And the Lord will rescue me from all evil and take me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever! Amen.

They are for you, who through faith are kept safe by God's power for the salvation which is ready to be revealed at the end of time.

And so the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials and how to keep the wicked under punishment for the Day of Judgment,

Do you see that little town? It is near enough. Let me go over there---you can see it is just a small place---and I will be safe."

He answered, "All right, I agree. I won't destroy that town.

We have escaped like a bird from a hunter's trap; the trap is broken, and we are free!

I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for.

Besides all that, there is a deep pit lying between us, so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so, nor can anyone cross over to us from where you are.'

the rest were to follow, holding on to the planks or to some broken pieces of the ship. And this was how we all got safely ashore.

We call them happy because they endured. You have heard of Job's patience, and you know how the Lord provided for him in the end. For the Lord is full of mercy and compassion.