The sins of some people are plain to see, and their sins go ahead of them to judgment; but the sins of others are seen only later.

In the same way good deeds are plainly seen, and even those that are not so plain cannot be hidden.

Stop it, my sons! This is an awful thing the people of the LORD are talking about!

So then, friends, choose seven men among you who are known to be full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, and we will put them in charge of this matter.

"Captain Cornelius sent us," they answered. "He is a good man who worships God and is highly respected by all the Jewish people. An angel of God told him to invite you to his house, so that he could hear what you have to say."

"In that city was a man named Ananias, a religious man who obeyed our Law and was highly respected by all the Jews living there.

Everyone speaks well of Demetrius; truth itself speaks well of him. And we add our testimony, and you know that what we say is true.

After all, it is none of my business to judge outsiders. God will judge them. But should you not judge the members of your own fellowship? As the scripture says, "Remove the evil person from your group."

Be wise in the way you act toward those who are not believers, making good use of every opportunity you have.

In this way you will win the respect of those who are not believers, and you will not have to depend on anyone for what you need.

So I would prefer that the younger widows get married, have children, and take care of their homes, so as to give our enemies no chance of speaking evil of us.

Live in such a way as to cause no trouble either to Jews or Gentiles or to the church of God.

We do not want anyone to find fault with our work, so we try not to put obstacles in anyone's way.

Our purpose is to do what is right, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of others.

and avoid every kind of evil.

to be self-controlled and pure, and to be good housewives who submit themselves to their husbands, so that no one will speak evil of the message that comes from God.

Use sound words that cannot be criticized, so that your enemies may be put to shame by not having anything bad to say about us.

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.

But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and are caught in the trap of many foolish and harmful desires, which pull them down to ruin and destruction.

And then they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the Devil, who had caught them and made them obey his will.