God will do what is right: he will bring suffering on those who make you suffer,

Don't be afraid of your enemies; always be courageous, and this will prove to them that they will lose and that you will win, because it is God who gives you the victory.

Happy are you if you are insulted because you are Christ's followers; this means that the glorious Spirit, the Spirit of God, is resting on you.

However, if you suffer because you are a Christian, don't be ashamed of it, but thank God that you bear Christ's name.

As the scripture says, "It is difficult for good people to be saved; what, then, will become of godless sinners?"

God never twists justice; he never fails to do what is right.

But the LORD is king forever; he has set up his throne for judgment.

He rules the world with righteousness; he judges the nations with justice.

The LORD loves what is righteous and just; his constant love fills the earth.

The heavens proclaim that God is righteous, that he himself is judge.

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

Mighty king, you love what is right; you have established justice in Israel; you have brought righteousness and fairness.

In all he does he is faithful and just; all his commands are dependable.

If any want to boast, they should boast that they know and understand me, because my love is constant, and I do what is just and right. These are the things that please me. I, the LORD, have spoken."

"And now, I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, honor, and glorify the King of Heaven. Everything he does is right and just, and he can humble anyone who acts proudly."

But you have a hard and stubborn heart, and so you are making your own punishment even greater on the Day when God's anger and righteous judgments will be revealed.

Who will not stand in awe of you, Lord? Who will refuse to declare your greatness? You alone are holy. All the nations will come and worship you, because your just actions are seen by all."

Then I heard a voice from the altar saying, "Lord God Almighty! True and just indeed are your judgments!"

True and just are his judgments! He has condemned the prostitute who was corrupting the earth with her immorality. God has punished her because she killed his servants."

That is why we always pray for you. We ask our God to make you worthy of the life he has called you to live. May he fulfill by his power all your desire for goodness and complete your work of faith.

but the men and women who are worthy to rise from death and live in the age to come will not then marry.

Be on watch and pray always that you will have the strength to go safely through all those things that will happen and to stand before the Son of Man."

But Paul and Barnabas spoke out even more boldly: "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we will leave you and go to the Gentiles.

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.

(SEE 1:11)

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.

and he will give relief to you who suffer and to us as well. He will do this when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven with his mighty angels,

They strengthened the believers and encouraged them to remain true to the faith. "We must pass through many troubles to enter the Kingdom of God," they taught.

Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings he keeps for his people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for him; for if we share Christ's suffering, we will also share his glory.

Our friends, the same things happened to you that happened to the churches of God in Judea, to the people there who belong to Christ Jesus. You suffered the same persecutions from your own people that they suffered from the Jews,

If we continue to endure, we shall also rule with him. If we deny him, he also will deny us.

Remember how it was with you in the past. In those days, after God's light had shone on you, you suffered many things, yet were not defeated by the struggle.

You were at times publicly insulted and mistreated, and at other times you were ready to join those who were being treated in this way.